Arise

A long time ago, I had a dream.  Not like Martin Luther King.  I mean, I was asleep.   This dream contained a message, a stepping stone on my Arise journey path. I was enjoying a conversation with two people I never could have met in "real life."  No, not Jesus or Buddha or Gandhi. Far less impressive, and far less real.  My lively discussion took place around a folding table in a tent with Hawkeye Pierce and B.J. Hunnicutt of M*A*S*H. Yes, it's funny!  But let's focus on the message, not the context.  As I said when explaining what this blog is about,* per Paul Coelho's advice in The Alchemist , " “In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens."  Guideposts can and do appear in odd places. Schmoozing with Hawkeye and B.J., I marveled that there we were, enjoying this time together as peers, yet I was only born in the mid-1950's.  Hawkeye -- or maybe it was B.J. -- told me, "Well, our bodies are made of cells. T...

In high school physical education classes, we did exercises to limber up.  Sitting on the gym floor or the field, with legs extended, we were coached to do repeated forward bends.  The prompt was, “Kiss your knees.” In yoga practice, we sit on our mats, with legs extended, and do forward bends.  The prompt is, “Fold from the hips, leading with your chest.” The spine is to remain straight.  No knee-kissing! Leading with the chest is leading with the heart.  Many yoga postures are designed to open up the heart, the center of compassion. It takes confidence to go through the day with an open heart.  At the postural level, it requires holding the body in a particular way. To prompt proper alignment for postures, yoga instructors will say, “Move your shoulders away from your ears.” In standing postures, they advise, “Lower your shoulders!” or use the metaphor,  “Tuck your shoulder blades into your back pockets.” In practice, and during my day, I b...