"Learning to see mosses is more like listening than looking. A cursory glance will not do it. Starting to hear a faraway voice or catch a nuance in the quiet subtext of a conversation requires attentiveness, a filtering of all the noise, to catch the music." Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Filter all the illusion to catch the magic.
Magic evokes wonderment and awe, what we see can't be understood or explained. The child in us is thrilled by the magic of the moment, but the adult in us loses the magic by trying to understand it; reasoning that it's a trick or an illusion.
Magic is all around us but our heads are stuck in a world of reasoning, understanding and explaining. So much so that we're living in the illusion and missing the magic. Magic requires feeling not thinking, experiencing not explaining.
As always though, there needs to be balance. We live in a world that needs us to ask questions, to pursue answers and to understand better how we can serve humanity and the natural world, but, we will remain in the illusion if we don't see the magic in humanity and the natural world first.
Ultimately we need to be motivated by the magic in the pursuit of knowledge.
Fear is our biggest foe and it is a magnet for more of the same. Once in the state of fear, we develop emotions and worries over the smallest things, things in life that don't truly present any danger to our survival. Survival is the only time when fear serves us well .If our lives are rooted in fear (which most of ours are to some degree even if we don't fully realise it) reasoning and understanding makes us feels safe, gives us a sense of power and purpose. Whereas magic gives us a sense of being in the presence of something far bigger something we don't understand, which may leave us feeling small and powerless. This is the domain of the ego, our ego does not want to feel small or powerless and will do what ever it can to show it knows better.
The ego is the illusion. The magic is your soul.
Magic evokes awe, wonder, joy, love. All those things we can't prove or explain, but without which our life would have no colour at all.
"A Cheyenne elder of my acquaintance once told me that the best way to find something is not to go looking for it. This is a hard concept for a scientist. But he said to watch out of the corner of your eye, open to possibility, and what you seek will be revealed. The revelation of suddenly seeing what I was blind to only moments before is a sublime experience for me. I can revisit those moments and still feel the surge of expansion. The boundaries between my world and the world of another being get pushed back with sudden clarity an experience both humbling and joyful." Robin Wall Kimmerer
Often feeling the magic is found in the subtle or small details, requiring us to pay attention and slow down if we are to notice, to come to our senses and experience all that the moment has offer.
In yoga we talk about observing pratyahara, withdrawing of the senses as we move towards stillness. Nevertheless if we are unable to experience the magic surrounding us through our senses then I have come to realise we will never truly discover the magic within us. We are part of the greater whole, a small part of the world around us. If we see magic in the world we will awaken the magic within us.
There are magical sings of Spring all around us this month, truly a season of awe and wonder. Bright green eager buds that hint at so much still concealed, ready to burst forth.
The loud harmony of birdsong that wakes me each morning. I wonder how so much beautiful variety and volume of sound can come from such small delicate creatures.
On my walking meditation recently I was immersed in the feeling of Spring awakening all around me. Yet I found myself contemplating death as much as birth.
It may seem a funny time to contemplate death in a season so vibrant and full of new beginnings. This contrast is personified by the Tantric Goddess Ma Kali. In Hindu mythology and philosophy yogic deities relate to aspects of our higher consciousness. Ma Kali represents both death and rebirth.
"Ma Kali has a crucial social relevance today. Kali as the transforming power of time can usher us into a new era of global peace and understanding, if we can accept her demand for a real change of consciousness." - David Frawley
I began to contemplate that if today was my last day on earth how would I spend it, what would I value and what would not seem so important after all. What regrets I might have and what I would celebrate.
I know this: I would accept I could not do everything which felt liberating!
So why everyday do I make a to-do list that I know is far too much for one day!
I would want to see faces of the ones I love, I would want to hear them laugh and linger in their embraces. I would want to dance with free abandon to my favourite music in the kitchen, laughing and smiling as I did.
I would want to spend time in nature, to wander alone, to make peace with myself. It would be natural to reflect on the past and have worries for the future of those we leave behind but we would cherish each little thing so much more knowing it would be the last in this life.
“Life is something very short that happens in between deaths.” - Warren Ellis
Each day has a beginning (birth) and an end (death). The sun greats us with its light and energy every morning and the moon settles us softly to sleep every evening.
Yet, I am also familiar with the heaviness, that feeling of no energy or enthusiasm for the day knowing the long list of things I want to get done. Simultaneously experiencing the reluctance to do them and the frustration at my procrastination. Here in this realm my senses are dulled and my magic obscured by my perception of the moment, by my mind. I need a spark to ignite my magic. This comes in the form of Tapas; discipline, practice and commitment. Already my heart may sink at this concept when I'm experiencing the heaviness, however we can start small, baby steps, to create little sparks. Rather than smother that tiny spark with too much, just start with today and let it gather momentum. Tapas awakes the magic day by day so that eventually it will be easier to commit to longer goals.
Reiki is a Japanese Buddhist healing art. At the core of the Reiki system there are The Precepts; a code of practice alike to daily affirmations. There are some variations, depending on the Master and translation, here are the principles that I have been taught:
For today only:
I will not anger
I will not worry,
I will be humble,
I will be honest in my work
I will be compassionate to myself and others.
The Reiki precepts help us create a mental and emotional framework so that each day can take on the quality as if it were our last
Our Yoga Practice
The elements we will be exploring in our yoga practice this month are:
Pancha Indriya (the five senses),
Tapas (one of the 5 Niyamas)
The Tantric Goddess Ma Kali
Swadisthana (the sacral chakra).
The realm of the Sacral chakra Swadisthana is experiencing joy and pleasure. Located in the pelvis just below the navel it is home to the reproductive organs and is also associated with birthing new life.
"Motivated by pleasure, it’s the driving force for the enjoyment of life through the senses, whether it’s auditory, through taste, touch, or sight. Opening your sacral chakra allows you to “feel” the world around and in us. As such, it’s an important chakra at the foundation of our feeling of well-being. "https://www.chakras.info/sacral-chakra/
March Online sessions will use mantra, mudra and colour to connect us to our senses, we will play with lots of hip opening and strengthening asanas to balance the energy at our Sacral Chakra and we will instil the qualities of Tapas and Ma Kali into our practice on and off the mat.
March Online will Awaken the Magic within
I would love for you to join me, click here to share the practice with me.
"Everyday is a new beginning. Just for today I will cherish every experience and I will see and feel the magic contained within it."
Om shanti
🙏
Sophia