morning peace

shanti shanti shanti

peace peace peace

I slowly sense that I am awakening, still straddling that space between sleep and awareness, gently transitioning into a more conscious state.

Eyes still closed, I sense the early morning darkness in the room.

Eyes still closed, I slowly become aware of the sound … and a smile spreads across my heart and across my face. My breathing slows back into a gentle rhythm, my body relaxes in the warmth of my bed.

The sound … like the soft roar of a jet passing overhead.

The sound … saturating the quiet of the morning, softly, insistently.

A gentle, soft din the only sound this early morning as the day slowly awakens—as I slowly awaken—smiling inside and out. The occasional light crack (or is it more like a boom?) like far-away thunder.

The ocean, the ocean. I lie in bed, warm and at ease, eyes still closed, listening to the soft roar of the mighty Pacific Ocean, a gentle, ambient sound; rhythmic, like my breathing, as I remain relaxed, eyes closed.

Wanting more, I rise and open the window, then ease back into my bed and close my eyes again, hearing the ocean more clearly now, feeling it within me like life-giving breath, spreading a warmth of love and peace. A good start …

sparkling reflections …

With the holidays and a new job, I haven’t had a chance to post here recently. I hope to do a proper post on Thursday after work.

In the meantime, I took a look at last year’s New Year’s post and thought there might be some things you might enjoy from it:

http://roseeliff.blogspot.com/2008/12/om-shanti-peace-and-all-good-for-2009.html

A small sample of thoughts from that post:

• See the Divine in all things.
• Be comfortable with the chaos.
• Practice aparigraha/non-attachment - letting go, releasing, non-clinging, without fear of loss or change. "...the yogi makes his life as simple as possible and trains his mind not to feel the loss or the lack of anything. Then everything he really needs will come to him by itself at the proper time." (B.K.S. Iyengar) Also Matthew 6:25-34.
• Worrying about tomorrow squanders the joy of today.
• Don't give energy to anything that you don't want to manifest in your life.
• Remember that the world sparkles and dances with the Light of the Divine. We all carry that Light within.
• Have a sense of wonder! Be ready to be surprised.

2009 manifested some chaos in my life, with which I learned to live quite comfortably. I learned to let go, to not fear, to not worry or feel loss. To trust in the Divine and believe that I would land where I was supposed to land. I tried not to squander the day, but to manifest joy in each day fully, taking walks each morning, making new friends, spending time in pursuits that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d been working. I lived in joy, seeing the sparkle and dancing with the rhythm of each day. I went to Mexico with my family and loved it. I wondered and was surprised. I was in a peaceful, gentle place this past year, and very happy that I’d set the tone in that last blog post of 2009. I hope I continue to carry these lessons moving forward into the new year.

Namaste