So, let's see...what's new...

Hmmmm... Well, I will be taking this weekend off from teaching Yoga to rest and restore. I feel like I'm doing well, given the emotional intensity of the experience I'm growing through right now with my dad. In the moments when I'm just sitting and being, like right now for the most part, I can really feel the emotional impact of what I'm experiencing.

Something amazing happened...well actually a couple of things, really. Last Wednesday night I was sitting in my bed watching the Soul Series Webcast on Oprah.com. She was talking with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist who 'suffered' from a stroke when a blood vessel exploded in her brain. I put quotations around the word suffer because it seems as though she really didn't suffer at all. In fact, the experience was profoundly enlightening and transformational for her. She remained conscious the whole time when her left hemisphere of her brain 'went out.' She has written about her profound spiritual experience in her book, A Stroke of Insight. She believes Nirvana is just a thought away...for all of us. When she had the stroke, her logical side of her brain (left hemisphere) ceased to function and only her right mind was working...this gave her the perception to know she is connected to all that is. I highly suggest watching this webcast, as my writing can not do it justice. But, it's amazing to realize that even fear is only somethig that is generated by a specific place in our brain. That, literally, there are certain cells, in the left hemisphere of the brain, that have the function of transmitting fear. Without the left side of the brain functioning, there is no fear...

While I was watching the webcast, there was a huge storm taking place. As I sat in my bed I heard thunder rumbling, but it sounded like all the lightning was very distant. All of a sudden, lightning struck the tree which is just outside my bedroom doors...literally about 10-15 feet away. I have never been this close to lightning striking in my life! It was incredibly scary...I thought my roof was going to crash in...and I really wasn't even sure what had happened at first. I mean, I knew lightning had struck something, but I didn't know what. It was fascinating because I saw this orange glow right when it happened. And, the fear, but also power, that surged through my heart was intense...unlike anything I've ever experienced. In daylight the next morning, I could see it had struck the tree. Bark was scattered all around the ground, so I saved a piece of the bark that had been struck off.

When I spoke with one of my meditation teachers the next morning, he said "That's a sign...that's the Universe telling you something." I replied to him, "Ah, ya, I know...I got it...it doesn't have to tell me again." So, what did it mean? When it happened I had been thinking about something...a situation I had been involved in that was depleting my energy...in other words, I kept giving my energy away to it. The moment the lightning struck I knew, once I got over the initial fear, that the Universe was telling me to stop thinking about it, giving energy to it, focusing on it. So, I did. I appreciate the signs, as shocking as they may be at times. Sometimes we do need that drastic of a wake-up call when we aren't listening.

So, then I was watching a video of Puppetji yesterday. This video is really hilarious. Everyone should know about Puppetji. I mean, think how much we learned from Sesame Street and from those puppets. Well, I know I did...that was one of my favorite shows. Mr. Rogers was good stuff, too. So, check this out. You will laugh...but, if you take class with me, I would appreciate it if you don't take his advice about punching your Yoga teacher. Just a request. But, also, check out how when he says "Stop it" there's thunder and lightning that rumbles. So, my conclusion is that when lightning strikes, it's the Universal sign for Stop It. As cool as it was, I think, next time, I'll do my best to listen before it has to get that loud. If I don't post before the weekend...Happy Memorial Day! Read more