Loving Through the Darkness

Holy bluebonnets, ya'll! It's CRAZY out there! If you are anywhere near the Texas Hill Country, you know what I'm talking about. These days I'm super thankful to Ladybird Johnson for making sure our highways were lined by wildflowers, because as she said, 

"Where wildflowers bloom, there's hope." 

For many around the world, this week is a testament to that hope. Nature provides us with the cycles of life, death, and rebirth, as you see in any patch of wildflowers, and as you watch the changing of the seasons. During the Christian Holy Week, this cycle is celebrated through the observance of Palm Sunday bringing Life, Good Friday bringing death, and Easter Sunday bringing rebirth. 

As timing would have it, in this week's podcast episode, Primal Wisdom and Pleasure Activism,  you can enjoy my conversation with Scout Chavers, a doula and midwife here in Austin. She is very familiar with the cycles of life, and she beautifully describes what it is to hold space for birthing moms as they tap into their primal wisdom and let Life move through them. We talk about "pleasure activism," and how learning the chakra system gave language to something she deeply and intrinsically understood.

Today is Maundy Thursday, which is the preparation for, and acknowledgement of, the death and darkness cycles of life, and it is the mandate to Love each other through it. 

In honor of this day, I taught a class in Online Yoga Membership that I wanted to share with you. I've uploaded it to my YouTube Channel. There, you will hear a brief dharma talk, you will be guided to center yourself in your heart, and then you will do an asana practice of heart openers and balancing poses, tapping into the energy of Anahata, the heart chakra. 

If you care to try just the centering portion in a little practice you can do right now, I invite you to get settle in and follow these instructions:

Place your hands lovingly on your chest and pull down a little bit. So as you pull down, you can feel this heaviness of the heart. But then from deep inside, lift up into the downward pressure and notice what happens.  The more you pull down, the more you can push up into it and expand the breath.

Now acknowledge to yourself that you have had dark times, and that you have made it through to the other side, not by skipping it, but by going straight through it. As you lift your heart into your hands, recognize that it was perhaps a love of Life that got you through, or love from another, or the love of the divine. This love has the great strength and power to move mountains and change lives. You can tap into that strength: the more you pull down, the more you lift up and get a sense that there is a current of strength rising from your roots, moving through your heart, and expanding through your crown. 

Chant Om, and bring in the vibration of the sacred to your heart so you can take on a mandate to love yourself well, love others, and love the world into a better place.

Much love, 

Jess

P.S. This week I took a dear friend of mine to walk a local labyrinth (see the photo) with me to celebrate the bluebonnets and open ourselves to hope, mystery, and inner wisdom. There were so many insights gained during our time there, and I'm still contemplating much of what was revealed to me.  There will be opportunities to walk a labyrinth at Blossom & Bliss, if you feel called to join.