Mary Oliver Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. […]

Gratitude

So Many Gifts by Hafiz

There are so many gifts

Still unopened from your birthday

there are so many hand-crafted presents

that have been sent to you by God.

The Beloved does not mind repeating,

“Everything I have is also yours.”

Please forgive Hafiz and the Friend

if we break into a sweet laughter

when your heart complains of being thirsty

when ages ago

every cell in your soul

capsized forever

into this infinite golden sea.

Indeed,

a lover’s pain is like holding one’s breath

too long

in the middle of a vital performance,

in the middle of one of Creation’s favorite songs.

Indeed, a lover’s pain is this sleeping,

this sleeping,

when God just rolled over and gave you

such a big good-morning kiss!

There are so many gifts, my dear,

still unopened from your birthday.

O, there are so many hand-crafted presents

that have been sent to your life

from God.

By Hafiz

This week we are inspired by Hafiz to open the doors of awareness to all the gifts that we have available to us in our lives. As we practice yoga we can bring awareness to all of its manifestations. Each breath we take is a gift. Bring your attention to your physical body. The very fact that you can get on a yoga mat and move your physical body is a miracle. Reflect on all the tasks that your body does for you automatically, your heart circulates blood through your body, your digestive system is working for you, your immune system, your hair is growing, your fingernails are growing, your eyebrows are keeping sweat out of your eyes and your eyelashes are keeping dust out of your eyes. Your body is a miracle.

Your mind is a miracle. You can bring awareness to all that you have been granted without any cost to you. You can set your intention. You can visualize. You have access to this video and the information in it. You can take the teachings from this class with you and off your mat and into your life.

You have energy that you can cultivate through your breath, your food and yoga. You have your emotions that can act as a barometer for your experience, that you can ride like a wave. You have your innate spirit which you can connect with awaken through your spiritual practices such as yoga and meditation.

So many gifts as Hafiz says. What gifts do you want to take a moment to reflect on right now. What are you grateful for in this moment?

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

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Today’s question to answer in the comments is: What gifts are you recognizing as a result of your yoga practice today?

If you would like an infographic of my top 3 benefits of engaging with poetry then scroll down to the opt in box and type in your email address. We will send you a beautiful infographic of my 3 benefits of engaging with poetry.

Promotion: If you would like another class like this one to support you in easing anxiety. Then I would highly recommend our brand new,

Gratitude So Many Gifts by Hafiz There are so many gifts Still unopened from your birthday there are so many hand-crafted presents that have been sent to you by God. The Beloved does not mind repeating, “Everything I have is also yours.” Please forgive Hafiz and the Friend if we break into a sweet laughter […]

Be Danced

We have come to be danced

not the pretty dance

not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance

but the claw our way back into the belly

of the sacred, sensual animal dance

Jewel Mathieson

Weekly Yoga with Melissa West 339 Poetry in Motion: Be Danced

we have come to be danced. jewel mathieson.

We have come to be danced

not the pretty dance

not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance

but the claw our way back into the belly

of the sacred, sensual animal dance

the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance

the holding the precious moment in the palms

of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced

not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance

but the wring the sadness from our skin dance

the blow the chip off our shoulder dance

the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced

not the monkey see, monkey do dance

one, two dance like you

one two three, dance like me dance

but the grave robber, tomb stalker

tearing scabs & scars open dance

the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

WE have come to be danced

not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle

but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama

shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance

the strip us from our casings, return our wings

sharpen our claws & tongues dance

the shed dead cells and slip into

the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced

not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance

but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance

the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance

the mother may I?

yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance

the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance

the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced

where the kingdom’s collide

in the cathedral of flesh

to burn back into the light

to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray

to root in skin sanctuary

We have come to be danced

WE HAVE COME

This gorgeous poem by Jewel Mathieson speaks to embracing the world as it is as Pema Chodron would say. With these teachings we agree to show up fully for all of life. We don’t run away from any experience, we refuse to accept anything. Pema Chodron describes it as a complete acceptance and surrender to every sight, sound, thought, experience, person, smell and taste we are experiencing and encountering in each moment.

The Poem, Be Danced speaks to a kind of openness to all of life, situations, experiences and emotions and a willingness to experience them fully with complete authenticity. There is a refusal to reject any part of the experience. With this dance you are turning toward your experience rather than away from it.

There is a willingness to seek the basic goodness and the intrinsic good in the world when you open yourself up to be danced. You may not like everything you encounter, but when you come back to the present moment and to exactly what you are experiencing your attitude may shift.

When I was writing the lesson plans for this class, I could feel myself getting agitated by the sound of power tools in the background. I took a breath and listened to the sound of the hedge trimmer. That moment of listening allowed my attention to shift from being annoyed...

Be Danced We have come to be danced not the pretty dance not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance but the claw our way back into the belly of the sacred, sensual animal dance Jewel Mathieson Weekly Yoga with Melissa West 339 Poetry in Motion: Be Danced we have come to be danced. […]

Holding on and Letting Go

“Embracing, We Let Go”

by Yahia Lababidi

Perhaps, we are negotiating

not just with one, but always two

-who share the same soil, it is true-

one who lives, another who is dying

A shift in balance begins to take place

once a love of silence is confessed

its roots run deep, its shade a world

and her fruits impossible to forget

From the first, we surrender something

and, gradually, consent to be emptied

transfixed by so much soundless music

drunk and sated through lipless mouths

What use to name this silent master

preparing us for dying or the Divine

(I’m not sure there is a difference)

but know in embracing, we let go.

This week on Weekly Yoga with Melissa West we are focusing on letting go. I love this poem, because it points to the delicate process of letting go, the acceptance, the willingness to surrender and to be transfixed by the process.

What stands out to me about this beautiful poem is that there is a balance in letting go. All is not lost when we let go. We do not have to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak. We can choose to release and yet, as Yahia Lababidi says, there is one who lives, another who is dying. With any death comes a rebirth.

And even more than that, the most poignant and final line in the poem Yahia Lababidi says, “but know in embracing, we let go.” While there may always be some parts of us that are dying, some parts that we are releasing and letting go, we are also always choosing which parts with which we are connecting more deeply. When we choose to let go, we are also choosing what parts to take with us in our rebirth.

Through the practice of yoga, we are continually releasing all that no longer serves us, all the ego constructs, in order to come closer to our True Self. As I see it, any ending, any letting go, is also an embracing of our True Divine nature.

Props Needed: Bolster, 2 blocks, meditation cushion or chair

Yoga Postures/Asanas: Reclined Bound Angle Pose or Supta Baddha Konasana, Windshield wiper legs, Reclined Side Bend, Supta Matsyendrasana or Reclined Knee Bent Twist, Cat Pose or Marjaryasana, Pushan Mudra, Shoulder Shrugs – let go of shoulder tension, that which is not your own, Tree Pose or Vrksasana, Side Bending Tree Pose, Peaceful Warrior or Shanti Virabhadrasana, Humble Warrior, Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana, Fish Pose or Matsyasana, Reclined Matsyendrasana, Bound angle or Supta Baddha Konasana, Lion´s Breath or Simhasana, Savasana or Corpse Pose

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

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Thank you for your donations: Diane, Donna, Carol

Thank you for your continued kindness and generous support. It helps us to produce this show and offer a free one hour yoga class every Friday.

Today’s question to answer in the comments is: What are you holding onto? What are you letting go of?

If you would like an infographic of my top 3 benefits of engaging with poetry then type in your email address in the box below and we will send you a beautiful infographic of my 3 benefits of engaging with poetry.

Today we focused on holding on and letting go. Right now in our membership community we are focusing on yoga for digestion. We have several yoga classes that will assist you in assimilating an...

Holding on and Letting Go “Embracing, We Let Go” by Yahia Lababidi Perhaps, we are negotiating not just with one, but always two -who share the same soil, it is true- one who lives, another who is dying A shift in balance begins to take place once a love of silence is confessed its roots […]

Yoga with Melissa #337

Lost

by David Wagoner, from Collected Poems 1956-1976

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. you must let it find you.

Why is this metaphor of the forest such a powerful analogy of coming back to our own Selves? To me this poem speaks of profound listening, returning to our True Selves and the deep intention or sankalpa of our lives.

What does it mean to listen deeply that this poem and the metaphor of the forest and the trees offer us? There is a stepping out of everyday life, from the rushing, noise, confusion and distractions of our urban landscapes. There is call to stillness, to be quiet and to listen to that still voice within.

When we practice yoga, our body is an anchor to our present moment experiences. It allows us to settle and listen to ourselves. When we come to a place of peaceful abiding we enter a space where we are not pushed and pulled by life’s circumstances. We return again and again to the present moment. When we are present to the sensations of our body there is the possibility of self-knowing, caring present and intuitive insight.

This poem invites us to listen from a deep, recepting and caring place within ourselves. It allows us to be open to the unknown and unexpected. Lost allows us to trust in our own experience in a gentle and non-reactive way.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

Did you like today’s show?

* Share it with a friend, family member or email it to a coworker.

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Thank you for your donations: Leah, Eva, Joshua, Bergljot Chiarucci, Gro Mari Eik, Hilary

Thank you for your continued kindness and generous support. It helps us to produce this show and offer a free one hour yoga class every Friday.

Today’s question to answer in the comments is: How do you find your ground when you are lost?

If you would like an infographic of my top 3 benefits of engaging with poetry then type in your email address below. We will send you a beautiful infographic of my 3 benefits of engaging with poetry.

Today we focused a lot on the balancing yoga posture, tree pose. We have a Brain Yoga Class for Standing Balancing Yoga Postures. One of the things people ask me for help with most often is standing balancing yoga postures. One of the first signs of brain deterioration is when your balance starts to go. Using simple movement patterns on a daily basis, like the rocking, rolling, cross patterns, and crawling shown in this video will help to develop your brain. As your brain is nourished, your body is developed. When you make a movement you make a neural pathway for that movement. If you keep making that movement, you engrave that neural pathway for your brain. The more nerve connections you can make in your brain and your body the more your balance will improve. Try adding this yoga class into your regular rotation if you struggle with standing balanci...

Yoga with Melissa #337 Lost by David Wagoner, from Collected Poems 1956-1976 Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I […]

Our Deepest Fear

Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson from A Return to Love

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Marianne Williamson: A Return to Love

Ego grasping can take all kinds of shapes and forms. Today we are exploring our tendency to hide our own brilliance. Perhaps in an effort to avoid appearing conceited or cocky we have hidden some of our most precious gifts from the world.

To what extent are you willing to take ownership of your God-given gifts and talents. Take a moment now to take inventory of your life and acknowledge your strengths. Downplaying the best parts of yourself does not make you a better person. Take a moment now to recognize your own gifts and talents as a way to appreciate and honour all that you are. It is part of what makes you unique as a human being.

We all have qualities that make us uniquely special. With commitment we can search out the disowned parts of ourselves that make us brilliant and whole. When we take back the positive projections we have only allowed ourselves to observe in other people we can embrace our whole self.

Resources:

Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love

The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford

Props Needed: meditation cushion or chair, 2 blocks, bolster

Yoga Postures/Asanas: Reclined Bound Angle or Supta Baddha Konasana, Bridge Pose or Setu Bandhasana, Frog Pose or Mandukasana, Padma Mudra, Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana, Tadasana or Mountain Pose, Chair Pose or Utkatasana, Warrior One or Virabhadrasana One, Warrior Three or Virabhadrasana Three, Goddess Victory Squat or Utkata Konasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana Upward Facing Dog, Dying Warrior, Child’s Pose or Balasana, Savasana or Corpse Pose

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

Did you like today’s show?

* Share it with a friend, family member or email it to a coworker.

* Like

* Subscribe to our channel. Subscribe to my Living Your Yoga Channel

* Please leave us a 5-star review on Itunes

* Leave your comment below.

Thank you for your donations: Hannah, Peggy, Donna

Thank you for your continued kindness and generous support. It helps us to produce this show and offer a free one hour yoga class every Friday.

Today’s question to answer in the comments is: What is one strength you have brought into the light today.

If you would like an infographic of my top 3 benefits of engaging with poetry then enter your email address below. We will send you a beautiful infographic of my 3 benefits of engaging with poetry.

We have a beautiful class in our membership community that will take you deeper with the themes that we have explored in this class called the Warrior’s Heart. Through this class we explore the various warrior postures: dying warrior, warrior I, warrior II, warrior III, and peaceful warrior.