The Holy Practice of Slow and Still

Hi yogis and yoginis - Around this time of year I can literally feel the heat, movement and activity of summer beginning to fry my nervous system: my Spirit like a burger that's been on the grill too long, sending up the initial frantic smoke signals of possible destruction.

And while I love enjoying the 2-3 months of midwestern heat to their fullest, the constant movement, doing and activity pull me away from my center, that still small place where God lives and guides and heals and protects me.  

My practice lately has been super inward (hence, why I've been a bit reclusive), finding God in the quiet stillness of the NOW -- you know, that unbelievably loving and patient Being just chilling in the background, unobtrusively loving and guiding me underneath my crazy.

What I've realized is that the more I find God in this NOW moment, the more confident I am that S/He will be with me in the next now moment, and then the next one.  And as I train my brain (which is literally what yoga/meditation does) to find God HERE, I will no doubt be able to find him/her in whatever awaits me out there, too.

Our practice this month will focus on using gentle breath and movement to quiet the silly ego (who always likes to convince us that we can squeeze just ONE more thing on the calendar) and recenter around the sanity of the Spirit, or as T.S. Elliot says, "the still point of the turning world."

Where ever life has taken you, whether in or out of our All Souls yoga community, I am so grateful for knowing you and for the integral part you've played in this great unfolding.  May you be happy, may you be at peace, may you know that you're a beloved child of God.

Om Shanti, Peace be with You, Shalom.

Erin