Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Mala Beads for Meditation
Using Mala Beads (Rosary) For Meditation
It is a tool used to keep your mind on the meditation practice. Malas are generally made from different materials such as tulsi (basil) wood, sandal wood, rudraksh seeds or crystal. Each type of material has certain properties which subtly affect the subconscious mind of the practitioner.
Why use the Mala? Meditation can be quite a tricky practice because the mind is like a naughty child. By its very nature, the mind tends to wander off during the meditation practice. If ones energy is low at the time of meditation, falling asleep can result. If the energy is too high, fantasy and distraction become the barriers. At such times, the mala provides the much needed anchor.
The mala beads are moved in rhythm with the breath and the mantra, so that both-sleep as well as excessive mental distraction-are prevented by this action upon the beads.
For wearing: A personal mala is a wonderful accessory to meditation, which when used regularly with a personal mantra, absorbs the vibrations of the practice. It becomes like a close friend or a comfortable piece of clothing!
How to Use? The mala is traditionally held in the right hand and used in two ways -
In one method, the mala is hanging between the thumb and the ring (third) finger. The middle (second) finger is used to rotate the mala by one bead towards oneself with each repetition of the mantra.
In the other method, the mala is hanging on the middle finger, with the thumb used to rotate the mala just as explained - one bead at a time.
Either way, the index finger is never used to touch the mala.
The mala may coil on the floor with the hand resting on the right knee or used with the hand concealed in the Mala Bag.
The practice begins at the summit bead (sumeru) and continues around the loop until the summit is reached again. The summit bead is never passed over. So if you plan to do more than 1 round, the mala is turned around to proceed again in the reverse direction.
Whenever the mala is taken up, it automatically conditions the mind to the meditative state. The mala that you use for Mantra Japa meditation should not be exhibited and is best kept privately in a special Mala Bag.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Harvest Moon Festival
Crafty Fems
Owl Bags--Carrie Tidd
Hand Painted shelf and candle stick holders--Rachel Hyde
Waldorf style felt birthday crowns--Carrie Tidd
Crafty Fems
Felt Needle Books-- Rachel Hyde www.thechromaticattic.etsy.com
Wool baby hats--Elizabeth McClung www.sahmeam.etsy.com
Friday, September 19, 2008
Life
Isn't this an amazing piece of art? The connection between creating human life and caring for the the life of the earth and beyond really stands out to me. The moon behind is spectacular!
Speaking of......did anyone get a picture of the Harvest Moon? I would love to post it here.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Rhythm of the Earth
Woman’s exquisite feminine consciousness is like the earth ~ soft, rounded, wild and wise. Centred within a spiral, she ebbs and flows with stars, planets and oceans. Like the wildest tempest, her passion is uncontained and uncontrollable, and like the surging river, her love runs still and deep.
She, the earth spirit, is the glowing rotundity of the full moon, sparkling water of the cascading waterfall and curling tendrils of rainforest vines. There is a mysterious bond between woman and the earth, for woman and the earth are one.
Her wildness has no movement or projection, being as still as the centre of a cyclone. When seen, she loves open-heartedly, giving with impersonal joy and intimacy that knows no boundaries.
Wildness of the Female Spirit by Sophia Breillat
There is an inherent wildness in woman that cannot be contained or controlled. Her deepest pain is her separation from this essential essence, where man rarely reaches her. Her sweetest joy is when she is simply being, resting peacefully within. Here, she is united with the seasons’ awakening, earth’s nourishment and moon’s phases.
Woman’s innate feminine intuition cannot flow spontaneously when masqueraded beneath a cloak of time, schedules, briefcases, business suits and corporate board meetings. Such efficiency is alien to her mysterious depth, which is beyond the world of existence. This world does not create space for her.
When lured from her profundity into a male-dominated civilisation, she loses touch with the simplicity of her true magnificence. In the outer world, she is manipulated into being man’s “equal” through competitive achievement.
When content within her being, she has no need for such competition, as she knows it is not her true nature. In striving for “equality” with man, she leaves the power and stillness of her love.
The feminine spirit is nurturing, receptive, gentle and peaceful. Through projection, woman loses touch with her body as a divine source of sacred intimacy and passionate profundity.
When inwardly still, she can be in the world without using work as a substitute for love or a distraction from lack of love.
Woman’s rhythm is circular, attuned with the wisdom of nature’s abundant cycles. The world of straight lines, concrete, measuring and quantifying is unfamiliar with her truth, which is love. She does her best within an un-giving environment of computerised technology, political unrest and global upheaval. She intuitively knows, but she is afraid to know, for her inner realm is not naturally aligned with the world. Her knowledge is that of love, and love is her home.
Through the world’s dishonouring of her sacredness, she has lost her tenderness and sweet surrender. Sexual hardness then replaces her natural sensuality. In building a layer of protection around her heart, like the concrete layers upon the earth, she has forgotten that her body is a temple. Woman is not of the world ~ she is of the earth, moon and stars. Her female spirit is capricious, moist, rich and succulent. When this spirit is repressed, she becomes dry, brittle, intellectual and barren.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Finding Her Here
Finding Her Here
I am becoming the woman I've wanted,
Mantra: My Feet Connect With the Earth
My feet connect with the Earth.
I inhabit my personal space.
I am a distinct entity in rapport with the life around me.
My individuality emerges in the context of the larger environment.
I know where my place is in the world.
I can deal with life, with whatever shows up.
I am no pushover, my roots are deep.
I am responsive, not rigid.
I can move in any direction at any time.
I can sense when something is not right for me.
I can say no or yes with clarity and conviction.
I can feel in my body all my experience and what I have learned.
I don't need permission to take up space.
I can breath fully; I don't have to shrink and apologize for being.
I can heartily expand and meet the world with joy.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Wild Woman
"So what is the Wild Woman? From the viewpoint of archetypal psychology as well as from the storytelling tradition, she is the female soul. Yet she is more; she is the source of the feminine. She is all that is of instinct, of the worlds both seen and hidden—she is the basis. We each receive from her a glowing cell which contains all the instincts and knowings needed for our lives."
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.Women Who Run With the Wolves
Wild and Zen
This is my thirtieth year on this great planet and I welcome it as the birth of my womanhood. Now is the time of empowerment, passionate love, creative endeavors, mindful homemaking and meditative bliss. This is the year that I unleash my inner wild woman and allow her to take me by the hand and show me all the things I have been missing.
Can you be wild and zen at the same time? Absolutely, and it is delicious!
