Aaaaaah ~~ today is the first day of Spring!For me Springtime gives the sense of renewal...after a long winter of cold & dreariness. I always feel so revived when things begin to "pop"! I love watching my garden emerge...seeing what survived the winter and what has multiplied. I get real camera happy when this happens so be forewarned for pics to come!
I also have this renewed energy that leads me headlong into my exercise & yoga practice....AND MY KNITTING & SPINNING!!
Most know I practice yoga...I love my yoga...it keeps me grounded & sane! As I have learned it's not all about the poses or asanas...there is the spiritual side that leads you to a peacefulness. I know from my upbringing yoga raises eyebrows in the sense that most people think you are Buddist or Hindu just because you practice. My Grandparents would immediately think I joined some "cult". I believe that the principles of Yoga can be translated into ANY religion. For me the Yamas & Niyamas (I've put the examples below) lead me right back to the Bible and my Christian upbringing. Personally, my Mantras are Bible verses (one of my favorites is Philippians 4:13) and I use my meditation time for prayer.
Yamas-
Ahimsa: Nonviolence.
Satya: Truthfulness in word and thought.
Asteya: No stealing, no coveting, no entering into debt.
Brahmacharya: Divine conduct, continence, celibate when single, faithful when married.
Kshama: Patience, releasing time, functioning in the now.
Dhriti: Steadfastness, overcoming non-perseverance, fear, and indecision; seeing each task through to completion.
Daya: Compassion; conquering callous, cruel and insensitive feelings toward all beings. (truthfully, I struggle with this one...especially with one person at work)
Arjava: Honesty, straightforwardness, renouncing deception and wrongdoing.
Mitahara: Moderate appetite, neither eating too much nor too little (nor consuming meat, fish, shellfish, fowl, or eggs) (this one is hard for me...I tried to be a vegetarian one time--only to find out I'm a carnivore...sorry)
Shaucha: Purity, avoidance of impurity in body, mind, and speech.
Niyamas -
samtosha (contentment)
tapas (asceticism or chastity)
svadhyaya (study)
ishvara-pranidhana (devotion to the Lord)
(Yama means moral restraint while niyama means discipline)
I grew up with the Golden Rule...and always remind myself before I do something that might hurt someone else or "if I would appreciate it if the shoe were on the other foot". Which again if you click on the link you'll see that it translates across ALL religions.
Don't you think if we ALL lived by these simple principles...the world would be a better place?
The things I work hardest on are not judging others and kindness (especially with those who are not kind to me or, as I stated above, with the ONE I work with)...sometimes if you can't say anything nice it's best not to say anything at all, which I do a lot of!
I have learned to forgive those who have wronged me in the past...another that's a hard one for me to do...but by holding on to that anger and hatred only internalizes it and makes me unhappy.
I strive to surround myself with positive people & positive energy, though I find myself complaining at times I quickly remind myself that things could be worse!
I believe in our lives we will have many teacher and mentors to reflect on. You've heard me talk about my Granny...but there's another family member who I look to for inspiration. I mentioned my cousin Kim in one of yesterday's posts, she's the closest one to me in age (me being the oldest) and actually is as close to a sister as I'll ever get. We grew up spending practically EVERY weekend together at our Granny & Grandaddy's house, and if we weren't there we were at one or the others house spending the night. She is one of the kindest and sweetest people I know, I can only hope to be more like her. I think she embodies more of my Granny's qualities than anyone in the family.
OH!--the other great thing about Springtime?? It means CAMPING SEASON!!!
HAPPY SPRING -- hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Keep on Knittin' & Spinnin'!!
11 comments:
So much wisdom in this post. Worthy goals, too. Happy Spring!
My response to your post today...
AMEN
By the way I'd love to try Yoga someday, I am still too fat to do anything like that but one day...
Your blog serves as my mental yoga..I sure miss my yoga but after the ordeal with Mom,it was hard to do anything scheduled..and I know this is something I can do on my own..it's a motivation problem..lol
I looked so forward to my M/W/F Yoga classes and my Yoga Buds!
Happy Spring Robin! Good thoughts and new beginnings abound!
Oh Robin, do you know I have a cousin Kim who is as close to me as a sister too as we practically grew up together as sisters? You and I have SO much in common it really is uncanny. Great post btw. :)
I love doing yoga too! My fav verse is Phil 4:13 too...how cool!
Aunt Kathy, no one is too fat to do yoga...if they are, I forgot to listen. Yoga is wonderful and healing in so many ways.
Thank you for this post!
Robin, I nominated you for another award, c'mon over :)
Thing 2 just started yoga last week and loves it for so many of the reasons you listed.
I, too, am glad to have more sun and to see the signs of spring. Winter nearly did me in this year.
AWESOME post. I too found yoga to be very spiritual. For me, anything that brings peace allows me to reflect...
Robin,
I need to get back to yoga and meditation. Your right Granny and Grandaddy would have thought we joined a cult. I am very thankful for them always having an open home to us grandchildren. They taught us alot about live, gardening, sowing and love of family and God. We are truly kindred spirits. I have never felt alone as an only child because we are so close.
Love you very much.
Kim
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