This new month arrives with gray skies and a promise of rain. The many gifts of July are about to receive a blessing to encourage more growth. Focusing on our abundance attracts more.

Last month, I added some new practices, including envisioning this day. My intention was to navigate the national holiday and family trip without disruption of classes, services, cats and garden. It is as I imagined and intended.

How does the new month begin for you? Is that how you hoped it would be? Ki to Happiness welcomes August and its promise of growth and abundance.

Moving here in the middle of the Covid restrictions stressed us in every way imaginable. Bob had just come through his stroke and was physically unable to be of much assistance. HYC barely managed to continue with our core family of participants as well as remote students.

4 years later, that fiasco has resulted in a great transformation. New students, lots of clients, a lovely garden, and much better tenancy has resurrected HYC, Bob, our cats, and me. What once looked like total disaster has become a source of joy, comfort and healing.

What have the last 4 years meant for you? Have you ever faced fiasco only to find it transmute into fabulous change? Ki to Happiness celebrates 4 years here, having grown in faith to face whatever comes.

I’ve long known that first 45 minutes of our awakening gives us a chance to set the tone of the day before the ego wakes up. That has long propelled me to practice, yoga, meditation, and prayer in the early hours. I learned recently that the first 20 seconds are of paramount importance.

This morning, when the cats wanted me to get up at 3:45, I reacted in alignment with how I want today to go. With the full moon still on us and the beneficial alignment called cazimi of Jupiter and the sun, I responded in gratitude for my life, my cats lives, and a cascade of gratitude for my husband and our compatibility. Yoga, veganism, tea, supplements, cats and our 30 years of relating took over any irritation of the hungry felines as I stayed in bed til 4.

Do you awaken to an alarm? Can you go to bed early enough that you don’t have to so you can start your day in loving gratitude? Ki to Happiness continues to learn new practices to take responsibility for manifesting the life I love to live.

This full moon occurs as the good luck alignment of Jupiter conjuncts the Sun. Manifestation of truth, abundance and societal reset are available. This affects us each differently, depending on our natal astrology and yet all of us benefit.

One astrology uses the image of an egg cracking open, giving birth to new life. That which wishes to be born has grown enough to press from the inside outward, outgrowing its protective shell. What has been hidden within is about to take wing.

How aligned have you been with truth? Can you withstand the releasing of your protective shell to allow the truth to emerge? Ki to Happiness aligns body mind and spirit with the good luck of truth’s abundance in this societal reset.

As over a third of a million Americans are continuing to experience a blackout from the heat wave, Seattle begins this morning at a cool 58°. In the coolness, our garden awaits the gentle rains which are coming. Hatha Yoga Center begins a new day, safe and peaceful.

From here, we extend safety and peace outward. A cool wave of freshness is dawning to heal us all from the horrors of news, the hellacious weather elsewhere, and the divisions rampant in society. Tomorrow’s full moon may cast its cool illumination upon us all so cooler heads prevail.

What energy do you extend outward? What energy do you allow in? Ki to Happiness chooses peace to enter and extends its safety to all.

Today we celebrate the birth of our three cats. Paca, Padma and Paka are 8 years old today. Their companionship has softened many of life’s edges for us and the whole HYC community.

We will celebrate with special food and extra grooming. There will be many cat postures, like every day. Overall, we will rise above the devastating news of the morning in which we learned that there was a shooting at Bite of Seattle as we continue in peace and pray for others.

 Can you allow yourself to practice cat posture today? When there is tragedy, how soon can you find your way to peace? Ki to Happiness chooses peace, joy and healing with my cats showing me the way.

When we lived in the university district, one of the pizza parlors used to toss out extra slices at the end of their shift. I’d walk by in the morning and seeing the discarded food, stop to tear it up. Murders of crows would swoop down together for breakfast.

Walking in our neighborhood yesterday, I saw a whole pizza in its box discarded. Another half pizza in a separate box required shredding. I carried it back to distribute it for our local murder. This morning they are having a pizza buffet, with just the right size bites.

Do you help to clean up your neighborhood? How do you care for the other animals in your area? Ki to Happiness cleans and feeds wherever she goes.

I’ve returned to my sweet home in Seattle where my husband, cats and yoga class greeted me. I unpacked so the cats could smell all the contents of my luggage as class continued. Bob and I checked in, following up on our daily emails to bring me current.

I slept deeply, unsure of where I was upon awakening. Gratitude practice kicked in before I opened my eyes or got oriented. Cats joining me let me know exactly where I am, home with these furry friends and family.

What practice kicks in on its own? What helps you orient? Ki to Happiness orients with gratitude which anchors me Here and Now.

Now that Mercury has gone direct, and the beneficial Barbeau’s basket is upon us, my return trip is secured. I’m all checked in for my flight and my rental car return is confirmed. This successful trip concludes and I am happy to return to my world.

My daily practice has sustained me again. I’m healthy and harmonious with all my relations. I’ll exit from these friends, family members and cats to be reunited with my friends, family members and cats in Seattle.

What practices travel with you? What remains constant even as you change location? Ki to Happiness breathes consciously with her head held high and her heart set on the Everlasting, EveryWhere, EveryWhen.

As I exited my yurt, I learned about the tragic overdose death of one of our extended community members. I shared it with my very alive mother in her house as her assistant arrived, both free from addiction. Together we offered a prayer for the departed as we recommitted to life.

The Upanishads refer to the line between life and death as a razor’s edge. Each breath we take in gratitude keeps us on the Life side of that edge. I left the driveway, breathing in gratitude for my life, my mother’s life and her helper’s as I drove to St.Louis, where my friends and brother and their cats all reinforced our life and lifestyle choices.

Do your choices support your will to live? What changes could enhance your lifestyle? Ki to Happiness changes fear into love with each grateful conscious breath.