View from above - @30,000 feet

Norwegian airlines offers free wifi on board its aircrafts as I fly from London to Malaga, Spain.

Some 30,000 feet in the air...where I wrote an email to a student interested in the upcoming yoga teacher training, face booked messaged a friend in Malaga and chatted on Whatsapp with a friend in New York! Technology in all its form is mind boggling. We only need to pause for just a moment to appreciate.

A week ago I reached London, met up with Mary at Victoria station and arrived at the home of the Raza girls. The past week was spent doing what! Basically nothing on one hand and so much on the other. For me this home is a home away from home. Over the last thirty years I have dropped in and out of their home, always nourished and nurtured. Loads of laughter and the most delicious food...philosophical discussions, singing and dancing and recalling our family connections with all the wonderful time that we have shared.

It is no surprise that Mary, who wanted to begin her own self discovery journey should start her first chapter in this home. Her energy is already vibrating on a different frequency. She has been nourished and grounded to say the least. In London she experienced life with a family of Eastern origin. An amalgamation of how healthy a meeting of cultures can be when we understand our values and our modes of operation.

And now in flight, an hour from landing in Malaga, where another chapter will begin. I pause to appreciate how fortunate it is to be alive. To live and feel the varying emotions of meetings and partings, dreams fulfilled and those unrequited...new hopes, and accepting what has been shared and cannot be anymore.

In all these moments, one can only show gratitude...we can only remember what we have so deeply felt, in both our agony and the ecstasy...

@30,000 feet in the air, its all in perspective...

The word is only one...

The word that keeps popping in my head is "Inspire" - which view of this word do I face, in any given moment.

Inspire or be Inspired:
?Two sides of the same coin, or one a reflection of the other?

So I plan to dive deep into stories and dramas, aka - life. As I come up to take a breath, the trigger or the guidance will come from whether I am "inspiring" or am I being "inspired".

If its none of these two words it will be time to find some space, for a moment of introspection. Finding and maybe letting go of some fear.

Taking a moment to pause, look with new eyes and once again I ask of this self -
Am I
Inspired?
Or
How can I
Inspire!

And that my friends is the meaning that I have found to the life I am given.

Epitaph:
Inspire or Inspired!

Embracing the change...

A few mornings back I awoke to this line from the Beatles song, it was the first thought: "let it be, there will be an answer, let it be"...

Answers come to questions seemingly unasked, yet are they answers to unasked questions? Or to questions we have asked of our deepest core, when we take the courage to face the inner conflict.

Excitement and living on the surface is a distraction we choose, but when life is only lived with "distractions" the soul starves the spirit evaporates...

Meditation, introspection and contemplation comes to feed the soul, nourish and nurture the spirit...

Walking by lake Ontario on the water trail, my senses captivated by the water, the ducks, the birds, the dogs, the joggers, the planes in the distant and the barren trees awaiting spring dressing...

I brought my attention to my heart and in that space a pink lotus flower bud began to bloom.  Each thought, each emotion, each feeling was the unfolding of another petal...
I continued to breathe into the petals, each inhale the awareness of passing thoughts and the their feelings, each exhale the unfolding of yet another petal of the lotus flower...

many moments passed, my breathing nurtured the soul, the spirit was alive.

With so much gratitude i allowed the lotus flower to stay in my heart, its flexible stem grounded far beneath the ground I walk... deep into the core of the earth

From New York

Yesterday I kept being drawn to The Museum of Modren Art - MoMa. Where we spent interesting few hours.

As we were exiting it dawned on me that an answer was coming to me from what I saw there - hope and a chance that "Maybe" is possible.

The art exhibit included a lifetime display by the actress Tilda Swinton:
"Actress Tilda Swinton stunned onlookers at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on Saturday by spending the whole day sleeping inside a glass box.

The Michael Clayton star entered the venue when it opened and took up residence in the art installation, named The Maybe, until it closed.

A statement from the museum reads, "An integral part of The Maybe's incarnation at MoMA in 2013 is that there is no published schedule for its appearance, no artist's statement released, no museum statement beyond this brief context, no public profile or image issued. Those who find it chance upon it for themselves, live and in real - shared-time: now we see it, now we don't."

Toronto calling

And so I return home to Toronto.
It's February, and people expect winter to end soon - the comment I hear:"it's been a cold winter..." is a reflection that the warmth of spring is needed for the weary body and the spirit.
The question I am asked is "what are you doing here? This is a time to be in a warm place and you choose to be here!"

It has been a nice week+ since I came back. The warmth of family and friends warms the heart and the snow does not feel that cold. So yes the body is adjusting as is the mind which needs to remember to prepare for being outdoors, it is not as simple as opening the door and walking out

Between packing, sorting and unpacking I have found time to nurture this body and soul. A couple of restorative yoga sessions and today a challenging core workout assures me that the body is in gear. The delicious long hours of soaking the sun as I meditate are keeping the spirit warm.

I spent time with the boys and their beautiful partners in life. Endless chatter with Asim and Kamila, the stories and pictures of their recent travel to Italy, the tax season and its challenges and then the oscars and review of those wonderful movies that were contenders for winning. Sharing sushi in our favorite Japanese restaurant and enjoying the warm ambiance of the new Panera in the neighborhood.

Last night I lit some candles and incense and Catherine walked in enjoying the smell of the incense. Soon Jafer came and put on the soundtrack from the movie "the life of Pi" and we three huddled in my bed, just so nourished by the moment.

I will end with sharing of this thought that popped up today. Using the analogy of yoga chakra centers. The lower three are all about security, money, physical form, physical relationships and power. When we approach life from these three chakras it is all about the individual and the benefits derived for "me and myself". As the awareness of life and living moves into the heart and into the upper three chakras we begin to live life with a kind of joy which enjoys seeing everyone happy. Inner life becomes introspective and contemplative expressed as passion and contentment.

 The joy of living life in all and finding what is referred to as "truth or love" takes on a sweet meaning. We speak and hear with the heart voice.