breathe in, breathe out

Our breath is so valuable and intrinsic a part of our life force and yet how many of us can honestly say we breathe at our optimum best?

Do you take round full breaths or are you a shallow breather. Under stress or duress, does your breath remain deep and steady, or do you find yourself hyperventilating? 

Watch this animation of how our lungs look and work to get a better idea of how they serve us. 

Single Cell Animation of the Respiratory System

Did you know that our lungs are different from one another? The right consists of three lobes - Superior, Middle, and Inferior. While the left only has two lobes - the Superior and Inferior.

Lungs are encased by the Pleura - a membrane surface that lubricates the lungs movement as we breath.

The Diaphragm is the muscle that helps pump air into and out of the lungs. As it contracts (moves down), the air is sucked in, as it relaxes (just as bellows work), the air is pushed out.

The respiratory system is such an amazing wonder. It is good to remember this to appreciate and care about ourselves more.

what our dreams portend

Since attending the Dark Night of the Soul course given by Sandra Ingerman recently, I noticed the gap between my asking for something and it manifesting has shortened and compressed, yielding almost immediate results. 

It has resulted in some changes in fine tuning my healing practice and disciplines. For example, I grew up a believer in the power of prayer. The powerful act still moves me deeply, yet I now prefer to light a candle and wordlessly offer it up on the altar with whatever intentions I hold. 

Dreamwork Summit 2020, The Shift Network

The simplest offering of love and light is enough to yield immediate and miraculous outcomes. Best yet, when I am confused or at a loss, I allow grace to move through me and ease any stress or fear. The act of absolute surrender frees and liberates me completely. 

a manual for peace | within & in our world

Thich Nhat Hanh distills the essence of Buddhist thought and practice with the grace and serenity he is world famous for. 

Since the 60s, when we were first introduced to his words and work through his efforts to end the Vietnam War, he has emphasized the power of mindfulness to transform our lives. 

His book, You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment, delivers his wise words simply and directly. Providing us with an easy and doable manual for day-to-day living. 

available online

Simple, warm, direct, and startlingly potent, this book reveals the heart of the Buddhist path and helps us to reconnect with the joy and wonder of being alive, regardless of life’s changing circumstances. 

In, out. It is enough to breathe. 

Deep, slow. Simply witness your breath. 

Calm, ease. Let go and relax - no thoughts, no plans, no agenda. 

Smile, release. Connect to our self, here and now, body and mind, all and whole. 

We are here, completely alive. That is the magic and miracle of life. 

new download

Feeling frazzled? Easily triggered? More forgetful? Don't let this scare or worry you.

In truth our brain is evolving - working out new pathways of consciousness - it is being rewired. While the old ways are being abandoned - the new ways are still being discovered or formed - we feel the gap and lack more.

be like sea glass

The sensation is temporary - it'll pass. In the meantime here's a breathing exercise to help you along.

communing with spirit

Altars have always held a special fascination - it may be a childhood holdover from our tradition of visiting churches, especially when we are in a new place, genuflecting in front of a new altar and offering up some special intention.

Bacolod City Basilica, interior

Sacred sites and shrines can be so varied and different - serving an individual person, family or community. Both ancient and ageless - its purpose long lost through the eons. Whether a man made structure, a sacred space in nature, or a natural gathering place - they kindle our interest and can be quite awe inspiring.

Façade of Miagao Fortress Church, Iloilo

When and where it is possible - listening to the stories that go with the why of how a shrine was erected or a space set aside for a sacred purpose, quiet contemplation, a physical reminder to pause and take life in - maybe even make an offering in return to express gratitude and appreciation.

traditional Buddhist shrine, Chiang Mai

ceremony

Ceremony is a conscious act performed, uniting in ritual and purpose, the specialness of an event or occasion. Cultural or traditional, religious or civil, communal or private - a ceremony is a creative, powerful, and impactful means of communication and connectivity. 

Canterbury Cathedral Altar

Adding ceremony to our daily prayer is valuable because it consciously directs our purpose and intent. Prayers are universal and every individual prays one way or another. Prayer is deliberate communication issued or action taken to connect with spirit, the divine, all that is, source, the God of our heart. 

A Shinto Kamidana [home altar]

When we pray we are either naming, asking, or declaring with prayers of invocation, petition or decree. The idea expressed or action taken are an expression of honour, worship, or devotion. 

The Opferstein or sacrificial rock, Austria

hope is a discipline

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

The 2020 theme for the International Day of Peace is Shaping Peace Together. Celebrate the day by spreading compassion, kindness and hope in the face of the pandemic.

While many join together to spread peace, there are those who sow divisiveness and dissent, using the current crisis to promote their agenda of discrimination and hatred.

It is a sad and sorrow filled day for Filipinos around the world who recall the atrocities of the Marcos regime and dictatorship on the anniversary of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines.

It’s an act of rebellion to show up as someone trying to be whole and — I would add — as someone who believes that there is a hidden wholeness beneath the very evident brokenness of our world. ~ Parker Palmer

let our spirit soar

The past decade has liberated me - bringing final closure to a cycle that took longer than I ever imagined and invested more energy than expected.

Sand Dunes and Moon by Regimantas Cieška

This last year of accumulation, of accreditation, and of study has served me well. It has fattened and filled my spirit. A fat moon full and filled with new understanding and a deepened consciousness. So big it bursts open to spill over. Rich with magic and resources, with offerings and boons - for all to witness and enjoy.

music for the soul

There is geometry in the humming of the strings. There is music in the spacing of the spheres. ~ Pythagoras (569–490 BCE)

Oxidizing Space by Bernhard Rohne

The discovery of the precise relation between the pitch of the musical note and the length of the string that produces it is attributed to Pythagoras.

a poetic idea of music in the cosmos

welcome to my world

August is the ideal month to bask under the night sky and dance with the stars. Meteor showers, comet trails, lunar phases, planetary alignments, asteroids and their near misses. The skies are putting on a stellar show.

concept art by BHAKTI creative design

The August full moon has been called the Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon, Green Corn Moon, and Grain Moon. It is a harvest moon that appears at the time of the year's first harvest, always shining by the stars of Aquarius or Capricorn. This year the full moon falls on August 3.