From May 2016 Newsletter

"Paradise has never been about places.  It exists in moments.  In connection.  In flashes across time."

Ahhhh....You know how it feels.  

When you find yourself in a beautiful place, the weather is perfect, you close your eyes and breathe in the fresh air, feel the sunlight shining on your skin, and you have this moment where you think, "Wow.  I feel like I'm in paradise.  Paradise is HERE!"

Yes.  I love those moments too.  And yes, maybe not all moments are this glamorous...but what if they could be?

I've been paying closer attention to my mind lately.  I've noticed suffering, anxiety, and pain when I am attached to the outcome of my experience, or when I am focused on the way that I think things should happen...

Like right now, for example, to the right of my keyboard there sits a very long "To Do List", and a certain something that I had expected to complete in a matter of minutes, has taken me from sunlight to night night, and if I'm honest (which I am), I can feel the threads of stress, frustration and the disappointment, of not having accomplished all that I set out to do in this day, begin to reel me in like a fish hook...does this ever happen to you?

I need a "brain reframe"!

So-- I decide to sit with the discomfort (ahhh, scary!).  As I sit, I become more and more aware of my body's reactions, chest tightening, brow furrowing, mind reeling.  I decide to take a deep breath <inhale> <exhale>, and another <inhale> <exhale>.  I think to myself,  "Ok, paradise is here, paradise is Here, Paradise. Is. HERE."  I keep breathing.  I start to notice that in this moment, I'm listening to really beautiful music, in this moment my puppy rests her head on my foot, in this moment I sit healthy, alive + awake.  In this moment I am free.  

In moments of challenge, what will I choose to give light to?  What will you choose?  How will you reframe your thoughts to support you in your yoga practice + in your life?

We are privileged beings we are.  To see the sun shine each day...

I'll always remember one of my teachers saying to me, "It's a good day to be alive.  If all we do in this day is breathe a little, move a little + sweat a little + laugh a little...it's been a good day."

Enjoy your paradise amidst the chaos my beloveds.

Love + Light,
Harmony