Author: Ki McGraw

I awakened this morning from a bad dream. I rolled back on my back to allow it to shift into potentially a better conclusion. Instead it got worse. I got up and found out one of the cats peed on the floor again. Reaching for loose tea for brewing, I found little.

I share these things with you, dear Reader to let you know how human I am and how ordinary the issues in my life can be. What may be extraordinary and contagious is the way that my morning practice smooths all the roughness. Enough tea, a clean carpet, and a greater understanding of my unconscious result.

What do you do when you have a rough start to your day? How do you smooth out the rough edges? Ki to Happiness continues with consistent and potentially contagious yoga practices.

At the farmers market I got bags of squash blossoms. After removing the stamen, I stuffed some fresh white bean hummus inside and gave them a securing twist. After 20 minutes in my nice new oven, they were ready for sampling.

I put them together with a full vegan meal and offered the same to my husband. He wrinkled up his nose and declined. About three hours later, he came to me raving about how delicious they were! I laughed out loud in joy and celebration. I love his truthfulness both in not wanting to try something new and in the delight once he did!

Are you willing to try new things? Can you be honest about it? Ki to Happiness loves truth even more than yummy stuffed squash blossoms.

As our new door was being installed yesterday, I kept my eye on the clock. I had an early appointment and wanted to make sure we were able to use the space for our purposes. I reached out to my client to let her know that we may have some distractions.

She got right back to me and said she would not be able to keep her appointment. Perfect timing! As the workmen continued, sawdust and power tools kept the space unusable until class time. Now with a new door and the space clean, it is completely usable for all of our purposes again.

Have you seen how synchronicity works in reverse? Sometimes things do not happen at the same time and it’s a good thing? Ki to Happiness feels the Spirit in perfect timing.

It’s been nearly 5 months since our burglary. Finally our new door is being installed so that we have both security and privacy in our yoga studio. The efforts our community made immediately allowed us to stay open for business.

Without community support, we have nothing. While it looks like we are leaders, truly we follow our community and its needs in everything we do. Classes. In person and online. Private sessions. Let us know and we’ll do our best.

What do you need, Community? Can you let me know? Ki to Happiness needs to thank you all for staying with HYC all through the ups and downs of 44 years of serving the hatha yoga community.

In my private practice I have the freedom to meet my clients where they live. This is often metaphoric although lately it’s been literal. I did four house calls yesterday. I also did a private session and taught class at Hatha Yoga Center.

I feel honored to be allowed into someone’s personal sanctuary in order to facilitate their process. It takes me back to the feeling of the old country doctor of medicine, whereas I’m non medical in my approach to holistic counseling.

Do you like some of the old ways? Are you free to incorporate them into this modern world? Ki to Happiness appreciates what serves.

Several years ago circumstances brought about a strong reaction in me toward fleeing. My response was to channel that impulse into slow steady preparation as I gathered more information. The Covid year ground that process to a halt.

Staying put and hunkering down brought me to a soft landing. After all we’ve been through, I revel in the depth of safety Hatha Yoga provides. Circumstances have changed and now my reaction is free from fight or flight. Free from trauma, I embrace my life anew at this depth.

How is your post Covid experience? Have you landed? Ki to Happiness lands in the soft embrace of Hatha Yoga Center.

Sometimes our reliable tools of breath work and meditation need to adjust. When life comes at you with too many demands, shocking changes, and uprooting surprises, all can ricochet within. This is when open eyed meditation may serve.

If it all possible, we allow the open eyes to fix on the stable part of a candle flame. Even watching one on a screen can help, if circumstances don’t allow fire. Keeping the eyes steady, and open, we identify with the stable aspect of our consciousness. Our essence remains, even as surprises shock and disturb our dancing flame. This has helped me bring my breath into rhythmic stability, balancing my mind.

Can you meditate with your eyes closed or open? Are you able to adjust your tools to accommodate your present needs? Ki to Happiness identifies with essence.

Today’s celebration of the Chariot in India includes a large rooster, depicting one of the offsprings of Lord Siva and Parvati. In the east, an 18 wheeled chariot conveys the cosmos through all the changing yugas or epochs and all creatures participate.

Yesterday there was a man dressed in a large rooster costume at our nearby community center. In the west, we think of 18 wheeler’s as semi trucks, delivering goods and hogging the highways during summer road trips. Kids at the center didn’t care about east/west. Semis/chariots.They saw something funny and checked it out.

Can you see the similarities between East and West? When you say something funny can you check it out like the kids? Ki to Happiness checks out the funny stuff in both east and west,

I ventured out to the farmers market yesterday. Like a mirage I kept blinking to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was: People were walking in all directions some hand-in-hand without masks. Dogs pulling leashes sniffing at each other’s butts. Musicians playing their hearts out on sax or fiddles. And Kathleen’s friendly welcome, remembering me from before the masks.

In the wide open I started to melt. My eyes leaked the stress of the pandemic down my cheeks. I gestured to Kathleen for a hug. Her amplitude engulfed all of me as I sobbed. Then I walked on, still whimpering a bit until my first purchase: a crate of mixed berries. Next, sunflower sprouts..squash blossoms…vegan cookies…the back to Kathleen’s for smiles and a great deal!

How are you doing without Covid restrictions? Have you released the trauma from the pandemic? Ki to Happiness releases in the wide open.

My brother’s good news from his surgeon brings relief. He is healing on schedule with no need for further procedures. Our good friend who has helped give him rides to his appointments confirms his report. Her text amplified his report. My mother’s voice on the phone sounds chipper again as my dad plays backgammon with his care giver, no longer stressing about how my brother is.

As a single man who lives alone, perhaps he didn’t realize that not only his coworkers feel the load of his medical leave. Many of us share in it, and now in the relief. No matter how isolated and independent we think we are, we are part of the web of life, interconnecting us all.

Can you feel the relief with me? Were you aware that you were helping me carry my sisterly load? Ki to Happiness shares the good news.