“Through the opening of the mouth, we bring out sounds from the mountain beneath the soul.” - John O'Donohue
When I opened John O’Donohue’s book Anam Cara many years ago it spoke of a world view I had longed to hear. By that time I was teaching yoga and the function of language was an integral part of my work. Within reading the first few pages I began to weep. Though I did not know it at the time, O’Donohue’s words awakened in me my life-long silent hunger for spiritual connection.
The Celtic teachings of nature and beauty, soul and spirit, light and shadow echo throughout O’Donohue's poetic verse. Illustrating the human condition and the inherent longing for true (self) love, intimacy and connection. Within his words I was invited to pause, to close my eyes, to breathe and soften my heart. Sitting quietly I listened, calmly, for the way back home.
It was here in the quiet abode of Being where I began to recognize a glimpse of what center felt like. I started to understand true longing. I became a witness, a seeker. I embraced complex vulnerability and began to work on nurturing a deep sense of belonging within myself.
O’Donohue reminded me that Beauty is our potential for fulfillment and that life continually presents us with ways to create it.
Life can be overwhelming. On any given day it can challenge what we think and what we believe. In difficult moments we can feel disconnected and forget what truly nourishes us. We can feel alone. We may slip into doubt and lose ground. Feeling undernourished disables our ability to discern what is good and right for us. Exhaustion can spur feelings of inadequacy further diminishing our capacity to (inter) act from a place of love and belonging.
Once fear has shaken our foundation we can lose sight of our own personal power.
PRESENCE is the bedrock of our personal integrity and the pathway to wisdom.
So,
What do we do?
What can we do?
What we actually do (our tendency) is the part of the story that we know all too well that keeps running the same game. It is the fear based belief structures that perpetuate feelings of lack or separateness. This information is simply what we want to gather up, pay attention to and break apart. While having oceans-full of compassion for ourselves as we deconstruct our tender wounding. It is here we encounter the shadow, the fodder for our growth. With guidance and support we can learn how to transmute our limiting beliefs into new ones that heal and transform.
What can we do (practice something new)
PAUSE.
Listen. Sense your feelings, witness your thoughts, simplify, BREATHE, practice compassion, remember gratitude, re-establish trust within yourself, SOFTEN, ask for help, seek guidance, journal, BREATHE, make art, go to yoga, BREATHE, move your body and surround yourself with friends who inspire and call forth your best heart. Here we encounter the exchange between shadow and light. With tenderness and understanding we begin to unveil the potency of our intuition. Here we make choices from a position of Self-LOVE.
IT IS A REMEMBRANCE.
A PULSATION. A FLOW.
AN OCEAN OF YOU.
THE ESSENCE OF EVERYTHING
MEETS YOU
HERE.
Here we breathe.
Here we feel our body.
Here we sense our thoughts.
Here we are back to presence.
Here we are with the way things are.
Here we come to understand.
Here we heed our wisdom
Here we follow what our heart truly wants.
Here we learn again.
Here we breathe again.
Here we begin to gently open.
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