Dear Friends,
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” – Rachel Carson
The workings of the mind are miraculous. It lets us be divisive, focusing on differences while, at the same time, the heart enjoys and finds comfort in common ground and unity. As human beings, we share as many similarities as we do differences, but the one thing we share, so often taken for granted, is that every one of us has a mother. Every adult, good, bad, self-absorbed, or serious has a belly button hidden underneath their grown-up clothes that is a constant reminder that they started life as a helpless baby, connected to their mother through the umbilical cord. In a world that values independence, we might forget that we started our lives dependent on our mothers. Her body nurtured us, carried us, and kept us warm and safe with no knowledge of what the future relationship would be. All of us have this in common: every creature has a mother and every being came out of a woman.
We might have different mothers and, although siblings share a mother, each mother/child relationship is different. However, there is also a universal mother common to all of us: Mother Nature. She nurtures and provides for us as our mothers did. Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9th, I'll be teaching an outdoor yoga class @ 8:15 a.m. for all moms who would like to enjoy this special day. Mother's Day reminds us to be grateful for and appreciative of our mothers. Mother’s Day is a beautiful opportunity to contemplate motherhood in all its forms: we are all children who have a mother and share the universal mother. Are we treating the mothers of the world with respect and dignity, honoring the relationship, or are we just taking, consuming, and harvesting, treating her as a commodity? Are we treating the universal mother the same way or can we give something back to honor our relationship with the universal mother and restore balance to our relationship with her?
Too often, our lifestyle and daily habits disengage us from the natural world. Yet, the reality is that we are intimately joined to it. Like the plant itself, our bodies, too, are mostly made up of water. One way to create a deeper sense of oneness with Mother Earth is by consciously choosing to take energy from the elements of nature while focusing on the chakras (whirling vortexes of energy in our bodies) that correspond to the physical elements of the larger world. There is another connection as well. The yogic tradition views the world as consisting of five elements: earth, air, water, fire, and ether. Of the seven chakras, five are considered to be direct reflections of those elements.
We can find a direct connection between our root Chakra – Muladhara (our center of physical vitality and energy) and Mother Earth. Chakras run through the body from the base of our spine to a crown chakra over our heads, and each has its own special color. Muladhara, the earth Chakra, located at the base of the spine, is what grounds us. Its symbol, a 4-petal lotus flower, relates to the element of earth and vibrates to the color red. When the root chakra is in balance, we have good physical energy and health, feel comfortable in our bodies, feel safe and avoid conflict. When the chakra is unbalanced, any growth will be without roots. Therefore, it is believed that when we spend time within these places, the frequency of the energy in our body becomes aligned with the energy of the chakras, resulting in a powerful spiritual experience. We can heal ourselves and the world around us by practicing yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.
In the next few weeks, I will be teaching about the chakras and how to heal ourselves through our chakras.
Looking forward to seeing you on the mat soon.
