When We Practice Yoga...

When we practice yoga we take it pose by pose allowing ourselves to, in real time, nurture the philosophy of living in the moment. Each pose offers us a prospective reminder that life is better lived when we understand that this moment is what we have. In the midst of a aligning, adjusting and breathing into the pose, lies the benefit of being focused on the moment at hand. The physical body and the directing mind are the vehicles for that focus.

Tricia Schwaba

Thich Nhat Hanh on Breathing

“Breathing in, I calm my body.” Reciting this line is like drinking a glass of cool lemonade on a hot day—you can feel the coolness permeate your body. When I breathe in and recite this line, I actually feel my breath calming my body and mind. “Breathing out, I smile.” You know a smile can relax hundreds of muscles in your face. Wearing a smile on your face is a sign that you are master of yourself. “Dwelling in the present moment.” While I sit here, I don’t think of anything else. I sit here, and I know exactly where I am.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

I Suppose

I suppose this voice has been in me since before my time on Earth. Once conceived, it guided the timing of my birth — the perfect circumstance for a divine succession, of events that bring lessons that can eliminate my obsessions. I suppose that my parents were chosen specifically for me, the combining of their energies offering me exactly what I need, to evolve into the adult I have so uniquely become, to stand on a mountaintop, beat my solitary drum. I suppose that when I leave the Earth there will be a certain kind of heartache, my energy soaring to another time, another space. I suppose a voice will shed light on what lives on, as I initiate a new orbit with new oceans to make waves upon.

Tricia Schwaba, 2022

Relax

“Learn from this universal truth: By relaxing our bodies, quieting the chatter of our minds, and allowing our hearts to be more sensitive to our situation, we open up to the very inner qualities and resources that can help us grow.” 

ANON

Toni Morrison

“How bleak, unlivable, insufferable existence becomes when we are deprived of artwork. That the life and work of writers facing peril must be protected is urgent, but along with that urgency we should remind ourselves that their absence, the choking off of a writer’s work, its cruel amputation, is of equal peril to us. The rescue we extend them is a a generosity to ourselves. ”
— Toni Morrison