The Weather

At the beginning, the very beginning of this year's winter, it became cold.  And, we expected that because that is what is supposed to happen in Chicago.  And then snow came. And we expected that, too.  Mentally, we knew it was cold enough for water to freeze in mid-air and, emotionally, the snow really makes Thanksgiving and Christmas feel so near.  We hope the energy of the bustle of those holidays carries us through January where we begin to look for the small stark "light at the end of the tunnel".  But, this year, instead of seeing light, it got colder and colder and colder. A cold that knew no boundaries of how much we thought we could take.  And then the snow came. Again and again and again. And, it too, seemed to over step its boundary as it covered our roads to freedom from house confinement.  And, when physically confined, because the errand to Target in the freezing cold and slippery roads no longer seems like fun or of importance, we are stuck with our thoughts.  We can easily become carried away by our thoughts and our daydreams, which is sometimes fine depending on the flavor of those thoughts and daydreams.  Yummy ones can bring us inspiration and focus and intentions.  The bitter flavored ones can trap us in gloom, which is why grounding is so important.  

 "‘Where are the men?’ the little prince asked, politely.

Men? She echoed. ‘ I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes life very difficult.’.. "   Antoine De Saint-Exupery 

If you know you need grounding, sit somewhere quietly. But rather than rest the backs of your hands on your knees, turn your palms downward in ghyana mudra for more earth energy.  Or stand in mountain and focus on the grounded energy being absorbed through your feet.

And so we moved from cold to snow to bitter cold to more snow to rain.  I don't know about any other Chicagoan, but I found it depressing and almost too much to bear.  My yoga always reminds me in those instances that I have the choice on how to react to the weather but sometimes, my human experience overtakes my spiritual. 

"Last night the rain spoke to me

slowly, saying,

what joy

to come falling

out of a brisk cloud,

to be happy again

in a new way

on the earth

that what is said as it dropped,

smelling of iron, and vanished

like a dream of the ocean

into the branches

and the grass below.

Then it was over. The sky cleared

I was standing under a tree. 

and there were stars in the sky

that were also themselves at the moment 

at which moment my right hand

was holding my left hand

which was holding the tree

which was filled with stars

and the soft rain--imagine! Imagine!

the long and wondrous journeys

still to be ours."    by Mary Oliver (What Do We Know) 




 " Each beautiful thing, a flower, the song of a bird, awakens in our soul the memory of our origin.Learn how to listen to the voice of beautiful things,to make us understand the voice of our soul."  Mevlevi Dervishes

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