Rambling Yogi

Tag: poetry

  • Are you spending your time measuring or mattering?

    Are you spending your time measuring or mattering?

    I’m not sure who wrote this but it was shared with me at my teacher training in Bali by the beautiful Angelic.

    Coming home from teacher training has been seriously hard, there have been many tears and moments of doubt but  I’ve found great comfort in reading this to myself and reminding myself what matters.

     

    Are you spending your time measuring or mattering?

    Author Unknown

    Happiness is not a goal. It’s a dividend. It’s the incidental consequence of the intentional commitment to fulfill your whole capacity for living. And when you focus your energy on that first, it just shows up. Because happiness isn’t the target – happiness is what you get for hitting the target. What will make you happy that has nothing to do with ego or image or status?

    Purpose is not a task. It’s the way you choose to live your life. It’s the amalgamation of everything you do and say, each day, which validates your existence as a human being. And if you’re not sure what your purpose is, no problem: Finding your purpose can become your purpose until you find your purpose. Get to work. What three things are you doing regularly that don’t serve or support your vision, calling or purpose?

    Love is not a combination lock. There’s no how-to book. There’s no formula. If you want to make love stay, it’s simple but not easy: Never get lazy with people. Make love the question you answer with your life, every day, until it’s over. Because in the end, your life is measured by how well you love, not how far you get. What are you trying to figure out that can’t be figured out?

    I’LL SAY IT AGAIN: What can’t be measured, matters.

    After all, when it’s your heart, you don’t have to convince people that you can’t live without it.

    Are you spending your time measuring or mattering?

     

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  • When you begin to love yourself

    When you begin to love yourself

    If you asked 10 people from completely different cultural backgrounds to define love you would probably get 10 different definitions. Yes of course there would be some common themes running through their definitions but love is going to mean something different to all of us which will mean that how we express that love will also vary.

    For this reason I think that self love is going to vary from person to person as well. There’s no set way to love yourself more. What one person needs to feel love another will see no value in.

    Cultivating self love starts with gaining a deeper understanding of yourself.  Start with asking yourself what beliefs or behaviors work against your definition of love. Maybe it’s negative self talk or abusing your body with excessive alcohol.  Without judgement make a list of things you do and think that are not coming from a place of love.  Can you then gradually begin to let go of these things to create more space for kindness towards yourself (it can feel super liberating to burn a list of things you’d like to let go of, I highly recommend letting this one burn).

    To keep things balanced also create a list of the things that you can do to practice self love. Ask yourself what makes you feel special,  at peace or exuberant. Maybe it’s getting a massage, being in nature or going for a run. Keep this list somewhere that you can see it and make it a priority to make time for the things that speak to your soul.

    This beautiful poem by Charlie Chaplin beautifully articulates the magic and realisation that can begin to happen when you love yourself.

    As I Began to Love Myself
    by Charlie Chaplin

    As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

    As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.

    As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it “MATURITY”.

    As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm. Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.

    As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

    As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

    As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

    As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.

    As I began to love myself I recognised that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

    We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS “LIFE”!

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  • Let Go

    Let Go

    What in your life can you let go of?

    Clinging to thoughts, ideas and material possessions that do not serve you will hold you back in life and make you suffer.

    When you are attached to your way of thinking you are not open to new ideas and opportunities for learning and growth. In the same way if you hold on to your good or bad memories too tight you miss out on the beauty of the present moment and perhaps bring yourself unnecessary suffering.

    While attachment to material possessions will take up your time and clutter your space. For some people material possessions can begin to make up their personal identity, which is a very scary concept when you stop to consider that everything material that you have today could be taken away from you tomorrow…

    So whether it’s in your head or in your home can you let it go.

    Sometimes you have to let go more than once but never be afraid to let go of the things you are attached to, because having space for new possibilities is what makes life exciting. And I truly believe that you should always have faith that something wonderful is about to happen.

    Below is a beautiful poem about letting go which I think perfectly articulates how simple and liberating letting go of attachments can be.

    She let go
    By Rev. Safire Rose

    Without a thought or a word, she let go.

    She let go of fear.

    She let go of judgments.

    She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
    She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

    She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.
    Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

    She didn’t ask anyone for advice.

    She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
    She just let go.
    She let go of all the memories that held her back.

    She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.

    She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

    She didn’t promise to let go.

    She didn’t journal about it.
    She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.

    She made no public announcement.

    She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
    She just let go.

    She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.

    She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.

    She didn’t utter one word.
    She just let go.

    No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations.
    No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing.
    Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

    There was no effort. There was no struggle.

    It wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad.
    It was what it was, and it is just that.
    In the space of letting go, she let it all be.

    A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her.

    And the sun and the moon shone forevermore.

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    Love and Blessings from Bail
    xxxx

  • My Favorite Savasana Poem

    My Favorite Savasana Poem

    You have to love a good savasana poem. This has been my favorites and if you’ve never read it before you’re in for a treat! It’s absolutely beautiful and there’s so much that you can take from it.

    Happy reading

    xx

    The Invitation
    By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

    It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

    It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

    It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

    I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

    I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

    It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

    I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

    I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’

    It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

    It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

    It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

    I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

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