Bridle the Beast, From the Archives

Art Source: Finartamerica.com

Art Source: Finartamerica.com

It’s the piece that stays with you 

The one that won’t leave

The annoying brat that 

Tugs at your sleeve

The haunting memory 

That painful episode

The awkward rendezvous

That makes your head explode.

That which stays with you 

Is the thing to examine

To gain some insight 

To shift what will happen

So instead of the torment

You are blessed with release

Make peace with your past

Bridle the beast

From that moment on 

Your days you may find 

More peaceful and freer

As the tension unwinds

You may be astounded 

By the expanse it creates

The gray of despair 

Now colored with grace. 

Tricia Schwaba, 2011

Yoga Closing 7/31/20

art source: Anon

art source: Anon

The buddhists speak of developing an abiding calm. A centeredness that is unshakeable. Like a tall tree so rooted in the Earth that great winds cannot topple it. This for me is the image of contentment. It means not riding the waves of the ups and downs of life. It means that we not only agree to what is in the moment, we welcome it. It means that in all the noise and demands of modernity, we stay in the abiding calm center. This is the mastery of life that contentment invites us into. The practice of gratitude and “non-seeking” can help us stay rooted in this jewel.

From Deborah Adele’s book The Yamas and the Niyamas

Bring Out Your Voice, From the archive.

art source: Anon

art source: Anon

Bring out your voice

We have no choice

We can manifest change

Rid the world of the deranged

Don’t be the one to cower

Take cover when it starts to shower

Be the one soaked to the bone

Whose stamina stands alone. 

The wind howls, the branches creak

This world it seems, is not for the meek

In times like these might’s in demand

No choice but for you to take a stand.

Tricia Schwaba, 2020

Clear Bright Blue

Screen Shot 2020-07-15 at 1.02.45 PM.png

I venture into the gray of the morn,
offering a dreary day.

My thoughts though, are vibrant, clear bright blue,
a nudge from my angels I pray.

Living this life is a match sometimes;
the dark can slam me to the ground. 

A shift in perspective is the merciful unwinding
of all the fear I have bound. 

The farther I venture from the day I was born
the brighter my purpose it shines,

Appreciation for the day before me
& gratitude for this life that is mine.  

Tricia Schwaba June 2020

My Safe Pocket

art source: safespace.com

art source: safespace.com

I sit in my safe pocket of this ailing planet

Want to gain insight, take nothing for granted

I shiver at the notion that I may appear 

To be grasping at straws that aren’t really there.

This insistent urge prompts me to sustain

This practice that leaves me naked, in pain

The notion that for some I may seem trite

Is one I wrestle with in the middle of night.

Yet go on, I do, at the risk of revealing

How distant I am from the exquisite healing.

My scars are many and I pretend not to see

My forgiving reflection as it stares back at me.

Those times I was cruel, thought myself above

The truth clear now, too far from self love

God takes my heart and breaks it wide open

It’s contents spill out stiff and frozen

My pains and regrets so tender and raw.

With warmth of love & acceptance, they thaw.

Tricia Schwaba May 2020

Tender Mercy

art source: anon

art source: anon

Tender mercy offered in kind

Focus the vision follow the signs 

Feel the beat resonance sweet

Rhythmic redemption cooling the heat

Energy in particles energy in waves

Soothe the sorrow karma erased

Open the portal to a new perspective

Colors alive, gratitude reflected

Mystery in tact walk through the door

And Earthly desires are burdens no more.

Tricia Schwaba, July 2020

 

Yoga Closing 7/17/20 Shakti Gawain

artwork source: Sherry Mayle

artwork source: Sherry Mayle

“As channels for the Universe, we must have available, a full range of expression and emotion. If the higher power tells us to leap, we must be able to leap without stopping to ask questions. If it tells us to wait, we must be able to relax and enjoy the space of non-activity until the next message comes. We will always be pushed to explore aspects of ourselves that are less developed to express and experience ourselves in new ways. If we ignore these inner impulses we will be forced by external life circumstances to explore our inner being anyway. One way or another our higher self makes sure that we get the message of what we have to do. We may have to go from one extreme to the other until we come into balance.
You can expect that your intuition will lead you in directions that are new and different for you. If you are comfortable in one type of personality or pattern, you will probably be asked to start expressing the opposite. It’s good to know this, especially when you’re in the process of learning to hear your inner voice. A good rule might be to, expect the unexpected.”

Clear Bright Blue

Screen Shot 2020-07-15 at 1.02.45 PM.png

I venture into the gray of the morn,
offering a dreary day.

My thoughts though, are vibrant, clear bright blue,
a nudge from my angels I pray.

Living this life is a match sometimes;
the dark can slam me to the ground. 

A shift in perspective is the merciful unwinding
of all the fear I have bound. 

The farther I venture from the day I was born
the brighter my purpose it shines,

Appreciation for the day before me
& gratitude for this life that is mine.  

Tricia Schwaba June 2020