daring you to become the wind

There is one rule to follow regarding rest:
if we need a rest, we take one.

T.K.V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga

Happy New Year! Things have been going in so many directions for me in my little world, I don’t even know where to begin to connect. So let’s start by taking a deep breath. Ahhh. Better. How I love taking a pause, stopping for rest.

REST. Lovely, lovely rest. I sure hope you got some in the past few weeks and, if not, please do make sure to carve some out for yourself in the year ahead as courage requires a well-rested spirit. And this life requires courage.

Yes, it does.

Last January, I made a commitment to put my mind in the back seat and give the wheel over to my intuition. Ha!

As you can imagine, there have been no few wrestling matches with the angels as this was a huge transition for my busy-know-it-all brain that believes it must always be in charge.

And yet, I’m here to say that a life can be lived following
heart-centered prompts that have no data or logic to back them up.

Two big decisions I made in the past few months that were all gut, no gray matter: I bought a 115 year old house and signed on for a six-month Yoga Teacher Training program; both were made in about three minutes.

The hell?

And yet? Both decisions continue to feel really right (if a little bit scary) as I sail into the unknown.

Want the change. Be inspired by the flame
where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, while sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.
What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.
Pour yourself like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and with ending begins.
Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne,
becoming a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.

– Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII,

The beautiful passage above landed in my email box Monday (thanks, Liv!) and could not be more in alignment with how I feel about making changes and taking risks.

Yes, it can feel downright awful in moments as you slap the walls blindly looking for a light switch.

It is also the only way I have ever known to make quantum
increases to the quantity and quality of joy in my life.

Wishing you all of the same and then still MORE good vibes as we follow our heart into this new year.

bisous, e