Author: Ki McGraw

I love these spring mornings with my cats as I practice. We open the windows a bit and allow the fresh cool air to enter. With it comes birdsongs as they sing their greetings to the dawning light.

My practices also begin with singing. The cats know my song for them, letting them know that I am about to feed them. When they are satisfied, I shift to chanting Sa Ta Na Ma, awakening to the Truth that a new day begins.

Do you love your morning rituals? Can you take in the fresh air and sing like the birds, greeting the new day? Ki to Happiness welcomes the freshness.

During my recent trip, I had no time for scrolling. I made use of my phone and the particular apps necessary to continue to conduct business and personal needs. After returning, I resumed scrolling until I noticed the negative consequences.

I deleted the app. I’ve deleted it in the past, only to reinstall it. Realizing the negative consequences repeatedly, I’ve learned.

Which of your behaviors result in negative consequences? How willing are you to change your behaviors in accordance with what you’ve learned? Ki to Happiness repeats lessons until learned.

Juggling my full schedule, I saw my doctor first thing to check on my wrist and spine. All is well as I continue to heal and mend. I started working with a client on my walk back from that appointment. Immediately following, I conducted a class full of 12 students and attended to one of them privately afterwards.

My next appointment patiently awaited my call. We finished our session and I rested back. I felt my heart full of love for my life, my students, clients, cats, friends, family members, and my helpers on all levels. 

What fills your heart? Can you open it just a little bit more so there’s even more room? Ki to Happiness lets her full heart overflow with gratitude and joy.

In Bob’s class yesterday, he had us attempt a one-handed 90° position. His inspiration came from one of our long-term members whose grandson at 18 months of age has been attempting such things with his mom and dad. I felt strong and well aligned on my right hand and my left hand will catch up.

Others were challenged by that practice. It gave me a chance to experience the benefit of my right hand dominance, which sustained me all through my four months of healing from breaking my left wrist. It takes a while to notice the silver lining from life’s dark clouds. 

What silver linings have you witnessed from your life’s dark clouds? Can you be inspired by an 18 month old’s exploration of the body? Ki to Happiness is inspired to continue exploring the body.

Resuming teaching after a couple of weeks with my family brings me to a greater sense of soft slowness. Certain issues that irritated me resolved themselves without my effort. In place of them is gratitude for the continuity of Hatha Yoga Center and our community.

Students shared with me their independent progress of creating home practice, as others  brought friends to join us for the first time. We shared appreciation for the teachers who covered in my absence.  Soft and slow like water, I flow back into my home studio with joy and delight. 

Do you know how much we appreciate you, community members? Are you aware of how valued your presence is in our lives? Ki to Happiness slows down and softens into the awareness of the many blessings codirecting HYC brings.

We celebrated our anniversary with lots of fresh flowers for our deck, our favorite burrito date, and watched the Bob Marley movie, One Love. I look forward to watching it again with my mother, brother, and our son. The music unites us all.

Not only was it a great movie, but it educated me about my own story. I have a renewed perspective on myself, having put my experience of playing and singing reggae music into the historical context the movie highlighted. One love connects us all, heals us and brings peace whether we access that Love through music, yoga, the Bible or anything that opens the Heart of Hearts.

What opens your heart? Can you willingly choose to do so now? Ki ti Happiness chooses to open the Heart to One Love that lives in each of us.

Today is the 22 wedding anniversary of our ceremony in Bali. It lands on one of the many palindrome days of this year. 4-26- 24 is the same number forward and backward, like 22 and like the name BOB.

We will celebrate with flowers and our burrito date. I may also celebrate with another handstand. With Bob’s assistance I did my first one yesterday since I broke my wrist 4 months ago.

Are you observing these palindromes? Now that mercury has gone direct, are you feeling energy moving forward after weeks of it going backward? Ki to Happiness is moving forward with handstands as she looks backward to 22 years of frequent handstands.

I flew back to Seattle with a family of travelers seated behind me, including two cats and a small child.  Their sounds comforted me, as I offered assistance when that seemed useful and unobtrusive. I wished them all good luck as they continued on to their final destination, relocating to Alaska.

Our three cats welcomed me home as Bob concluded teaching his 10am class. Our queen cat, Pac(h)a glued herself to me from then on, getting in my open suitcase as I unpacked, snuggling into my lap and sleeping on me all night long. This morning, all three and greeted me as we resumed our deeply ingrained habits and rituals of yogic meditation, pranayama and prayer.

How well do you travel? What anchors you to your home? Ki to Happiness travels well and anchors herself with yoga practices and cats.

As I return from one home to another, I take with me the pleasures and smiles I’ve shared. I leave behind any sense of time or space separating me from those I love. I am blessed from my experiences both here and there.

My thoughts turn to details of packing. My rituals anchor me in my devotion. I am always at home with my yoga practices.

What rituals do you observe? Can they reliably bring you home to your center? Ki to Happiness homes in with daily yoga practice.

As I drove downstate, the Gateway Arch welcomed me back to St. Louis. I reflected on the Cahokia Mounds and the many indigenous peoples who once lived here eons ago. This portal to the west drew them here as it still does in this modern era. 

Memories of being in my grandfather‘s arms at the capping of the arch blended with remembering living in the high-rise apartments underneath it years later as I drove onward. My girlfriend and host later drove me past some of my previous addresses, giving me a chance to review my early life in a flash. 

When is the last time you reviewed your early life? What portal or gateway frames your early days? Ki to Happiness passes through the gateway and honors all those who’ve come this way before me as well as those who’ll come after me.