01.13.2025. Beating Heart of Breath
“What are the questions that really matter to us here? How can we nurture the collective intelligence and wisdom to create the conditions which will give rise to the futures we want rather than being forced to live with the futures we get?”
— Juanita Brown and David Isaacs
Here, I do not know the questions. I have no answers for the relentless fury of fires, the outer and undercurrents that are unraveling our hearts, homes and world right now. I only have my own gentle heart reminder to offer (that at times, I am not so good at it either) to help meet life’s complex terrain; the landscape of mind and stomach tumbling, rumbling, that keeps us up at night tossing in uncertainty, worry, fear, and at times unflinching sorrow–is the wisdom of breath. Literally, feel the sweet nectar of air.
A caution here, as the great teachers share: it is not about observing the breath or simply paying attention to it, that is a noble sideline activity (for sure). It is about feeling the breath (feeling– the secret antidote to so many things), asking, “Can I feel my belly and lungs rise to the cool intake of air? Can feel my nostril hairs wiggle, bow down with the warm expiration of breath?”
Giving a share here, because I am a chronic worrier (maybe you too?) with a gorgeous rich mind that can derail me into potholes and rabbit holes at times (this is not so wise).
Here, I do know one thing all the Wisdom Traditions tend upon- the breath, the ruach of God. The breath cannot reside in the past trappings, ruminations of mind. Cannot leap ahead into the future twisting on pins and needles to the whims of what-if. The breath is here, a beating heart, nourishing us sacred. When we take a good seat with a posture of dignity and ease, landed on the cushion of our breath, we have a chance to hear what is needed, to know what really matters for our tender, broken-open heart and our precious holy-complicated world.
May we give ourselves the wisdom of breath, with hands over our heart
feeling own heart beating, hearing our own breath breathing
alive, another day to receive the morning light awakening our world.
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🌸 May the offerings below be warmth and care for your heart: 2 Poems. 3 Quotes. 1 Mindful App. 1 Come Join Us. 1 Closing Song & links to explore.
🌸 Two Poems to Share
Winter’s Cloak | Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr
This year I do not want
the dark to leave me.
I need its wrap
of silent stillness,
its cloak
of long lasting embrace.
Too much light
has pulled me away
from the chamber
of gestation.
Let the dawns
come late,
let the sunsets
arrive early,
let the evenings
extend themselves
while I lean into
the abyss of my being.
Let me lie in the cave
of my soul,
for too much light
blinds me,
steals the source
of revelation.
Let me seek solace
in the empty places
of winter's passage,
those vast dark nights
that never fail to shelter me.
BLESSED ARE YOU WHO BEAR THE LIGHT | Jan Richardson
Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes –
you heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.
🌿 from Circle of Grace by Jan Richardson. A book to keep near, to open to a random page, read as an offering-prayer for your day especially on those dark bleak days when wintering seems never ending, when your heart is in need of a warm bath and soothing care.
🌸 Three Quotes | Hafiz. Andrew Harvey. Arundhati Roy.
“With every step I kiss the Earth. With every step I make a prayer. The Soul comes for its own joy. Dance on, dance on, dance on.” – Hafiz
“Make a commitment to act on every generous impulse that arises in you. . . . Pray that your anxiety about your own life and possessions and about the future be lessened so that your generosity to others can become more and more fearless.” — Andrew Harvey in The Direct Path
“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.” ― Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living
🌿 Somehow this quote came to mind when attempting to speak into the devastating fires blazing through Los Angeles, the unspeakable loss and grief. Speaks into the heart of how to be a human living in this era, human meeting human, bearing witness together. Speaks to the forecast of fiercer winds predicted later on this week. Speaks to the wordless prayers riding on my breath.
🌸 Something to Share | Mindfulness App “Bell of Mindfulness”
Many of you that come sit in Metta practice or with me for your individual work have heard the sound of a bell sound, once then twice. Without even a word needed, silence and stillness just arises and opens into space. There is an unconscious pause that naturally occurs and opens up the heart. Something inside of us just knows to stop, pay attention and breathe. Right there, for just a moment there is nothing but being and the body and heart beating-breathing. Breath by breath.
Many of you have asked what is it? It is the The Plum Village App feature: the Bell of Mindfulness (a free app). A bell you schedule to sound throughout your day as a reminder to stop and fully rest into breathing and being for a few moments; a mini mindfulness teacher.
“Listen, listen
This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Plum Village has always been on my bucket list since my first read of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Peace Is Every Step in 1990, gifted to me by my therapist at that time. It was the first book on meditation that I read (thank you Marla for asking). It was my first encounter with therapy. It was my first look at the patterns and dynamics of my mind running my heart and life amok. (to all three, I am most grateful).
I remember, I had no idea what any of it meant. I only knew that when I held that small book in my hands, I felt my body and heart fling open. From then on, I spent many a long afternoon perched on a footstool, tucked away into a corner of what then was the “New Age” (now Religion. Zen Buddhism) section in the Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Here, one of my all time favorite videos, The Great Bell Chant (7:13 min). I have listened to it countless times over the years. Some days, I just put my headset on, hit repeat, and take in Thich Nhat Hanh’s heart-voice while folding laundry or out for a walk.
May it offer you tending, warmth and care too.
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🌸 COME JOIN US | This Friday Ask for A Word for 2025
“And now let us welcome the New Year
Full of things that have never been.”
– Rainer Maria Rilke
In her book Finding Beauty in a Broken World,
Terry Tempest Williams goes to the sea and asks:
“Give me one wild word.”
What is the wild word or phrase calling to you? Calling into your heart to be a divine teacher, a guide for this year. Come discover what longs to birth, shimmer through you this year.
Join us this Friday “For Ask for a Word” an ancient practice where we open into a word or phrase to ponder for the year, sometimes a whole lifetime ushering us toward the next threshold of awareness for our evolutionary journey and deeper into the mysteries of being human.
Friday, Jan 17, 2025
10 am - 1 pm
Wini Nimrod & Julie Fedeli
Learn more details and sign-up here
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🌸 Closing Song | A Healing Source-Song ✨
“Oh man this song” were the only words attached to the link for this song texted to me from my dear friend and beyond teacher companion, Megan Dunne Krouse. Not only is Megan an exquisite breath-embodiment yoga teacher but she is the goddess of finding all things yummy, heart-opening, in song.
Give a listen
Tishrei: the end is the beginning
by Elul Music Project
Song: Done to the Well
Lyrics:
I will go down to the well
Let the water ring me like a bell
Let the water rock me like a child
For this well will not run dry
No, this well will not run dry
Sarina’s words: This song came in as I imagined a journey to a healing source. I found that even through my imagination, I could access this "well," and it was transformative - the healing is available, the well is always full, and we get to drink deeply! This is also a song for the waters here where I live in Minnesota and all the waters they connect with, a prayer that the well does not run dry. I hope this song can connect folks to the well that doesn't run dry for them - a source of regeneration, aliveness, wholeness, and home. A taste of her music here
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….Until next week. 💖 ✨
