Earlier Dawn

Earlier dawn: 

we are just a few days away from an earlier dawn, clocks springing forward by an hour and an extra hour of sunlight gained. This means that my long walk through winter's darkness soon ends, I'll catch the first hint of dawn as I begin my walk and end in the full display of sunrise. Physically, this will be much better for me, getting more direct sunlight to the eyes increases a valuable hormonal response that helps regulate our circadian rhythm as well as other healthful benefits. I'm also looking forward to the stir of more life, more wildlife on the move with light, some waking while other, more nocturnal creatures begin to retreat to their dens to wait out the long hours of the day. 

we're just a few hours from an earlier dawn.

and so much will change. 

more truly, this has been creeping up slowly for some time now, from a first increase of just a few unnoticed seconds, to three minutes of extra light each morning. There's been a soft glow of ambient light at the end of my walks for several days, and I hear the early call of song birds, dawn chorus, trading notes sparingly, as if in practice the full sunrise. When you walk through every season there comes a keen sense to these morning trends, developed through deep listening and being ever watchful. But of course daylight saving time is quite a leap forward, an entire hour gained that throws me slightly off my rhythm. With this I soon leave full darkness behind and will begin my walks with a first hint of sunlight as my guide. No longer wandering through the dark. 

I'll miss it though. 

walking through winter's darkness is a cold, but healing balm, an opportunity to retreat from the busier paths of spring and embrace a more solitary approach to life. At least for a season. In a way it's a much deeper circadian rhythm, an annual cycle of exploring the dark and all it offers and then emerging to the light with valuable secrets gained from these excursions. My preference would be without an hours leap forward, to go by nature's own time, slower, allowing the light to find me in just the right moment I'm ready to emerge.  Maybe one year, when I'm no longer bound by any sense of conventional time, I'll simply ignore the leap all together and set my course by nature's time. 

until then...

I enjoy my last few hours of the morning's darkness,

walking my towards an ever earlier dawn,

~

Peace, Eric 

In Early Spring Rain

In Early spring rain: 

it's been a rainy season so far,  being the first week of March and what's considered the meteorological start of spring. Tradition holds that this month comes in harsh and leaves winter in it's wake, leading us to the more pleasant days of April. But I find that I don't mind this cold rain, especially on my earliest morning walks, with so few daring to make it outside beyond a quick dash to their car for their commute to work - the world along the wooded paths of my neighborhood are completely mind. 

solitary excursions in early spring rain. 

it's a gift from nature.

this winter has been quiet different for me, there's been a lightness in regard to the weather that I've never experienced before, as if a long held mood since childhood has suddenly been lifted and I'm completely free of its hold. Of course my preference is still towards the warmer days of late spring and summer, but it seems that I've grown into some lighter nature, accepting just what the day brings without descending into darkness. Why and how this has happened I cannot truly say, perhaps a near lifetime of yoga and meditation practice has altered my response in some neurological way, by brain producing just the right hormones now to keep me even keeled. Or it could be age and a growing sense that everyday is, and has always been, a gift from nature, each one to be cherished in its own way. 

what I find is that I love my solitary excursions in early spring rain, drops that hold just a touch of an icy feel, gust of wind that chill past every layer of clothes and that it's these conditions that grant me this occasion. I think at a certain point in life, for some maybe sooner than my middle years, our appreciation deepens past the points of personal preference and we discover the gift of everyday, no matter what it offers. Or maybe more truly, for exactly what it's giving. 

perhaps the only thing that's really changed...

is my willingness to receive. 

~

Peace, Eric 

A Yogic Lifestyle

A yogic lifestyle: 

my days are mostly filled with meditation, breathwork and easy asana practice, writing, and walking in nature. It's a quiet life, simple, exactly what I wish for right now. I'm fortunate that I inherited a house and have just a little bit in savings and that I'm working hard to ensure that I can maintain this way of living through efforts of my own creative energy. I'm not sure if it's possible - but I'm trying. For me, this is an ideal path, it's a yogic lifestyle, and by that I simply mean it's full of curiosity and commitment to what life brings to me here, without need or desire to chase things without true value. 

a yogic lifestyle is a path of inner simplicity. 

by no means is this is prescription for others, I've no wish to tell others how to live their lives, nor direct them as to what their own values should be. But I do believe that many of these practices, meditation, breathwork, time in nature, as well as small commitment to a creative endeavor would add a great deal of joy and healthy benefits to people's lives. I'm often asked if I teach yoga, and while I am a meditation teacher, a certified breathwork coach, as well as a yoga instructor, my answer is no. I just write and talk about my life, sharing my own yogic lifestyle that would be very different than all others. 

it's what only works for me. 

my unique circumstances. 

and my strong desire for a path of inner simplicity. 

there's another path for each of you.

and my hope is that it provides you the same amount of joy that life is offering me right now. A yogic lifestyle is really living life within the perimeters of values yoga offers, again being a commitment to health, drawn towards an exploration of who we truly are, and living in a compassionate manner towards others. It doesn't really matter if we do a single asana or sit in meditation - 

but only that we find joy,

and that it overflows naturally and easily to the world. 

~

Peace, Eric 

A Purposeful Smile

A Purposeful smile: 

there are many benefits to a purposeful smile, not forced, but brought to the lips with an intent to heal both mind and body while nourishing the soul. Not only that, but offering a smile to others as a practice, a spiritual gift, could actually change the world. One of my yoga instructors would often to allude to the healing power of a smile, reminding us to gently curve our lips through the completion of the pose, a reminder to relax and place the emphasis less on effort and more on the grace of easy motion. And noted Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hahn based a series of mindfulness meditations on smiling, knowing how powerful this action truly is. 

in troubling times, maybe the best we could do for ourselves and others...

is simply smile. 

a purposeful smile doesn't mean that's it's not genuine, we bring it to our lips with a sincerity to feel better, only wishing ourselves and others an opportunity to heal. This is no small gift as our intent is rewarded with the release of serotonin and other natural mood altering hormones, almost instantly relieving stress and lowering our blood pressure. As well, our immune function improves with the relief of stress, we're inducing a deep healing ritual that begins in the immediacy of our smile.  

spiritually, a genuine smile is a gesture of love, as St.Teresa of Calcutta wrote "peace begins with a smile" and this is what we offer each other through this act of purposeful smiling. Again, this isn't a practice that requires any effort, our smiling is sincere a sincere gesture, a silent namaste given to a stranger, spontaneous in its kindness. It's considered a practice only because the stress of everyday life so often leaves us spiraling downward, with everything we hope for seeming so distant from where we find ourselves right now. A smile is what we can do in the present moment, an instant change in any situation that lights us from within, with even the slightest healing being continuous in its blessing. This is by no means an answer to our problem, it's only a small but sincere gesture. 

yet it's the simplest thing we can do right now. 

powerful.

and purposeful in its intent to heal. 

~

Peace, Eric. 

Bare Essence of an Art-Form

Bare essence of an art-form: 

it's what we give our attention to that becomes a new medium of art, gaining a new sense of creative energy just because it captures our imagination. This is how it is for me right now with YouTube shorts, video clips of less then a minutes length that can tell a complete story of their own. I love this haiku style format, a bare essence of an art-form that provides a structure, yet invites an artist to be free within the perimeters of its order. I've embraced this format by offering clips of nature, a glimpse of local flora and fauna shown through my own unique perspective. 

loving the bare essence of this art-form. 

my only goal here is to show and share my world, a reflection of an interior view that's mine alone and doesn't have to match anyone else's. In this way it also serves as encouragement for others to share their view as well, giving us all a rare and beautiful peek into how each of us views the world. This is the art of diversity and can never be done in a way that isn't uniquely personal, as well as perfect for us all. It's a self-created medium that allows us to showcase our individuality. 

our own bare essence,

shared with others, 

a brand new art-form. 

for me, it's with nature, however it is that I find and see it, and I give no attention to editing or arranging any subject matter. The world itself, through all of it's variety and infinite beauty, provides me everything I ever need to share its story. I absolutely love this opportunity of a visual haiku, the simplicity of its format and that it's entirely my own perspective that's now shared. I've embraced it completely, using simple tools of a phone camera and the natural light that nature provides. 

it's the bare essence of an art-form.

perfect for my own expression of the world. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Spinning

Spinning 

it seems that spinning in circles isn't just for children, a pastime of idle days put aside in older years - there were benefits of this playful practice in our developing years and even now as adults it offers us many helpful things to consider. Through the years of my yoga practice I've often incorporated Tibetan energy yoga, what's known as the Five Tibetans, a series of five movements done in a dynamic manner for anywhere to 3 to 21 repetitions depending on the level of my practice. The series begins with spinning clockwise while maintaining focus on the right middle finger. Oddly, I never questioned why spinning should be included in a routine meant for vitality of mind and body. 

I just did it. 

spinning through the years. 

for children it's playful, as well helping to improve hand eye coordination, focus, sense of balance, as well as enhances cognitive development. The many things we did as kids were important to our growth, from going barefoot and playing in the dirt to spinning in tight circles until we collapsed in dizzy delight, this playful behavior served us in so many important ways. Plus, we had fun, not a small thing to overlook through the course of years leading to adulthood. 

so now I'm spinning again, a practice of my yoga, being a whirling dervish for a few minutes every morning. There are moments during this movements where I feel myself disappear within the motion of the spin, a tight center of awareness remains to witness the world swing by. This alone is worth the practice, an additional meditation serving as a reminder that the world stays in motion without my effort involved, that I am not the doer, but simply a participant in it's whirl. Medically, studies have shown that there are many healthful benefits to this spin - easing depression, strengthening eyesight, improving complexion and cleansing the blood. There is also increased blood flow to the brain which enhances short term memory and spatial awareness which aids in easing high levels of stress. 

more so, perhaps most importantly, this is a practiced designed for the subtle body, an energy program for chakras and to awakening the course of kundalini traveling through our spine. It leads off the Five Tibetans for a reason, preparing both mind and body for the other moves ahead. To be honest, I have no idea how much of this is true, there's a great deal I take on faith, trusting the advice of ancient yogi's and modern practitioners who swear that is so. 

my own practice fills me with delight. 

and so every morning...I find myself spinning. 

as just part of the motion of the world. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Earlier Dawn

An ever earlier dawn:

there's an ever earlier dawn approaching, from February until somewhere in mid-spring we gain an average of 3 minutes of light per day, slowing down a bit in early summer until the trend is then reversed through fall and winter. Yesterday, with a leap year adding an extra day to February, there was the first hint of sunrise as I was finishing my earliest walk. In a weeks time I will be catching the rays of true dawn, mornings will be significantly warmer, plant life reaching a showing bloom, and animals stirring in care of their young.  

winter has come to an end, 

and even if it has a last grasp of snow and chill there's an ever earlier dawn that offers me it's warmth and light. This always feels like an emergence for me, that after long months of shorter days and bitter cold, not missing a single day of predawn walking, and now I've earned the grace of an earlier dawn, sunlight in a spectacular display of a new day's arrival. 

emerging from darkness into light. 

my life received in seasons. 

yet this was a winter where I fully embraced the dark, bundled against the cold in warm layers of clothing as well as an emotional resilience of curiosity and awe. I set out to explore my world through all it offered, accepting my own interior conditions as they match the seasonal landscape that I walked through every morning. I fell in love with the darkness and cold, no longer believing them to the absence of light and warmth, but harboring their secrets, revealing mysteries that can only be told though full acceptance of what a season offers. Cold and warmth are not true opposites, they are a seamless expression of the sun's touch - just as darkness is the waiting capacity for light to show. 

the secret, is that life is displayed through  the grace of seasons.

and right now, 

there's an ever earlier dawn. 

~

Peace, Eric