Why Not?

My mom,
Tillie,
May her memory
Always be
A blessing,
Was  
Super-Woman.

She did Everything.
She did it All,
Beyond-Well
And
Wholly.

She:
Put on the storm windows/
Worked next to my dad in his little grocery store,
Day-after-day/
Cooked and cleaned/
Took care of us/
Kept my dad alive
Through so many 
Years 
Of so 
Many
Illnesses.

To name just a few.

She was a Super-Power,
Quite truly.

She sacrificed All
For Everyone,
Always.

So much of Hers
Is now Mine.

My resilience is hers.
My body is becoming hers.
My inner hara/strength
Is hers.

Yet/and/but:
She did not teach me
To ask for help.
She did not teach me
To let go
Of doing.

She did not teach me
To reach out.

She did not teach me
To stop.

She did not
Because    
She didn’t have
That 
To 
Give.

I am learning.
Just now,
I am learning
To do less,

Just now,
I am learning
How to
To receive
More.

~~~

 To 2022.

I ask You for help.
Hold me up.
Get me through.

Show me the way.
Carry me through.

To 2022.
I ask You
To ease my burden.

To help me 
To 
Let go
Into
Your
Grace.

~~~
Sankalpa, the yogic practice of intentionality, has much to offer us.
Rather than a New/Year’s/Eve/resolution, it is a longing.
It emerges from an internal place.
Sankalpa offers us a bigger picture, an energetic direction, from inside out.
It is birthed in our hearts, in our bodies, not so much in our minds.
It offers us not a right/wrong torturous goal filled with potential potholes of self-judgment.
It offers us a practice, a leaning in the direction we truly desire.
The fruits of this practice are the learnings we derive from the obstacles that block us,
All the while, becoming more of who we really are.

What does your heart long for?

Get quiet and listen.
Get quiet and consider.
Open to breath and belly.
Open to inner wisdom.
It’s right there,
You’re right there,
In every breath.

Once a direction has emerged, consider tiny steps, movements, actions, to head you in that direction.
For me, doing less, letting go more, releasing my attachment to the outcomes so intensely, that is my practice for 2022, my Sankalpa.

And then, taking the big intention and chunking it down into actions that are specific, incremental, and consistent—here is my entry point, to consistently weave into my days:

• The extended Sphinx posture every morning, as a request for guidance and support
• The extended Sphinx posture every evening, as an offering of gratitude for whatever the day has given me.

That’s it.
That’s the practice.

While watching
And learning
From 
Every
Single
Obstacle
That 
Blocks
Me
From
This 
Longing.

I do trust that 
This
Tiny/profound
practice
Will unfold,
Will expand,
Will lead
To the
Next
And
The
Next
Steps.

~~~
Please listen to this song that just found me.  By the Queen of All, Joan Baez, a song written by Steve Earle, God is God.