A Deep Bow
Jul 7th 2009Holidays & Inspiration & Meditation & Yoga
This morning I woke up and just felt like crying. Not out of sadness or any one, tangible emotion; just an overall tenderness of heart. As I sit here on my couch, still in my pajamas, I feel gratitude (for this beautiful summer morning), compassion (for my little sister whom I visited last night + just had knee surgery), humility (for all the things that I don’t know or understand and maybe never will).
Tonight’s the full moon. And an auspicious one at that. Known in the Hindu faith as Gurupurnima, it’s a wonderful time to honor your teachers and inspirations and to make commitments to deepen your own spiritual practice. That might look like sitting in meditation for 15 minutes when you wake up in the morning, starting a home yoga practice, saying a prayer of gratitude before bed, or going out a couple of times a week to make a wildflower bouquet.
Maybe one of the reasons why I feel so teary this morning is that I’m thinking of my own teacher, ShantiMayi. Wow, to be in the presence of a woman who has seen the truth of who she is and lives with an open heart moment-to-moment is no small thing. She’s fierce like a tiger and gentle like the wind. Although she’s many miles away right now and I haven’t seen her in over a year, I bow down to her feet in gratitude and awe. Somehow, despite the distance, she manages to whisper words of encouragement into my ear or step into my dreams to guide me every now and again.
In fact, I feel her here right now.
Her core teachings are so necessary for women right now. I certainly wasn’t taught these as a young girl and most likely most of you weren’t either. So from her heart to mine and my heart to yours:
1. Be Yourself.
2. Go home to your own heart. That’s the only place worth going. There you will find everything.
ShantiMayi, I love you.
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