Auspicious Weekend

This past weekend I had the great honor to study with my primary yoga instructor John Friend, founder of Anusara yoga. John was here in Asheville teaching a yoga therapeutics workshop and asana class. I had attended a therapy training with him in NYC in 2003, therefore I only attended the asana class. As always, John's teaching was filled with Shakti and deeply touched the hearts of all who attended. Each moment I spend with John is profound. On Monday, I was blessed with a great gift, a healing session with Scott Marmorstein, a spiritual energy healer who often travels with John. The awakening I experienced was so profound that I'm still in the process of the process, so to speak. Scott is a powerful healer and can awaken incredible divine energy in those who are open to it. I've come to a simple awareness that this life experience for me is to simply be a vessel for Source energy to flow through. I've come to the realization that I was the only thing getting in the way of my Spiritual progress, through worry, negative thinking and resistance. All worries have ceased and the intention for everything I do, whether in thought, action, experience, is to be a conduit for Spirit to flow freely through. My meditation practiced has deeply expanded. I'm certain little progress can be made on the Spiritual path without a strong commitment to your meditation practice. There are few other ways to quiet the mind and hear the inner promptings of Spirit without this practice. I've also come to the realization my choices in company, activity, thought, food etc. all reflect in either a positive or negative way on my Spirit. Therefore, mindful choices are of the utmost import to me now.

I feel amazing relief in this surrender. It's simple, yet I struggled for so long to get here. I feel liberated at every layer of my being and am so ecstatically grateful to those who have guided (and continue to guide) me along this most auspicious path.

You can read more about Scott's work on the Source Energy Healing link in the area of "Websites of interest" section of this blog. I also highly recommend his book, "Sparkling Aura, Sparkling Life."

In Peace and Light-
donna

Extraordinare Day

Today I was blessed with a half day off from work, after a grueling week. The weather is gorgeous; warm, sunny, blue bird sky. The air is crystal clear which allows the mountains to show all of their glory. I spent the day up in the Coleman Boundary, a section of Pisgah National Forest in Barnardsville, a mere 20 minutes away. I took the dogs and O'Reilly up there to trail ride. We had a wonderful, peaceful day. The Ivy River, which flowed right next to us most of the trail, was raging from all the rain. It was amazingly powerful in its movement and provided a comforting background sound to our ride. Filled with Shakti and life giving energy, I couldn’t help but hear OM in the torrent of the water. When listening, one can find the sound of OM, the sound of Universal vibration, in nearly everything, even in the most distracting noises of life. OM, resonates in all things within and without. Try making it a practice to see if you can hear OM in simple things, such as nature, traffic, wind chimes or your breath. When you can make a mindful shift, the cacophony of life transforms into music of the spirit.

Blessings in your journey.

Rain, Rain, Rain

We've certainly seen our share of rain and precipitation, in various forms, in the last month here in Western NC. We've had the most erratic weather I've seen in quite some time. Last week it snowed 2 days in a row after having reached the 70's just days prior. The garden is loving the life giving moisture and should prove bountiful this summer. Finding gratitude for the rain can be challenging some days, as I muck through knee-deep mud to feed the horses. I am reminded that all is good and how parched the earth was just months ago. We were in a serious state of drought that gripped the entire Southeast for the past 2 years. I do love a good thunderstorm. Reminds me of my childhood growing up in NE Florida. We've had thunder and hail today and the energy generated by a storm is exhilarating. It causes me to reflect on the fact that we are all energy. Everything holds an energetic charge and it's what we do with our energy that causes an effect on everything around us. I'm reminded of this on a daily basis as I work with animals at the veterinary hospital where I'm employeed. I try and see things through their eyes as they come in for a procedure. They're usually quite scared and I'm compelled to ease their fears with a grounded and calm demeanor. It's a meditation practice within itself. A practice of mindfulness that I attempt to cultivate daily.