"Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?"

Why I Wake Early

by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who made the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the windows of, even, the

miserable and the crotchety –

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light –

good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness.

Message from Karen

Dear Friends,

Summer, is it what you imagined it to be, back in the cold and dark of winter?  What does it matter to one who lives in the present moment?  Each moment, a new awakening. 

"Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed."

One thing we know is that this moment, this joy or sorrow, this comfort or discomfort, this too will pass.  Nothing is permanent.  What matters is how we choose to be.  There is plenty of suffering in the world.  And plenty of stressors to knock us off center.  Our daily practice of awareness lights the path of doing and non-doing. 

"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work."

Wherever you are in your life journey, this is the perfect moment.  Every choice made has brought you to this place, this relationship with yourself, these patterns of behavior, these joys and sorrows.  You have accomplishments and moments of great pride.  You have regrets and unfulfilled ambitions. 

"The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time."

"You want to cry aloud for your mistakes. But to tell the truth the world doesn't need any more of that sound."

Nothing is permanent.  Choose to pay attention.  Give power and time to your creative work.  Begin today.  Your daily spiritual practice - prayer, meditation, yoga - provides the deep and fertile ground in which to plant your seeds, to nurture their growth, and blossom your true gifts. 

Start your day with happiness, with kindness.   

Om shanti, Karen

All quotes are from Mary Oliver, poet (and spiritual teacher). 

Photo taken by Karen at East West Road in Dummerston, Vermont

Click here to listen to one man's story of mid-life transformation. 

Fall Yoga

The fall yoga schedule will be online in a few weeks.

St. James Church class begins September 6th.

Classes beginning September 19th:

Independence Physical Therapy

Ledyard Parks & Recreation

Ledyard Senior Center

Registration begins in August.  Register as soon as you can because some classes fill up quickly.

Join me on Facebook

I admit that I've not been very active on Facebook in recent months.  And it's so easy to use!  So, I will soon be sharing quotes like the ones in this newsletter, more regularly.  If you love this stuff and find it inspiring, be a follower of Yoga Heals Us on Facebook.  Click here.

Whole Child Yoga Teacher Training

Therapeutic Yoga for Children with Special Needs

October 16 - 22, 2011

Griswold, Connecticut

Early bird discount through August 10th.  Register now!

Click here for information.

Local Events this Weekend

7th Annual Arts & Wellness Fair at Meiklem Kiln Works and CenterSpace, Bozrah, CT

Dharma Mittra at George Kent Performance Hall, Westerly, RI

Deva Premal on the radio

Private Yoga Lessons

Better than you can imagine.  Work on specific needs, time for yourself.  Individual attention.  Works with your schedule. 

Click here for information.