Tested

 Tested: 

what I love most about yoga is the honesty of its path, that I'm not asked to believe anything on faith alone but to explore what each step offers and see if it holds true for me. After spending my formative years in a religious school and taught that I must believe certain things (and disbelieve other things without question) only because it was written in a book long ago, or an authority figure told me it was so. Yoga provided a path that wasn't meant for me blindly follow, no, it was to be tested all along the way. 

decades later from that first step on the path of yoga...

and it remains the same. 

everything is tested to see if it still holds true. 

and life provides me with the answers.

mainly, it's the psychology of yoga that's tested, specifically the kleshas, or the five causes of suffering that I'm so often asked to examine. And it's not a teacher or guru that has me considering these principles, it's my own life giving cause for me to investigate the nature of my suffering. The kleshas don't make any demands for me to change anything, there's no denying any experience, nor measuring its validity. What's asked is that I bring a situation, beliefs and opinions, or even a mere thought to the light of awareness and simply see if it remains true through the lens of my inquiry. 

that's all. 

yoga is the path of mindful inquiry. 

it's to be tested.

all along the way,

~

Peace Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Beavers Have Returned

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Beavers Have Returned

Beavers have returned: 

yesterday morning, just as first light softly begins to shows my local pond, and finally I catch a clear sight of my neighborhood beaver, or one of them at least, as I don't actually know how many there might be. It was enough to see one, thrilling me to the core, as after a long wait, decades really, it seems beavers have returned. 

I've written of this before, how beavers had made their way here by following a local stream, establishing a home, only to be removed by neighbors concerned about damage to the trees surrounding the pond, and possible issues concerning their property. Valid concerns, although studies suggest, as well as actual practice, that we're capable of controlling many of these problems and that a small, but thriving beaver community only adds value to the ecosystem if their activity is kept in check. Yet still they removed and we haven't seen them here since. 

until now. 

beavers have returned.

we saw signs for many months, gnawed trees, branches and larger limbs gathered along streams, and my hope began to rise. There are larger lakes nearby that support a thriving beaver population, and my small pond is connected by many streams that would provide a viable path for their return. And that's just what they did, a few at least, taking their time, and eventually reestablishing themselves here. We saw the signs, the story they told of their travel and presence, and now my local pond is a home for beavers. Again, and maybe this time they'll be allowed to stay. 

and this seems to be likely, as we see wildlife management teams working with controlling the damage of a beavers work, protecting many trees with wired fences, and many neighbors are happy to have them here, trusting that nature and wildlife officials will keep a healthy balance. So far that's the plan, and I really hope that we continue to welcome their presence. 

as they're magical to behold. 

last winter a caught just the briefest glimpse of one swimming near the edge of the pond. I wasn't even sure that it was a beaver as they're presence here wasn't yet confirmed and winter mornings are still quite dark on my earliest walks. But I was pretty sure it was and neighbors began to share their own sightings and encounters. So my morning walks throughout the winter kept me watchful for beavers, as well as my always hopeful search for owls, foxes, and the always elusive coyote. 

and yesterday morning, 

finally, 

another beaver sighting. 

this time on land, a small island, and I just missed being able to capture it on film. But I will, as each morning holds a but more sunlight, and I'm vigilant, approaching each walk as a possibility for magic to appear. And of course it always does, even without the sighting a beaver, there's a mystery to the morning, always a hint of possibilities. That's what draws me from my bed so early, an excitement that this day will reveal just a bit more of life's mystery's. 

and it does...

sometimes, 

even in the form of a beaver.

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: It's Ours 

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It's Ours

It's ours: 

my morning walks have become something to share, a unique expression offered through my camera lens, filmed for a nature short that's shown on my YouTube channel. Just several months ago I wouldn't have thought that I'd enjoy this, or even wish to share this sacred time with others. But holding a camera has brought a different perspective to me, an expensiveness really, showing me that this particular view, whatever it is I'm filming at the moment and discovered through my own curiosity and patience, is meant for others to discover as well. 

these walks don't belong to me alone.

the entire universe is involved.

this is actually truly humbling to consider, for all of us really, knowing that we each have to be in perfect arrangement to capture what is shown right now. For me, this brings me in as a participant, convincing me that I'm not merely an observer to what unfolds, but that I belong to the scenery as well, part of the integral order of things, implicit, and that even though I might be alone in filming, everyone else belongs here too, the entire universe conspiring for this exact moment to appear. 

so there's little choice but to share it.

whatever is seen, any small and new discovery, 

doesn't belong to me alone.

it's ours.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: An Important Insight on Perspective 

Also, please visit to buy; Aum 

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An Important Insight on Perspective

An important insight on perspective: 

this is a cautious time of year for me during my early morning walks, it's still dark, dawn not quite light not quite touching the eastern sky, and the geese that live on my nearby pond are now fully aggressive in protecting their newly hatched young. I've already had a few encounters with them this season, all of which ended with my full retreat from a hissing mother and finding a new route to complete my circuit around the pond. My goal, as I approach them, is to allow as much distance between us as possible, but sometimes the landscape narrows my choices and I'm forced  to quickly, ease my way around them. 

often they are most gracious in letting me pass through. 

while at other times, 

an aggressive stance is taken. 

I do my best to avoid this, not only because of a sincere wish to not be goose pecked and wing beaten, but mostly with deep respect for the geese, both male and female in full protective mode and willing to attack anything they perceive as being threatening. That's an important love they have, instinctive, an evolutionary response to keep their brood from harm. In comparison, my walk means far less to me, or at least the direction that I've chosen, a course that's easily altered with only a minor inconvenience. It just doesn't seem so important, and I would hate to waste a goose's precious energy on the false threat of my presence. 

it's easier more compassionate, to simply give them all the distance they deserve. 

and not force my way on nature. 

there's room for us all. 

this seems a keen to consider, that what might be taken lightly by me is an all important, indeed life altering to another creature, goose, human, or otherwise. A protective goose teachers me to see the world from the eyes of another, lessening my self-importance, and not insisting that every goes my way. Imaging having such devotion for your care that you would readily put your life on the line, confronting any perceived threat, no matter its size, and someone taking this instinctual love so lightly, being unwilling to even give an inch in your direction. Seen in this light, from the perspective of a protector - the most compassionate thing is to simply go around, providing them the comfort of space, and wishing every gosling a long and healthy life. 

it's an easy enough thing for me to do. 

and an important insight on perspective. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Immediately Yoga

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Immediately Yoga

Immediately yoga: 

my day is almost immediately yoga, right from my initial smile of greeting a new morning, thankful for having awakened, I am then sitting in sukhasana, an easy pose for breathwork and meditation and the first asana of my practice. This is a gentle pose, a slight stretch of knees and hips while lengthening the spine for the rise of morning energy. Often, I feel like I could sit in this asana forever, as if Lord Shiva in full lotus, deep in meditation as the day begins to unfold around me. 

of course it's usually for only 30 minutes, and towards the end my knees are just then reminding me of age and a lifetime of many miles behind them. But I love this posture and how it's a reminder that my day is almost immediately yoga, an asana of instant transformation from a sleep-filled mind to the awakening of a brand new day. 

it's an asana of promise. 

an easy pose.

yet the posture itself is less important than the intent that urges me to sit in meditation - and with this in mind even the edge of my bed will do, or a straight back chair for greater comfort. There's no magical posture for awakening, although, yes, sukhasana certainly holds an energetic spell on me. But honestly, I think it's that initial smile that plays across my lips that is the true essence of yoga, it signifies a grateful shift from darkness to the morning light. This smile is the essence of yoga, most truly my first asana of the day, an easy pose too, spontaneous, and arriving instantly to my lips each morning.

immediately...

yoga. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Silence, and a Smile

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Silence, and a Smile

Silence, and a smile: 

a few days ago I was asked a curios question that's still playing through my mind, with new answers even now arriving as my thoughts expands long after it was initially posed. Those are the most important questions it seems, not being able to settle on a particular answer but having it as an inquiry that has us considering the infinite possibilities of the mysteries involved. There really are no answers to such opened ended questions, that's the nature of any inquiry, how we're always expanding through the profound implications of simply asking - and letting go of any need to really know an answer. 

and the question itself was fairly straight forward to consider - asking if I were able to communicate with my 25 year old self, is there any advice that I would offer, or message to deliver. Of course my mind immediately sought wisdom, what have I learned through the last several decades that might possibly make life any easier, or more successful. Reflecting more deeply, I began to dismiss every bit of advice I might give myself, no amount of information would enhance my life any further than it is right now, and there's little comfort in knowing what the future holds, even if it might seem brighter than where we are at this present moment. Why would I deny myself any of the experiences that have brought me here? They would only be replaced by other events, different tragedies, there would still be loss and sorrow, as well as all the joys and success that life delivers.

Here's what I would offer my former youthful self...

silence,

and a smile.

knowing that one day - 

he'll begin to understand this mystery. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: My Soul Expands 

Also, please visit to buy: Wisdom of the Ages 

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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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