Friends, what stress and struggles face you? I tell yoga students greater peace and wholeness is never further than a breath away, because the Spirit dwells in the air around us. My wife and I are babysitting three of her son’s grandkids while he and his wife are on an anniversary vacation. While I was alone watching him, their 11-month-old had a complete meltdown. As he continued to screech, nothing I did would comfort him, and I could feel my levels of anxiety and frustration skyrocketing.
So, I paused, placed my hand on his heart as I held him, and took a few slow, deep, mindful inhales of Divine harmony as I reminded him, “Everything is okay.” While this didn’t make everything ALL better, it left us both WAY calmer. In ancient Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Bible, the words for Spirit and breath are the same, because ancient Jews and Christians recognized God is SO constantly with and near us, we can commune with the Divine and receive heavenly blessings with a few mindful breaths.
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus literally says, “Our Father in the heavens”, declaring the Source of life and Love is not only in an otherworldly place, but also in both the stars above and the air we breathe. So, today I invite us to live and breathe with the awareness that Love is all around us!
#love #lovealone #onlylove #family #connection #breath #breathe #heavenishere #yoga
For years, I would NEVER go out in public unless I was showered and put together. I bought into the story that beauty is 100% appearance based. Yet, practicing yoga (especially hot yoga), while more thoroughly absorbing the teachings of Christ, is helping me realize ALL bodies are beautiful because each of us is a place where heaven meets earth. In my blog (easily found on the "Blog" tab via the link in my bio 👆) I reflect on this, how beauty is an inner feeling, and more. Have a look and let us know what you think, if you'd like. :) #love #lovealone #onlylove #shine #bestlife #yoga #bliss #kindness #personalgrowth #transformation #joy #peace #wholeness #upwardspiral #kitsaphotyoga #sweetheatyogakingston #HOBOyoga #blissology #blissarmy #body #thinspace #beauty #bodyisbeautiful #heaven #heavenandearth #heavenmeetsearth #asyouare #comeasyouare #togetherness #youarebeautiful
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! You're incredible and we hope your day is fantastic! Lisa asked me to write a blessing/invitation to read for our families today, like I do for my yoga classes, so I figured I'd share it with you too :) When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand, I think he's at least partially getting at something beyond beliefs and faiths that's universally applicable to us all. It's an invitation to open our eyes and awaken to how AMAZING it is to be alive, how BEAUTY abounds, and that LOVE is all around us. With grateful spirits we then joyously receive:
The miracle of each breath.
The taste of heaven in communal meals.
The flow of loving energy when we hold hands.
The enlivening, calming, and nurturing nature of hugs.
The masterpiece of every sunset.
The hope that comes with the rising sun.
The nourishment of the rain.
The invigorating touch of a cold morning.
The blessing of a smile.
The massage of a warm shower.
The delight of a laugh.
The joy of a rich conversation.
The paradise of good times with good people.
I don't know about you, but I lose sight of how crazy incredible this all is all the time. But what brings me back is gratitude, as naming what we're thankful for creates a WOW for reality in our hearts and fills our spirits with joy. So, I invite you to bring to mind something your grateful for, hold and savor it in your mind's eye for 15 seconds, and let it light you up from the inside out! #love #lovealone #onlylove #shine #bestlife #yoga #bliss #kindness #personalgrowth #transformation #joy #peace #wholeness #upwardspiral #kitsaphotyoga #sweetheatyogakingston #HOBOyoga #blissology #blissarmy
Worn out from working 12 days in a row, feeling the weight of all the things to do and the financial stress of the holidays, and momentarily stuck in "I'm an army of one and have to do ALL the things" thinking, I had a bit of a meltdown the other night. The healing, as it often does, came from simply sharing my burdens with Lisa and talking it out. My wife listening to me well and letting me know she was WITH me, because we're a team, was just the medicine I needed.
This reminds me of a Chinese proverb about heaven and hell. The picture of hell we're given is people seated at a banquet with the best food imaginable and one rule, they can only eat with chopsticks ... which are five feet long! Time and again they try to feed themselves and fail, so there they sit starving and tortured. The picture of heaven is exactly the same, only everyone is healthy, joyous, and laughing ... because they feed each other!
Lady Gaga said when she's feeling unloved, depressed, down on herself, and low, she has a practice with fantastic results: Do something kind for someone else! Getting out of our heads and into our hearts, like this, has the ability to plug us into a current of joy and wholeness bigger than our individual selves. In Blissology, my global yoga family, we say, "Kindness is happiness", and I'm convinced this is True on all levels. So, today I invite us to practice leading with our hearts and sharing kindness like it's oxygen!
#love #lovealone #onlylove #shine #bestlife #yoga #bliss #kindness #personalgrowth #transformation #joy #peace #wholeness #upwardspiral #kitsaphotyoga #sweetheatyogakingston #HOBOyoga #blissology #blissarmy #hell #heaven #chineseproverb #team #relationship #connection #community #togetherness
6+ years ago when I moved to Poulsbo, while I was unpacking, I came across the wedding vows my soon to be ex-wife and I had written for each other. I decided to read them, and I don't know if I've ever been more undone and washed out by grief than in that moment. After that, though, I threw them out, which helped me make space for a wife and life-together more blissful than I knew was possible. It seems to me my process of deconstruction and Christianity has been similar, in that I'm more jazzed by Jesus, in awe of the Divine, and in Love with life today than ever before. You know how when you're super stoked about something you feel like shouting it from the rooftops? My most recent blog, which you can find via the link on my bio 👆on the "blog" tab, is my attempt at that :) #love #lovealone #onlylove #Christ #Christianity #deconstruction #imageofgod #Jesus #creation #nature #beloved #goodness #freedom #problemofevil #grace #gift #redemption #healing #divineecononmy #marginalized #hope #godisforyou #mysticism #cocreators #participatoryuniverse #heavenisnow #universalsalvation
