From the midst of a very dark time there is renewed light! It’s a new year, a new day and what a difference a day can make. The day I’m speaking of is January 21, the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris almost two months ago. My first feelings from watching the Inauguration were a combination of hope, pride, and joy, all mixed together with a big exhale as I watched my mind go from worry to quiet.
And although Covid-19 continues to take its toll with far too many deaths, severe illnesses, some of which seem to continue for months, unemployment for so many, isolation and depression, missing hugs and seeing our loved ones, we are here too seeing the proverbial Light at the end of that long dark tunnel. The vaccines are working and more and more of us are lining up to receive our shots. We still don our masks like we put on our socks each day and socially distance, giving virtual hugs to our friends. We have learned to teach and take classes, workshops, celebrate birthdays, and get together on Zoom and other media platforms. We have had to learn different ways of bonding through deeper conversation, writing as well as connecting energetically.
Hope is defined as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” And Vaclav Havel, Czech dissident writer, and statesman says “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well; hope is the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.” When our expectations are met for the good of all Beings, joy is present. As the days have passed, I felt like an energetic weight had been lifted from my spirit, I feel lighter and buoyant. I truly pray that we can come together with more honest and meaningful dialogue, let go of our prejudices, and exhibit more tolerance and understanding of each other. (you know, all the stuff Yoga and all religions and spiritual disciplines strive to teach!) I’m afraid it will still take lifetimes but it has to start with each of us.
There have been some silver linings as there always are with difficult challenges. When Willow Street Yoga was forced to shut their doors, and I could no longer teach in-person classes, John and I gave up our Silver Spring apartment and moved to our Oxford home full time. That has been wonderful in that Covid was not as bad on the Eastern Shore of MD, and I was allowed to teach up to 12 students in a big auditorium at the Oxford Community Center right up the street from our home, all masked and socially distanced. Find out more about classes here. I will also be starting two new classes at Trinity Cathedral in Easton beginning Thursday April 8. Another big plus to living in Oxford is we are surrounded by the beauty of Nature. Oxford is a peninsula and it is a short walk in almost any direction to the water. It is a haven for walking, biking and kayaking, birding, and for the best folks anywhere!
Of course Maria Hamburger’s and my annual February Yoga Vacation to Jamaica had to be cancelled, but we are planning for next Feb. of 2022. Maria and I are also planning an annual Yoga and Meditation Retreat December 3-5 of this year at Shepherd’s Spring Retreat Center in Sharpsburg, MD. Click here for more information on both events.
And as you can see, (or if this reaches you through Mailchimp, I have a new website! It’s been great fun working with life coach and website designer Maryna Smuts, who made something I was dreading easeful, fun and comfortable. Please explore my new site a bit and I’d welcome your comments and suggestions.
There are so many challenges ahead of us as a country, as well as our own individual problems and difficult situations. It is easy to be overwhelmed and fall into despondency, frustration and anger. When these and other feelings come, as they will to all of us, I urge you to come to your mat, your meditation cushion, to move from the external world to the internal world of a more spacious view, to the home of your heart. Here the energy can shift, we can become again rooted in our True Nature, which is Love, and then from there, go into the big mat of the world and act. I am including the fabulous Amanda Gorman’s two poems below for inspiration!!
Namaste with Love,
Inspiration from Amanda Gorman
Earthrise (on climate change)
