~ The True Reason I Practice ~

Hello Beloveds,

This morning was wrapped in a gentle, cozy, white veil of fog. Today, like every day in the Andean countryside where I am sheltered, the weather will be an ever-shifting, surprising kaleidoscope. 

Welcoming these weather changes is a practice … to be content in the rain and the sun; to revel in a sunset and a fog coated evening; to bask in the sun-rays and delight in being caught in the rain; to be awed by the brilliance of the Milky Way and to wrap the cloud covered night sky around me like a cloak that draws me into starlit inner realms.

That’s why I practice.

I practice to welcome life just as it’s showing up.  I practice to welcome a night that holds hours of tears as generously as I hold a night of deep sleep. I practice to fully savor the flavor of every emotion and experience. 

I practice to deeply experience all of this life.

I practice to break the addictive habit of yo-yo-ing between “this is good news, now I feel safe”  and “this is bad news, now I have to worry”. 

I practice for presence.

I practice to drop fully into this moment; not to change it, not to seek for a better feeling, not to wiggle away from discomfort. 

With tenderness and compassion, I watch you, dear hearts, as I watch myself.  I still want to run to what feels better.  I still will come to a practice because I want something to change.  I will resist meeting those twisted places Kenneth and I can land in.  I still have times of telling myself, “that didn’t work,” “that wasn’t good enough,” or “that was better yesterday”.    Yep, just like you, I continue to be human.  And I practice to welcome all of this humaness, too, just as generously as I want to welcome this unpredictable ever-changing weather.

So, I continue to practice, for this utter aliveness.

With feet nestled in the dew-kissed grass.
THIS moment is made to be alive in.

Learning to live it all with you,
Sharon

PS …. I had this written and queued, then I received the perfect compliment to this.  You’ll find it below the Resources for Sheltering in Peace. Enjoy.

Her Practice is her sword.
With it, she is wielding her shakti.
She’s falling back into an ancient, familiar knowing
whenever she is in practice.
It is her sacred pause in the rush of life.
She hones it by returning to it again and again.
She’s not upset if some days she feel lifeless with her practice.
She and her practice are building a relationship.
Both are offering themselves to each other.
She falls into a timeless, no mind existence in these moments.
She doesn’t owe anything to anyone here.
An aliveness enters her. This aliveness IS a knowing.
She is returning to nature and nurture.
With her feminine’s intimacy with the Great Feminine
her Dream is returning back to her.
She holds it tenderly in her ‘no mind, no time’ spaciousness.
She can slice through existing realities like a sword with her practice.
This is a non-violent sword. Yet, thorny brambles
that suffocated her life are cut asunder.
Portals are being revealed.
New paths are forming.

~ Sukhvinder Sircar