I stop and close my eyes in order to feel rather than see. I allow the bright sunlight to shine on my face, warming it just enough to make my skin tingle. Then I start to listen. I detect the faint chirping of cardinals outside, barely audible above the clamor of hungry children and cats underfoot. The wind chimes hanging from the redbud tree in front of the house ring out from a gust of wind. They were a wedding gift, one that always touches a tender spot deep within me. It’s as if each note of the pentatonic scale connects with an invisible chamber of my heart, bringing me back to center. Then I start to hear new sounds. They are my own inner whispers, reminding me of what I want in this life. When I open my eyes, the present comes rushing back at me. I’m acutely aware of the sights, sounds, and scents swirling about at that moment yet I don’t feel defeated by them anymore. I was only gone a few seconds, but that brief amount of time gave me just enough pause to view my surroundings from a slightly different perspective. This time, I’m able to detect a blessing behind each of the messes.   ~Jennifer DeVille Catalano

this uplift of all that descends upon us each day can be exhausting and scattered……

inquiry for today~  feel deep in the belly for a deeper sense of “being here”…and then what? what does it mean to ground from the inside?

dualities & sensualities

Here is a Tibetan Buddhist practice to help you connect with the vividness and richness of pure sense perception…

-pause for a moment   -notice   -open your awareness to it   -let go

~Ari Goldfield/Rose Taylor Goldfield