Happy Earth Day 2018

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”  
🌳Mother Theresa🌳
Happy EARTH DAY everyone!
Be good to yourself. Be good to each other. Be good to the planet. Be kind. Be loving. Be wise. 
We not only inhabit this planet earth that sustains us and nurtures us, but we have this planet within us. It is our bodies, our blood, our bones, our breath. 
We are all one. What goes around comes around. 
This is the wisdom of no escape. (An actual Bhuddist teaching) There is no getting around it, above it, or below it. There is no 'away' to dump our  non-biodegradable plastic and styrofoam garbage and toxic waste. It all ends up in our air, our water, our food, our bodies as poison. 💀
Remember the wisdom of no escape and CARE for this beautiful blue/green planet, the Mother of Us All. 

Our bodies know how to remove toxins and waste from our blood and our vital organs and then eliminate it. This works well until we over load our bodies with toxins to the point of overwhelm and that is when we break down, get sick or diseases develop. Like our bodies our planet has systems that regenerate and transform waste into wealth. Like turning the bodies of dead dinosaurs etc into crude oil, or turning coal into diamonds. Our planet can re-purify water and use waste to create rich fertile soil to grow food. But overload the planet with non-biodegradable toxic waste that takes ages to break down, well it just accumulates destroying ecosystems and ultimately heating up the planet which then destroys more ecosystems, like the oceans which provide most of our oxygen. 
Remember that to care for Mother Earth IS to care for yourself. It is in your best interest. It is in the best interest of all. Be selfish. Be generous. Be wise, and be wonderful. Meet the challenge. Be the change. Stop using disposable things, like plastic eating utensils. Keep a set your bag or pack, or a set of chopsticks. Say no to the plastic bag. Commit to one change for the year. Like one of the above, or no plastic water bottles. Act like our lives depend on it. Because most likely they do. 
 

TIS the SEASON To BE WHOLEHEARTED!

The earth turns and the days and weeks go by with such dizzying velocity that it all seems like a great big blur! Seasons fly by before our eyes and under our noses.   And shockingly, here we are accelerating into the end of the 2017! 

Fortunately we humans throughout history and universally across cultures, have devised JOYFUL ways to stop and smell the roses and appreciate the gifts of our existence.

We call them HOLIDAYS and they are here!

The Holidays, or HOLY DAYS essentially allow us the space and time to remember what is most PRECIOUS, even SACRED, in our lives. The holidays first and foremost are meant to be a break from our day-to-day routines of working, efforting and focusing on survival and the material. They are meant to be a shift from the material realm into the heart and soul of living. They permit us a pause, providing the opportunity to honor and WHOLEHEARTEDLY revel in our most simple and precious pleasures like our health, happiness, home and hearth, and most importantly togetherness! 

At the very HEART of the holidays is LOVE and CONNECTION, connection with our families, friends, colleagues, our community and of course ourselves.

Our Yoga too is all about love and connection. The various practices of yoga and meditation are designed to clear the way to your highest, most loving, compassionate and joyful self. By moving through tension, toxicity and pain in the body, past the chatter and negative thought patterns in the mind, and by cultivating compassionate awareness of our process we find our way to the heart.  And that always feels good!

The Holidays are THE time to BE wholehearted and generous, holding nothing back. Because in being wholehearted, all in, fully present and in love, we get the gift character EVERYTHING!

 

“For it is in giving that we receive.”

Francis of Assisi

 

So whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas, Kwanza, or any combination thereof, I wish you all the gifts that wholehearted living. love and connection offer. As your dedication to your practice grows and the transformative effects become more and more known in your life, I wish for you and yours a holiday season supported by the health of your bodies, calmed by the clarity of your minds, warmed by the love and laughter in your hearts and lifted by the lightness of your spirits.

 

Love and Practice Always,

Lisa

Thoughts on Mother's Day 2017 (a few days later)

A few thoughts on Mother's Day , a couple of days later.

You know that classic book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstien?

 I read that book to both of my sons as they grew up. Although they enjoyed, it was never my favorite.  I found the pathos of giving until there was barely anything left and then only wishing to do more, deeply disturbing. I mean how sad to give your leaves, your fruit, your limbs/branches, your very trunk! To wind up as a stump to be sat on...Ugh. To be so under appreciated. It was pathetic. 

And then the strangest thing happened. My boys grew up and left. One and then 6 years later the other.  In pursuit of their dreams they flew. And I was left with the empty nest. And guess what? 

It comes as a shock! LOL! I'm not being dramatic. It goes really fast!  One day it is over. And no matter how smart, or forward thinking you are or even prepared, it rocks your world. BIG TIME. I was left with a hole in my heart.  

The time of mothering children, gestating, birthing, breast feeding, holding, caring, loving, dressing, teaching, guiding, offering, the time of homework and driving, activities and applications, Prepping and proms, this TIME of DEVOTION is FINITE. Yes, it has an end. 

One day it is over. Really! It is! Yes as a parent I never really took it in that one day the dynamic would change in a big way. But IT DOES!

They leave the nest. They go to college. Yes they come home, sometimes. Yes, they love you. But, well they go out and make their own lives. If you are lucky they are happy to share them with you. 

IT was then that I realized, gasp, that I am that tree. Oh yes! Hallelujah! I got it! How very blessed I am to have been and continue to be that tree. What a GIFT it is to LOVE, To CARE, like that. 

This Mother's Day, my youngest son, a freshman in college, wrote me a beautiful card in which he said,

I promise that it won't be like the giving tree. I will make enormouse efforts to give back to the greatest mom ever! 

(of course I cried)

Little does he know.

I wish for both of my sons that one day they know the gifts and lessons of love and devotion like their mom, The Giving Tree. 

LisaBthinking About Mother's Day

A few thoughts on Mother's Day , a couple of days later.

You know that classic book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstien?

 I read that book to both of my sons as they grew up. Although they enjoyed, it was never my favorite.  I found the pathos of giving until there was barely anything left and then only wishing to do more, deeply disturbing. I mean how sad to give your leaves, your fruit, your limbs/branches, your very trunk! To wind up as a stump to be sat on...Ugh. To be so under appreciated. It was pathetic. 

And then the strangest thing happened. My boys grew up and left. One and then 6 years later the other.  In pursuit of their dreams they flew. And I was left with the empty nest. And guess what? 

It comes as a shock! LOL! I'm not being dramatic. It goes really fast!  One day it is over. And no matter how smart, or forward thinking you are or even prepared, it rocks your world. BIG TIME. I was left with a hole in my heart.  

The time of mothering children, gestating, birthing, breast feeding, holding, caring, loving, dressing, teaching, guiding, offering, the time of homework and driving, activities and applications, Prepping and proms, this TIME of DEVOTION is FINITE. Yes, it has an end. 

One day it is over. Really! It is! Yes as a parent I never really took it in that one day the dynamic would change in a big way. But IT DOES!

They leave the nest. They go to college. Yes they come home, sometimes. Yes, they love you. But, well they go out and make their own lives. If you are lucky they are happy to share them with you. 

IT was then that I realized, gasp, that I am that tree. Oh yes! Hallelujah! I got it! How very blessed I am to have been and continue to be that tree. What a GIFT it is to LOVE, To CARE, like that. 

This Mother's Day, my youngest son, a freshman in college, wrote me a beautiful card in which he said,

I promise that it won't be like the giving tree. I will make enormouse efforts to give back to the greatest mom ever! 

(of course I cried)

Little does he know.

I wish for both of my sons that one day they know the gifts and lessons of love and devotion like their mom, The Giving Tree. 

 

 

Post Election Day PTSD Parable

Spent the day in a fog really. Hit the mat early and hard, moved past the numbness as tears flowed from my broken heart. Drank a couple kombuchas (funny and true) to take the edge off the pain of having to explain the virtues of our democracy and the smooth transition of power to my son who voted for the first time, and who, like his mom, NEVER saw this coming. He railed at the idea of contiuning to live in this country where a man who assaults women, is a racist and bigot, and has no regard for civil rights is elected to the highest office in the land, while I offered the cold comfort that the popular vote went to Hillary.
I am furious with the Democratic leadership and with the pundits for not seeing this coming and for failing to do something about it! I feel betrayed. I feel out of touch with the pulse of the people. It was my sons, both men, with whom I arrogantly argued that Hillary was more apt to win against Trump, while they were certain it was Bernie. I now believe that they were right and the old guard, myself included, were very wrong.
I am outraged that for the second time in our history in only 15 years, due to strategic gerrymandering, the democratic candidate for president won the popular vote but lost the election. (Last time was Bush/Gore, the three times before that were all in the 19th century.) 
I felt shaken to my core and vulnerable today unlike anything I have ever experienced, as a result of politics, in my life. And though I was sleep deprived and dejected today, I came in to work, to PRACTICE and to TEACH. It was my intention to offer an opportunity to my friends to come together within and without. It was my intention to hold a space where we could stand together and know that we had each others backs and that we are not alone in this surreal experience. I never thought that I would be tested!
And then appeared this guy, like a dementor from Harry Potter who sensed my weakness and swooped in to suck the life-force out of me. Seriously, I have never in my 17 year teaching career had a more distasteful person in the room. 
Admittedly dazed and disoriented, but still my usual good hearted self, I didn't really get what was happening for at least half the class. Then it was clear, he was rude, disruptive, outright disrespectful to ME personally! Not my imagination. LOL! Wow! This is what came to me today of all days. Not a coincidence. This day of disbelief and sadness. This day when I had so little left.
Hah! I thought how powerful I must be an a regular basis to thwart evil from my space, that something like this has nary happened before! 
Like an evil spirit for an Isaac Bashevis Singer story, he left before I had a chance to show him the door. I am happy to say that the space and the intention was restored to the awareness of the strength and power of love and connection. Together we renewed our commitment to dedicate our thoughts, words and actions to the peace and well being of all. 
Let us never give up the courage of our convictions. Let us stand for justice. Let us live in truth. Let us be guided and defined by our best hopes and dreams and shine a bright light into the darkness. 
Lokha Samasta Sukino Bhavantu
Namaste people <3

LisaBThinking

 

Tadasana

I wake up with this MOUNTAIN in my heart
Every morning.
Its roots run deep fast into darkness.  
Like life passing before my eyes.
Isolated images sharp as arrows. 
Babies. 
Golden veins of light.  
Hope, like the downy yellow feathers on the goslings at the pond in spring. 
Soft breeze chilly and bittersweet, whispering
Impermanence.
Red hot lava flow from peaks like fearful fingers gripping into rock.
Nothing solid. 
Losses and gains, tip and balance and tip again,
like a dancer bleeding and laughing on a wire in a ring of fire. 
Iron and steel doors surround the shameful sadness no one knows. 
Pray to the kind or indifferent universe. 
Whose arms can rock this child?
Oh Patanjanli, oh guruji,  call to my heart. 
Comfort in the practice that moves mountains. 
You Do.

Lisa Bondy

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”  
🌳Mother Theresa🌳
Happy EARTH DAY everyone!
Be good to yourself. Be good to each other. Be good to the planet. Be kind. Be loving. Be wise. 
We not only inhabit this planet earth that sustains us and nurtures us, but we have this planet within us. 
We are all one. What goes around comes around. 
This is the wisdom of no escape. There is no getting around it, under it, above it or below it. There is no 'away' to dump our plastic non-biodegradable garbage and toxic waste. It all ends up in our air, our water, our food, our bodies as poison. 💀
Remember the wisdom of no escape and CARE for this beautiful green planet, the Mother of Us All. 
Remember to care for Mother Earth IS to care for yourself, and vice versa.
Join me for a special Earth Day Open Flow Practice as we rise up with an inspirational Earth Day playlist and meditation. Sunday 4/22 9:45-11 CWIM.

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