These days there’s much debate about big brother. As we lose privacy and have more restrictions on freedom, rebels resist. Like little kids, pouting and tantrums threaten.
My own big brother instead loves his privacy and freedom, so he always has allowed me mine. That’s how I can also let him have his! On his birthday, today, I wish him happy freedom and privacy.
Do you have siblings? How does your answer effect your relationships to others? Ki to Happiness is a sister to all.
Tomorrow is my big brother’s birthday. Instead of visiting with him and being the annoying little sister that I have most often been in his life, I am respecting his private time to celebrate as he wishes.
When we were kids, mom made a lot of our clothes. His birthday marks the end of summer, the return to school, and the wearing of corduroy, jackets, jumpers and jodhpurs.
What memories come up for you on the Labor Day weekend? Can you celebrate your way? Ki to Happiness feels the texture of time.
All these months of restrictions have necessitated live streaming our Hatha Yoga Center classes. Now I am in the second month of daily posting my push-ups. I have been seen by many people. Old friends from grade schools, all the way up through graduate programs, family members I’ve never met, yoga students and trainees from around the world and lots of strangers. Thousands.
I balance that with lots of time being unseen. Getting up early in the morning long before my husband, only the cats witness my practices. Most days I find my way into the unseen world of the woods. I sleep alone, with my own private dreams.
How much time do you spend being seen? Unseen? Ki to Happiness shares the gifts of the unseen when it’s time to be seen.
As Covid continues to dominate our society, many are reporting an increase in body dysphoria. Restricted movement, limited options in food, and plenty of stress eating in our pajamas has resulted in weight gain for many. That, together with fear of the virus and all that goes with it has us feeling less at home in ourselves.
In yoga practice, we release the traumas of life and enter the body. Finding breath and freedom of movement stimulates biochemistry of euphoria. Aligning our body with the energies of the earth brings us safely back home to ourSelves.
Where are you on this continuum? Toward dysphoria or euphoria? Ki to Happiness chooses safe practice that facilitate conscious alignment.
I love this month as the seasons begin to shift. I am in tune with this fullness of summer’s bounty. I look forward to the harvest, even from my urban home and yoga studio.
Like the leaves at this time of year, at age 60 I am beginning to show my true colors. Less green, more honest, direct and golden! Many fruits await picking from this long growing season.
What’s your relationship to the seasons? Do you have a preference? Ki to Happiness prefers the cyclic nature as the seasons change like we do.
Years ago I danced in a post modern company. We used double strung trapezes on which we performed contact improvisational duets. We learned the hard way to let go of one trapeze before we reached for the next one.
I just finished my month-long 25 push-ups a day challenge for the leukemia and lymphoma society. Letting go of that trapeze I reached towards the pancreas cancer society. I will use the momentum of the last successful challenge to reach for the next one.
What challenge have you completed? Can you use that success to face your fears and move forward? Ki to Happiness delights between challenges.
August 1, I started doing 25 push-ups a day. My goal was to contribute 775 of them to the leukemia and lymphoma challenge. Thanks to Bob’s birthday encouraging me to do 25 backbend push-ups, I’ve already met my goal. A day early!
I am so uplifted by the community and the activity that I plan to continue. I use it as a chance to do Bastrika breathing. Cleansing my solar plexus and strengthening my open heart is a great way to start every day!
Have you set any goals lately? What is required to meet them? Ki to Happiness shares the joy of accomplishment.
Being able to learn from other people’s experience saves us from having to make the kind of mistakes that have already occurred. As society changes into something unfamiliar, there are those who are wanting to return to the land, to get away from it all, and live a life of humble sustainability.
Robin Wright’s movie, Land, shows us what that may be like, saving us the trouble. I appreciate her efforts. In gratitude, I land right where I am.
Do you allow yourself to learn from others? Or do you need to learn everything on your own? Ki to Happiness learns and learns.
I spoke with my old friend yesterday. We met in Hawaii nearly 30 years ago. I was fresh from the mainland then. I learned the expression “talk story” from the locals. Sharing the contents of our hearts heals each other from a sense of isolation.
In psychotherapeutic counseling, the professional is to refrain from sharing personal material. Discernment is imperative. Then, a story well lived and shared may be therapeutic.
With whom do you “talk story “? Is it time to reach out? Ki to Happiness looks forward to next time we talk story.
After a year of study, revision, and editing my memoir, my team and I took time for celebration. There were several things as well to commemorate with each of us going through much in the past 12 months.
So refreshing to have a change of scenery and a social occasion. For a couple of hours the encroaching pandemic of fear and control was replaced with deep sharing of life’s significant moments: marriages, divorces, wars, court cases, manuscripts.
Are you current with your celebrations? Can you find a safe way to acknowledge your progress? Ki to Happiness usually celebrates privately.