In that liminal space of twilight, the woods awakened. Gone were the busy people intent on a destination to a waterfall, a bridge, a mileage count. Here, the spirits of the woods emerged again to dance.
Thresholds…places of betwixt and between…places of power. Dawn gives way to light and brings hope and illumination. Twilight leads us to deeper and darker places, the richness of the Unknown opens before us and awakens us to the journey inward…deeper into our fears and hesitations.
I entered the water at twilight with the simple intention of coming back into balance. Alignment with all that is. Letting the water caress my feet and hands…coming home to myself. Arriving back ‘in’ Earth.
As I stood in the water at the base of the falls, fireflies began to dance through the cool, night air. They guided me back down the trail as night enveloped me with Mystery.
A subtle urge to change the living area furniture arrangement occurred…again. I haven’t been happy with the configuration since moving in November and have changed it several times. I really like this little mountain home but the design and layout of rooms is quirky and challenging to make it feel balanced.
So furniture was moving all over and Buddy was anxious as the sofa is his bed. Frustration was growing so I stopped and sat down and took a few deep breaths.
I looked around the room. The issue was the main window isn’t centered with the room space. The furniture could be centered with itself or part of it could be centered with the window which made it off-center with the other furniture. Either way, something was going to be out of balance.
From inner silence came this: Forget the window. How do you see a gathering of people in the space? Work with that.
I took the window out of the equation and once I allowed that imbalance to be okay, the room really came together beautifully. Finally.
Everything in life doesn’t have to balance at the same time. Who knew?
I have spent far too much energy in my life trying to make it all work perfectly at the same time. Sometimes is does. But mostly it doesn’t. There will always be something that isn’t in total and perfect balance. Maybe I’m not doing my daily yoga practice but I am eating better. Or perhaps I’m not walking as much but I’m doing yoga. Maybe I feel inspired to write but can’t figure out how to get my creative work out in the world. How much stress do I cause myself by expecting or demanding it all to be in perfect balance?
The quirky house is teaching me it really is okay to be a bit out of whack in some areas of my life. It’s time to celebrate what is in balance and stop stressing over the stuff that isn’t quite there yet.
I was standing at the barre on tip toe on one foot with the other leg and foot straight out behind me pulsing little pulses down and back up. My legs were screaming and shaking and I wasn’t confident I could complete the set. I refocused and went deeper into my muscles and pushed even higher on my toes.
Sweat was more than glistening as I completed that part of workout and felt strength surge through me. “YES! I made it!”
Driving home I contemplated my Pure Barre workout. Why is it I feel so good afterwards? My mind is clear, my body feels open and pleasantly fatigued, and I find a new sense of balance each day. My daughter insists that the 55 minutes a day helps her maintain focus and think of nothing else for that precious hour. I agree.
With busy lives we tend to focus on everything outside ourselves….jobs, school, kids, relationships, environmental issues, social issues….an endless list of potential distractions. All are important but sometimes hard to ‘turn-off’ in our minds. What Pure Barre is teaching me is to connect deeply with my core, to be physically and mentally in sync.
And as is so often the case, my current spiritual study theme is being mirrored in the physical, day-to-day life. This week the task is to do everything with intention–to focus full attention on everything I do. An intense task. I realized in class today the intensity of my focus and ability to communicate with one muscle or a small area of muscle boosts my spiritual practice. When I am able to surrender my mind completely to the task at hand, I can make it through those challenging workouts.
By putting everything I have into the task in front of me, I can see amazing results. Whether in my body, my mind (thoughts, focus) or spirit.
The other major teaching Pure Barre is helping me learn is that the most important relationship I can have in this world is the one with myself. Not from a selfish point of view but from a point of balance. If I am balanced and aware of what’s happening within me, I can be clearer in my relationships with everyone else. And so I finally understand this truth: This time of my life is to develop a very deep and healthy relationship with myself…body, mind, spirit. End of story.
Whatever clicks for each of us is where we can focus our attention…our intention….and become healthier, happier individuals. As for me, you’ll find me focusing with intention and gratitude at my local Pure Barre studio. (Disclaimer…nobody is soliciting my writing or paying me to share my process….this is my wild heart fired-up with something that is working for me).
