The beginning of the end to the starting line…

A forbidden landscape
Unraveled ground
Weaving through the thick forest-
beside the rolling hills
up to the mountain peaks
and into the clouds
and back down to the valley
to the depths of the sea…

This foreign land keeps calling me back-
yet feels so far away.
Paths merging
Our souls collide
Being drawn together like magnets.

As we become intertwined and woven into one
The heart gradually softens
Allowing you to see all of me
Naked to the core…

Engulfed in the pulse-
In the touch
In the beat…
Breathing into an unknown journey
I only see half the story
part of the story
none of the story…

Dancing between worlds
Spinning round and round
In a split second the heart takes over
The creature within releases
Breaking free from the walls that bind her
Mind- body- heart- and soul
…Reunited
into one whole being
Growing tall and
building strength.
Expanding in all directions
Footsteps moving into the horizon
There is so much more to see…

Non-Attachment:

To be with life as it is...
without fear
distortion
attachment
force, or fantasy...

"If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to." -Zen Proverb

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” -Buddha

Lentil/Veggie Soup

A hearty winter soup
Eat with family…friends…community…

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Ghee
2 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2-teaspoon cumin, coriander, and turmeric
1 small shallot
Lots of garlic cloves
2 carrots large chunks
1 daikon sliced
Handful small cherry tomatoes cut in half
Shitake mushrooms sliced thin

1 1/2 cup organic dry red lentil
7 cups H20 or veggie stock

Sea salt and pepper

A few fresh lemon squirts

Preparation:
Heat Ghee over medium heat in soup pot
Add mustard seeds on low-stir until they start to pop…be careful not to burn them
Add cumin, coriander, and turmeric- sauté a few seconds
Add garlic and onion- sauté 5 minutes
Stir in carrots and daikon- sauté few minutes
Add lentils and H20/veggie stock
Bring to a boil

Reduce heat to medium/low
Cover and simmer until lentils turn yellowish
About 25 minutes
Add sliced shitake mushroom and tomatoes at end
Sea salt/pepper to taste
Stir in a few squirts of fresh lemon juice
Stir everything
Turn off heat- allow the soup to settle and the flavors combine.

Reheat when ready to serve…

Enjoy with fresh bread and roasted brussel sprouts and garlic.

Planning is priceless...

Plans are useless...

Vulnerability

The susceptibility of a person…someone who lets down their guard- leaving themselves open to censure or criticism. A person’s state of being liable to succumb to manipulation, persuasion, temptation. Capable of being physically and emotionally wounded, attacked, exposed….

“At the heart of any real intimacy is a certain vulnerability. It is hard to trust someone with your vulnerability unless you can see in them a matching vulnerability and know that you may not be judged. In some basic way it is our imperfections and even our pain that draws others closer to us.” (and we also draw closer to ourself)
- Rachel Naomi Remen

October Skys...

A few words from October 2010...

The forrest sheds layers of protection
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green
A colorful rainbow across the mountainside

The soul...limbs, heart, branches
become exposed and vulnerable.
Preparing for a new experience.

The crisp air awakens the body
Tiny steps of courage
of curiosity
of faith
uniting with the rhythms of nature.

The changing seasons
become changing inquires
become a changing being...
inside and out

Diving within to the internal landscape
A foreign world...
yet stillness invites the spirit in.
Evolving and growing into a new pair of shoes.
Each footstep a little more stable.
Chasing the sun as it slowly
drifts behind the rolling hills.
The cycle of change begins again...

Stillness

To lay deep with in the body
Traveling with the breath
into the muscle
into the bone
down to the core
watching from the inside out.
Exploring the internal landscape.


Peeling through another layer
small breaths of air
into the darkness
into the shadows
into the mysterious...
Space
Love
Perseverance
Opening doors we never knew existed
shifts and cracks
breaking chains
to merge the severed selves
mind body connection

The soul becomes free
The soul begins to fly away
Soaring
into the mountains
A new beginning...

once a day...

Can you tell your self one genuine kind-loving thing every day...

movement

Will and Surrender
Push....pull
One eye in and one eye out...
A dance around the room
Releasing
fully letting go
shedding layers
setting stories aside

We become one
seeing ourselves in eachother.

The ice begins to crack
open
In the chaos
Can you allow yourself to be seen?
stilling the body...
Traveling deep into the muscle
Can you allow yourself to be vulnerable?
Open
and
Exposed

Stepping in a new direction
What is it like to weave
in and out
in and out

A right of passage
The river flows...
Swimming with the current
A new breath
A new stride
A new body...