The View From Here
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8/1/2021 0 Comments Essence of New Who is tracking moon cycles? Anyone? Well, if you are, you know that we just had a full moon last Friday. I know because I am taking a class on how to make flower essences. My assignment this week was to make an essence, and it was suggested that the energy of the full moon might add a little something special to the mix. So, like a good student, I did what was suggested; steeped some flower blossoms in clean water, in a glass bowl, under the sun or moon (see above for which one I chose) for 2-6 hours. I AM SO EXCITED. I can't wait to begin taking my flower essence to see what happens!
You might be thinking 1) "oh wow, how cool" or 2)"pfffff, PLEASE, that's silly, what's that gonna do?" There was a time when I was team #2, skeptical of things that I could not easily track with one of my five physical senses. While I felt like I was too cool for school, I associate that period of time with being less hopeful and excited about the day to day. Since joining team # 1, I am fully on board with many things subtle and less provable. In fact, while it may sound foolish or unlikely, an invisible power has brought order to what used to feel and be chaotic, energy and engagement where there used to be doubt and apathy. It took some courage ( fear and desperation?! ) to take action to try to tune in to the subtle energies that are always at play around us. Maybe some faith that as I stepped out of my comfort zone, out of the mundane, something would be there to meet me. The payoff has been worth the risk. I have not been disappointed. While not everything I try brings big results, I am definitely more joyful and eager to see what each day brings. I encourage you to try something new this week, even something foolish or unlikely. If nothing much comes from it, at least you can say you tried, that you shook things up a bit. And just maybe you will enjoy the experience. I invite you to click the link to check out my teaching schedule this week. xo Nicole
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7/25/2021 0 Comments True NorthI try to take a walk every evening. Sometimes in the heat of summer I make it a bike ride. But for real, after a long day working in my office, to tie on my sneakers(or saddle up on the bike) and set out for a few miles really helps me to shake "off" what may have settled "on" during the day. To reconnect my inner Nature to outer Nature; a kind of synchronization that helps me reset.
One day this week, while I was walking, I was really tuned in to that outer Nature. I had my phone with me, and my eyes kept seeing little vignettes, which I felt inclined to capture with my camera. It was like I was immersed in a matrix, where everything was lined up for me to see as I walked by, and it was all packed with some invisible MEANING, like Nature saying ,"Are you HERE? Are you AWAKE?" Well I WAS awake, and I AM awake. But I haven't always been. Sometimes I've felt the need for portents or omens or a breadcrumb trail to follow. Know what I mean? You ever find yourself feeling disoriented or lost? Like there is something you are supposed to have or do or understand, but you can't get at it or make it happen? It can be a scary feeling, even terrifying, if it becomes entrenched. But that day it was more like I realized(again)that, as Mooji says, "Life takes care of life...and you ARE Life." There is no place that I am that Life is not. So even when FEELING lost or disoriented, it's not TRUE. It is just a signal that I need to WAKE UP and RE-ORIENT. Connect the Outer to my Inner and reset. One of the ways I strengthen my inner compass is through the practice of yoga. Click the link below to join me this week. xo Nicole 7/18/2021 0 Comments The C Word Here we are, people, it's HIGH summer. It's hot and humid at the beach, where I live, but lucky me, I have escaped to the mountains of NC! The scenery is different and the humidity is LOW, and I am enjoying the change, but my mental wheels are turning, considering the nature of time.
I have been coming to the mountains of NC for some 24 years. Over the course of time, my best friend moved here to Asheville from Lancaster, PA, and two of my daughters have decided to call it home as well. So for the past 11 or so years, I have visited regularly and have had a bed or couch to lay my head, the only cost being a few hours sleep as we have chatty time into the wee hours of the morning. Time seems to have flown; my friend and I gathering a few more lines in our faces, and my beautiful daughters have become empowered and amazing young women. But even still, there has been a rhythm, and flow, something predictable and even comforting as we measure the passage of years in hours on the road from door to door, and heart filling reunion, season by season. Enter the year 2020. On this current visit, I am marking the first time I have spent the night at my bestie's house in A YEAR AND A HALF. The same floors, and fridge, and rich mountain views, but time warped and over 500 days and nights just swallowed into a vacuum, never to be recovered. It is working on me. Bending my mind a little. On the one hand, I am deeply aware of the toll that Covid(yes, I said it, the C word) has taken on our planet; lives lost, careers and businesses ended, global travel mostly halted. Sometimes bitter losses, exposed and rehashed, over and over again, in the media, and in FaceTime and Zoom conversations, like a scab we cannot seem to leave alone, to NOT talk about. The unthinkable made undeniably real, as the entire world shut down. I have no desire to relive that part of it. But then, this morning over coffee, in public, at an airy coffee shop, unmasked, my daughter and I looked into each others faces and gently reminisced about the unique opportunity we had last spring and early summer, to live together for the first time in 8 years, to stay home, cooking good food, tending a garden, walking for hours, rather than driving to get someplace as quickly as possible. We had the chance to step out of the rat race life had become, and settle into a luxuriously unhurried pace. And it was truly one of the most nourishing times either of us has ever experienced. Such a paradox, a mystery, how we can experience such extreme loss, and unparalleled gain within the same tracing of days. It's something to think about. It's what I love about this complicated life, both precious and sublime. My teaching schedule is changed up this week, due to travel. Click the link to check the times. xo Nicole 7/4/2021 0 Comments July 04th, 2021 What a full week I have had! It started with that overlap of Father's Day and Summer Solstice, and burgeoned into a week full of visiting family, birthday celebrations, and extra yoga under a (cloud covered) full moon. While the week has left me a little hungry for and appreciative of my day of rest, my mind is reflective, noticing that I still feel so filled up, even with all of the busy-ness of the past several days.
There is an abundant quality to the summer season. After planting seeds (figuratively AND literally) in the early spring, one visit to the local farmer's market is a testament to how Nature absolutely produces! So much bounty from the earth; tomatoes, cukes, summer squashes and zuchs, mushrooms, eggs, and so much more. So, after the pause of winter, and the promise of spring, summer has produced. Life, as Nature, is a giver. And then there is the influx of tourism to our little beach town. It really feels FULL of folks, especially post-2020. After a year of a slower pace of life and staying in, we humans are ready to bust out. We are eager to travel, or really just GATHER, to look into the ACTUAL faces of our friends and family, not through the filter of the ZOOM screen or a mask. As the last traumatic year begins to fade in the rear-view, we are leaning in to Life with a renewed sense of its value, hopefully a little more grateful for all we have. SO, after a year of contraction, we are expanding again. Life, after contraction, is expansive. I am beginning to see the pattern here. As much as I am willing to let go of limited/limiting ideas about how much I can have or produce, Life is here, giving as much as I am willing to receive. As I empty myself through the offerings of my work, and the give and take of healthy relationships, I am filled again. A never-ending rhythm, a flow, a dance. Life itself is generous. I am honored to share from the heart this week. I teach yoga asana via Zoom twice. I invite you explore my website and other offerings. I would be happy to work you. xo Nicole 6/27/2021 0 Comments Happy Father's Day/Summer Solstice Happy Father's Day, my friends. It also happens to be....duh duhhhhhhhhhnnn...THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!!! So, happy Summer Solstice 2021, the longest day of the year. It's a lot for me to hold in mind, and I want to touch on all that I am intuiting this day....I can do it!!! Let's break it down.
I love my dad and am thrilled that I get to celebrate him a couple of times a year, on his birthday and Father's Day. He is one of the most upstanding and generous men I know, and I hope that he knows how much he is loved and valued. Let's hear it for the dads. The longest day of the year, people!! That's 14 hours and 6 minutes of daylight for us here on the (b)east coast, the most light from our star in one day that we will see all year! This makes me happy. Maybe because I am a Leo, or maybe because I used to be low-key afraid of the dark, I just love the sunshine. So, more sunshine, more better. And finally, the first day of the official summer season. Let's face it, there is just something super sweet about long hot summer days and sultry summer nights. Even though my kids are grown, it still feels exciting to think that school's out, people are taking time off for vacation, and life just feels more relaxed and spacious. We have about 3 months to soak it all in, so let's get busy.....taking it easy. You have a couple of times to practice yoga with me via Zoom this week, and one chance to practice LIVE AND IN PERSON. Click the link for all the details. xo Nicole 6/20/2021 0 Comments Rainy Days It's been raining this week. A lot. If I have heard one person say "Well, we really need the rain," I have heard thirty. And I get it. It was blissfully dry and sunny for a couple of weeks in May. So now, as she does, Nature inevitably brings the rain, the water table will rise, and we will leave drought conditions behind. And I am thankful that she is on that, because if I had my way, the sun would shine exactly 365 days per year and the graceful balance of life would be totally out of whack. And we need it to be IN whack....right? Right.
Please join me for yoga asana this week, while we wait for these June showers to bring all that has been parched and thirsty back into lush and vibrant balance. xo Nicole 6/12/2021 0 Comments Total Eclipse of the.... Welcome to the first full week of June! And with it we have a full Ring of Fire solar eclipse on Thursday the 10th. BOOM. We in the more southern part of North America will not be able to see the magic, but perhaps we will be able to feel it. As I did with the lunar eclipse a couple of weeks ago, I offer a link to a description of the purported esoteric and astrological aspects of solar eclipses. Even if you do not buy in to these esoteric perspectives, we can all agree that there is a thing we call a solar eclipse happening. As with the gravitational influence of the moon on our bodies, we can assume that the interruption of light, as it makes its way to us from Solaris, could have some impact we may be able to feel.
I like these cosmic events because it gives me the sense that we are all in this together. Back in August 2017, when we in the South were able to see the full totality of a solar eclipse, my bestie and I took my kids out to Franklin NC to get in on the action. We pulled into a scenic overlook that was packed with people from all parts of North Carolina and beyond. People spread out blankets and lawn chairs and picnic lunches. We walked around to stretch our legs and made casual conversation with people we would not normally meet and would likely never see again. Then, as the sky began to dim and an eerie pink light spread, sound took on a muffled strangeness, and we all began to quiet and look up at the sky. We watched as the moon slowly moved directly in front of the sun and into totality with awe and wonder. It felt like a sacred moment that was at once mysterious and shared. It was a peak moment of my life, whether or not the astrological predictions made at the time ever came to pass. I invite you, the micro, to take time this week to tune in to the great cosmic dance. The meta. The macro. It is in the moments when I feel my own insignificance in the vastness of the space, that Mercy, ever making its way toward the meekest of souls, activates Grace within my heart, and I find myself beloved. I hope you can get in on that action. xo Nicole 6/6/2021 0 Comments Remember and Honor Hello from Memorial Day weekend. I offer up thanks and honor to our fallen military brothers and sisters. As Jesus said, "There is no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for the sake of his friends." I am taking time to reflect on this level of sacrifice, and rededicate myself daily to act as a servant of the Highest Love in this life. While I regularly fall short of selfless behavior, I do intend that my life be of benefit to my fellow travelers, and the world in general, in some way. I hope that in the midst of enjoying some time off, perhaps spent with family and/or dear friends, we can/will all take some time to think about the deeper meaning of this day.
That all being said, I am teaching this week! Follow the links for times, and to join. xo Nicole 5/30/2021 0 Comments May Alignments... Deep into the month of May, and if your 2021 ride has not been wild enough, you had better strap in! There is a Full Moon on Wednesday and it's both a Supermoon AND a total lunar eclipse. What does it mean, you ask, and why should I care? Let's break it down.
This month's full moon is the closest to the Earth the moon will come all year. When it rises, it will appear HUGE, hence the term "Supermoon." Even if you are not aware of the subtle influence the moon may have on our bodies, just keep in mind that the ocean tides are under its sway, and we are more that 75% water...it's just physics, people. If that isn't enough to pique your curiosity, there is a total lunar eclipse that same day. Now we won't be able to see the eclipse from the (B)east coast, but those in other parts of North America will have a great view. Here is a link to the dates and times of both the full moon and the eclipse. And here is an interesting read on the purported esoteric significance of lunar eclipses.(I am not saying I believe this to be so, but it IS food for thought.) And finally, this particular moon is called the Flower Moon, for obvious reasons, you know, April showers bring May WHAT?! Flowers. So yeah, there it is. In this week's asana practice, we will play with tuning in to the softer and more subtle energies of the moon. Link and times below. xo Nicole 5/23/2021 0 Comments Alone But Not Lonely Would we call it ironic that on the heels of Mother's Day, I find myself home alone, my youngest daughter having moved to her first apartment this weekend? Whatever we call it, it is hitting hard. No matter how many carbs I have noshed, no matter that I spent a lovely weekend on the water dog-sitting for a friend, nor the 90 minute drive to a nearby town to visit at a barbecue joint with a west coast bestie I haven't seen in years, now that I am here and just feeling into the relative silence at my house, I really feel ALONE.
Now ALONE and lonely are not the same, I have oft been careful to point out. As a single woman over 50, I am VERY happy, and spend a lot of time by myself. But until now, there has been a constant sense of myself as a mother, with duties only as far away as the sound of the garage door opening and footsteps clomping up the stairs. But now I am left with just myself and a couple of cats. Even though the feline needs are frfr(that's for real for real for those who are NOT parent to a gen Z or millennial) I feel heart-sore at the absence of those babies, turned toddlers, turned tweens, turned teens, turned young women ready to fledge. And I don't know if I am ready to like it yet. So I will sit and I will feel. I will not push away what I am beginning to recognize as grief mixed with love and pride. And I will practice the yoga of letting go. Join me for asana this week by clicking the link below. xo Nicole |
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