going to god through the cornbread

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

There are thousands of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-Rumi

After spending time with ahimsa, satya, and asteya, I have been reflecting lately on Master Patanjali’s yama (observance) of brahmacarya. It is one of the vows a yogi takes that deals with how to treat others. Traditionally, this yama deals with celibacy as a way to attain spiritual goals. So, how does this yama play out in my life? I am not a nun. I have chosen the path of lay person, of householder. Wife. Mother.

During a lecture that Ruth Lauer Manenti gave on the yamas and niyamas she said, “If you are a householder, then go to God through your family life. Your love life.” I have heard many and various suggestions of how to apply brahmacarya to the lay path, but that was the first interpretation that made sense to me.

It inspires me to allow the daily acts of my life to be my practice. As I bake the cornbread. Hang the laundry. Bathe Blue. Each can be an act of kindness. Of love. And when it’s not easy: when there is conflict, discomfort, tension in the family life, then I let this be practice, too. Even more so.

When I am short tempered, swimming in despair, longing for a stretch of time alone; I can sit with it. Let it teach me. Appreciate the lessons. See the ugliness and the beauty.

At the end of the day I can ask myself – –

Did I appreciate the simple joys of family life?

Did I love fully?

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thankful thursday

I just loove thursdays. This morning I left the long-legged man and baby blue sleeping sweetly and took a long, hot shower (which has become a total luxury since becoming a mama). After the boys woke up, quick toast/ tea/ trousers then we loaded into the car and headed to yoga. Yoga for me.

I try to take a class with my teacher once a week while we’re in Vegas. My most inspirational yoga teacher is a soft-spoken, big-hearted woman who teaches inside of a little girls’ ballet studio in Boulder City, Nevada. This morning was restorative yoga. It was exactly what my low back and my little heart needed. Oh lawdy, lawdy, I am so grateful for the sweet teachings of Mrs. Pati Kearns. Ruth Lauer-Manenti (another quietly wonderful yoga teacher of mine) taught me that what one should look for in a yoga teacher is a heart of gold. Excellent advice that I now pass on to you, dear reader.

After yoga my long-legged man, Blue, and I headed to the Farmer’s market. We scored:

• one large loaf of bread
• blueberries
• raspberries
• strawberries
• blackberries
• arugala
• swiss chard
• bok choy
• apsaragus
• mustard greens
• baby collard greens
• beet spinach
• tomatoes
• mizuna
• basil
• oregano
• nasturtiums
• lettuce

The only stuff not grown in Nevada were the berries. That’s right! Luxurious desert fare! Also talked with a CSA farmer about scoring some pastured eggs and raw honey from their farm here in Nevada. Woot! When we got home the Coconuts were sitting on the porch smoking. They saw my bags full and this went down:

Ms. Coconut: Girl, you got some bell peppers in that bag? We want some beans for dinner!

Me: Nope, they didn’t have any today.

(Here’s where I get called out big time)

Ms. Coconut: Oh, just a bunch of greens, then, huh?

It’s so true. I always come home with bags and bags full of leafy greens. I feel dirty inside on days I don’t eat my dark leafys.

not so dark leafys

lettuce, I embrace you, and I admit/ that internal suffering is difficult to photograph. -Joyelle McSweeney

We feasted. Then the long-legged man and baby blue took a nap and I got a massage from a bodyworker I’m trading with. Hello? Could a thursday get any sweeter? Why yes, yes it could! My dear friend, Gentle Pure Heart, who lives in Olympia, came over, took my yoga class, and stayed for a bowl of beans afterward. (We eat an incredible amount of the humble bean in this family.)

Today I am thankful for my long-legged man, sweet baby blue, hot showers, yoga, desert-grown greens, healing hands, good friends, the humble bean, and a quiet cup of tea at the end of the day.

-sara

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