From thought-provoking to inspirational, these are five of our favorite readings for your yoga practice.
For Presence by John O'Donohue
Awaken to the mystery of being here
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
Wage Peace by Judyth Hill
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble, breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music; memorize the words for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief
as the out breath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious:
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.
Soul Wise - A Blessing for the Journey by Leslie Davenport
When days rush past in a blur,
may you pause to receive the simple gifts that life generously offers.
When you are overwhelmed,
may you rest in the gentleness of your own heart.
When you are feeling hopeless,
may your imagination hold a torch to unseen possibilities.
When your mind is drowning in details,
may spaciousness arise, connecting you to the sacred mystery you are.
When you are exhausted,
may you be refreshed by vibrant life forces always present within and around you.
When you are overcome with grief,
may precious tears bathe your heart with salty buoyancy an comfort.
When the world brushes you with harshness,
may you realize that we're all works in progress, and life itself is a learning curve.
When nothing seems to be going your way,
may you make room for the unknown, finding patience with your unfolding life.
When you are disheartened by the suffering world,
may you find the courage and strength to stand for what you know is good.
When you believe that you are not good enough,
may you discover your inherent value and place in the family of all things.
May you receive earth's bounty to nourish your body,
kindness to nourish your heart;
wisdom to nourish your mind,
and wonder to nourish your soul.
For You - Author Unknown
(from the Lululemon Facebook Page)
For You,
If you feel strong, or fragile, or strong and fragile. If you sometimes laugh at your mistakes and sometimes cry at them. Whether you are loud, or quiet, or are sometimes loud and sometimes quiet. If you are a mother, not yet a mother, a stepmother, will never be a mother, or never want to be a mother. If some days you battle the feelings of being infinitely worthless, and some days you recognize your infinite worth. If you take a stand for what you believe in, or don't know what to believe in. Whether you are full of love, or fear, or sometimes love and sometimes fear. If you feel most beautiful in high heels and dark lips surrounded by bright lights, or most beautiful with a naked face gazing up at bright stars. If some days you refuse to give up, and other days you have nothing left to give. Whether you feel lost, or searching, or have found yourself. If you take a step forward, or a step back, but no matter what, you keep stepping.
Wherever you are--in all that you are, we honor you.
Namaste
I Worried by Mary Oliver
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that the worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.
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