Dear Friends, Yogis, Lovers of Life,
As the season turns to Spring, I find myself returning again and again to a quiet but powerful truth:
Nothing we do with sincere intention is ever wasted.
Even the smallest effort toward healing ourselves or another, toward expanded awareness, toward understanding, toward kindness, toward service, all matters. On the spiritual path it is not all or nothing. Practicing any virtue for small moments many times can help move us along; deeper and deeper into the abundance of Love and Peace & Freedom.
And just like in nature, personal growth is not always visible right away. Even now, in early Spring, there is so much happening beneath the surface of the ground. We will behold it once it rises to the surface, reaching for the sun and we will be reminded once again that life prevails, that seeds sprout under the right conditions, and so do we! We may not even realize how much we have matured spiritually until the next time we are in a difficult situation and we watch ourselves respond differently, with more patience or perspective…or with my new favorite word…samabuddhi (even-mindedness).
Our embodied practices like yoga, tai chi and chanting, give us a way to participate in the renewal of the season. We begin to shed what is no longer needed; tension, stagnation, old patterns of holding. As the body and heart soften and open, something else becomes possible; a freshness, a lightness, resilience, the return of some hope and a quiet readiness for what is next.
We don’t have to force or rush the blooming.
We simply create the conditions for it to happen.
So this month, I invite you to “bring the joy forward,” just as this poem by Indigenous Elder Steven Charleston so beautifully expresses. You do this not by waiting for everything to be perfect, but by continuing to show up, with faith, with patience, and with a willingness to keep tending the garden of your life. I would be honored to help you with this by leading you in practice.
Even now, something within you is preparing to bloom.
Sending each of you loving wishes
for peace, health & happiness,
now and always.
Namaste, Rev Shelley
