Month: August 2020

In preparation for departure tomorrow, again I face big changes. This is part of the reality of travel at this time. Beyond my control, my route and timing have changed. Fortunately, yoga holds me in conscious flexibility and strength.

I have been blessed with this time together with my family, friends and mentors once again. I know not what the future holds. I know only that I have been fortunate to be able to have spent this time as I have…Continuing to practice, and share, as I travel.

How is your flexibility? Strength? Ki to Happiness balances both consciously.

10 years worth of weather has had a destructive effect on my yurt. In this environment of four full seasons, wind, rain, sun, and snow have all battered it, revealing its weakest points. With little to lure us out, my attention has been able to turn toward its repair.

When I was a kid, I took sewing classes. As a teen I got a job using those skills working with cobblers. In my 30s, these skills morphed into marine canvas work, due to my boat’s being thrashed by Hurricane Iniki. As I contemplated the repair of the yurt, in meditation I was directed to use dental floss and darning needle to weave the yurt back into shipshape.

What lessons have you learned in the past? What relevance might they have in your present? Ki to Happiness stitches the past together in the present for the future’s benefit.

I have happily returned to my family and the yurt. Far away in my neighborhood, there was a bank robbery on my corner and a stabbing in my nearby woods. I am safe. And I share that safety with those of you who read these words.

Had I been there, I would also be safe. I’m good in a crisis. It’s often after the crisis has passed that the repercussions affect me. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may accompany the healing process. Re-orienting oneself into the present moment of safety, we all move forward.

Are you good in a crisis? How able are you to move into safety? Ki to Happiness lives in Divine Safety.

Finding my way in this unusual environment back to my mentors, there’s been a need to act swiftly. So much slowness in the safe reopening, and many efforts to bring me here has kicked up my swiftness. Sharing greatly, and deeply has required a certain speed.

Having done so, now it’s time to slow down. Integrate. And reflect. Realizing I may never see them again, the most important part is ahead. All is well that ends well, so I’m slowing down to make sure that I do my part.

What’s your speed? How does that serve your purposes? Ki to Happiness shifts gears.

Road tripping into my alma mater, I have reunited with old friends. It’s amazing to feel time disappearing. As if not a moment has passed since our last visiting. Even while masked, at social distances, in the sweltering heat, the essential connections continue.

The space, however, has changed greatly. Roadblocks surround my old house. The creek where my dog, Sam, once played is cemented over. I blinked, and miss the entirety of campus town. Newly constructed boxes replace old ornate Victorian architecture. On the outer, I find there is no there, there.

What do you find when you go back? What goes with you as you go forward? Ki to Happiness finds plenty here, Here to companion me on my way.

Traveling at the time of Covid benefits from inverting. Happily being hosted by old friends, I demonstrated some simple postures in their lovely kitchen before bed. Doing so gave us a point of agreement, in the present.

Sharing more practices with my hosts next will further the points of agreement. Sometimes, turning our bodies upside down safely can also shift our perspective, toward the One.

Are you a good guest? Are you able to host well? Ki to Happiness recognizes we are all travelers here on the Guesthouse of Earth.

Today, as I road trip from one location to another, I recognize the need to stay open to the different requirements. Different states, as well as within each state, local rules and regulations govern. Personal needs of individuals also must be accommodated.

In Hatha Yoga practice, safety is essential as we transition from one posture to the next. Safeguarding structural integrity with conscious breathing insures the intentions established for each practice will be manifested. This habit has far reaching consequences, potentially smoothing every transition.

What helps you deal with change? How smoothly can you move from one location to the next, from one posture to the next? Ki to Happiness transits smoothly.

Adaptation, and flexibility, always come in handy. Adjusting to circumstances evolves us. No point in resisting what is inevitable. In this awareness, yesterday I live streamed a Hatha Yoga Center Facebook posting in advance of today.

Walking in the woods, chanting 108 times to Ganesha, entrains my vibration to be free from obstacles. In the present environment, with 71 days left until the election, doing so is empowering. I vote with my breath, and my feet. Every step and every breath, in the direction of truth, light, love, and peace.

What obstacles would you like to be free from? How can you best maintain your vibration? Ki to Happiness votes early and often.

Along the way in traveling, it’s hard to continue to feel open to other people. We may come to the point of feeling like shutting down, withdrawing and retreating. Sometimes that is the best thing to do. Especially in this environment of political discord and viral pandemic.

Polyvagal theory offers us an option of working with our nervous system in such a way that we may be able to choose social engagement. Of course, respecting appropriate guidelines in our specific areas. Fortunately, yoga practices naturally stimulate the ventral vagal nerve. This brings us out of fight or flight, rest and digest, or collapse. Another option is then available.

How is your nervous system? Are you able to socially engage under these conditions? Ki to Happiness chooses supportive practices for our full range of possibilities.

Continuing to respect the rules and guidelines of reopening in different locations requires acceptance. These boundaries do not reflect a rejection of who we are. Very important to not take personally what is impersonal.

Respecting our own personal boundaries helps. Navigating acceptance and rejection internally, as well as in relationships gives us practice for these issues in larger circles of interaction.

How do you personally handle boundaries? Do you see the corresponding reflection in how you accept other’s boundaries? Ki to Happiness knows no limit to loving, and respects boundaries from this fullness.