Poetry

Yoga and Poetry. What do they share? Both require being attentive, staying engaged, and directly encountering your own experience.

From the start, possibly 5,000 years ago in India, yoga was always much more than the physical practice but a meditative practice seeking the inner self.

Cultivating an awareness of the distinction between the false self– the ego - and the true self - that which makes you, you – is the lifelong practice.

Poetry is a beautiful vehicle for this same exploration. It’s short, ambiguous, open to interpretation. Poetry is both direct and somewhat elusive.

Over the Weather by Naomi Shihab Nye

We forget about the spaciousness

above the clouds

but it's up there. The sun's up there too.

When words we hear don't fit the day,

when we worry

what we did or didn't do,

what if we close our eyes,

say any word we love

that makes us feel calm,

slip it into the atmosphere

and rise?

Creamy miles of quiet.

Giant swoop of blue.

Little Rescues by L.E. Bowman

coffee/ sunlight / a smile / a laugh

a kiss on the forehead / a call from a friend

one of those lingering hugs that mothers give

the first hint of fall / the first touch of spring

any sign that change is coming

water / nature / a long, steaming bath

soft, gentle lips / open, familiar hands

a home cooked meal

a deep, cleansing breath

flowers / forgiveness / movement

rest

music - especially if it inspires you to dance

Next Time by Mary Oliver

Next time what I'd do is look at
the earth before saying anything. I'd stop
just before going into a house
and be an emperor for a minute
and listen better to the wind

or to the air being still.

When anyone talked to me, whether
blame or praise or just passing time,
I'd watch the face, how the mouth
has to work, and see any strain, any
sign of what lifted the voice.

And for all, I'd know more -- the earth
bracing itself and soaring, the air
finding every leaf and feather over
forest and water, and for every person
the body glowing inside the clothes
like a light.