it is as true that i have you

don’t startle
with fear
of losing
to change…

it is as true that i have you as the ocean has the wave
even though a spark, like lightning
can shock me to know
you are not
who i thought…
as a moment witnessed
tells a secret.

and now
aloof to the subtle
you wonder who
these words are for now
without seeing that
i
am a mere mystery drawn to
attract the precious inside…

© r.e.l. 12/1/10

**this post is for Poetry Potluck Week 16 on Jingle Poetry

Received The Prolific Blogger Award from Jingle Poetry


different forms, as treasures

you ask me to be still
and so i do..
you lie hidden within, unfelt
with a shield strong as stone
pushing you away.
in all directions.

don’t you hear the answers now?
as they quietly become one with the search
for what is touching you?
you are beautiful
everything is alive
in different forms
as treasures.

watch time stand still with me. ok?
help me to let go and to become one with the mystery.
please.

© r.e.l. 11/26/10

image  by my secret innuendo™ of marin county

Published (partial) on Micropoetry 3/3/14

Submitted to caesura 2/5/14

Posted for Thursday Poets Rally Week 34 (12/2-12/8/10) on Promising Poets. Received the Perfect Poet Award…. Thanks so much, I accept 🙂  [For week 35 I nominate Jargnar]

can you find stillness and not stiffness?

Can you find stillness in your life and not stiffness? It is during the most challenging times in life that we test this theory out.  But we can teach ourselves to do it the right way, with softness.

Yoga is a great place to work on this.  Some yoga classes are all about moving fluidly with your watery nature, and like a dance you find your way to a place of balance.  This feels great and can also help us flow better with life, learning to move with what we are dealt and become one with it.

Life, however, deals us chaos and challenge sometimes.  A challenging yoga class can help you mimic this challenge and give you the chance to relax into it and come out ahead of the game with your head on your shoulders.

A serious Ashtanga yoga class can be a place to find stillness and calm.  When the teacher instructs with their voice or their rhythm to be serious, can you allow yourself to find softness in the strength?  This is important, especially in your neck and trapezius muscles that support your neck — a common place to hold tension.  Can you find the perfect balance between expansion and contraction of your muscles so that the end result is soft and still?  If you cannot, your yoga could be harming you.

Can you find this perfect balance in your mind?  In your spirit?  It takes a lot of patience to traverse your oceans of time…

Now, let’s talk about other activities such as surfing.  Surfing requires a lot of focus on paddling and learning how to ride nature’s gem: the ocean.  She is pure fluid.  Can you find the strength in your muscles to protect you, fuel you, and help you get the most enjoyment possible, while still remaining soft and fluid, especially in the back of your neck?

What about sitting at your computer doing a simple physical act of typing, while heavily and emotionally involved in your topic.  Are you able to sit in balance?  What if you are in the physical presence of a person who makes you feel insane?  Are you able to stay balanced, soft and supple?

Are you able to take a step back and feel your tension and then remember that the key lies in softening, not in tension that only feeds anger?  It is easier said than done. But eventually it can be a natural response.

Life is a journey.  Yoga and other mindful activities can be a container for this journey. Having said that, your yoga practice can be a spiritual/psyche container while you are on your mat, and it can be a phenomenal experience at that!  🙂   But ultimately, you CAN take your yoga into your life and really live it and be real with it……

Be real.  It is the answer.  Learn to live your life in stillness, despite chaos.

silence is a source of great strength
~ Lao Tzu ~

© r.e.l. 9/15/10

a stress free life

Do you wake in the morning and tell yourself that today will be the day that you will really take your health to another level? One idea to ponder is why you would wait. Any moment can be a time to set your intention. You might wait because you are too stressed at the idea of changing.

A healthy life makes you feel great but activities that drive our personalities can interfere with health, some of which feed addictive behaviors, stress, overindulgence or even laziness. Although we all mean well and fully intend to do what our heart tells us to do, is following every inclination at every moment actually following your heart and acting with your best health in mind?

There are many different facets included in health. Those that require motivation for some of you such as diet, exercise and mind-calming activities are part of it, but if you are stressed about the plan you have for yourself or the goal you wish to achieve, then maybe you are going about it in the wrong way for you.

If your plan is to drastically cut out all of the poison in your life all at once, and trade it for regimented goodness, and this makes you crazy in your mind, then perhaps there is a better solution for you.

We are talking about your body, mind, heart and spirit. A plan for health needs to include each or else a part of you will attack the plan, so to say, and never start, or fulfill a part of it while another part becomes detrimental to your health.

Stress can eat away at your insides and definitely shows on the outside, so you can’t hide from it and you can’t hide it from others. What is most important is your internal appearance, which if nurtured, reflects to your whole being.

How about starting out slowly to come to terms with what will truly work for you. Spend a day alone dedicated completely to yourself simply to form your plan.

  • Drink a lot of water to hydrate and cleanse your system removing toxins.
  • Alkalinize a stressed body by nurturing yourself with foods that will increase your acidic pH such as lemon in your water, avocado, grapefruit and most greens to name a few.  This will leave you with more vibrancy and mental clarity.
  • Try to move slowly through your day paying attention to your feet on the ground as you move — preferably barefooted.
  • Yoga, pranayama breathing, meditation and music can assist you greatly in your effort.
  • Go for a walk along the beach and listen to the ocean waves soothe your soul and perhaps give you answers.

Slowly without trying you will find yourself formulating the formula for your stress free life. Keep a journal handy and write down whatever inspires you. If you’re lucky you’ll end the day with a wise mantra, a list or even a heart-opening poem. Without even knowing it you’ll probably feel a connection with your spirit and life force.

At this point, you will know what you need to do, and will do it with ease in a way which supports your life customized to you.

One final hint: don’t tell anyone your grand plan. You are doing this for yourself, not for anyone else 🙂  Others will notice the new you emanating from the old you in no time…

Namaste.

© r.e.l. 7/10/10

river of time

you exist
outside the river of time

so do i
passing through the veil
to this place in my heart

a journey through
before finding the sun…

in me there is magic to this life
to realize the answers

because love survives
tattooed forever
as the one
who will find the way
forever enchanted
to eternity

© r.e.l. 7/4/10

about balance in life

Sometimes I feel like I am scattered in too many places, with too many activities and endeavors in my life.  Every day is different and I wonder if I have a lack of clarity on where I’m headed.

However, I realize with this question, I am comparing myself to those people who are fully dedicated to one area in their life.

When I remove the comparison to others, which is a necessary and healthy avenue to take, I realize the answer. I am fully balanced in my life.

A mother, a writer, a friend, a yogini, a spiritual seeker, a dreamer, a lover, a hiker, a surfer, an inspiration, a teacher, a graduate student, a music lover, a traveler, an explorer, a mystic, an artist, a silent loner, a social butterfly, a fast mover, a slow mover….forever enchanted.  The list goes on the more I think.

It’s all about balance.

I am on one path but have many tributaries in my river of life…  Each day I wake and decide in the moment which branch, like a root, to follow.  This grounds me into myself.

😉

© r.e.l. 7/4/10

 

in the fire

the signs never cease
to tell me
still you are here.
i want you to tell me though
that you still want me here
because you are lost now
and i feel it.
do you want me to stand
in the fire with you
and be the moon that shines
on your path?
your path now is like
an answer for me
even as you take
the wrong path
to find the right
where you know who you are
never running.
i am done with our other journey
where you close
expecting me to open you.

© r.e.l. 7/3/10

what i said is not what i mean

I recently saw a quote from an online motivational writer which sparks my interest:

“I know you think you understand what I said, but what you don’t understand is what I said is not what I mean.”

At the same moment, I also saw this picture online, captured under the category of bridges over troubled water.

For some reason I feel the two have relation in what I’m trying to say to myself in this moment.

This bridge encapsulates a journey into the unknown somehow.  To walk out onto this bridge into the fog along a treacherous cliff along old cobblestone seems precarious to say the least.

Yet, it draws me in.  If I were faced with this bridge in this moment, I would surely put one step in front of the other and venture out onto it.

It metaphorically speaks to the wish to know more about the unknown, what I actually feel, and what loved ones actually mean behind their words.  We can find it difficult to put our thoughts together into words sometimes.  It is in this difficulty that our unsure words simply open up more questions and more uncertainty, as if the attempt to communicate with another takes the lid off of their secret bottle where they live.

It is true within our own selves as well.  In a strange way I feel that the way to find out the true meaning of what I am trying to say right now to myself can best be found by walking across this bridge in the mist.  If I sit out on that point, I think I will find the answer.

© r.e.l. 6/25/10

from here

from here
in the space absent of you
i have more power to give.

erased are your doubts
gone is the pressure
to be more than i am
for now i can see
that in you, you saw
a perfect soul
and it was me.

your answer to life was me
all questions answered
since the first day i came
into your heart
and i in you
you are a resonance
of my perfect heart
beating
you looked after me like a brother
a best friend.

i find now
that in letting go of something
there is a hidden treasure
to be found
in the experience.

i have found what means the most.

© r.e.l. 6/4/10

photo from Project 365 app: http://bit.ly/5G0JwQ (via Michele Kamenar)

this post is for Poetry Potluck Week 14 on Jingle Poetry

thanks so much to Jingle for this Best Poet Friend Award on Jingle Poetry


not without


you are a gift to my world
do you know that?
i will follow you
to the end.
would the stars give me you,
the one i have searched for
all my life,
without also showing me
the way,
the secret
to find you
in my life?
i whispered to you
you took my hand
together we moved forward
to discover the wonders of
yes.

© r.e.l. 5/21/10

the way

i had no choice
but to move forward on my path
finding love in my heart
fearlessly opening to life
as i returned again
to the land
that was like a father to me
giving me life situations i needed
that were meant for me to progress
and seemed to have
the same heartbeat as my own heart.

along “the way” i was led to silence
a peace that i had never known
and a truth that will remain
with me
as magic
forever
begging my return.

© r.e.l. 4/24/10
inspired by the Road to Santiago, Spain–“The Way”