Manda's Monday Meditation

The light

The creative energy

In you and me

Is something we see

When we meet

And believe

In what may be

The past me

The me of today

Met in the tank

Old thoughts floated away

The ideas in my mind

Shine down like golden light

Drenching me

Twinkling on the ceiling

As my shadow bounced above me

My breath slow and steady

Deep, long and neutral

My head, arms and legs outstretched 

the entire length of the pool

Tippy toes and finger tips touching the edges

I stretched and swayed side to side 

acknowledging my length, 

my body's reach

I felt whole in myself

Sufficiently me

I am happy

I have all that I need

The day awaits me and I breathe

Smiling and curious

Full and relaxed

Comfortable with whatever He brings.

I have achieved peace.

***

The words above came to me after floating in a pool of warm water and epsom salt for an hour.

This spa service is similar to the old style "deprivation tanks" and they are meant to isolate the senses and aid in meditation and relaxation.  

My first experience was quite different (you can read about it here) and feeling how much more inner peace I have now was refreshing.  

It is quite an experience and lovely if you enter with patience and are able to find deep relaxation.

I highly recommend to all, regardless of size, shape, age, religion, emotion, opinion, and hopeless abandon.

You will definitely find something in that tank that inspires you.

For me the biggest take away (which I tried to touch on in the words above) was the idea that we all have a glowing light that radiates from within and upon meeting someone for the first time, or seeing them after a long time, it is visible to our spirit and our senses.  

Our lights may dance and frolic and play, or they may be seen as a threat to a person's comfortable darkness.

Whatever the case, I feel it is important to always keep aware of our spiritual light dances with each other and to try to keep our personal energy moving so that our relationships, no matter new or old, will always blossom and grow.

I have found my energy again and I feed it by juicing and eating a healthy diet, exercising, spending quality time with family and friends, and thanking God for all that I am blessed with.

Amen!

A K.I.S.S. FOR YOU!

I've been saying this a lot lately and thought I would share.

Keep It Simple Sister = K.I.S.S.

Life gets hectic.

Gotta remember to K.I.S.S. yourself sometimes!

Worries have no end in sight?

K.I.S.S. them goodbye!

We can only control how we treat ourselves and others, so leave the heavy drama for the stage and K.I.S.S. everyday!

It seems to me that the surf culture really has a grasp on this concept. Honor the waves, work hard to paddle out, find your wave and ride it. Life is good. :)

Same for the yogis. Honor your body, work hard to perfect your breathing technique and flexibility, let go of unwanted pains and stress, and leave smiling and standing upright. :)

I guess K.I.S.S. is for anyone, not just sisters, but when I say it to myself, I like the feeling of love that it provokes. It's encouraging to K.I.S.S. myself. That's why I do it and also why I wanted to share!

How can you K.I.S.S. yourself today?

Yoga at Church a.k.a. Holy Yoga

I tried Vinyasa Yoga in the basement of a church.  


Vinyasa has more of an athletic approach than other types of yoga, but I still took a lot away from my session. 


My favorite routine was reaching my palms toward the ceiling and grabbing energy then pulling it back to me.  This was especially spiritual in the church setting for I kept imagining pulling God's love down through the floor boards of the sanctuary above.  Couldn't help but smile huge :-D


I love yoga.  It's the best.


Just yesterday on Bike With Jackie, I read these awesome words from The Happy Yoga Book,


  "Who is your true soul mate? You are. How do you mate with yourself? Through yoga."


Ahhhh.  Look no further, happiness is here - within.


Practice makes perfect and who wouldn't mind a perfect mating session a few times a week anyway? Right!? 


According to YogaBound.com, "Supposedly disease can not live in a well oxygenated body...Yoga improves circulation, taking increased levels of oxygen to every cell in the body." 


Yoga's all about breathing.  Figuring out how to control your breathing during yoga takes a lot of practice, but once you get it -- you never forget how.  It's like riding a bike - but with a much more tingly feeling afterwards.


So have you tried yoga yet?  You should.


For me, the instructor's voice helps guide my meditation and flow, which is something I have a hard time doing by myself.  You can read about my experience with The Float....I just tried it again yesterday, with the same results.  I could never really "get out" of my head.  Yet, today I did it just fine with the help of yoga and a sweet teacher telling me peaceful things like this:


"We are all climbing the same mountain, but what we see is different."  


That is why we close our eyes in class - so that we don't have to compare ourselves to others (as our ego loves to do) and so that we can focus inward and go with our own flow.


Yoga in church was nice.  I'm glad I tried it. I got high on Jesus and O2, and from it I had no control of the ear to ear smile that kept sneaking into my cheek muscles!  :-D


Dalai Lama:
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." 


Be kind to yourself. :-D

"Yoga is like riding a bicycle.  There is a great balance there, but you must practice to achieve it."  

--Ms. Panda