Coach Aruni

Life~Works Mindfulness Coaching

Email Coach Aruni

Pay Online

  • Home
  • Coaching
    • Mindfulness Coaching
    • Spiritual Mentoring
    • Experiential Facilitation
  • Opportunities for Study
  • Aruni’s Blog
  • Bookshop
    • Not Over Yet
    • Recovering My Voice
    • Already Home
    • Lifeworks (CD)
  • Videos
  • About Coach Aruni

The Light Returns

12/25/2022 by Aruni

The Light Returns

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

“Still, what I want in my life
Is to be willing
To be dazzled—

To cast aside the weight of facts
And maybe even
To float a little
Above this difficult world.

I want to believe I am looking
Into the white fire of a great mystery.

I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing—
That the light is everything—
That it is more than the sum of each flowed blossom
Rising and falling.

And I do.”

Mary Oliver
House of Light

Dear Friends,
In celebration of the returning light,
Let’s honor
The receding darkness.

Darkness and light,
All are sacred,
All inevitable.

As Mary tells us,
The “weight of facts”
Are as precious
As
…”the white fire of a great mystery”.

The human
And
The
Divine,

We are both,
Wrapped
In
A
Body.

We get it all.
We get it all.
We get
It
All.
~~~
Honoring the rebirth of this season, this video super-inspired me—baby owls, check them out:

 

~~~
What would it be like
To allow ourselves
To relax?

To be okay
With
However
We are
Showing 
Up 
In this moment?

To notice?
To breathe?
To allow?

And then,
From that 
Breath of kindness,
To realign.
To lean toward
How we
Choose
To be.

What would it be like?
~~~

And the moment!

What would it be like
To allow
This moment
To be
As it is?

To notice?
To breathe?
And
To allow?

And then,
From that
Breathe of lovingkindness,
To realign.

To lean toward
Right action?

What would it be like?
~~~

For me, 
For this wacky
Human being,
Me—

This extraordinary and wonderous woman,
This frightened and tender child,

For me—
There is spaciousness,
There is freedom,
There is hope,

Wise hope,

That checks us into the moment, 
Rather than
Checking us
Out of the moment—

Spaciousness
Freedom 
And 
Wise hope

Abounds…

In this practice
Of allowing ourselves,

In this practice
Of allowing the moment
To be
 As it is.

When I can,
I do.

When I cannot,
I take a breath,

I pray to remember,

To give myself
A
Giant
Break,

And to try again.
~~~

Dear friends,
What kindness
Can you give
Yourself today?

Is there any other question
More important?

~~~
In celebration of this season of light,

Whatever it is that you celebrate—
Or nothing—

If Chanukah lights have blessed your home,
If Christmas lights dance around you,
Or if you sit still in the darkness—

My prayer for us
For this season—

May we each find our way.
Alone and together.
With fear and faith,
With doom or possibility,
May we walk each other home.*
~~~
Dear friends,

L, Chaim,
To life.

And here, as a celebration of life, from my heart to yours, Andrea Bocelli and his daughter:

Watch Here

~~

*May we walk each other home—
A paraphrase of a teaching by Ram Das

Filed Under: Uncategorized

If You Knew Me…

12/18/2022 by Aruni

If You Knew Me…

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

Your story doesn’t hold a candle
To who
You really are.

        John O’Donohue

Oh, dear friends.
We make up
Such shit.

OOPS.

Apologies
For the profanity
So early on
In this
Missive.

(Missive?
Who said that?)

I am 
Positive
The only
Things
That 
Limit me
Live
Inside
My 
Head,

Inside
My
Ancient 
Belief
Systems,

Those 
Obsolete
Coping
Mechanisms 
That probably
At one point
Protected me
From the
Pain
Of being
Me.

They are
Obsolete!

Out of date.

No longer useful.

Do you identify?

~~~
Aruni– 
Example:

The dance
Of
My
Ancient
People-pleasing:

Do you love me?

Do you really
Love me?

Do you want me?
Me?

Really?

Never mind,
No, just kidding.

I don’t want
You.

See me.

Please
See
Me.

No,

Please
Don’t look.  

NO LONGER RELEVANT.
NO LONGER HELPFUL.
OBSOLETE.

~~~
I got invited
To this
Holiday
Thing

With a bunch
Of people.

People I know.

And somewhat
Inside of me
Somewhere

People
I 
Probably 
Love.

I fell into
Deep
Resistance.

DON’T WANNA.
CAN’T.
WON’T.

It simply
Seemed
Tooooo
Hard. 

The good news?

It was cancelled.

Common sense
Prevailed
Regarding
Safety.

BUT OH.

Did I dance
All around
Myself
For a few
Days,

Sashaying with
The ancient 
Belief:

I don’t 
Know
How.

I don’t
Want
To…

It’s 
Overwhelming…

(Of course, give me a microphone and a room full of 70 people.
I am not overwhelmed.
I am in bliss.)
~~~
If you knew me
If you really 
Really
Knew me—

You would know:

I swing between
Wild and wonderful
Expansion

(trust, love, grace…)

Back into
Constriction
And
Fear
And 
Longing. 

Longing 
To be alone—
But not
Really.

That is me.

And you?
Who are you?
~~~
Consider this.
Write this out.
Contemplate this.

IF YOU KNEW ME, IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME—

~~~
I’m old and had no idea who this character, Jacob Collier, is.  
I see that he is singer-songwriter, musical wizard.
I adore this.
It touches me deeply.
I’m delighted to share it with you:

Jacob Collier and the Audience Choir
Can’t Help Falling in Love with You

 

~~~
Dear Audience Choir,

We all 
Sing our
Own song,

Return to
Our
Own note.

Yet,
Together
We
Are
A
Choir,

An
Orchestra,

A 
Community 
Of healing.

Thanks for being
My
Community.

Thanks for being
My
Healing.

Celebrating
The
Return
Of 
Light—

All blessings, 
Aruni

~~~

Questions:
  • Are you still full from your Thanksgiving meal?
  • Are you navigating those damn cupcakes at work, pretending they aren’t there?
  • Are you looking toward the Chanukah or Christmas meals with subdued glee and anticipatory guilt?
The Kripalu Approach to Healthy Eating—
Beyond Right and Wrong

 

  • Online
  • Mondays in January 2023
  • Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30
  • 12:00 Noon-1:30
  • With Aruni Nan Futuronsky
  • Lisa Nelson, M.D.
  • Lauren Gernady from the School of Ayurveda
For support, strategies, and a 2023 jumpstart.
Information Here

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Suppose It Didn’t?

12/11/2022 by Aruni

 

Suppose It Didn’t?

“Suppose a tree fell and we were under it,”
Piglet said.

“Suppose it didn’t,” said Pooh.

A.A. Milne

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

My capacity 
To imagine
The
Absolute
Worst
About life
Has
Had
A 
Long
Mother-
F_ _ _ _ing
Run.

I am declaring
That
Curtain
Closed.

I am declaring
That
Script
Over.

I am declaring
A
New
Beginning,

A beginning
Of
Remembering

That
Maybe,

Just
Maybe,

Decades
Of 
Evidence
Might
Hold
True,

That,

Chances
are

Whatever
Does
Happen—

(Trees
Do fall
On top
Of people,
That is for sure),

That
Whatever
DOES
The
F_ _ _k
Happen,

I will
Find
My
Way.

I have
Found
My
Way.

I will
Continue

To 
Put
My
Foot 
Down,

In the next,
Best spot,

One step at a time,
And
Move 
Forward.

~~~
It makes total sense, this hypervigilance.
It makes total sense,
This preparing
For the worst.

It probably was
A strategy
That supported me,
That kept me safe,

That got me through.

Today?

Nope.
Not so much.

Today, this
Expired
Coping
Mechanism

Is like
A smog
That
Blocks
Me
From
Seeing
The
Beauty
Around 
Me.

If it helped, I would say,
GO FOR IT, FRIENDS.

Go right ahead:
IMAGINE the worst.

PREPARE for it.

HUNKER on down.

It just doesn’t even help.

I am afraid,
The
Cost
Is too high,

The smog
Too thick,

The energy
It takes
To push

Is too-too
Over the top
Of
Too
Much.

It’s just
Not
Worth
It.

Friends,
I am not saying, shit doesn’t happen.

OH NO.

I am saying, 
Shit does
Indeed happen.

Hunkering down
And waiting for
It,
Crouched
And 
Anxious

Is a
Threat
To
Our Being.  
~~~

Let’s pray
To relax.

Let’s request
To soften.

Let’s hope
To see
The
Light,

Not just
Wait,
In fear
Of
The
Darkness.

~~~
Two points of inspiration for me this week.  Here is the extraordinary Eva Cassidy, a voice like none other.  Please open your heart to her rendition of this oldie but goodie.  What she brings to it is nothing short of magnificent.

Eva Cassidy
Over the Rainbow

 

~~~
And, to rock on a bit.  Here is a good one from Playing for Change.
I love the faces, all the faces.
The voices, 
All the voices.

Coming into
One
Voice,

One
Sound,

One song:

Higher Ground

~~~
Dear Friends,

May you
Be healthy.

May you 
Be present.

May you
Ride
The
Waves
Of your life.

May you
Live in peace,

No matter what
You are given.

Love to you and yours,
Aruni

Filed Under: Uncategorized

I Come into the Peace of Wild Things

12/04/2022 by Aruni

“I Come into the Peace of Wild Things”*

Richmond Pond

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

It’s a restless time,
A fuzzy time
For me.

Too many words
Would be required
To explain—

The explanation?
The subtext?
The backdrop?

Each
One
Doesn’t
Even
Matter.

It will come
And
It will
Go,

This 
Slithering
Disconnection.
~~~

Today I choose
To remember
What
Connects
Me.

Today
I choose
To remind
Us
Of
Those
Wild 
Things.

Those fuzzy 
And furry
And
Feathered
Blessings,

Both
On
The
Couch
And
Outside
Our
Window.

The peace
Of wild things,

Says the 
Brilliant poet,
Wendell Berry:

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light.
For a time
I rest in the grace of the world and am free.

~~~

Here are the visual and energetic reminders:

 

~~~
So much to say and nothing to say, about our relationship to these wild things.  

How we connect, 
How they connect us to ourselves?
Both outside our windows, 
And on the couch.

First, this little girl.  
How might my life be different, if, at that age, I had those friends?

Watch Here

~~~

Koko

Here are two dear beings who found each other, both now gone, Koko and Robin:

 

~~~
How to understand—forget understanding—how to even language our relationship with our critters, 
The ones we have been blessed with, 
The ones we have been 
Selected to steward?

The one snoring
On your couch?
Sleeping on the rug?
Drooling on the pillow?

My Wild Girl

She runs like a wild and crazy thing, 
Zooming down the trails, 
Returning wildly to her people 
Back for her “treats”, 
Off again to explore.

To find the treasures within the treasures, 
The smells within the smells, 
The bits of yum 
Inside the yummy.

How to even imagine
Her bliss
In being?

She sleeps in my arms,
Effortlessly 
Controlling the placement of 
Any and all bodies 
with her tiny one.  

She falls into sleep 
instantly, 
And breathes,
Soft belly
Pressed into mine,
Her breathe
And mine
Swaying,
Waltzing,
Hugging 
Through
The night.
~~~

Dear Friends,

With love and peace—

May the work we do
Alone and together
Benefit all beings.

May those on
Our planet
Most at risk
Find
Solace
And 
Safety
and
Home.

May the blessed
Critters
With whom
We share
This earth
Live
In safety
And
Grace.

All blessings,
Aruni

*Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things

Filed Under: Uncategorized

A Relaxation Meditation

11/27/2022 by Aruni

A Relaxation Meditation


This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

 

May this 
Holiday
Season
Unfold,

No matter 
What 
Is happening,

With

Rest,
Renewal,
And
Relaxation,

Inevitably
And 
Eventually.

~~~
To support you in the process of relaxing and renewing,

Here is a guided meditation.  Please receive this as a time to stop, to let go, to snuggle closer with yourself.

Savoring the moment…

A Relaxation Meditation

Listen Here

~~~

May the work
Of 
Wholeness
That
We do,

Both
Alone
And
Together,

Benefit
All
Beings—

Here
And
There
And
Everywhere.

May the highest
Unfold
For all,

Inevitably
And 
Eventually

May this 
Holiday season
Bring light
Into the world,

That we all
Might
Be blessed.

With gratitude,
Aruni

Filed Under: Uncategorized

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 86
  • Next Page »

Have a question for me? Please click on the image to email me.

Sign up to Aruni’s Inspiring Weekly Newsletters

Latest Entries From Aruni’s Blog

  • This is about Weather and Everything Else 01/29/2023
  • If It Be Your Will 01/22/2023
  • Inviting Gratitude 01/15/2023
  • The Strength of Surrender 01/08/2023
  • Wise Hope, Quiet Courage & Gentle Peace 01/01/2023

Sign up for Aruni’s Inspiring Weekly Newsletters

Books

  • Not Over Yet: Simple Strategies to Struggle Less and Savor More
  • Recovering My Voice: A Memoir of Chaos, Spirituality, and Hope
  • Already Home: Stories of a Seeker
  • Life~Works: Meditations for Mindful Living CD

Search

Website Copyright © 2023 · Coach Aruni

Copyright © 2023 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in