I guess you could say I woke up on the "wrong side of the bed" this morning. As I was getting out of bed, I was already thinking about everything that was wrong with the day, the things that aren't going right this week or aren't unfolding the way I think they should.

On my way to teach class at Natural Trends the list kept on piling up in my head of all the reasons I shouldn't be happy. However, once I got to the studio, and the students began arriving for class, I started to feel my mood shift. The amazing part about loving what I do, is that no matter how bad or awful I think (or am "making up") my day, week or life is at that moment, when I become engaged teaching and sharing my love of Yoga, I always feel better. It is such a gift to love my work.

In class this morning, I began sharing about Amma, the great spiritual saint from India, who is known as the Hugging Mother. I would like to write about her today on my blog, as for me, she is the expression of what is possible when we allow ourselves to BE the love we are.

Amma travels around the world holding darshans. In addition, she has created countless charitable efforts throughout the world positively impacting the lives of millions of people. In April of 2004, I had the opportunity of attending a darshan here in Dallas at the Hotel Inter-continental. Thousands of people attended the free retreat that weekend and received a hug from Amma...

"The Sanskrit term darshan means, "vision", and it is used to describe the meeting with a holy person, especially a Self Realized master. Amma's darshan is unique. As the embodiment of supreme motherhood, she welcomes every person who comes to her, listens to his or her problems, offers advice and guidance, and brings reassurance to a troubled heart.

Over time, Amma's popularity has risen to the point where in India she has been known to individually hug over 50,000 people in one day, sitting sometimes for over 20 hours. Amma travels all around the world to receive all her children around the globe.

Timothy Conway, Ph.D., author of the book Women of Power and Grace, describes Amma as "one of the most glorious lights to appear in the history of religion. Just her stamina - embracing these millions of people one by one, day after day, without a break, all over the world-is some kind of divine gift. No mere human resources could accomplish this."

As Judith Cornell, an internationally acclaimed speaker, and an award winning writer, in her book, "Amma Healing the Heart of the World", says, "for eleven years, I had simply perceived Amma, as a sweet "Hugging Saint." As my limited vision expanded, it was awesome to discover that Amma was one of India's most illustrious sages. She heals on a massive scale - Far beyond that of any saint or healer, I had ever known or read about."

One of Amma's senior disciples says, "Mother is an extraordinary saint, in the number of people she intentionally instills spirituality into - even to extent of hugging every single person who comes to her. Basically, every one is potentially what Mother is. Mother's presence is invoking that reality (of divinity) within that person."
-From www.amma.org.

The whole presence of love or happiness can only exist in the effortless. It can be our vision or inention/effort to awaken to being, experiencing and sharing the gift of true love, joy, peace, yet the trueness of each and all of these can only exist in the absence of effort or stillness. To BE our divinity is simply to be and allow ourselves to awaken to that which we already are...eternal love, peace and bliss.

"My point is this: the reason I am happy is because I am not unhappy. To be happy requires no effort." Happiness: The Real Medicine and How It Works, Blair Lewis, PA

...No piling up of lists in our minds when we wake up in the morning, on our way to work or anytime for that matter.

"It is hard to comprehend the source of Amma’s inexhaustible energy that flows from moment to moment, day after day, in the form of a loving, motherly hug. Often she sits for more than 18-20 hours straight without even a moments break. Over the past 30 years Amma has hugged more than 23 million people around the globe. When asked if she ever feels tired of listening to the same problems of people, and hugging over and over again, Amma answered with a smile, “ Where there is love, there is no effort.”"
-FromAmma.org

This Valentine's Day, may we awaken to the effortless gift of love in our lives as it flows into us and from us with each gift of breath we receive and give...

Happy Valentine's Day...May your Love BE effortless...

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