Lead

Here is a story

to break your heart.

Are you willing?

This winter

the loons came to our harbor

and died, one by one,

of nothing we could see.

A friend told me

of one on the shore

that lifted its head and opened

the elegant beak and cried out

in the long, sweet savoring of its life

which, if you have heard it,

you know is a sacred thing,

and for which, if you have not heard it,

you had better hurry to where

they still sing.

And, believe me, tell no one

just where that is.

The next morning

this loon, speckled

and iridescent and with a plan

to fly home

to some hidden lake,

was dead on the shore.

I tell you this

to break your heart,

by which I mean only

that it break open and never close again

to the rest of the world.

by Mary Oliver

from New and Selected Poems Volume 2

Message from Karen

Dear Friends,

The poem came in an email this morning.  What can I say?  That I cried too?  If not, lead than oil.  Innocence suffers.  What does a bird or fish know about oil or other toxic wastes?  It's a hazardous world that we've created.  I think about how much I personally contribute to the consumerism that feeds the oil industry.  I drive to teach yoga classes and I fly to teach yoga workshops.  I would like to say that I live somewhat simply but still, I have tons of stuff.  It seems like I'm always in the process of simplifying and yet it's never enough.

I received another email today that speaks to this very idea.  Julia Payne is a fellow Kripalu and IYT yoga teacher from West Virginia.  This is what she wrote:

several folks have asked how i simplified my life...here's just a few things i have done:

1. for every item that comes in to the house, 2 of like item go to charity.

2. be ruthless as you go through your stuff....give away most and keep just what you actually use and love. remember, you're saying goodbye to all of it eventually anyway...

3. eat simply prepared fresh food.

4. give your own stuff as gifts. eg a favorite book to your sister, or one of your vases with a fresh flower in it, a cake plate with a cake on it.

5. buy card stock at the craft store and then use your own photographs to make greeting cards....or reuse greeting card fronts glued onto new stock.

6. don't buy anything unless it is absolutely urgently needed, for about 3 years....see what happens!..:-)

7. make your own yogurt, bread, salad dressing etc.

8. get a much smaller home, and then give away even more stuff to fit into it..

an idea i haven't gotten to yet:  wear black in the winter and white in the summer...packing for a trip would be a snap....hahaha i have hundreds more, but it's your turn...:-)

I was happy to see that I do some of these now. 

Other things to add to the list:

Buy locally grown food or grow your own.  Farmers markets are back in season. 

Recycle and avoid individually packaged anything.

Donate your stuff to Goodwill, Salvation Army, public library book sales, furniture banks...

Join the Green Yoga Association to learn more about being a socially conscious yogi.

Books like Green Yoga by Georg and Brenda Feuerstein (try used!) and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan can help us think about our planet, our lives and our choices as interconnected in the ocean of oneness.

From A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield:  "To open deeply, as genuine spiritual life requires, we need tremendous courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit.  But the place for this warrior strength is in the heart.  We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover with any philosophy - material or spiritual.  We need a warrior's heart that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.  This courage allows us to include every aspect of life in our spiritual practice; our bodies, our families, our society, politics, the earth's ecology, art, education.  Only then can spirituality be truly integrated into our lives."

It's easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of disaster like the Gulf oil catastrophe.  Check out the Starfish story if you need inspiration.

I see butterflies from my window.  Time to go outside.  Wishing you a wonderful day.  Namaste, Karen

p.s.  This week:  Gentle Yoga at 5 Tuesday, St. James and Wednesday at Ledyard Center School.  Get your yoga on!

Yoga Heals Us home

Yoga Heals Us on Facebook

Joseph LePage on Facebook

Photo taken at Bluff Point State Park in Groton, Connecticut overlooking Long Island Sound

Summer Yoga Classes

Ledyard Parks & Recreation

Gentle and Open Levels

Wednesdays, next session June 23rd

Independence Physical Therapy

Yes, You Can Adaptive Yoga for MS

Mondays, next session July 19th

St. James Church

Gentle Yoga

Tuesdays, next session July 6th

Ledyard Senior Center

Mat and Chair Yoga

Mondays and / or Fridays, next session July 12th

Details

Yoga Workshops - Register Now

Workshops for yoga teachers and motivated students.