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A blank book. An open road.

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day. -Edith Lovejoy Pierce

A blank book.
An open road.
A new year is about to begin.

I wrote a Christmas letter to myself last week and it underscored the many blissful words I'd written in my journal throughout the year. I can't remember if I began the year with a list of resolutions. If I did, I must have revised them a hundred times.

Over the years the words of Abraham-Hicks have made the most dramatic changes in my life:

Those old habits don't have to be erased, they just become replaced by a new habit that is more in vibrational harmony with who you are and what you want.

In some respects, similar to the instructions I give during restorative yoga classes, "Ease into the pose or your body will resist and it'll take you much longer to relax". In a competitive culture, self-improvement is often self-defeating. We often push so hard against what we don't want that we miss what's naturally flowing through an open window.

This year, I faced the window and enjoyed all the people, places and experiences that came streaming through. Next year, I'd like to actually get into that stream and let it take me to more of what I want.

A blank book.
An open road.
A new year is about to begin.

Photo by Ben Heine

A Christmas Letter to Myself

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.  ~Norbet Platt

As I begin to pack this year up and think about the things I want to take with me into the new year, I thought of making a list of my Best of 2009. In the past, this is the time when I start plotting for the changes I want to make in the coming twelve months, often the result of looking at what I didn't accomplish. This year, I'm going to celebrate and acknowledge myself for what I did get done, first.

I'm sure that my journal pages hold all the evidence I need: trips taken, people I've met, new interests, altered opinions, enhanced yoga poses, etc. There's an impulse to ignore the gains we've made when seeking improvement, so I think I'll write myself a Christmas letter and shamelessly promote myself, to myself.

I have a feeling that it will lead to a completely uncommon entrance into the New Year. Would you like to try it too?



 Photo: eHow.com

The 12 Nights of Christmas, 2009

In 2007, I participated in the Twelve Nights of Christmas as created by Lynn Jericho, from December 25 to January 5. Lynn presented a new theme each day and we were to spend twelve minutes nightly, on each topic.

Inner Christmas is a nightly practice of inner work. I recommend "twelve minutes" of practice each night. Because twelve is the number of completion, "twelve minutes" is however many minutes of contemplative inner work it takes for you to find a new insight or relationship to yourself. You will know you have reached this completion when you feel an inner "aha" or an inner bell starts to chime in your soul. It may come quickly some evenings. Or it may take longer in clock measured minutes.

Remember wonder and wisdom live in questions, not answers. When an answer comes into your thoughts work with it until it transforms into a new question. Do not be surprised to find the cosmic bell ringing in your soul when you find your own questions.

The "twelve minutes" can also be spiritually measured as the time it takes for new light to dawn in your soul, illuminating some new aspect of your life. You begin the practice in the darkness of soul night and end it with the dawning of a new soul day. It is a joy to experience the inner Sun rising in your soul.

In our busy, chaotic lives it is often difficult to devote any time to the stillness of inner work. If all you can manage is the time it takes to read the Twelve Holy Nights' messages, be glad. The spiritual world does not work within the earthly measurements of time and can provide your soul with great renewal in a moment. Read the message with your seeking heart - the love of the spiritual world will meet you. You may find earthly time expands through this openness.

This year, I decided to do the same but utilizing the images created by Penelope Clement, a frequent Kona Yoga attendee, and asked this past Saturday's Yoga for Women class to select the cards/topics. I chose the order that they'll be presented and Penny has graciously sent a brief comment for each card. Each day, beginning Christmas Night and ending on January 5,  I'll post a picture of the chosen card along with comments, insights and suggestions. If you'd like to, here are ways to participate:

• Log on to LessonsInBalance.com to read the day's post.

• Send me an e-mail address that you'd like to have each day's post delivered to (December 25-January 5 only).

• Share your thoughts and opinions through the Comments section.

If anything, check-in to see the twelve striking images that were chosen, sight unseen by six different people. The deck is one of the best gifts I gave myself this year.

Image The High Priestess  by Penelope Clement: "Direct connection to the divine through intuition. The sacred feminine principle. What is your intuition telling you today?" Oil & acrylic, 3'X4'.

I've Got Two Hearts

Being left alone in the studio can be lonely at times. Especially for an exuberant, people-please-me-person as is Moku-wai. In between massage clients yesterday, he picked up his iPhone, stood in front of the mirror and snapped this beautiful picture. I have the perfect song for it (like Sesame Street's "I've Got Two Eyes"):

I've got two hearts. One. Two.

'Cause there's so much to love. One. Two.

I've got two hearts. 'Cause there's so much to love!

Let's see what he comes up with next.

Stepping Stones, Remembered

At the beginning of each week, I try to send an article to Prevention Not Prescriptions, a feature column of the Kathleen Show. It's a forum that's meant to "inform and inspire each other to better health". Sometimes I write a new post, but I often go back into my archives.

Often, I am pleasantly surprised by the memories that surface from something I wrote a year or two ago. For example, Stepping Stones, my submission for this week, was written in December 2007, shortly after Moku-wai Busch broke his ankle.

When I wrote it, I knew that Moku wasn't going to use his injury as an excuse for anything and I was excited at what was about to happen for him. Not that I had any idea what that would be. Read Stepping Stones... 

Seeking Contentment

We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.-Anonymous

Sunlight falling onto the studio floor this time of the year creates big, broad rectangles of warmth. This past Saturday, when I looked out over the bodies at rest in Savasana, these three hands appeared to be reaching for the light. I reached for my iPhone to capture the scene.

As I was cropping the photo and noticed the different hand positions, I recalled how happy I felt as I noticed the sense of calm and release in each person. There was no need for me to adjust arms and flatten out hands that day because, although the poses weren't all physically perfect, the energy in the room was clear and apparent. My job was done and I was content. I'm going to print this photo as a reminder to allow for more contentment along the way.

I think it's programmed in our cellular structure, the fact that we are goal-seeking, action-oriented physical beings. We have a limited number of days to go from point A to Z, from birth to death. We have to get There, that's our trip. But the never-ending part of us, our Spirit, keeps urging us to pause, to rest, reflect and enjoy.

The physical part of us thinks we have to get There in order to be content, while the spiritual part of us is content, no matter what we do.

Now for the question: Which part of me has the leading role?