Happy New Year!

2010 is going to be a powerful year.

I feel it, I sense it and I own it.

A gift to you all to create a practice before each meal in this New Year.

I think it is a delightful way to start 2010.

With a loving practice for your mealtime.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Recite before each meal.

This food is a gift from the entire universe.

The land, the sky, the ocean and the work of many people.

May I be the presence that deserves to receive this.

May I learn the right way of eating.

May I receive energy and be protected from illness.

May I walk the path of wisdom and love.

When I eat may I not forget the people who are now suffering from hunger in the world.

In this food, I see the presence of the entire universe supporting me.

-Mayumi Oda

And I offer you this from my heart for 2010.

May you be a guiding light for yourself and others who need protection and love.

May you be a ship to help others cross their ocean.

May you be a bridge for those who cannot find their way.

May you be the natural born  leader you are.

May you be love and live love and be the light you already are.

I Love You, XO

Laura

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Day 80 – OnePinky Student Shines, Part 2

Drum Roll Please.

The answer is revealed now…Kathleen shares the rest of her story…and how swimming makes her heart sing.

(for those of you who have no idea what I am referring to, go back and read yesterday’s post on Day 70, OnePinky Student Shines, Part 1.

Kathleen went off to her beloved pool and started her swim.  It’s her practice to check her watch starting with the first lap so she gets an idea of what kind of pace she’s on.  She noticed right off the bat that she was about 2 seconds faster that normal.  She then checked her watch at the 6-lap mark and again noticed a lower time than usual.  That’s when she thought she might have a very good swim that night.  By the time Kathleen made it to the half-mile point, she realized that it was actually possible, if she kept up this pace, and didn’t lose focus, that she could indeed break the 30 minute mark.  She swam that last half-mile repeating to herself, “Seize The Day” and “Eyes on the Prize”.  When she finally made it to the end and reached up to stop her timer, she was rewarded with the number 29:55.  She was proud and happy that she had achieved something that had once seemed so out of reach.

As I said earlier, Kathleen swims mainly for the joy of it.  She feels she will never give up swimming again (On her business card, under her name, it says “swimmer”).  And that her commitment to it, in spite of the fact that she’s not as fast as she was 20 years ago, rewarded her with a sense of accomplishment that will never go away.

So swim on Kathleen…I am so proud of you. :) :):)

And to all of us, move today in honor and reverence for our bodies. They matter, they count and they deserve to be moved and stretched.

As I always like to say, we came out of the womb kicking and moving.

The body knew what it wanted and needed right at birth.

Sending you Peace, Love and Movement.

XO, Laura

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Day 65 – One Pinky Who Shares Her Heart and Soul

Hey Leah and Pinky’s!

I came across this gorgeous piece that one of my Pinky’s wrote about her experience working through this course….and I had to share it with the world.

It goes like this….

“i have been afraid all of my life.
afraid of failing. afraid of succeeding. afraid of doing too much and not doing enough. afraid of being ugly. afraid of being great. afraid that what i said would be misunderstood – afraid that if i didnt speak i would disappear. i have been afraid to love and desperately in fear of not being lovable. i have wanted to evaporate into the cool wind of indifference and also to be the storm of beligerence that finally set the record straight. i have wanted to live. i have feared dying. i am too fat. i am too thin. i am not smart enough and yet i understand everything. i am too old, i am too young. my heart is broken. there is nothing left. then – i am exhilirated – invigorated – refreshed – ALIVE! There is wind enough for every sail – joy enough for every heart. i am gifted, blessed, the most fortunate girl alive. i am fat. i must be thinner. my arms are too strong……. though i hold one hundred children, they do not lay well against the tireless strain of my skin tight blouse. make me thinner god. run. diet. exercise. fast. give me something – now – anything – to take away this extra bit of me i do not need – this roundness – this flesh. can i have another cookie – maybe ten? i don’t drink i don’t smoke i don’t……….give me sugar give me love give me the light light light is what i need.
these are my thoughts when i am not tapped into the source. when i am not focused on what i am committed to. when i have mistaken myself for something other than the incredible miracle that is my very being. she is me – and yet she is very different than the confident, grateful woman whom i have come to know as myself. it is my tininess. my little fearful self that is a child. that needs a kiss. a hand to hold. one big hug that wraps eternity around me until i am big again. until i can feel the heat that is my heart – beating – drawing me closer to my greatness – letting me be – without the judgement. setting me free.
i chose not to live inside the tiny places of despair where once i made my home. that is no longer me – laying there beside melancholy – victimized by my own shame, with fists full of evidence against the world. i am an opening. a soft place of becoming that is kind and loving and curious. i am willing ever willing to grow and certain that growth will come. i am teachable. i welcome grace.
in my opening – through the small cracks of light that filter around those parts of me that are frightened – lessons come. lessons and teachers and friends and gifts, like so many presents bundled up before me. they come mostly as woman – in all shapes and sizes and socio-economic happenstance. but come they do when i am looking. so, i found laura. and through laura, onepinky. and through onepinky – a sisterhood of triumph – a portal to freedom.
i have taken all the classes I could take. i have read the books. i have attended the seminar and sang the song – chanted the chant and drank the herbs. and then this. a simple gesture. one woman to another – a hand. an ear. some laughter echoed.
to tell you how there is more sunniness in the sun or more green in the forest because i am looking out from within instead of the other way around is to only scratch the surface. you cannot name this. it is a secret. a secret that starts inside like a wee hope – a what if it works? – a prayer. and then, because you trusted it when someone said you could and because you did it when she said you deserve to and because that part of you that is inside – that was always a champion – before even time – knows it, you do. you begin to heal. you begin to shine. you begin to share. then, there is the unspeakable brilliance of letting something go that you never quite knew you were holding onto and, suddenly, your hands are empty – your arms are open – and you are no longer pushing away the great depth of love that is your essence – your light – your tiny, brilliant and beautiful “me” at last in celebration. your gift.
i cannot imagine how to say this any other way. take the course that is yours – here before you – now. be willing to let it work for you. be willing to make it work for you. be willing to be that part of you that knows there is a fight left – that knows there is something worth fighting for – that part of you that is a sister – a friend – someone’s love. you will experience transformation. you will heal. there are too many words to hide it and not enough to reveal – the experience that only you will have when you say “yes” to this door that is opening in front of you. you made it appear. now, lift your head and walk in – we are waiting for you. you are not alone. come.”

This makes my heart sing and my eyes cry every time I read it.
I love it and I am grateful for the beauty of these words…and they must be shared.
Drink them up. And thank you to my Pinky who shares her heart and soul. What a gift to us all.
XO, Laura

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