Love Has No Boundaries

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens

As the calendar year comes to a close, I sit and watch the snowfall from my kitchen window, patterning the branches of the trees and dusting the oak leaves still scattered about. My house is warm, my pantry is full, and I have many kind and caring people around me.

I can feel the swell of gratitude for so much, and know how fortunate I am to be able to call that up in these challenging times. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, gratitude nourishes and balances the Kidney and Urinary Bladder Meridians, and those of you who come to classes know how important it is to keep these Iines of energy flowing and open. Sometimes fear or overwhelm slips in as I contemplate the world, depleting the energy in my lower belly and creeping up my spine. I remind myself to breathe, to trust, to stay in the present moment.

At the same time, my lungs hurt with the sense of loss and grief that pervades me. With millions of people sick and suffering, so many homeless, so many fearful of how they will feed their children in a world that gives a few so much to hoard, there is an overwhelming sadness that arises. A deep despair at the state of the world. We have to let ourselves feel this grief, to feel how it sits in our minds and bodies. This is the reality of our felt experience. We can’t heal and transform before we sit in the fullness of our failure to create a more just, healthy and humane world. It is from here that we rebuild. Every one of us. Not just a chosen few.

We nourish our lungs with our breath. Mindfully, slowly, breathing in and out with awareness. As my teacher Thich Nhat Hahn said, “Breathing in I calm my body, breathing out I smile”.

Sitting quietly, I feel the earth groaning. It feels that this is no coincidence. The trees and plants, the lungs of the earth, are aching just as our lungs might. The rise of a pandemic that attacks our lungs seems to be no accident. Despite what one believes about its origin, the lungs of the world are overwhelmed with devastation, pollution, and mindless action in the name of power, greed and control. To move forward and heal, it’s time to examine our deepest held beliefs, some of them still in our unconscious minds, individual and collective. Each of us can do this. We can look a little more deeply. We can re-set. We can choose even just one thing to open our hearts and minds a little more. We can be more kind. We can be more generous. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Victor Frankl

As a wise friend, Atman Smith of the Holistic Life Foundation, says, “Breathe into your heart and know that love has no boundaries”. Love can allay our fears, connect us to ourselves, connect us to others and to the earth beneath our feet. Love transcends time and space. This is no time for ‘othering’, or for placing blame.

In this moment, we can take a few minutes to breathe deeply. We can pause and feel into our hearts, and we can find one warm flame, no matter how small, to ignite our small corner of the world with love and gratitude.

Join me tonight for “Stress Less for the Holiday Season” at 7:30 pm on Zoom. We’ll share in some guided practices to minimize holiday stress and promote a sense of well-being. You can register for free at dalepearsonyoga.com under Classes, and a direct Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Other courses coming up in January - Yin Yoga, Chair and Qi, and Learning Mindfulness Meditation, scheduled under Courses on the website.

Wishing a safe and happy holiday season for all.