What Is There to Say?
Oh, friends.
I’ve been so rallied around the crisis in the world, imperfectly trying to balance my news intake with personal sanity. My grip is weakening.
I’ve been sitting, staring at this blank page for a few days now.
What is there to say? What to write?
What to believe in? What to hold close?
Oh. I remember.
I believe in the practice of kindness.
Plain, simple, kindness.
Kindness
To myself.
Kindness
To the people I randomly and perfectly encounter on my trek-of-the day.
Kindness
To the people, closer to home, harder to practice, deeper tucked in my heart.
~~~
Tara Brauch, in her wisdom, says:
I found myself praying: ‘May I love and accept myself just as I am.’
~~~
I say:
Let us practice
Forgiving ourselves for being human.
For our forgetting.
Our struggling.
Our doubting.
Our wanting it to be different.
Despite all of the data
We have
That tells us—
It is okay.
It really is.
As it is,
Okay.
No matter what is happening,
We will find our way through.
No matter what is happening,
Our tendency is to struggle,
That pesky human dilemma.
I say:
Let’s practice
Relaxing into what is,
Rather than constricting against it.
I say:
Let’s practice
Granting ourselves
Permission to be human,
Which is already
Fully granted.
~~~
Here is a meditation/tiny podcast on the Practice of Kindness.
I hope you can find something, some solace, a syllable, something that supports you.
From my heart to yours:
~~~
I somehow find this song comforting today. As I read its words, there seems to be a connection, a link, about which I am unable to verbalize.
Here’s Jackson Brown and folks around the world, with Playing for Change.
We do make beautiful music together.
(Apologies about the ad—I am unable to navigate it any other way.)
~~~
Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying,
Now I want to understand.
I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding,
You must help me if you can.
Doctor, my eyes,
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?
‘Cause I have wandered through this world
And as each moment has unfurled
I’ve been waiting to awaken from these dreams.
People go just where they will.
I never noticed them until I got this feeling
That it’s later than it seems.
Doctor, my eyes,
Tell me what you see.
I hear their cries,
Just say if it’s too late for me.
Doctor, my eyes.
They cannot see the sky
Is this the prize
For having learned how not to cry?
~~~
Friends,
One breath at a time.
May we breathe in
One breath,
Just one breath
At a time.
One step at a time.
Just one step.
Give us the courage
And the willingness
To keep moving.
To be present
With what is.
What when cannot,
May the gentle arms
Of kindness
Carry us home.
May the practice we do
Alone and together
Benefit
All beings.
Blessings,
Aruni
I am offering two programs at Kripalu in the balance of 2023. They are different and the same.
We will come together. We will bless ourselves and each other, no matter what is going on inside us and out. We will create healing and take home a plan of practice.
Check out these links to see how they differ. Please pass them on. With gratitude, thank you.
The Yoga of Recovery
November 10-12
https://kripalu.org/presenters-programs/yoga-recovery
Grief, Loss and Renewal—Savoring Life’s Lessons
December 1-3
https://kripalu.org/presenters-programs/grief-loss-and-renewal-savoring-lifes-lessons