Belated Happy New Year

[Lisa Walford]

yes, Tuesday was an an auspicious New Moon in Aquarius. Tibetans and Chinese celebrates their New Year; it was the beginning of Ramadan and it was a solar eclipse over Antarctica. Through social media I knew that the year of the Snake (Chinese astrology) was over and the year of the Fire Horse was beginning. Shedding old habits, relations, things that drag you down, all of this is what I read. And prepare for a strong thrust into newness. 

Oddly, while I am always interested in these suggestions and use them as benchmarks to engage in a deeper dialog with myself and my circumstances, I try to maintain a neutral attitude. What will be will be! As long as I am willing to remain vulnerable and courageous in the face of change, things will evolve. 

That to say, last year was a dozy. This year promises more! I shared this in class on Wednesday. Please join us in pranayama as we return again, and again, to the moment of creation, each breath breathed with awareness becoming a pranic blessing. 

John O'Donohue, Irish poet and spiritual leader, wrote To Bless the Space Between Us so that, in his words: "blessings can be a way of life, a lens through which the whole world is transformed." This blessing is the first in the book. 

Matins

Somewhere, out at the edges, the  night

Is turning and the waves of darkness

Begin to brighten the shore of dawn.

The heavy dark falls back to earth 

And the freed air goes wild with light,         

The heart fills with fresh, bright breath

And thoughts stir to give birth to color. 

I arise today

In the name of Silence

Womb of the Word,

In the name of Stillness

Home of Belonging,

In the name of the Solitude

Of the Soul of the Earth.

I arise today

Blessed by all things,

Wings of breath

Delight of eyes,

Wonder of whisper,

Intimacy of touch,

Eternity of soul...

May I live this day

Compassionate of heart,

Clear in word,

Gracious in awareness,

Courageous in thought,

Generous in love.  

The second paragraph reminds me of the Prashna Upanishad which begins with a Peace Invocation that beckons that the eyes and sight see what is divine, that we hear benevolent speech and sounds and that all of our sensory organs be blessed to witness the sacred. I love how O'Donahue brings that sensibility forth. Amen! 

The last paragraph I have incorporated into my daily prayers... Happy New Year, may it be a special one!