Here and Now

  A Yoga Poem   Take a breath Yes Take another but this time pay attention to your ribs as they expand Gathering courage... Feel how your entire body knits itself back together as you exhale Healing... You are connected to yourself Always     This is the part I love... How you can control the rhythm, or just breathe and pay attention   Attention   Stand at attention   Ahhh... Tadasana, Mountain Pose Like breathing it can be simple or complex I t is simple to stand  or is it? Do you shift your weight from side to side? Where are your shoulders? How does your neck feel? There is so much to think about in such a simple pose This is yoga... Standing breathing simply being aware   Just be and breathe...   Angela Minard 2014©

~Artwork by Nishant Dange   It is important for me to feel like I'm helping others, but I don't think I realized how much so, until the beginning of this week when trying to help someone didn't go the way I intended. I immediately realized my mistake when the person reacted to my well-meaning intentions with anger. I apologized because so often when another person comes to you with their pain, all they want is to be heard and comforted. What I tried to do was offer solutions instead of acknowledging their pain, and I still feel horrible about it. The experience has opened up some feelings inside of me that I'm trying to figure out and learn from. I have felt like crying ever since, but have been refusing to give in, as if it would be self-indulgent and weak. My feelings in general have been intense since my first yoga teacher's training weekend. Joy and gratefulness overwhelmed me, and I floated around for an entire week after, p...