Both Falling and Moving Through

Dear One,

July is slowly turning itself into August.  Summer is in full swing.  Last night I sat under the night sky watching the magic of falling stars. They fall in hot white streaks across the Northeastern sky, culminating in a cosmic display of the Perseids meteor shower in the mid-month.

When my boys were little, I’d wake them in the pre-dawn hours, wrap them in blankets, and make a nest for them on the lawn.  We’d count the falling stars out loud together until slowly their small voices faded into the sound of their sleeping breath and it was only the voice in my head counting each streak of light falling through the inky sky. 

What’s interesting is these stars are not really falling at all, they are moving into the Earth’s atmosphere with such speed that they combust on impact and form a spectacular tail of light and dust that evokes wonder and mystery.  They have been seen as signs from the skies from ancestors and loved ones or heavenly invitations that transport our wildest wishes into potent creativity.  Make a wish, wishing upon a star is all good, but a wish upon a falling star is sure to jettison your desires into accelerated being.  To stand under a falling star is the practice of witnessing the creative process of the Universe.  It’s here, it’s been here for thousands of years, then in a split second, it is seemingly gone.  And yet it is not gone, if time could expand we would see stardust gathered together by gravity creating new life; animals, plants, planets, insects, birds, water, crystals, and stones.  All of it is stardust.  All of everything arose from seemingly nothing into something.  Everything starts first in the unseen and formless and as it moves through the process of creation it becomes denser, developing form, and ultimately becomes something that can be experienced on the physical plane.

Every atom of our DNA is stardust. Every bone that carries our bodies or protects our hearts is made of this stardust and every atom of the oxygen we breathe is stardust.  The forms that we carry have their ancient roots in the stars.

We are an intimate part of the whole universe. We are, in this very moment, the Universe taking form. 

The fall, the givingness, the burst of light gives rise to everything.  It’s the ultimate in up-cycling, creating and expanding without limitation.  What looks like our body is really 14 billion years of wonder and awe in the making.   

So here we find ourselves in this cosmic soup, within what scientists call the Entanglement Phenomenon.  Entanglement declares that we are forever connected to everything; to each other, to nature, and to the Universe itself.  There cannot be, by our nature, separation.

We are one song.  We are the uni verse.  In a world, especially right now, where we are living under the spell of this and that, me and you, us and them, and seemingly at odds or seeing a world of opposites at every turn it’s important to remember the power of our personal practices. In times when there is an appearance of separation practices that remind us of who we are can recenter us.  They call us back to our common denominator.   Practices such as meditation, breathwork, affirmation, and prayer create unity with Source.  Source,  or whatever your name for this might be according to your beliefs, is the common originating energy and substance from which everything is created and what everything has its being in. Spending time in the Presence of life which is the primordial substance of all there is returns us again and again to our roots in oneness where opposition has no power. 

Practice authentic Unity.  If it is challenging, and it might be in the months to come, commit time to connect with your divine roots and sit in the Presence.  Withdraw your senses (pratyahara) and steep yourself in the true nature of your being.  

Spiritual Practice and Reflection

Brahmari Pranayama - Black Bee Breath.  Sit quietly and close your eyes.  Gently cover the ears with your thumbs.  Cover the eyelids with the index fingers. Place the middle finger outside of the nostrils. Frame the mouth with the ring fingers on the upper lip and the smallest fingers on the lower lips.  This mudra closes the gates of the body and turns down the input of external senses, it is a practice of pratyahara, or withdrawal from the outer world.  Inhale deeply and exhale through the nose in a humming sound.  Allow the vibration to be felt in the high heart, the sinuses, and the eustachian tubes, enlivening the body and mind.  Practice 10 deep slow breaths.  This pranayama is great for clearing the upper chakras; restoring clarity, supporting clear communication, increasing the ability to listen, and cultivating discernment.

Two Become One - After Brahmari Pranayama take a moment to reflect and feel the right side of the body.  Just notice how the right side of the body feels. Notice any sensations.  Now shift your awareness to the left side of the body, notice how it feels, and notice any sensations.  Let everything that needs to come up for you arise naturally.  Gently bring the hands together in Anjali Mudra, palms touching, and thumbs at the root of the heart.  Notice the left palm, then the right palm, notice the pressure of the touch, and the temperature of the touch. Become aware of the pads of the fingers touching and the palms pressing together, allowing the right and left palms to become one.  Notice the center point of the body, the heart center.  Have a felt sense that the heart is the origin of the hands, like the root of a tree with two branches, the arms, extending further to the hands and the fingers.  The two branches are not opposites, they are one.

Holding Opposites Exercise 

Bring to mind a challenge for you that involves opposites.  It could be a strong belief that you have that opposes another’s.  It could be a habit that keeps you from expressing your intentions.  Or perhaps it could be opposites such as then and now through the lens of comparison.  Quiet your mind, close your eyes and hold your opposites in each hand.  You can give your opposites a shape, a weight, or a color, that allows them to rest (imaginatively) in each hand.  Notice the opposites, notice how they feel in your hands.  Notice how you feel holding them as oppositional objects.

What is coming up for you?  Observe what feelings and emotions arise when you take your awareness back and forth between the opposites.

In your mental awareness switch your opposing idea to the other hand and vice versa.  Just notice how it feels in your body to move an opposing idea to another side of the body.

Hold both opposites in the right hand, notice how it feels to hold them together in the right hand.  Then mentally shift them to the left hand, and notice how it feels to hold them both in the left hand.

Now extend your palms in front of you and place the opposites in your extended palms, bringing your palms together in Anjali Mudra.  Repeat the process of the two becoming one.  Notice the origin of both is the root of the heart.  Be gentle.  Just notice, don’t ‘try’ just let it be as you focus on the root of the heart.  When you are ready release the Mudra and open your eyes.

Take a moment to reflect and journal in a stream of consciousness on the statement, “The two are always one.”

Om & Blessings! Kate