Love

Love is always there, only acknowledged or ignored.

Just Show Up

Never never never give up on your ability to become the person you want to be. But just do it to the best of your ability in the moment you remember.
Our suffering comes when we resist what is happening. Shift your focus to who you want to be and act as if you are who you want to be.

Let it snow, let it snow... or rain?

It's 3 pm and I have just returned inside from removing snow from my deck. After weeks of storm after storm, the layers of ice and snow are too thick to remove it all. Still as I pondered what more weight and freezing temps tonight would mean to the overall integrity of the deck, I decided I better make a move.
As I stepped out onto the deck, I was a little worried about the deck, the dogs and myself all detaching from the house and landing in the flower garden. Fortunately that didn't happen.

As I chucked each shovel load over the railing, I was thinking about my neighbour, for whom this work would definitely be physically too much. Then I was thankful for my massage on Saturday and my practice. My asana practice. I have a pretty regular practice that involves lots of low back, mid back and low abdominal strengthening. After many years as a professional climber, one who suffered from a little low back pain, I discovered how to strengthen my low back and even more crucially, my low abdominals to protect my back.

As I reach over to pick up a shovel full of snow, I draw my low belly powerfully to my back body. I hold this contraction, feeling it support my low back as I heave the snow over the railing. I have been fortunate to have been practicing this way for a pretty long time. If it is new to you, I suggest just start by doing this action in forward folds, exhaling as you fold forward, reaching to touch your toes. Practice holding this contraction as you breath in and come up. It's trickier than you may think.

Love... not elusive, just a choice

Love is one thing we all long for, and yet the expression is unique to each heart.
True love is without attachment to being loved.
True love exists even when we disagree.
Real love listens more than it speaks.
Real love is fire in the heart that must be shared.

Truth lies in the Heart

It's so easy to say and yet so hard to do! What would you imagine if you couldn't think of the reasons it wouldn't work? What would you live that you are not living now? Our brains are designed to keep us safe, to ensure we survive. Yet our brain is not always the best at accurately predicting the future. Nor is the brain great at seeing our best long term survival; it tends more to project our more immediate future.
The heart is where the truth lies. Still the body, still the mind and find the truth in your heart. Then live it.