Heavenly Instructions

Let us evolve as the heavens instruct: At sunrise, burst with light upon a new day; at each monthly new moon, surrender to the darkness of renewal; at the four seasonal crossroads of Solstice and Equinox, set road-maps of intention, and re-balance. Heaven and earth propose opportunity after opportunity for new life. Jim Harrison said, “Listen to the gods. They’re shouting in your ear every second.”

As the ancestors knew, relationship to Gaia’s innate wisdom is paramount to earthly survival. We ignore her directions and gifts at our peril. The faster she spins, the greater our need for her proffered moments of re-charge: morning birth, new moon dying, quadrant shifts to point the way, and in between, passion. When we throw ourselves deeply into life, we must take time-out for regeneration.

We are of the earth as well as on the earth. She is our mother and instructs brilliantly, if we would but listen. In these fading days of summer she says rest. Lin Yu-T’ang wrote, “If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” This is the Yoga of balance, the Yoga of strong Practices.

Asana: Hanumanasana/The splits. This is a lovely pose to do on the grass, sinking toward the soil, contemplating great thoughts, and surrendering the ‘shoulds’. Prop the legs and groin with soft pillows if the muscles are not yet long enough. They will be with practice. Try to keep the hips flat, facing front, back leg rotated in. Bring hands to the heart in the Angeli Mudra and offer Mother Earth her moment of gratitude.

Health Notes: This pose lengthens and strengthens abductor muscles of thighs and groin, helps with sciatica, and gives one a sense of being young again. When did you first do the splits, or want to? If we allow the ‘should’ of the pose to vanish, and attend only to being pleased with the effort, then peace rises as we settle down.

Astrology Notes: Virgo expresses the opposite of Leo’s desire to command. She serves. In Libra, the following sign, Leo/Virgo give and take are asked to balance. Like the Virgin, Virgo seeks to be opened by the force, or passion of life. They have rich inner material, she is the harvest after all, and Virgo energy works diligently to refine and express her harvest.

Ayurvedic Notes: Ayurveda teaches time and again that we are all part of the Cosmic Consciousness, and as pieces of that Universal Intelligence, we need only tap into the intelligence within to heal our imbalances and relationships. Virgo energy is very involved with the ability to heal by refining the system, addressing issues in a daily, orderly fashion, especially issues of relationship. Both Ayurvedically and Astrologically clarity and love are required for communication with the body, the earth, the Cosmos, the family, friends, and work. Taking time-out to stretch upon the earth, and open the heart to all our relationships is a perfect Pitta/Virgo Practice.