I was thinking the other day that I should start some sort of regular, once a week feature on this blog. Actually, {tinniegirl}, who is hosting Blogtoberfest, suggested it in a recent post. So this morning, in that space between awake and asleep, an idea appeared: three truths and one wish.
Then I had to figure out what day to post this feature: Monday is typically viewed as the beginning of the week, and Friday as the end. Then there’s Sunday, the sacred day of rest. But, today is Tuesday. I want to do it today. Then I thought: Tuesday = T = Three Truths. Wednesday, the next day = W = Wish. Tuesday, truth, is now, and Wednesday, a wish, is that future that will come after, what will follow truth. Perfect. Tuesday it is. And, dear reader, please be aware that this magic math is the only kind I can perform.
Truth: I love books and reading. I am a bibliophile, a person who collects or has a great love of books. I am usually reading 2-5 at any given time, a bad habit I developed in graduate school.
Truth: My favorite things to read are coming of age or redemption narratives, creative non-fiction or fiction, either one.
Truth: I also love reading about people and the dogs they love.
Wish: To publish a memoir about my own coming of age and redemption, including the dogs I love.
In light of this list, Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net just wrote a post called “How to Read More: A Lover’s Guide” that you might be interested in.
One of my current favorite yoga poses is chakrasana, or wheel pose, sometimes also called upward or raised bow pose.
If I am feeling depressed, I can go into this pose and find relief. This pose causes an opening, a stretch, a clearing of space in my solar plexis, the spot above my belly button, but below my heart, or what’s known as the manipura chakra, our power center. The psychological functions associated with this chakra are personal power, will, knowledge, wit, laughter, mental clarity, humor, optimism, self-control, curiosity, and awareness; the emotions are purpose and sunshine, (http://www.chakraenergy.com/chart.html).
I was told once by a writing teacher that this is the spot where you find truth, somewhere between your heart and your stomach. I find that this is the place where I can tap into my intuition. In my Mondo Beyondo class, we were asked to consider a time when we listened to this wisdom and it “totally paid off.”
Now. Right now. And here. It was intuition, the flutter of butterflies in my stomach so powerful it lifted me on to my toes, that brought me right into this very moment.
I stand firmly planted on my two bare feet. My yoga mat has a hole in it, but don’t think it’s because I am sloppy or don’t take care of my things. My dog Obi, who I lost to cancer almost two years ago, chewed this hole in my yoga mat when he was just a puppy, before he understood what the mat meant. He’d later learn that it meant time to curl up and watch, or to join in with a few downward dogs of his own. But at that earlier moment, it just looked like a big purple chew toy.
I listened to my intuition about my yoga practice. One day, I was the only one who showed up for my Monday morning, 6:30 a.m. class, so I got a private session with Niight Wind. I had been practicing yoga for almost four years at the time, but when Niight asked me to set an intention at the beginning of class, and “be here, be brave” floated up from that spot in my solar plexis, my whole yoga practice changed. I am here, and I am learning to love myself because I listened to my own intention, and because a wonderful teacher invited me, opened up the space and offered her support.
I listened to my intuition when I made decisions on Obi’s behalf in terms of his cancer treatment: to try chemo, to stop chemo, and ultimately to let him go. I would stare into his big brown eyes, and listen to that center of truth in my own body, and I would do what I knew was right, even as it broke my heart into a million tiny pieces.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 