Tag: Gaye Abbott

Embrace The Moment – Emaho!

Once again yoga class has given me a gift!  For some the gift might be preparing a delectable meal, painting a picture, running a marathon, writing an inspired sentence, or even having a very connected conversation with someone.  For me today in yoga class it was about EMAHO!  Emaho is a Tibetan invocation for auspiciousness; an expression of joy, wonder and amazement.

How many times during a day do we embrace the moment?  What an amazing practice this can be.  When it comes to the breath we can either use the breath to stay in the moment of an experience….or we can allow the breath to BE the experience.  There is a distinction here.  In the former we are using the breath as a focus to quiet the mind…or watch it as the case may be.  In the latter our moment IS the breath – how it moves in the body, what is expanding and releasing, ….the actual joy and wonder we feel when we are breathing fully and enjoying every single second of the body of the breath.

Let’s take this a step further.  Instead of focusing on how we are breathing, how about focusing on the very miracle that we are simply breathing and ALIVE!  Our attention often goes to the details of what is wrong in our lives, our bodies…or our relationships.  What if we tipped that on its head so to speak and consciously decided to be thrilled to be right here, right now no matter what is going on!

Experiment this week to see if simply loving the fact that you are breathing changes how you perceive the moments of your life.  Might the food that makes its way to your taste buds delight you with its textures, colors, form and abundance.  Might the simple act of walking have an entirely different impact on your consciousness.  Or sudden immersion in a conversation totally giving the person that is speaking your undivided attention. 

Hold your hands in the air and allow your body to sway, undulate, jump, twist, be at rest to notes that mold their way into music that moves you.

It is not so much about HOW your are doing things in your life…but that you are being within those moments with as much of your attention as you can possibly pour into them.  Distractions are a plenty in this over stimulus life of ours.  Can the fact that you are reading this now as a breathing alive person turn you on in a way that, up until now, you have avoided?

As we age we may want to grab onto the moments and hold them to us – like a held breath.  Or sometimes the moments are pushed away because of some aversion deep within that is resting in judgement and the past.  Would you like to practice something different?

Mantra for the week:  I am thrilled to be breathing right here, right now!

That is all we have.  EMAHO!  Exapand it into everything – the light and the dark, the joy and the pain…. in your one wild and precious life!  NOW, put your hands up in the air and…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ69Iu_cVuM

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WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.WildlyFreeWoman.com
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Breathing Change Into The Moment

Millions of people all over the world know the song “A Change Is Gonna Come” first recorded by Sam Cooke in 1963.  This song speaks to so many things – among them the hope for freedom of a people “enslaved” for so very long, the inevitable change that occurs in daily life, the connection and bond between people that can help to create change, as well as the intentions that lead to change.

This is a deeply soulful song, and when breathed into quickly becomes alive and vibrant.  By it’s very nature hopelessness, judgement and misunderstanding can be transformed into possibility, clarity and compassion within a few breath moments.  This is what happened for me this past week when I found within me judgement and misunderstanding.  These places within ourselves are particularly difficult to face, especially if we see ourselves as compassionate and aware most of the time.  But trust me…they are there.

A few months ago now I had an experience within the contact improv and free movement dance community that made me avoid a certain person and make a number of judgements about him that it turns out were not accurate nor compassionate by any means.  In the name of supposedly “protecting” myself an assumption was made.  These assumptions were based on projection and not on the truth of this particular person.  It was through another that I learned about some disabilities that could have kept this man from ever even trying to move and dance….but instead he was there and “dancing” seeking joy, pleasure,  and freedom just as all of us on the floor that night.

In the moment that I learned the truth about this person compassion and understanding came flying in.  In those breaths that held the clarity a deep change arrived within me.  I, like anyone else does from time to time, fell into the error of making judgements based on assumptions.  I was completely wrong about what I had judged.  Within a few breath moments everything changed and compassion came roaring in.

Wake up call?  By all means yes!  Our mind may create stories that are based on ours or others opinions, past experiences, or judgements, but where is the real truth?  The real truth lies in the moments of breath that it takes to be willing to open awareness , to suspend judgement, and to really listen and observe from a place of openness and expanded heart.

We all walk this life together even though we may seem to be separated by race, gender, religion, or nationality.  Many changes are sweeping our world and our planet at this time.  Shall we take the opportunity to suspend judgement and wait for the breath to inform us of the” change that is gonna come” within us.  That is where it begins and ends…

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WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER  BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.WildlyFreeWoman.com
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

A Silence That Is A Fountain of Action and Joy

“There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fountain of action and joy.  It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out from unseen roots of all created being.”  Thomas Merton

Sometimes I ask myself the question, “What am I doing with this one wild and precious life?”  My mind rushes into the past and conjures up what I have done…pretty extraordinary, and ordinary, all at the same time…or it rushes into the future – into those precious few days that I have left of this lifetime.  And then, like the wild child that it is, mind comes to a complete halt stubbornly refusing to budge….and then realizes that this is the place that it was seeking all along and plops down to rest in the stillness of the moment.

The silence where all is born, the creative well of possibility which delivers the clarity that reveals the next action to be taken.   And at the same time complete and absolute peace, well being, and yes – joy.  There is a saying “if not now, when?”  Over and over we rush headlong into our days forgetting that all around us there is a continuous fountain flowing from unseen roots feeding us from source

There are many roots we can choose from in order to drink from this fountain.  The breath is one of these.  Opportunities to connect in intimacy abound. G. I. Gurdjieff in “Views From the Real World” says:

“Our mind is like a cabby who sits in a pub and drives passengers to different places in his dreams. Trying to work with the mind alone will lead nowhere. The power of changing oneself lies not in the mind but in the body and feelings.”

What if, as in my yoga class today, you chose to root yourself in the breath, the souls of the feet,  the openness of your heart, or any single point of focus and allow the sediment of your day to drift down to the bottom of your being and clear the way for the experience of now.  No pretense.  No defenses.  Simply sharing internal worlds from an open heart and willingness to connect intimately with yourself, others, nature….. the world.

How would your life be then?

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Gratitude to Keith Kachtick of Dharma Yoga, Austin, TX for once again an extraordinary class!

GAYE’s WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.WildlyFreeWoman.com
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Pure Spacious Presence

Between the head and feet of any given person is a billion miles of unexplored wilderness. ~Gabrielle Roth

Both Dennis Lewis and Gabrielle Roth speak of spaciousness to explore in the quotes above.  Using the breath as a vehicle for exploring this spaciousness is a practice that is well worth your time and attention.  Have you ever spent a day, or even a moment, exploring the spaciousness that is opened up within the presence of your breath?

Let’s take this and ground it right now.  We can talk esoterically or spiritually….but what is it really like to do something no one – including yourself – ever imagined that you could achieve.  That would take a full embrace of everything you are – this spacious Presence Dennis Lewis speaks of and the “wilderness” that Gabrielle Roth suggests.

Purpose and capability is part of this exploration.  Wander through the video below about Kyle Maynard.  His journey speaks to the pure spacious presence that can be found when you say yes to, and embrace, the full present life that you have been given.  No room for anything less than this after seeing what Kyle has embraced!

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.WildlyFreeWoman.com
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

The Feminine Breath

NOTE:  THIS POST IS FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN!!!

This past week I have watched 2 movies that have moved me greatly and have served as a reminder of what I have often left carefully hidden away from the world – the very roots of my being.  This post is entitled “The Feminine Breath” as it is a way of breathing for all of us that has been lost, decimated, and yes hidden from our awareness for way too long.  A resurgence is riding on the back of our planet that is daily reminding us of the havoc and imbalance we have created.

Jane’s Journey is about the astounding life and actions of Jane Goodall transitioning from a young girl with no college degree boldly following her childhood dreams into an internationally recognized woman living her passion and truth through daily actions and deep dedication to bring peace, compassion, and ecological health to all life.

The film Desert Flower, is a National Geographic stunningly filmed movie about Waris Dirie from Somalia who faces life challenges that are way beyond what any of us could imagine.  Yet she chooses to step into her strength and truth exposing a mutilation practice that, due to her efforts, is finally being eradicated.

Both women demonstrate what it is to bring back the feminine way of breathing and to embody that breath in each moment of life.

Clare Daikin of Tree Sisters says:

When we say ‘feminine’ most people think, Woman, but Feminine is one side of the whole that is all of us. We all have the receptive and expressive sides, the passive and active, the intuitive and logical, the flow and the structure. The feminine is like the in breath or the roots where we connect, receive and resource. She is the source of our deeper knowing and the deep lake of our pleasure. The masculine is like the out breath or the branches, where we make manifest, build, create, grow and structure. He is informed by the feminine and takes action to serve the whole system into optimal form to function effectively. He is replenished by her, so is served by her as he also serves her.
For more of this excellent blog post click here: http://www.treesisters.org/news/86/81/Reinstating-the-Queen
It is this very “feminine breath” way of being that is crucial to our vital health – that of self, relationships, community, countries….and the planet which sustains our life.  Without connecting, receiving and resourcing from our roots we cannot manifest, build, create and grow new ways of being that live in harmony with the earth.
We are the new life form on the block!  Let’s deeply learn from that which not only has come before us but is our greatest teacher.
Find your favorite tree this week, sit down beneath it, listen, and receive the wisdom as you breathe from the roots of your being…
OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/