December is moving along and here we are approaching the week of get togethers, family gatherings, gift-giving and Christmas. Lately I've been reflecting on the message of the moment. Charlie Brown's Christmas comes to mind (I gotta watch it soon), today at school a poem was shared about not losing sight of what honestly matters. How easy it is to get sidetracked though. What are a few wonderful things we can do to make these days with family very special? Considering the yoga philosophy I have a few, I'm sure you guessed I would tie this to yoga ;).
1. Stay in the present moment. It might be delightful or difficult to relive the past, but in both cases, it is over and done. Let's enjoy THIS present moment by turning off the cell phone, and turning on our listening ears. What's new with people, good or bad?
2. Practice ahimsa. Sure Christmas dinner and cookies are beckoning, but will two heaping piles of mashed potatoes make us feel better than one? Enjoy the food, luxuriate in the tastes and smells, but honor your body by knowing what you need and not harming the body by overwhelming it. Also, don't overbook yourself. Allow time for laundry, a cup of tea, a walk.
3. Namaste. Honor others by helping them. If we are hosting, give someone a small job that will make them feel essential. If we are visiting others, offer to help until you are taken up on it. When no one feels totally overwhelmed, the energy of the space is balanced and peace will emerge. This might even mean picking something up on the way over, or baking your own favorite treat to share generously.
4. Shanti. Find peace with the past. Let negative thoughts or words drop away and bring your powerfully positive energy with you. Pull out a photo book, picture or game to get the group on the same page and playing together happily.
5. Be thankful. Appreciate your parents, siblings, extended family, significant others and friends. "Life is as the flash of the firefly in the night, the breath of the buffalo in winter time." ~~Blackfoot proverb
Wishing you peace, happiness, love, and a very happy New Year! May 2010 bring us all that we need.
Kat
1 comment:
I'm really enjoying all of your Native American quotations lately. It's true though, life is only in this very moment. "Past and future have no reality of their own. Just as the moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, so are past and future only pale reflections of the light, power and reality of the eternal present. Their reality is "borrowed" from the Now." ~Eckhart Tolle
Post a Comment