Time Brings Me Nothing

This hour is holy.  Why?  Because I choose to be wholly in it.  No pun, please.  Summer in New England is precious because there is never enough except when we stop to be it, to match our spirit to its own. Part of summer’s sacred-Self is that it removes longing for an unknown future.  My prayer is that a minute from now, two days from now, it will still be now.  That indeed is a holy indictment, one where I remain alive and present only to being in this now.  I’ve noted that when future circumstances, or a sense of anticipation, or anxiety rise up that ‘the now’ freezes and disappears.  It’s like a film, running across the eyes obliterating the present repast.  What was an exquisite moment of ‘being’ becomes ‘what does my ego want?’ What will these unknown circumstances require? What will I compare them to? How shall they affect the coming days?

Time brings me nothing.  To wait for something creates an energy of not having.  Time is not continuous.  That view is only superimposed by looking back.  Time is deceptive, as we think there is something more than ‘now.’ Only by comparison do we think we had a happy time or a sad time.  When we compare, the ego lives loudly, not a bad thing, just a smaller point of view.  When we compare, we are not peaceful.  There is always that sense of this is better than that.  I like her more than him.  I wish I were back there, not here.  Anticipating a future moment assumes that time will stop when it arrives.  My plans will be served.  I will be happy then.

We cannot make time work.  We can only be so fully present that past and future are holy within us, opening every cell, perhaps awakening dormant dreams that were impatient within for something special to happen so they could emerge, like when I’ll be rich, then I’ll be safe.  I will be famous, then I’ll be respected.  I will be…you fill in the blank.  What if in this moment, you and I are the sum of every part, and everything we are waiting for can give birth when we allow ourselves to be?  When every moment is holy, we are awakening.

As a child, I waited for Christmas.  As a transplanted Californian, I waited for summer in MA.  As a Yogini, I am done with waiting.  (I know, I hear you laughing.  You’ll have to help me on this.  It’s all Practice, no?)  So I shall laugh whenever I observe the old patterns of waiting to unwrap presents, or expecting each bud to flower, or hoping tree frogs will sing at dinner, and praying more honeybees will come along with flocks of hummingbird and butterfly to sup from my color-laden tables.  My Practice is to see, to appreciate, to compare less, to spend fewer moments wishing something to be more fabulous than it already is.  The more I become this moment’s  sacred vessel, their sacred vessel, the more I am my own.  (*These thoughts were stimulated by reading  “There Is a Place Where You Are Not Alone” by Hugh Prather.)

Pose With Seasonal Energies

The Lizard Queen, photo by Nancy Mandile

Asana: Kapyasana, or Anjaneyasana, or Lizard Pose; they all equate to a low lunge. From Down Dog, step the R front foot as far forward as possible, lowering the back L leg down on the floor.  Lift the torso and lengthen into a back bend.  This is a wonderful summer pose as it softens the body into the earth, offering a sense of grounded peace.  Let the spine lengthen back gently, lifting the heart to open.  Notes of awareness include: keeping the tail bone down, don’t over-stretch the groin muscles, lifting internally as the muscles open and soften the body down helps stabilize the core. Make sure back leg is rotated in, top of foot on floor, and that the head doesn’t drop back, but the neck lengthens back as part of the natural line of the spine.

Health Notes: This is a helpful pose for runners, rugby players, tennis players, and dancers, anyone who over- uses their leg muscles.  It can help with sciatica, it keeps the spine elastic, and tones the abdominal organs.

Astrology Notes: As I wrote last week, we are in Leo territory, whose ruler the Sun, has domain over the heart and spine in the physical body.  People with strong Leo energy tend to be fixed so it is doubly important to remain physically flexible less the body become arthritic.  The heart of a Leo can be a wonderful thing when opened to its full capacity for it is generous, life affirming, joyous, and childlike in its pleasure.  Like turning toward the Sun, we all gravitate toward the best of Leo expansiveness.

Note that Mercury just turned retrograde for coming three weeks.  Pay extra attention to important communication, especially contracts. Try not to buy cars or computers.  Making communications even foggier is a retrograde Neptune standing in opposition to Mercury. Double check your facts, go inward, review, re-invent, re-consider before moving out into the world.

Ayurvedic Notes: Pitta bodies can take the same advice as that offered for this Mercury retro period.  Getting over-heated from going too hard and fast ain’t gonna work.  As a famous Spanish poet once advised, ‘eat cold plums under the moon.’  Both the Moon and plums being cooling agents and wonderful balances to Pitta’s fiery, dry constitution.