My Soul Expands

My Soul Expands:

it's a theory, not yet shown to be absolutely true, but I love to consider it just the same - that the earliest sounds that greet on my earliest morning walk, the dawn chorus of multiple songbirds, serve at a frequency that cause plants to expand their stomata - a mouth like opening - in order to receive the micro-nutrients that have settled on their leaves. It's a beautiful symphony of notes played at a specific vibration that brings the full ovation of a flowers bloom. There doesn't seem to be a consensus with any proof of this theory, and it matters little to me if the scientific community shows this to be true.

as my world expands each morning to their song.

this too is my cause to bloom.

what we know is that we're aligned to the fractal patterns of nature, our eyes instantly adjusting to these self-replicating designs and the brain producing an alpha-wave awareness that settles us in a peaceful state of mind. Stress has been shown to be measurably reduced as significantly as 60% within moments of our exposure to these patterns. So why not sounds as well? We're not removed from the dawn-chorus offered by songbirds, our own frequency shifting in delight with even the first few notes that our ears receive. My own observation seems to show that the entirety of my being anticipates this song, already expanding in a state of curiosity and wonder.

so,

what I know for certain is that the dawn-chorus offers me its song...

and in this certainty,

my soul expands in a joyful blossom.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Vulnerable 

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Vulnerable

Vulnerable: 

there's only a few ducks at my neighborhood pond, a small population that seem quite fragile to me and giving me concern for their well-being. Once they were thriving in numbers here, staying through all seasons and always the arrival of the newly hatched in spring. Yet now there's less than a dozen and I often find them retreated further up the streams into woods, spending less time in the pond which is now dominated by geese. I certainly don't mind geese, they're beautiful birds, strong in flight and water, but ducks always seem so vulnerable in comparison. 

ducks stir my deepest compassion and concern.

they always have.

Canadian geese are quiet aggressive this time of year, rightly fully so as they protect their young, within even the smallest infraction of distance giving cause for alarm and sometimes a confrontation. My entire walks are often rerouted to avoid these issues, it's just easier than upsetting an entire gaggle, especially when they're happily feeding along the pond's shore and it's only a few extra steps along my way. I have no issue ceding space to a protective mother and her mate. 

but ducks seem to lack this aggression, although I'm sure they're quite protective of their brood as well. To me, ducks are a shyer species, seeking a more peaceful area to raise they're young and avoiding any confrontations. It's that vulnerability that stirs my concern, seeing just a few further up a stream, surrounded by any number of predators from air and land, as well as water. 

but of course ducks are perfectly suited to their environment, being able to take care of themselves and not really needing my concern. Yes, they're vulnerable, often exposed to great risk, and yet mostly they thrive in these conditions, having developed a predation-avoidance system of sleeping with one eye open, half of their brain hemisphere being watchful for any danger, while  the other remains completely at rest. And I think this what ducks show me, a spirituality of being watchful and at ease, mindful of every aspect of life but without adding any added tension. 

ducks teach me that it's okay to me vulnerable.

more so, 

that I am perfectly at home within my own environment.

watchful, 

and at ease. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Briefly, a Tree 

Also, please visit to buy: Walking in the Light

~

Peace, Eric 

Briefly, a Tree

Briefly, a tree: 

perhaps the asana that calls for my most complete surrender, vrksasana, tree pose, literally pulls me skyward and roots me solid to the earth at the very same time, creating a true moment of poise that allows for me to give myself so fully to the pose. There are other postures that come close to this, mostly in my standing series, poses that require quite a bit of balance and concentration. It's though that combination of effort and relaxing, dynamic, that a unique magic arises, again I can only liken it to a pure moment of poise, recognizing it only after it's achievement. 

but the truth is...I didn't really achieve anything at all.

it happened though my letting go.

being a yoga of my complete surrender. 

it's the solid connection to earth, rooted, and the feeling that I'm truly branching through the air that vrksasana offers that brings me to this joy, there's less strength involved, and more of a search for the sweet spot where everything comes together and this tree energy is revealed and urges me to let go, trusting earth and sky for the flourish of my branching. 

it's a beautiful experience, a shamanic transformation, and not one that I can make happen. It occurs only when the energy is certain, everything locked in place, yet remaining fluid just the same. Really, I'm a participant here, a conduit between the solidness of earth and the ethereal quality of air, being perfect in my position, disappearing completely in the pose.

and then the magic happens.

briefly, 

if only in the moment of my surrender. 

a tree.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: What am I Grateful For? 

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What am I Grateful For?

What am I grateful for: 

each morning my inquiry always ends with the final question of what am I truly grateful for, and with this I slide seamlessly into the easy thought of my mantra, softly, effortlessly settling into a quiet mind. Yet this inquiry isn't left unanswered, it's just later revealed in more subtle ways, less obvious than surveying my life and taking stock of my health or material possessions, although, of course, there's deep appreciation for all this as well. 

it's just not the final revelation to be shown. 

the answer always seems to come to as this, truly right now, that this is what I'm grateful for, everything and absolutely nothing at all - I'm thankful for what each exact moment offers and how my life unfolds through curiosity and wonder. 

and it sneaks up on my, quietly so, a gratefulness that catches me completely by surprise with an easy force that overwhelms me. I am truly happy to be alive, to exist, having arrived to this point in life and no longer in need of any answers to the mysteries of the world. 

it's enough to simply be,

and for that...

I'm truly grateful. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Ever Closer

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Ever Closer

Ever closer:

slowly, slowly, I make my way towards sunlight, or really, it's the dawn that travels ever closer to me, with each morning a slight increment of light gained. Throughout winter I've walked in near darkeness, being several hours before the first hint of dawn. As spring approached the cycle of light began to lean in my direction, barely noticable at first, but eventually gaining momentum to reach me. I'm now walking in a lighter shade of morning, not yet true dawn, but ever closer to its arrival. 

my morning hours just a bit brighter. 

most truly though, I love every expression of early morning, darkness and light both belonging to the start of my day. In yogic terms this the hour of Brahma, not really a measure of time, but a quality of light that has a certain magic to it, the quietness of a new beginning, a time of prayer and self-reflection. In winter I bundle up and brace myself for the cold, almost always a sharp wind cuutting through each layer. This is the season of endurance, bearing whatever the weather offers and accepting myself in darkness. There's a price to be paid for walking in winter and I'm willing to endure it. 

eventually, I know...

the light of dawn comes ever closer.

It's almost here now, arrivning in first hint midway through my walk and coming into full display just as I near home. Soon, I'll step outside to true dawn, greeted by light as I begin walking. That promise is still some time away right now, perhaps a month or so, and then after, ever closer, darkness gains in its advantage. It's how things world. 

being the lesson of these early hours.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Heart-Center 

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Heart-Center

Heart-center: 

can I live my life from heart-center, expanding past the borders of my own lines drawn from a lifetime of restraint? That's the question I find myself asking now, sensing that a time has come to let go of past pursuits and enter fully into a wide open heart that holds the entire world. The answer that comes to me is that I really don't know, more so, it's beyond my ability to even understand...

it simply calls for my surrender.

and live my life from there. 

this is the spiritual heart, Hridaya, the true center of existence, recognized within the body but actually being more the universe itself, without boundries, and it's only point is unconditioanl love. It's where I'm called to live from, all of us are really, yet it seems to takes a certain amount of time to recognize this inner urge of returning home, life repeatedly breaking us open until we're ready to live within its spacious hold. The truth is, of course, that we always present in this embrace, it's our reality, but the busyness of everyday life keeps us in a constant state for forgetfulness, and we come to believe ourselves to be more limted than we actually are. 

life continuously breaks us open to a larger reality.

and we then live our lives from here.

and this is where I find myself now, broken up, spacious, and willing to embrace the largeness of the world. It feels as if my entire life was a practice to simply return to its beginning, to what's always been present but missed for so long. 

can I live my life from heart-center?

the question itself is rhetorical in asking.

I've been all along.

and finally recognive the nature of my home. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Constant 

Also, please visit to buy: The Upanishads 

Thank you. 

Constant

Constant: 

it's constant, at least in my own beautiful neighborhood, that even surrounded by a verdant landscape, songbirds, and wildlife, there remains an underlying din of busyness, a world that's always rushing towards a sense of completeness yet never truly ever arriving - just staying always in motion and producing the soundtrack of a stress-filled lifestyle. 

there never seems to be a moment of true rest. 

and the effects are startling to consider.

our pursuit of always being in motion, cars in constant commute, flight patterns filling airspace, and lawns in need of maintaining their perfect look - it's literally the sound of stress and a way of life that disrupts the very nature of our support system. We're in need quietness and a sense of solitude, a landscape that cultivates emotional health and allows for restoration. Instead, we have the whirl of turmoil that fills every bit of silence throughout the day and even into what should be the deep silence of the night. 

there's never the sound of complete rest.

society it seems, is now in the business of noise production, and it's constant and disruptive. Studies show that human noise is the cause of the decline of mating behavior in our animal neighbors, making communication near impossible for many of our most treasured songbirds, altering how many species forage, and disturbing their spatial orientation on land and aquatic ecosystems. This is also to our detriment, as well, for we thrive only so long as nature does, and it's decline only foreshadows our own.

and it's already showing this effect.

in essence, we are vibratory, being at ease within a landscape that supports frequencies of balance and well-being. Yet the soundtrack we're now producing is one that wears us down, increasing stress and causing a rise in certain hormonal levels that lead to dis-ease of spirit, mind, and body. We suffer from the lack of any length of silence, as even our nights are filled with just a slightly quieter hum of busyness. 

we're in need of true downtime.

restoration.

an escape from constant sound.

perhaps the only way to reach this is to cultivate those quite moments found between the world's noisiness, sinking into the briefest silence with deep joy and appreciation. As we begin restoring ourselves we can offer this comfort to our neighbors, humans and animals alike, having a true sabbath even if for only for a few moments through the day. 

from our own sense of peace, 

through cultivating a quietness of soul, body and mind...

we heal ourselves, as well as nature.

restoring truest, deepest silence to the world. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Spontaneous Inspiration 

Also, please visit to buy: The Upanishads 

Thank you.