What I harvested between a morning thunderstorm and starting my day’s work. Pesto for dinner was not optional. Along with the basil, I used leaves from the celery and some of the scallion greens, along with garlic from a friend’s garden. Instead of pine nuts, I used a combination of hemp hearts and walnuts, which together give a similar smoothness as pine nuts, but nutritionally richer and much less expensive.
It is good, for those of us who live in the city, to make time to walk in the woods at least every once and a while, as well as to nurture trees in the city.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Over the years, our minds and emotional selves get clogged with junk unless we do something to clear things out and to avoid repeating old negative patterns (in yoga–samskaras).
Our bodies, too, get clogged with junk energies that take us off-balance and ultimately manifest as illness unless we take care to eat well, exercise, sleep regularly, and avoid undue stress.
A home filled with junk has its own samskaras and can prevent us from dissolving and liberating those of mind, body, and spirit.
Do meditate, live a healthy life, and surround yourselves with only that which cultivates a more beautiful and generous life. You will likely be happier for it.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
A neighbor who lives in the top floor of the building across the street, and thus has a spectacular view of the maples in front of my house writes:
“The buds on your tree are more numerous than yesterday, and more visibly that color that Joni Mitchell sang about: “just a little green, like the color when the spring is born...” And we’re getting a good, soaking rain. Happy Spring!”
I have heard the song so many times, I do not need to look it up, except to share both with those for whom it is not part of an intimate map of a long ago period and with those for whom it is and who will have, by just seeing the words (and even more so by listening), some upsurge of memories and a revelation of the miraculous play of consciousness.
As the child of Depression era parents, I was taught to use every bit of the food that we bought. I was an impoverished scholarship student for the first eight years I lived on my own. I also started paying attention to environmental issues early on; in high school, I worked to bring awareness of energy and water consumption and recycling in connection with the earliest Earth Days. Having gotten into the habit of being resourceful and creative with food early on, I never got out of the habit–though many of my law school and better off friends thought I was weird or cheap.
With the recession continuing (and only likely to deepen dreadfully for my lifetime given the tenor of the debt negotiations) and thankfully growing interest in being kinder to our environment, it is becoming fashionable to be more mindful of waste of any kind. Here is a great article on how to savor more of your food and diminish your trash output (which, by the way, also lowers your carbon footprint.)
On a walk before the morning session with Sianna Sherman at Dig Yoga in Lambertsville, NJ. Lovely.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Life will be more rather than less challenging for most for the long haul. Engagement is not optional.
Do you have a ritual or routine that you can rely on to provide a personal pause for gratitude/beauty/center/calm—whichever serves best?
It might include aspects of yoga practice or it might be something else. I had a friend who, at the end of every work day, lay down on the sofa and listened to classical music to restore themself. Perhaps you dance or sing or walk or nap.
I’m spending much time in the garden, including volunteering at bigger ones, and am most at peace these days when fully engaged with the plants.
But the most reliable source of grounding and sweetness for me, whatever might be going on, is meditation. Perhaps that is because I can do it no matter my health or location; it is free, portable, and simple, whether meditating on the breath or with a mantra.