All that is

I'll be here for you,
Today, tomorrow and whenever you need me.
I'll be here for you,
In any form you want me to be.
I'll be the energy that wakes you up in the morning,
as bright and warm as the sun, 
or the chirping of the birds, content for another spring day.
I'll be the rainbow coming through the clouds after a summer storm,
and the lightening that advises a thunder is own it's way,
I can also be found in the wind that blows the clouds away.
I'll be as delicate as the flowers growing after a long winter,
or as strong as an old, tall, Banyan tree.
I'll be the genuine smile of the many people that crosses your path,
with loving kindness, with care and compassion,
And I'll also be in the carefree laughter of little children.
I'll be the most pure form of love that only old age can bring.
I'll be the happiness you find in your family,
and the joy of being with your close friends.
I've always been, I am here, I'll always be.
You can find me in the sky,
you can feel me in the wind.
I'm the sun that illuminates the days,
and the moon that brightens the darkness.
I'm the diamond shaped stars in a dark blue night sky,
and I'm in the waves that go back and forth in the ocean.
And if you're quiet enough, still enough,
you can find me in the air that you breathe,
you can feel my love surrounding you,
and you can hear me in your every heart beat.
If you're quiet enough,
You'll realize that we are one.
We have always been, and we will
always be,
one 


PS

~ Namasté ॐ

Letting go takes love

Letting go takes courage,

It tears you apart

Splitting you into two halfs that yearn to be one,

It can be fast and extreme,

or slow and intense,

Yet, it is just as painful,

as abandoning a long lost friend.



Letting go takes patience,

With oneself, with time, with life.

You can start small and slowly move up,

you let go of your plans, your desires, your wishes,

and soon you're able to let go of your our ego,

You're able to detach yourself from

experiences, people and expectations,

You become merely an observer.



Letting go takes love,

Your love for "oneness" becomes greater than your love for "one,"

You don't stop loving, you simply realize your true nature - to be love,

And soon, love grows and you can feel it surround you,

You love a friend, a child, a mother, an animal, a plant.

Above all, you love God, and his divine presence within each one of us.


-- PS



~ Namasté ॐ

Intimacy, fear and yoga

When we research the meaning of the word yoga, we find out that it means union. 

The word "yoga" comes from the Sanskrit root yuj,  which means "to join" or "to yoke".

Everyone can have their own interpretation of what this union means, but I will share a thought that I leaned in a workshop I attended in January. I was at a workshop with a famous yoga and meditation teacher. After practice, we all sat down to listen to his wisdom and the one things from his talk that stayed with me was when he said that human beings are deeply afraid of intimacy. And the idea here is not related to intimate relationships between a romantic couple. What he meant is that we are deeply afraid to connect with ourselves, we fear intimacy and what it would mean to deeply know what goes on in our hearts and our souls. Maybe because we are afraid of what we will find and the fact that it might not be the same truth of our build up expectations. Maybe it's because we are afraid that we'll realize how amazingly strong and powerful we are and we are just not ready to do what it takes to let our lights shine brighter and to realize our mission in this lifetime, (taking the red pill or the blue pill, face reality, whatever you call it).

For our teacher, mindfulness is what brings humans closer to themselves. We need to be able to initiate intimacy with ourselves. Yoga and meditation are just paths that will bring you closer to your inner being and they will allow you to initiate a connection with your most intimate truth. Intimacy, what he also called mindfulness, is the connection to what happens in our moment to moment. We're so afraid of intimacy with ourselves that we don't let go of the past, what has been, or we get anxious about what is to come, because most of us cannot bear the idea of simply being here now. To be here now, means simply be fully present in the moment or situation you're experiencing. To allow you thoughts and feelings to come, but also allow them to go. Intimacy is context specific and it can be present in whatever you are doing, whether you're washing the dishes or going for a walk. In this sense, meditation can be anything that allows you focus on being present with whatever you're doing at this moment. 

When we recognize our true nature, we realize that (quoting another teacher): "we're the awareness between our breaths (or thoughts, can't remember now)" which means that nothing that we believe to be real, actually is. We have constructed an idea of what we are and who we think we are but when we start to take these ideas apart, we realize that nothing we thought about ourselves is real and that is when non-attachment comes along. We need to cultivate intimacy without being attached to it. Accepting what is, surrendering to what will be. Let thoughts, feeilings and ideas come, and let them go. Love, in other words, is nothing more than intimacy without grasping. It is being present in the moment and accepting whatever is happening, not trying to control the situation with pre-conceived ideas of what it should be like, or what it should feel like. 

May we have a chance to go deep and to fully experience intimacy with ourselves and with our friends and romantic relationships. It would be a waste to live a life only half lived. May we live fully present in the moment, so present that we just are. Just be. Be here now. 

Namasté  ॐ

The Invitation

I absolutely love, love, looooove this poem! It's by Oriah Mountain Dreamer...

 I read it first in Portuguese and had to find the original version right after!


"It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.

If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments."

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

~ Namasté  ॐ

Law of attraction and Pistachios

"When you want something the whole universe conspires in helping you achieve it." ~ Paulo Coelho

I doubt there's someone out there who has never heard about the law of attraction. You might not agree or have completely understood what it meant, but I'm sure everyone has at least heard a version of it. The law of attraction, the main theme for the movies "The Secret" and "What the bleep do we know?," simply states that your thoughts and feelings have the power to attract whatever you want into your life. So if you have a positive and happy life, chances are you're going to attract more of the same to your life. And the opposite is true as well. 

I've always deeply believed in the law of attraction, and together with my pollyanna outlook on life, I must say I've always been very blessed and lucky and I believe that everything in my life came to prepare me for what comes next. Even during complicated moments (which weren't that many anyway) I knew I had to let it go because there was a reason that it was happening, but I had faith in what would be coming next. I believe this is one of the reasons I never get sick. Seriously, in 20 plus years of life I've never been to the hospital, I remember getting food poisoning twice and chicken pox once. And that was when I was a child. Haven't been sick (knock on wood!) ever, and the more I keep saying and feeling that I'm healthy, the more I believe I will always be healthy. Especially now when I'm learning new ways to nourish my body, my mind and my soul.  

I've always been pretty good at imagining and attracting what I wanted to my life. That's how I ended up in Vancouver, with a Canadian degree and a Canadian passport. I never thought that this wouldn't happen. In my mind, and my heart, I was already here. So I shouldn't be surprised when I start attracting little things to my life, right? Some people believe in coincidences.. I believe in synchronicities...

One day, a few weeks ago, I was grocery shopping and I saw Pistachios and although I really wanted to eat them, I was discouraged by the price so I thought I'd ask someone to give it to me just for fun. I didn't buy them at the time because I thought they weren't worth it. Then, a couple of weeks later, I was volunteering like I always do on Saturdays and one of the volunteers said she had something for me. On our break I went to the volunteer room and she gave me a bag of pistachios! Seriously! It wasn't Christmas or my birthday so at first I thought that it was a weird thing to do but I said thank you, and I enjoyed everyone of those salty treats! It was only when I went grocery shopping again that I remember my thoughts and I giggled to myself, recognizing the law of attraction in action. 

On another day, I was thinking about books that I wanted to read and that I had to buy at any time. But because my friends gave me so many books to read I didn't even think about it anymore. Then, coming home one day, I saw a pile of stuff (everyone donates stuff they don't want anymore on the lobby for my building) on the table and what was my surprise when I saw that 3 books I wanted to read had been donated. Needless to say, they became my books.. And the list goes on. There's the trasmission in thought of receiving a call/message/email from someone you haven't talked in a long time, but you had been thinking lately. This way, I even got a call from my ex wishing me a happy valentine's day. 

All I have to say is THANK YOU, Universe. Thank you for allowing me to be one with you, and thank you for matching my vibration. 

That's why I say, be careful with what you think, feel or say. Your thoughts, feelings and words have the power to reinvent your life.

May I attract love, peace, lightness and happiness.

~ Namasté ॐ

Please come home

"Please come home. Please come home
Find the place where your feet know where to walk
And follow your own trail home.

Please come home. Please come home into your own body,
Your own vessel, your own earth.
Please come home into each and every cell,
And fully into the space that surrounds you.

Please come home. Please come home to trusting yourself,
And your instincts and your ways and your knowings,
And even the particular quirks of your personality.
Please come home.

Please come home.
And once you are firmly there,
Please stay awhile and come to a deep rest within.
Please treasure your home. Please love and embrace your home.
Please get a deep, deep sense of what it's like to be truly home.

Please come home. Please come home.
And when you're really, really ready,
And there's a detectable urge on the out-breath, then
Please come home.

Please come home and please come forward.
Please express who you are to us, and please trust us
To see you and hear you and touch you
And recognize you as best we can.

Please come home. Please come home and let us know
All the nooks and crannies that are calling to be seen.
Please come home, and let us know the More
That is there that wants to come out.

Please come home. Please come home.
For you belong here now. You belong among us.
Please inhabit your place fully so we can learn from you,
From your voice and your ways and your presence.

Please come home. Please come home.
And when you feel yourself home, please welcome us too,
For we too forget that we belong and are welcome,
And that we are called to express fully who we are.
May we wake up and remember who we truly are.

Please come home."

By Jane Hooper

------

~ Namasté ॐ

The truth about relationships

"The truth about relationships 

written by Matt Licata 

It is no secret that relationship-yoga is, for many, the royal road to profound (and often excruciating) revelation about where we really are in our lives, to illuminating exploration of our emotional/somatic world, and to uncovering the unconscious forces that are at least in part running the show. Intimacy has a unique way of showing us very quickly where we’re caught, where we’re holding on, how we’re closing to immediate experience, and the intricacies of how we defend and guard against the unyielding realities of the heart. We really don’t want to be too exposed. Maybe a little bit here or there, on Tuesdays and Fridays, or when we’re sure that even in the face of intimate exposure, things are likely to remain relatively safe and predictable. 

People often ask: you’ve met and worked with so many teachers and authors behind the scenes, in their most vulnerable, unscripted moments. Who are the ones that are really, truly awake; and who are the ones that maybe aren’t quite as awake as they come off in their public roles? I find myself simultaneously enjoying and cringing in the wake of these sorts of questions. Perhaps playfully, but also in a more serious way, I usually offer a response along the lines of: if you really want to know how awakened someone is, don’t ask them. Don’t ask their students or disciples. Don’t read their books. Don’t watch them on stage responding to questions from devotees. Ask their intimate partners. This is often met with a bit of awkward silence. 

We have so many ideas about relationship that we’ve picked up from our families of origin, teachers of all kinds, the media, books, television, and movies. One idea in particular that I’ve been really aware of lately is the idea that a conscious, intimate relationship is one where both partners feel profoundly connected at all times. And that if this feeling of connection is missing, then something must inherently be wrong; and must be fixed. Connection is one very fundamental quality of a relationship, yes. But what about the times when we feel disconnected from our partners, our friends, our children, our parents, our co-workers? Where has the “relationship” gone? 

What is relationship, anyway? Is it a feeling? A sense of security? A warmness in the heart? A content knowing that there is someone to share the journey with? Is relationship, like love, a vast enough field to contain aliveness, flatness, waves of joy, feelings of irritation, sensations of disturbance? Can we sit in the fire of intimate relationship knowing that all of our fears, fantasies, anxieties, scary parts, and vulnerability will likely never ever be resolved into some neat little relationship package? That there is something perhaps about intimacy that by definition is ultimately unresolvable? And that is in fact why it is so transformative. Can we find a way to be in relationship where we do not limit the mystery of love’s expression, and resist the temptation to have the fire of love conform to our endless requirements? Perhaps there will always be surges of uncontainable grief, sadness, fear, anger, and irritation that arise in the intersubjective field of lovers. We are all painfully aware of the seemingly miraculous power of our partners to touch our sore spots and to elicit the most unexplainable reactions within us. 

One question I find especially important to explore at the deepest levels, conscious and unconscious, is: can we allow the other matter to us? Are we willing/able to let another touch us, to expose ourselves so profoundly to them, that we stand completely naked, vulnerable, fully exposed to very unsafe waters of real love, knowing that we could be devastated at any instant? Many of our childhood biographies, of course, present a very unstable situation, a groundless reality where it was not safe to let another become too important. As innocent little ones, of course we very naturally allow others to deeply matter. This sort of exposure, as we all know, is tremendously risky; and we can learn very quickly the danger involved in letting someone matter, usually the hard way. But as little ones we can’t really help it, we’re wired to connect. 

Often in the challenges inherent in intimate relationship, we become convinced that it is our partner who is causing us to feel so bad. They don’t respect us, they speak unkindly to us, they don’t understand us, they’re never there when we really need them, etc. And of course there is likely some relative truth in these things. But we might also be able to see that just by being in relationship, we will be forced in a certain way to feel feelings that we really don’t want to feel. It’s not so much that our partner is doing something to us, but rather when we open ourselves to love, there are previously unmet feelings there, lurking in the unconscious, looking for the light of day. If we look closely, perhaps we can see how we organize our lives around not having to feel certain feelings. 

Intimate relationship is a yoga because it cuts into this organization. Perhaps we’re able to avoid certain feelings, certain thoughts, certain bodily sensations, certain emotions, in our daily lives or in our spiritual lives with all of our rituals and practices and worshipping the guru from afar. But in intimate relationship, alas, we’re not so lucky. The so-called “other” in intimate relationship will always push against that which is unresolved within us. How fortunate! (and painful) 

Let us all love those we’re in relationship with, including ourselves, by committing to taking love’s journey with them, knowing nothing about the route or the destination. Let us be kind to ourselves and our partners if we decide to truly take up the yoga of intimacy, knowing that it will take everything we have and are to navigate, as it offers fruits beyond this world."