At times ...

(St. Lucia log)

Yesterday I felt to go to the sea. The idea of it was cleansing in a way that nothing else could be. I felt for a quiet beach, but Rodney Bay, which is walking distance from where Mel lives, was crowded with a pack-load of tourists. We had a light lunch at Spinnakers, then walked along the beach and found a fairly quiet spot toward the end of the bay. The sea was gentle and warm and I went in alone. At times I just floated, surrendering to what is unimaginably larger than I am. At times I folded up like a foetus and was submerged and drifting in a massive womb. At times I tried handstands (which more ended up being flips) - and turned myself upside down like a salt shaker, emptying out. At times I just gently breast-stroked my way through the water. At times I went under the water and, as it supported me, I stretched myself out into whatever pose felt good ... Neptune yoga, maybe? At times I went under the water and spoke into it, knowing it was listening and understanding, even though I didn't really know what to say or how to put the essence into words. It, in itself, is beyond words. At times I just lay down or sat cross-legged in the shallow, allowing the gentle waves to shift me slightly. Then, when I felt to, I came out.

Long time

Now & always

Yoga morning, French evening

This morning I woke up and, around 8:15 I headed out to my second Moksha yoga class, which was to start at 9:00 a.m.

When I got to my car, I noticed that the front right tyre was almost flat. That explained why the steering wheel was so hard to turn yesterday evening. Luckily there was a tyre place around the corner and within half an hour the problem was fixed. A large industrial nail was the culprit.

The yoga class felt great - and I will definitely do my best to go regularly and "keep up", as we say in K. Yoga.

Tonight is the 'fete de noel' - our French Christmas party. Some of us in our class are doing a little skit involving me drawing the body parts that the others will be calling out ... resulting in a caricature of notre professeur.

Heightened

A surge.
Heightened connection.
My flower stalk is tall.
My petals open.
I drink the sun.
Purple.
Yellow.
We are connected.

Yoga days (daze)

Last night I went to my first Moksha yoga class (and will be taking advantage of the pay-$30-for-your-first-class-and-get-free-classes-for-the-week benefit). The two forms of yoga I've done within the past week have been very different from the Kundalini yoga which I have been doing since 2001. The yoga over the weekend at the retreat was Anusara, which gave me a great experience.

In addition to this, I've been house-sitting since Friday for a friend who is away for a little over a week. Our Kundalini yoga teacher and another practitioner come to her house four mornings a week at 4:30 a.m. to do morning sadhana. Normally I will do yoga on my own when I wake up in the ambrosial hours (amrit vela) ... but this week it has been with them. Having the company heightens the experience - or at least provides a different one.

I wake as usual, bathe, open the front gate for them and am ready for when they arrive at 4:30. We go until about 6:30 a.m., doing warm ups, a kriya and then the Sadhana chants.

My tangible and intangible bodies feel great - stretched, activated and alive.

In addition to all the great yoga energy being generated, I feel like I'm not in Trinidad. Everything feels and looks new. One reason for this is that I have not read newspapers since Thursday last week ... and have no idea what madness is going on in TT. I don't care to know either. In the grocery two days ago my eye fell on a headline screaming out in red: "BEACH TERROR!"

I looked away.

The world is at peace - inside and out.

#1 Vote(r): Elshpesh Blanshay Duncan

Electoral ink on my Jupiter finger

In yoga ... the index/Jupiter finger is the finger which, when its tip is connected with the tip of the thumb (representing the ego) forms Gyan Mudra.

*

This morning I was the first voter in my constituency ... (maybe even in the country if our polling station was the first to start!) Having left home bright and early (or rather dark and early), I was standing at the front of the line of people, all of us waiting for the polling station to open at six on the dot. My family members were behind me. When the time came, I felt like the pied piper, walking toward the polling booth with the long line of other voters behind me. The woman at the desk took my ID card, checked off my name, made me sign on my poll card and then said:

"Elsh ... Elshp ..."

"Elspeth," I said, helping her to pronounce it.

"Blanshay?"

"Blanche," I said.

She then called out loudly for the other pollers to hear: "Elshpesh Blanshay Duncan! Voter #1!"

I was given my voting slip and went behind the barricade to stamp my X. Then went to submit my vote and my poll card and dip my index finger in the ink.

I find it interesting that we dip the index finger. Maybe there's a reason why - maybe even that the finger is just easiest to dip (like how we use it to dial on the phone) ... but from a spiritual and yoga perspective: the index finger is known as the Jupiter finger. I find the significance is interesting and relevant:

Jupiter is the planet of expansion. It is the largest planet in the solar system. In the natal chart Jupiter is associated with leadership, principles, philosophy, law, politics, higher education, travel, abundance, problem solving and ritual. Negatively Jupiter can manifest as excess in our lives. It may be physical such as overeating or spiritual such as dogmatism.

"Gyan" means knowledge and this mudra's purpose is that of imparting intelligence and wisdom to the individual who holds this posture.

Other benefits:

Bestows intelligence and wisdom. Purifies the mind of the practitioner. Cures many mental ailments. Gives a feeling of joy. Cures intoxication and addictive habits.

May all who dip their Jupiter fingers today do so in the spirit of Gyan.

The day after

Can't remember the last time I limed so late. After yesterday's workshop and the film festival (the films were great, but I'm not currently in a 'review' mood) was the birthday party which started at 8 p.m. I intended to just 'pop in and show my face' ... and ended up coming home at 7 a.m. this morning. The party started to wind up around 3 a.m. and, rather than drive back to St. Augustine (from POS), I stayed at a friend's house.

The day has therefore been slow and lazy. I will not be leaving the house ... except to teach a yoga class around 6 p.m. Despite feeling sluggish, the kriya I have chosen is quite long and may be somewhat demanding, with lots of spinal flexing, arching, stretching. twisting. But ... I did tell the others I would give them a good workout in our next class. Afterwards, we'll do the ra ma da sa meditation again. We've done it for the past 3 classes, each time using a different melody. It always gives us a nice healing feeling to take home and go to sleep with.

(Update @ 4:52 p.m. Did not have yoga again. For various reasons, at last minute no-one was available).

Feline yoga

Jasper on my yoga mat just after my ... I mean our morning session.
*

Every morning when I am doing yoga/meditation, Jasper joins me. As soon as I sit on the mat, he jumps off the bed or through the window (wherever he is at the time) and stretches out purring in front of me. If I am in easy pose, he often curls up in the basket created by my legs.

I don't know what it is about Breath of Fire, but it drives him wild. As soon as I start to do it, he 'wakes up' and clambers all over me, purring wildly, rubbing against me and repeatedly biting my gyan mudra. Cats are very sensitive creatures and no doubt he is tuning in to the energy.

He will calm down eventually, but purring louder than ever until he eventually dozes off.

When I'm done and I get up off the mat, he takes my place ... as in the above shot.

Sat nam, little J.

Breath

"Inhale, and God approaches you.
Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.
Exhale, and you approach God.
Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God."

~Krishnamacharya

(Got this from Regina Clare Jane's site and find it's such a great quote!)

Returning to the Source

A few days ago Mala, my neighbour down the road and I were chatting and she was saying that she wished I would start back teaching yoga, as she missed it. I agreed.

This Sunday (yesterday) we had a class on her wide, roomy porch. Well, even though I was guiding the session, I didn't look at it as 'a class' ... but more like a shared yoga experience. There were five of us: me, Mala, her daughter Clarisse, Debbie (a friend from Chaguanas) and Mitreya (Mitra?), a young woman who is here on a Fullbright (staying with Mala). Since three of those present were completely new to it, I kept it simple. We began with the opening mantras, went into the breathing techniques (breath of fire and long deep breathing), went through a series of warm up exercises to get the energy flowing, then ended gently with the Ra Ma Da Sa healing meditation.

Afterwards, we all felt so relaxed, tingly and renewed ... and decided we would do yoga together every Sunday As Mala said, it was good to remember how great it feels. I myself was so zoned out (or zoned in) that I knew I could only go to sleep when I got home. That I did ... and had amazing dreams!

Sat nam.

Oh My Soul

Oh my Soul, you come and you go

Through the paths of time and space.

In useless play you’ll not find the way

So set your goals and go.

Sing such a song with all your life

You will never have to sing again.

Love such a one with all your heart

You will never need to love again.

Oh my Soul you come and you go (etc) ...

Walk such a path with all your faith

You will never have to wander again.

Give yourself to such a Guru

You will never have to seek again.

Oh my Soul ... (etc)

Pray such a prayer with all your soul

You will never have to pray again.

Die such a death at the feet of God

You will never have to die again.

Oh my Soul ... (etc)

Breathe my Love

Breathe my Love

Breathe in the quiet centre.

(Sung by Snatam Kaur)

In Time for You

Open your mind.
Tune out ... and tune in.
Relax ... and fall asleep if you want to.
Have a far out (yet right inside) experience.

IN TIME FOR YOU is a meditational vibrational experience, open to all who wish to be present.

Admission: FREE

Date: Saturday 30 June
Time: 4 - 6 p.m.
Venue: The Centre for the Arts, 1 DeVerteuil Street, Woodbrook (625-2843)

Bring a yoga mat or thick towel.
Wear loose, comfortable clothing.

This intimate event is a part of Greenlight Network's (resumed) once-a-month interactive happenings for the healing of our inner and outer environments. All we ask is that you be either early or on time ... (not Trini time)!

In that dream ...

I pressed myself against a glass wall, facing forward.

Anyone passing on the other side would see me.

It was me, but did not look like me.

Maybe it was you.

I woke up knowing what I had to do.

I did it.

Window to my Soul (mate)

The seven preceeding 'Soul Window' posts were leading to this: the new window lamp I will create.

Unlike the window lamps I made last year (Diva, Serendipity, The Enchanted Forest), this window lamp has not been directly commissioned in the physical sense. But somewhere in the ether, someone has commissioned it.

I woke up one day and knew that it was time to make a new lamp, which of the windows I would use and what, in essence, its theme was to be.

As described here, each window lamp I make is a three-dimensional prayer, made with symbolic intention/intuition based on its theme. This creative intention/intuitive process determines the vibration of the lamp, which in turn determines who/what is drawn to its light and presence.

Today's message (one of them, anyway) ...

Around Christmas I was at the Raj Yoga centre. A friend had invited me to a meditation they were having for a kidnap victim. While there, I noticed little cards hanging on their Christmas tree. When I went closer, I saw that the cards all had lovely words on them (Love, Peace, Forgiveness, Lightness, Wonder, etc.), each accompanied by a short explanation. I asked someone about it and they said the cards are from a pack which they had had available at the St. Augustine Centre (but were now out of stock). I wanted two packs (one for myself, one as a gift), but I didn't know where to get any, since there were no more.

A few days later a friend of mine said to me: "Spec, I saw something today and it reminded me of you, so I had to get it for you!" It turned out to be a pack of those very Brahma Kumaris 'Self Mastery Cards' I had wanted! He had gotten them in the Centre in South (they have them in stock).

The little box contains a set of 66 slim cards, each one bearing one word which is a particular quality or state of being - and a little explanation to go with it.

Every morning after my yoga/meditation I choose one for the day ahead. This morning I got:

TRUST

Having recognized my mastery, I trust myself. I am able with each connection I make, to base it firmly in trust, both in myself and in the one I face.