I should explain that I grew up afraid of dogs, especially those running loose. My mom instilled this into me when we’d be walking to the local grocer together. I still distinctly remember her and I approaching a loose dog where the road parted ways but both directions ended up in the same spot. She chose the longer way hoping to avoid the dog. Of course the dog was merely waiting on the other side, expecting us.

Today I had a similar choice as the dog was a bit down one direction of the trail and I could have taken a different route to avoid the dog. My first instinct was to take the different route but something in me rebelled and that small voice inside said “not this time.” So I turned toward the dog thinking “I might regret this, but here goes.” At that moment, I felt like I was rewriting my history by taking what could be construed as the riskier option—come what may.

The dog looked at me and then started walking further away. This repeated a few times—it would look back at me and continued to walk away in the direction I was headed. This was a relief. I knew from history if the dog isn’t barking and is walking away, it’s not annoyed enough to come growling. I even think it was a bit nervous about my approach as I started to gain ground and pass. As I continued on by, not a peep came from the dog. I realized as I continued walking that even though it was a smaller dog, the fact that I chose to walk toward it vs. away was a victory, of sorts, over my past fears. Again the memory of the dog encounter with my mom came to mind and I smiled at the thought.

As I continued dwelling on this, I wondered—was that, perhaps, mom paying me a visit? Just by thinking the question, I’ve learned to take the inner question as proof positive it was. I dwelled on that idea a bit more as another memory of mom came to mind. She had always wanted a pet dog. Her dog of choice was a….oh my gosh….a Pomeranian. The dog I just encountered was a Pomeranian! Yes, that was definitely mom saying “hi”.

My mom passed away many years ago in 1987. Being born in Poland, she had her own way with words in the English language. She used to refer to the mourning doves as “hoo-hoo” birds from their distinctive sound. When she passed, I started believing my mom was saying “hi” whenever I heard the “hoo-hoo” birds. A few years after she passed, I was reading Animal Speak by Ted Andrews. In the section on mourning doves, he writes that the Slavic people often thought the mourning dove harbored the souls of their departed. It was a wink and a nod from my mom acknowledging what I knew all along.

When my husband and I lost both of our dads in 2003, the tradition of using nature to invite communication with loved ones who’ve passed continued. I’ve often said that magical communication comes in forms you will recognize. It’s personal to your history, your memories, and your belief system.

Cardinals became the bird for my dad’s memory. He had an affinity with all birds, but whenever the bright, red cardinal came into view, he’d point it out with excitement even as Alzheimer’s disease took over his body. Likewise, the hawk was the bird representing my father-in-law. His vision for distance stayed sharp up until his death at the age of “one month shy of 96”. “Hawk-eye” seemed appropriate.

There are other signs. Seeing the wispy clouds in the sky my father-in-law referred to as “horse tales” elicits a response that “Dad is having a good day.”

Image Credit:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cirrus_clouds2.jpg

And the first time the rainstick by our fireplace “popped” a pebble of movement at an appropriate moment for my dad to have commented, we started saying “Hi dad”.

The weekend the Pomeranian paid me a visit the rainstick was popping away like mad. I was saying hi to my dad A LOT, wondering what was up.

Then there was one last visit. Are you familiar with what I lovingly refer to as “fuzzy wuzzies”? They’re the dried silk/seeds of the milk weed pods.

Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Milkweed-in-seed2.jpg/400px-Milkweed-in-seed2.jpg

Fuzzy wuzzies floating outside have always been magical to me since childhood. They’re like fairies floating in the sky. I used to make wishes on them when I saw one. My oldest brother knew this and one time he brought me a whole pod of them to wish upon.

Once right after my oldest brother passed away, I was on the deck when a fuzzy wuzzy floated by out in our yard. I remembered thinking “if it’s you, George, the fuzzy wuzzy will come right in front of my nose.” It was fairly windy, and I knew this was an impossible test. Immediately I felt guilty for “testing”. Less than a minute went by and a fuzzy wuzzy floated just in front of my nose and down into my lap. I burst into tears. See what I mean by having learned that to even form the question of “is it a visit?” certainly means it is? I no longer test.

The weekend of the Pomeranian and the rainstick popping found me on the deck as well. I was just about to start meditating when a teeny, tiny little type of fuzzy wuzzy floated by my nose, I immediately thought of my brother and the previous incident a couple of years ago. Only this time I knew it was him immediately. As though to drive home the point and erase any question, about 20 minutes into my meditation someone in the neighborhood started to play “Taps” on a bugle. This has never happened. Taps, as you know, is often played at military funerals. My brother was a United States Marine who proudly served in Viet Nam. It was sunset and I started to cry. Today was Armed Forces day. Yes, “Hi George. Yes, I know, I know. You wanted to say ‘hi’ too.”

Perhaps my relatives all knew how very much I missed my husband. He’s not usually gone for a whole week at a time, and I am more than a bit attached to him. Perhaps they all wanted to gather around while I had less company interfering with communication. Inviting your relatives over for a visit is available to anyone. It’s as simple as establishing a practice of recognizing moments in nature as memories of loved ones who’ve passed on. You may doubt any of these were truly visits from loved ones who’ve passed, but the memories of each were quite real, touching, and welcome. I’ve always believed in magical moments. How about you?

“If you do not believe in magic, your life will not be magical” ~ Lynn V. Andrews.

Some suggest have a gratitude journal and writing five (some say ten) things you were grateful for that day as you’re calling it a night. You could take a cue from The Secret and find a “gratitude rock” upon which to ponder all that you’re grateful for either first thing in the morning or at the end of your day. The rock will remind you of your practice and will also contain the energy of all that you are grateful for, planting the seeds for more of the same. Others suggest using your morning rituals to incorporate gratitude—such as noticing things within your view that you’re grateful for as you’re taking your morning walk—the trees, the birds, your neighbors, etc.

You could create your own personalized morning prayer celebrating your top ten joys. I love using affirmations. My favorite ones are committed to memory. I add them to the end of my mantra meditation practice as a way to clear the energy in my chakras. (See my own personal chakra color meditation posted on my old website. I don’t always use the colors and the affirmations have changed slightly since 2010, but the practice still remains a staple in my daily meditation.)

Showering your loved ones with as many forms of thanks as often as you can is also a very powerful practice. Wake them with an “I love you” kiss. Text them with appreciative messages throughout the day. Always greet them with a special warm embrace. Like a “secret handshake”, you could have a special sequence of kisses planted on their face. My husband kisses me on the nose, the corner of my forehead, and then my mouth; and then tilts his head down for me to end with my kiss on his forehead. I couldn’t tell you when it started. I only know it is a very special part of who we are as a couple. Silly? Perhaps—but it feeds me in ways I can’t express. Sometimes I’ll simply say “my forehead needs a kiss.”

Somewhere close to 30 years ago, my husband and I were told that if you wave good-bye to your loved one as they’re leaving, they’ll have less accidents on their journey. Throughout our marriage we always take the time to stop what we’re doing when the other one is leaving to help them out the door and wave good-bye as they drive down the road. It really does feel better than when the other is not there to wave you off—kind of like a blessing on your journey.

Acknowledge the moments out loud—call them out. You could try, “we have fun, don’t we?” Or you could simply say “this very moment” as a way to embed it into memory with gratitude.

Send a thank you card the old-fashioned way to those that are far away. They’ll appreciate the energy contained within your handwriting. Trust me—you innately know this from experience. Have you received a handwritten birthday card from someone you love? Compare that to a typed message. There IS a difference. Not to mention, your loved one may not be connected to the internet.

When I was a pre-teen, I started writing to a pen-pal from England. We wrote to each other until we were both adults. When her sister tried to continue via email after my pen-pal passed away, it just wasn’t quite the same. There’s an energy in the ink—you know they touched the paper. You see their scratched out corrections. They’ve sent a part of their DNA.

For those kind souls who infiltrate your life throughout the day, give them a heart-felt thank you when they open the door for you, serve your morning cup of coffee with a smile, or let you cut ahead of them in the grocery line. You can also be that kind soul to someone else.

I’ve read that having a gratitude practice increases your happiness by 25%, makes you more optimistic about your future, and even gives you the impetus to exercise more. So what’s stopping you?

Many years ago, my husband and I were riding our bikes when a flock of geese flew quite low overhead. You could even hear their wings. In a moment of sheer joy and gratitude, I tilted my head up and said out loud: “Thank you!” The geese immediately showered me with…well you can imagine. To this day I still smile when I see a flock of geese flying close overhead and silently give thanks without tilting my head up. There’s always a way.

The chiropractor’s office was backed up that morning with standing room only. One young man who walked in seemed quite out of sorts. At first glance, he appeared a bit stand-offish—until I found out what was going on in his life. Marti, the chiropractor’s assistant, asked how his mom was and then how he was doing. He replied, “Well it’s going to be a tough day. Goin’ into the cities. They have to pull my tooth.” He shared how he’d only had about 45 minutes to an hour of sleep due to the pain, and yes—he was still in a lot of pain. His dad’s insurance was luckily going to pay for the procedure. You could tell he was quite uncomfortable.

Within a moment it was going to be my turn with the chiropractor so I quickly asked if he’d tried a clove numbing agent for children you can buy at the local drugstore. “No, that won’t work!” was his reply. I meekly nodded as I walked away to be adjusted.

While in the adjustment, I asked some questions of my own to the doc and he was recommending a supplement I was going to try. There was none on the shelf so Marti remembered there’d been a shipment next door from yesterday they had yet to pick up. It should be in there. I was told to wait a minute. So that gave me another moment in the waiting room with the young man and his tooth.

I sheepishly offered for him to try some of my clove oil blend on his tooth. I always carry a bottle in my purse. He agreed pretty quickly. Now you could tell he was in a lot of pain because it was apparent that taking me up on my offer was a bit out of his comfort zone. I pulled out the oil and placed a drop on his finger which he applied to his gum. While it did “burn” a bit, you could see the gripping expression on his face lessen and he said “but it does feel better.” I simply replied “Good!”

In the meantime, Marti came back with her package and we both went through it to find the supplement I was going to try. While Marti was ringing up the supplement order, I offered to give the young man the rest of the oil in the bottle if he thought it would help. This time he was the sheepish one and replied “Yah, I might. I’m not sure they’ll give me anything after they pull it.” So I did.

As I drove home, I contemplated the chain of events: I had procrastinated removing the clove blend oil from my auto-ship longer than usual and had berated myself over it on the drive in. Now I was glad I didn’t since I always keep an extra bottle or two of this blend on hand. I almost didn’t ask the young man if he’d tried any numbing agents for his pain. He seemed a bit unapproachable, and I almost just kept to myself. Likewise, I almost just left it at that and didn’t offer for him to try my clove oil blend on his tooth. But something told me to dismiss my initial assessment. I knew he was in pain. Sometimes listening to your gut just seems like the right thing to do, doesn’t it?  I have never purchased a supplement at the chiropractor’s so it was a new thing to have a delayed departure after my adjustment. The delay created the perfect time/space sequence to approach the young man again to see if he’d use the rest of the bottle of clove oil.

Clearly, the Universe had a plan that morning. The sequence of events just flowed like “1, 2, 3” and it put a smile on my face. The thought of the encounter left me with a warm glow for the rest of the day. I sent the young man my thoughts and prayers throughout the day for a smooth procedure and less pain in his future.

I hadn’t had a chance to read the daily readings from my treasured Science of Mind magazine for a few days. I took the time when I got home. The first one I read was titled “Not by Chance.” The opening line read: “Behind every event and condition in our lives there lies a cause. Nothing happens by chance or accident. All that happens in our experience comes about as a result of an inner cause giving rise to an outer effect…”

The reading for the actual day this happened was yet another wink and a nod from God: “As you take time to do an act of kindness for someone, you are engaging in a spiritual practice. It is a practice that reveals the Divine nature in, as, and through you. To do an act of kindness for another is to connect at a deep level with your true self….What you do matters.”

Do you take the time to notice the good that flows through you? Without you, that good would need another outlet and wouldn’t be delivered in quite the same way. Listen to your gut. You are here for a reason. God has a plan for you. What you do matters.

During our last visit, I noticed her arms were flaking from dryness. So I took some lotion and massaged it into her arms. She liked that. It felt good. I lovingly chided her, reminding her she should actually use all the lotions we’ve gifted her with. She could probably put a bottle in each room—heck each corner of each room!

How about you? Do you take time to take care of you? Earlier, I referred to using lotions as a “simple luxury”. Perhaps considering a daily self-massage as an essential is where we should begin. A favorite saying from a fellow yoga teacher friend of mine is: “It’s not ice-cream, it’s dental floss.” Apply that concept to your self-care.

A few months ago, I found myself always in too much of a hurry to moisturize after I showered. I couldn’t be bothered—places to go, things to do, people to see. Well, as the locals know, this winter has been more than brutal; and as I stare out my window to yet more snow falling on May 3^rd, I know it’s not quite over yet! Your skin takes a beating with the dry winter air and with over six months of snowfall here in Minnesota, your demeanor does too! Not taking time for yourself becomes a habit that affects all the areas of your life. Your psyche knows you’ve, once again, decided you aren’t worth it.

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

I noticed when I took the time to apply soothing body oil after each shower, it felt like I was “saying yes to myself”. It was not only soothing but it felt grounding, life-affirming, even healing. If you don’t “say yes to yourself”, if you don’t give yourself first priority, then who else will? Whether you’re suffering from low self-esteem or even just a case of the grouchies, taking a moment of self-care after your shower is a daily ritual built into your day to “say yes to yourself.” Each day affirm “I say yes to myself” as you take the literal minute to apply some good juju lovingly to your skin—the largest organ of your body. The benefits go way beyond the physical. Each day you’re saying you matter. In how many areas of your life will that sentiment benefit you?

“Little changes can change everything.”

There’s a reason the Sanskrit word sneha means both “oil” and “love.” Now if I ever start to even think I don’t have time after my shower for a little self-care, I silently repeat “I say yes to myself” and take a moment for my daily ritual. This has been my daily mantra and like any habit, the energetic benefits have built over time. Try it. Empower yourself. Say yes to yourself…daily.

“The body of one who uses oil massage regularly does not become affected much even if subjected to accidental injuries, or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age.” ~ Charaka Samhita Vol. 1, V: 88-89.

“Abhyanga is the anointing of the body with oil. Abhyanga should be resorted to daily, it wards off old age, exertion and aggravation of Vata.” ~ Ashtanga Hrdayam: Sutrasthana:II:8-9

Music can take you back to the memories stored within your body when listening to the tunes from your past. As my husband and I listened to this CD recently, I immediately remembered listening to it as background music while I worked in a sales position at a previous corporate job. My office had a window overlooking the next building downtown Minneapolis. The company had recently announced they were discontinuing our sales positions and would be turning all the sales over to independent contractors. Needless to say, I was pretty despondent.

Always looking for signs, I remember this one particular pigeon that would come visit my window sill each morning. It was a one-legged pigeon that seemed totally content. I remembered thinking God sent this one-legged pigeon to me as a sign that I could handle anything put in my path.

I chuckled as my husband reminded me that pigeon pose emphasizes one side/leg at time (unless you are in double-pigeon pose, but I digress.) Sometimes as my students hold pigeon pose, I remind them what each side of their body might be telling them.

The left side of the brain governs the right side of the body and vice versa. The left side of the brain is our analytical, linear, logical, detail-oriented, masculine side. The right side of the brain is our creative, mellow, sensual, emotional, feminine side.

Viewed within the context of the sides of the brain hemispheres, you can start to dwell on some mind/body issues you’re dealing with on each side of the body. Does your body have a lot of issues on one side? Some suggest perhaps this relates to issues with a male (right side) or female (left side) in your life—past or present. The mind and body are inseparable. So it’s something to think about.

Maybe you always have trouble balancing on one side vs. the other. Perhaps when you’re standing solid on the right leg you just can’t seem to stay balanced. That could mean your logical, detail-oriented side of the brain is just plain pooped for the day. Sound familiar?

Having trouble sleeping? If you want to finally get to sleep, try laying on your right side to open the left nostril. This will activate the right side of your brain and calm you down to help induce sleep.

If you want to evoke your creativity, or have a project requiring a lot of details, you can use single nostril breath to direct the breath through the appropriate nostril. Right nostril-dominated breath activates your logical, detail-oriented side and also warms you up and wakes you up, increasing heat, energy and alertness. Left nostril-dominated breath calms and cools you down promoting relaxation.

Are you right-handed? Nervous about a big presentation? Clench your left hand. This stimulates the brain’s right hemisphere which is linked to automated behaviors like muscle memory and short-circuits the tendency to overthink your actions.

If you want to balance your mind and body try alternate nostril breath. This breath energetically balances your mind and body and is a great centering breath meditation. My husband uses it when he’s stressed and has had great success with it. Many use this breath to prepare for other forms of meditation. It revitalizes you, improves brain function, cleanses your lungs, calms an agitated mind, and merges the left “thinking” brain and right “feeling” brain.

There are other ways to connect the left and right sides of the brain. Simply connecting your left palm to the right palm in anjali mudra, or “prayer position” mudra,  also connects the left and right sides of the brain, enabling communication between the two sides.

Donna Eden, author of Energy Medicine, promotes an exercise called “Cross Crawl” that is simply an exaggerated walk/march which also facilitates the crossover between the left and right sides of the brain. Each side of your brain wants to connect to the other side. It’s healthy and helps you “feel more balanced, think more clearly, improves coordination, and harmonizes your energies.” ~ Energy Medicine.

Sometimes I incorporate the “Cross Crawl” into my yoga classes. It adds to a great warm-up!

That little pigeon visiting my window sill from long ago still reminds me I can overcome any obstacle. Today it reminded me of the magic each side of your body’s holds. Never forget all you need lies within.

Image Credit: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=181167422692&set=a.430245337692.230953.181164107692&type=1&theater

Normally you’ll see robins singularly, but the past few days (during the winter resurgence) they were traveling in flocks. This is the first time in my life I’d seen so many robins in one area! Their constant movement flying and landing “en masse” was mesmerizing, beautiful, and surreal. We sat and watched for what seemed like hours. It was magical. There had to be a message, don’t you think?

“The American Robin is active mostly during the day, and on its winter grounds it assembles in large flocks at night to roost in trees in secluded swamps or dense vegetation. The flocks break up during the day when the birds feed on fruits and berries in smaller groups. During the summer, the American Robin defends a breeding territory and is less social.^” 

Hmmm, a couple of days ago, on Tuesday, it was a bright sunshiny day! The news said it had been 11 days since we’d had consistent sun—count ‘em 11! So last week during the snow it was dark, and yes I’d say “winter grounds” would be a good description, wouldn’t you?

The “flock” behavior last week was interesting considering they are normally territorial and “less social” as mentioned before. “…when feeding in flocks, the American Robin is able to remain vigilant and watch other flock members for reactions to predators.” I’m thinking it’s a bit difficult for the robin to find food when the ground is snow-covered. What do you think? So our normally territorial robin knows when a flock mentality is more beneficial. This is where “birds of a feather stick together” comes from!

I think there were 11 or 12 robins in the tree here!

On a side note, the robins only migrate when there is a lack of food, not due to colder weather. This explains why I thought I saw robins throughout our mild winter last year….give me a minute while I take a moment to remember that. You have to wonder if they’re just about ready to migrate the heck away from here right about now. (Can I come too?) I joked with my husband that perhaps the flock mentality was really a meeting of the “robin union” to discuss a move out of here!

Ted Andrews’ book, Animal-Speak—The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small delivered the real juice: When robins make their presence known in your life, you are about to have new growth in a variety of areas in your life! Robins react to red. When a male robin sees another’s red breast, they take it as a signal “to get out of my territory”. Also, that well-known cheery song the robins sing is part of establishing their territory. “Two males in the same area will puff up and sing with all their force.” Ted Andrews suggests this reflects the message to sing your own song when looking for new growth.

The symbolism of the red breast ties into singing your own song for new growth. The red breast is connected to the kundalini energy. (My last newsletter dwelled on this subject if you are interested.) Kundalini activation comes from connecting to the truth of your nature—or singing your own song.

Singing your own song activates your communication chakra, your throat chakra. It vibrates to the color blue. Robins have a distinctive powder-blue egg—the color often used to activate this chakra. The throat chakra energy is associated with creative energy and life force. What I find comforting is “Fake it till you make it” works here. Sing any song until you get the one that best fits you, and you’ll activate your throat chakra energy. No song goes unwasted!

So take a cue from the robins congregating in your back yard—sing your best song to create your new life. You have what you need deep inside you. Think red—perhaps wear red. Sing blue.

“Song sung blue
Everybody knows one
Song sung blue
Every garden grows one

Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice
And before you know, start to feeling good
You simply got no choice”
~ Neil Diamond, of course.
http://www.elyrics.net/read/n/neil-diamond-lyrics/song-sung-blue-lyrics.html

Then there was his commentary on our shoes. If you had a pair of shoes that squeaked when you walked, he’d say it meant you didn’t pay for them. It was as if the shoes were squealing on you. This time it was your shoes that were magical. This story always made me laugh as a child and now as an adult, it just makes me wonder: But I really did pay for them. So why are they squeaking?! In the back of my mind, I wonder if the shoes really aren’t a good fit for my body and “not paying for them” means they’ll quit squeaking when my body has “paid for them” by hurting somewhere down the line. The squeak then becomes a warning sound to quit wearing them before the damage is done. Funny, how you try to make sense out of a childhood story when it was told to you by your Dad.

My Dad’s most endearing story always comes to mind this time of year and brings a nostalgic, heart-warming smile to my face. He shared this one whenever we had a late snowfall, such as we are experiencing today. He’d say that a late snow shower meant St. Peter was cleaning out the corners of heaven. I think St. Peter found a whole room that needed cleaning! No, perhaps he found a whole floor!

Somehow attributing this April snow storm to St. Peter cleaning the corners of heaven makes it just a little more bearable for me. I hope it lightened your day as well. Thanks, Dad, for the stories, the smiles, and the memories. Now could you please go ask St. Peter to take a break from cleaning? It’s clean enough already!

That night, a lead story on the news was of Pope Francis, breaking tradition to wash the feet of a female Muslim prisoner on Maundy Thursday as part of the Christian tradition as symbolic of Jesus washing the feet of his twelve disciples, and asking them to wash each other’s feet as well. Not being particularly religious myself, I had forgotten my Lutheran up-bringing of the significance of Holy Week as the resurrection of the Christ. Yet, because I had received my own soul cleansing from Pele that day, I was able to embody the teaching of humility and unconditional love so beautifully exhibited by Pope Francis.

The soles of the feet are symbolic of the soul of our being. As the soles of the feet hold nerve endings from the whole body (evidenced by the work of reflexology) To wash them gently and sweetly is to nourish your soul. So I invite you to get a pedicure and let yourself be cleansed!

There’s something about scarves, isn’t there? I’m not the only one who loves them—they’ve been around since 1350 BC. You can add them to anything, and they are fairly inexpensive—some of my favorite ones were less than $4 each.

I found a scarf in the kiosk with several “OM’s” on it in a burnt yellow color. I simply love the sacred mantra, “OM”—considered to be the first sound of creation and also considered to be the sound of silence. Whether chanting in a group or meditating with it in your personal practice, it is said you are able to experience the vibration of the Universe. And if you are questioning the vibrational effects of the Universe, consider this: Did you know that the earth’s magnetic resonances vibrate at the same frequency as the human heart? Yes, there is something magical about this symbol, sound, and mantra.

I’ve read that by wearing the symbol “OM”, you are opening up to God’s energy; for where the symbol of the Universe is present, its related energy is also present. The mere presence of “OM” can influence your thoughts and your actions.

The salesperson for the scarves commented that she also had a similar red scarf if I liked red. Did she say red?! Red is one of my absolute favorite colors—the color associated with the root chakra. Why, sure I’d love to see that one! When she pulled it out of the drawer, it had a beautiful but different design. I noticed a familiar deity in the design.

The “OM’s” from the first scarf called to me, but the red one won out. Funny, but I almost felt like I was “cheating on” the “OM” mantra. Picking color over “OM”? What was I thinking? (And, yes, I am fully aware what a luxury it is to be perplexed over a scarf…)

As I wore my new, red scarf on the plane ride home, I felt the smoothness of the cloth every now and then and wondered about the deity appearing in the design. The lack of the “OM” symbols still bothered me. I didn’t think much more about it until the next day while I was unpacking. As I unfolded my new scarf, I suddenly realized the border of the scarf was lined with “OM’s”—beautiful, sacred, auspicious “OM’s”! Were they there all along? I swear I didn’t see them!

I later realized the deity appearing on the design was the Goddess, Lakshmi—the Goddess of wealth and prosperity (both material and spiritual). The word “Lakshmi” comes from the Sanskrit word, Laksme, meaning goal. Laskshmi represents your goals in life, including both material and spiritual prosperity. The lotus upon which she stands signifies that while living in this world, you should enjoy its wealth without becoming attached to the material—an analogy of the lotus that grows in the water without becoming wet by it.

When I realized the deity appearing in the scarf’s design was Lakshmi, I had to wonder if perhaps as a token of her appreciation for my choosing “her” scarf, she decorated the border with “OM’s”. All I can say is that it was magical and I, for one, choose to believe in magic. How about you?

If you do not believe in magic, your life will not be magical. ~ Lynn V. Andrews

I’m in Maui this week, scoping out excursions for a Yo-Cation I will be leading here in February 2014 with my friend Erin and FreeLife Yoga.