Quan Yin (also spelled Kwan Yin) is the female Buddha of Compassion.

 Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey hosted a 21 day free meditation experience featuring the theme "Manifesting Grace through Gratitude." Each day a mantra was suggested that was specific to that day's Centering Thought. For example, one day's meditation was about recognizing that grace flows to and through me. The mantra spoke to one of the core elements of my own spiritual practice.

The mantra was "Twam Eva Mata," which means "The Universe is our Mother."

I became aware of Quan Yin during my advanced certification with Integrative Yoga Therapy. I had never heard of her until her name came to me as I sat in meditation after a deep yoga nidra session. I had to find someone who knew how to spell the name and then wait until I returned home to do research. There were no smart phones, lap tops or ipads at that time. You had to be at a computer to go on the internet.

It was worth the wait. Quan Yin is the only...

The sun sets. The sun rises. Whether we want it to or not, life goes on. Whether my plans manifest as reality or not, life goes on. As I wrote in my last blog, plans either work out or they don't. After many hours of facing and owning my disappointment, frustration, sadness, grief - it's been fun, hasn't it?!  Yes, I am capable of sarcasm.

Here is one of the major lessons I learned from this past year:  I have no control on whether or not my dreams and plans actually happen. i do, however, have a choice of how I respond in either case.

If my plans work out, I can stay in the moment and have a blast. If my plans fall through, I can stay in the moment and accept and process my very natural disappointment. Then I can say to myself "Well, that didn't work out so what do I want to do now?" This is the first step in consciously creating my own life by living fully in the present moment...which gives birth to the next moment(s).

Life goes on whether my plans unfold or not. I...

Once again I am feeling free to be me...well, beginning to feel free to be me. I live in Burbank and a week ago we reached just over 50% of our population being vaccinated. Yes!! Herd immunity, here we come! Can you tell I'm excited?

As we emerge more and more fully into personal freedom, there will be challenges - like shopping in a store rather than online or planning a trip that involves flying for the first time in over a year. Things we did without thinking will now make many of us nervous. That is perfectly natural after many months of giving up our freedom in order to allow time for vaccines to be developed, numbers to drop, etc. A close friend & I laughed on the phone recently about how we thought planning would mean something would actually take place - now we know better. Oh, we will still have fun dreaming and planning; we just won't be surprised if or when plans don't materialize into experiences. This is not a bad thing. It is simply more realistic.

Join me!...

From a very young age I felt a resonance with the Native American people. As an adult I have been blessed and influenced by various Native American Teachers. One of those is Jamie Sams, a member of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca Nation. She is a medicine teacher and healer who has studied the traditions of many nations and who has respectfully brought those teachings to those of us not born into them.

One of her teachings that brought balance to my life is found in her book titled "Sacred Path Cards." The teaching is simple, clear, and beautiful. For those of us who tend to take on too much or care too much, this teaching can bring us balance and protect us from doing harm to ourselves. Her words say it best and what follows are direct quotes from pages 255-259 of her book. My understanding is that each woman made her own burden basket so she determined its size and capacity.

Native women were never asked to bear a burden heavier than their Burden Basket could handle. When the Burden...

One of the cards in Daniel Levin's box of "Zen Cards" says

Right Speech

Say little.

But when you speak,

utter GENTLE words

that touch the heart.

Be TRUTHFUL.

Express kindness.

Abstain from vanity.

This is The Way.

Contact me with questions, appointment requests, or whatever is on your mind and heart:   [email protected] Please consider joining my online meditation group

I begin to be free of all that is not me

Letting go the shame

now flowing without aim

Seeking, Searching deep within

releasing the darkest sin

I begin to be free of all that is not me

Old voices may cry within my mind's eye

But True Self's voice now makes each choice

As I begin to be free of all that is not me

Contact me with questions, appointment requests, or whatever is on your mind and heart:   [email protected] Please consider joining my online meditation group

"Kindness expresses the gentleness of the soul."

This quote is from a meditation series by Deepak Chopra & Oprah Winfrey, titled "Expanding Your Happiness." Deepak Chopra uses it as the centering thought on Day 11 of this series.

When I heard him say this, I was flooded with memories of a little girl living on Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico. She went to a little Catholic school in town from kindergarten halfway through third grade. She was lithe and shy and had dark curly hair and soulful eyes. This little girl felt and understood things she had no words for and she loved easily and openly. Others had a deep and natural inclination to protect her. One of the nuns took her mother aside when she was in first grade and told her that she had been given a very special child to raise. The little girl's mother agreed. The nun went on to say that God had his hand on this child. Years later the mother would tell her teenage daughter how that had frightened her. The teenager...

Early this morning my mind and heart are filled with bird song. I hear them every morning but this morning I am filled with their song. As I open the blind on my kitchen door, the song of mourning doves fills the air. I see two perched on the wall just outside and am enamored by their soft beauty. A few moments later I hear birds in the front and quietly walk toward the large window in my living room. I expect to see a flock of small birds in the bushes but there are just two house wrens on the porch across from me. Two! The male is strutting his stuff as the female watches. Their chatter makes me laugh because it is way bigger than they are! I smile broadly and shake my head. Sweet beings.

Their song chases all thought from my mind and I am immersed in it, not knowing how many different kinds of birds sing, not seeing them, just hearing their presence. Birds just live. They fly, they feed, they sing, they chatter,they breed, they build nests and raise their young. They go...

Are you aware when you make eye contact with someone? Do you really see that person? If it is a stranger, perhaps the cashier at a grocery store or restaurant, do you notice the color of their eyes? Are you aware of their Inner Being or just their outward appearance?

We've all heard it said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. It is true. In yoga we do eye gazing as part of our practice. For many people it is extremely uncomfortable. For some, it is an opportunity to connect with another without words. You simply soften your face, your eyes and your gaze and look, without interruption, into that person's eyes.

As you stand or sit across from each other in silence, barriers begin to fade and a gentle awareness arises. This is a soul manifesting in a body. This is a Being seeing you through the portals we call eyes. You become aware of your own eyes as portals. You feel the Being, the soul that you are, seeing through the portals of your own eyes. The two of you are allowing...

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. Yep. And that was it for me; not one more moment of sleep after that. Mercy!  That day I rested and felt slightly less fuzzy. Mostly I hoped the hours would pass quickly until I could go to bed.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? Did I have something important on my mind? No. Was there a problem that needed to be solved immediately? No. I just woke up and stayed awake. I used lavender essential oil. I meditated. I rested. Nothing returned me to sleep. At least I have learned not to go crazy when this happens and I am profoundly grateful I do not have to go to work after an early wake-up like that. Been there, done that. I have also learned that, for me, reading or getting up and doing something is counter-productive. It only teaches my body and mind to wake me up every morning at that time.

These experiences have been quite profound in teaching me to go with the flow of life and simply be in the moment. There are times when I drift into a deep and...