by KateVogt | Apr 5, 2023 | Nature, Spiritual - Inspiration
Spring overall. But inside us
there ’s another unity.
Behind each eye here,
one glowing weather.
Every forest branch moves differently
in the breeze, but as they sway
they connect at the roots.
Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks
The front walk is covered with leaves and branches from the surrounding trees. This is a common occurrence in the fall when the ground receives layers of new nutrients from the trees. The earth is cushioned with colorful foliage and padded for the winter chill.
Yet, winter has come and gone. The hills are covered in crisp green tones, frilly cups of daffodils are sprinkled throughout the neighborhood. The soundscape seems suddenly filled with birdsong throughout the day. Deer have reappeared outside our back-window, dining on the new sprouts of ivy.
This year it seems the trees have had a spring-cleaning. Over the past few weeks, gusty winds and stretches of rain have swept through their limbs again and again. With each storm, the skyward broom passes through the branches, finding even more lichen-covered twigs and leaves that have waned in chlorophyll. Seemingly with each stormy sweep, the trees have yielded more and more hidden excesses. And, slowly, the sunlight freely finds its way into the wider open spaces between the canopy.
As I go to sweep and gather up the remains along the walkway, I notice my broom has disappeared. I had forgotten that someone had borrowed it a few days earlier. While I could use a rake or another garden tool to move the leaves to the public composting, I chose to leave them. The broom would reemerge and I could sweep another day.
In the meantime, the trees are reminding me to allow life’s storms – e.g., small and large losses, disappointments, slights or hurts – to interrupt my habitual patterns enough to shake loose the unneeded excesses in the branches of my mind. The wise and lasting words of sages, prophets and saints speak of the poisons of greed and hoarding, whether material or social-psychological. While I find unsettling a disruption in the familiar, I am inspired by how the trees reveal that the season of letting go and shedding is boundless.
I, too, can consistently let go and recalibrate. One of the most recent gifts was an insight. It arose simply out of observing this uncharacteristically weather turbulence. The shift in perspective was subtle, but one that immediately flooded me with appreciation for the most ordinary.
There are actually no words to fully share and specificity the change in inner perspective, but, in short, I truly feel that the richness of the world sparkles within every morsel of life. And, even more intensely within the voices of those other two-legged beings who live around the planet. My gift was being with my siblings and their families this past week where I could truly experience the potent wealth of just being alive. I offer gratitude to the great, unseen broom.
Practice
This practice brings awareness of letting go.
Prepare—
- Find a comfortable seated position. If you are seated on a bench or chair, please place the soles of your feet on the floor. However you are seated, please take a moment to acknowledge the enduring support beneath you. The earth is always there supporting all life.
- With your palms upward and fingers relaxed, softly bend your elbows and hold your hands in front of you (mid-chest height). Invite softness in your forearms and forearms. Invite a sense of letting go of your unneeded tensions and excessive attachments. Quietly breathing, stay here for a few moments, softening and releasing.
Practice—
- Place each palm on the opposite shoulder. Slightly bow your head. If comfortable, softly close your eyes. Imagine everything unneeded or that causes internal or external harm is being received by the earth – your forms of speech, ways of interacting, or thoughts. Pause for a few moments and breathe quietly.
- Open your eyes, if they were closed, and lift your head to level. And, once again, open your palms in front of you. Imagine you are receiving the grace of natural abundance from that which upholds all life. Pause here for a few moments, quietly breathing.
- Return your palms to your shoulders and allow your head to bow. If you have a particular faith or belief, invite their presence. If not, invite awareness of being embraced by boundless, loving support. Breathe here, surrounded, enfolded and nourished by unseen grace.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- After a few moments, bring your head back to center. Allow your palms to rest wherever they are comfortable.
- Sit for as long as you are comfortable, peaceful and refreshed.
- When you are ready, return to your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems, page 85, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2023.
by KateVogt | Mar 21, 2023 | Nature, Spiritual - Inspiration
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks
I have long been taken by the endless generosity of trees. They are more than human to me, and hence I refer to them with human sounding pronouns, such as she or her instead of it. As a child, I relied on the elm tree in our front yard for understanding and insight into life. Some of my deepest and most foundation lessons came from the elm, especially to never forget humans are latecomers to the larger earthly family.
Now, whenever I travel, my first guide to any terrestrial region on the planet usually is a tree. Exceptions are high altitudes or other non-treed areas. The tree may not be native to the area, but is quite literally a very grounded local inhabitant. Almost as a center of a compass, a tree has a full view of the surrounding terrain and has been a quiet observer of the passing of generations of occupants. The tree’s steady presence feels like an invitation to slow down and see the broader view. While I might just be a visitor passing through, I, too, belong with her and others into this part of the worldly epic.
Most recently, I spent about one third of my waking hours with a frangipani tree. She lived outside the home where I was staying with my dear friend (aka husband) Jay for a half a moon cycle – it was near full moon when we arrived, and shortly after half-moon when we left. During that I time, I began to remember childhood lessons from the elm tree; for example, I observed the grace and fluidity with which the tree danced with the wind, received nourishment, welcomed any insect, bird or mammal and unhurriedly grew new growth.
Within the constant change, the tree was still fully herself. She was there at sunrise and sunset. If I happened to arise in the middle of the night, she quietly reflected the light of the moon and stars. Morning and evening birdsong arose within and around her, yet her quietness remained. Leaves and blossoms slowly came and went, and she gracefully reached outward and upward.
Like a prayer for the well-being of the earth and all beings, she graced the air with her elegant fragrance. Her scent seemed to glide between worldly and extra-worldly realms. I could imagine why some cultures attribute her blossoms as sacred, while others consider them as symbols of death or the supernatural. When coupled with their physical beauty, the smell of the blossoms seemed to evoke a full universe of feelings and memories.
Not surprisingly, when I checked with friends later about the meanings of the frangipani flowers, I heard: hope, passion, intensity, courage, strength, romance, friendship, good fortune, devotion, godliness, nobility, power, purity, death and rebirth, innocence, clarity, healing, beauty, energy, strength, being welcomed, fertility, transcendence, optimism, play, warmth, immortality, and joy. So much lovingly flowing from just one tree!
I hope you also view trees as more than inanimate supports of our human activities – breathing, cooling off in their shade, taking photos, eating, sitting (furniture), building, reading (paper books and media) and playing music (wooden instruments). If anything, my wish is that trees inspire the “humus” (soil, dirt, earth) in humanity to patiently live within the ancient presence of other beings.
Practice
This practice brings awareness of our interconnectedness with other humans and species.
Prepare—
- Choose a day when you have some extra time in the morning. On the night before, just as you are ready to go to sleep:
- Simply remember a moment in your day when you were aware that you were interacting with one of the elements, e.g., air, or the life of another species. (There are no further instructions here, but follow your own intuition, e.g., ask yourself, how did that interaction enrich or support your life?) If nothing comes to mind, don’t worry. Just invite awareness that throughout the day, your existence has been supported in all sorts of invisible ways.
Practice—
- When you awaken from your sleep and still in bed, notice what you first notice. No judgment, just noticing. Take your time.
- Then, before you arise, bring your awareness to the bedding on your bed. For just a few moments, reflect on your bedding. For example: How does it feel on your skin? Soft? Scratchy? How do you feel, taking the time to notice an everyday item?
- If you feel so inclined just for this single morning of practice, you may wish to extend this to a more analytical inquiry.
- For example, you might reflect on: Where was the fabric made? How did it get to the factory or place where the bedding was made? Who transported it? Who made the bedding? What elements support their lives, e.g., water?
- You don’t need to spend a lot of time on this, nor try to find answers to the reflections. This is simply a way to help reawaken our awareness of and respect for the anonymous, intricate, and delicate web of our existence – human and non-human.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- Arise. If you have time, sit quietly for a few moments.
- When you are ready, move into your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems, page 74, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. The practice is an excerpt from Our Inherited Wisdom: 54 Inspirations from Nature and Poetry, pages 141-143. Photo is by “shelter” on Unsplash. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2023.
by KateVogt | Mar 7, 2023 | Nature, Spiritual - Inspiration
You’re in my eyes.
How else could I see light?
You’re in my brain.
This wild joy.
If Love did not live in matter,
how would any place
have any hold on anyone?
Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks
It is nearing springtime here in the Northern Hemisphere. Rainbows and migratory robins seem to magically re-appear. They arc their way across the sky to the earth. And, from the earth back across the sky.
They are an odd couple – the rainbows and robins. Yet, sightings of them become more common as this side of the planet begins to tilt toward the sun. The light seems to shed the wintery cloak of greyness and reveal the brilliant diversity of color, shapes and forms. With their red crests, rainbows and robins boldly boast the beauty and fertile vibrancy that had been enshrouded in the darker season.
In a way, this springtime pair is a harbinger of the potency of light. There is not only the power of the sun to nourish or destroy earthly existence, but that of the indescribable, boundless resplendence of everlasting light. In springtime, the pair comes together as poetic messengers of light, both formed and formless.
Within their momentary presence, rainbows and robins are offerings of timeless wisdom. Life is neither past nor future. It is simultaneously both. Through song and hue, they are joyous expressions of the ephemeral and eternal nature of existence. Thus, it is no wonder that humans of different traditions, religions and cultures have viewed rainbows and robins as the grace of eternal peace, truth and love.
They are considered reminders that timeless wisdom is always nearby. I view this as a prompt to remember that the planet and other living beings have long been loving and generous inspirational companions to prophets, sages, saints and other enlightened beings. This sparks within me a sense of humble gratitude and praise toward rainbows and robins. I hope you will discover uplifting insights from nature wherever you are on the planet.
(Please note: This reflection refers to migratory songbirds of North America with the common name of robins. They are of the thrush family. Their song, appearance and flight patterns are different from the European robin of the Old World flycatcher family.)
Practice
This practice supports awareness.
Prepare—
- Set aside any potential distractions. For example, remove digital watches, and set your phone to airplane mode.
- Find a comfortable seated position. If you are on a bench or a chair, rest the soles of your feet on the floor. Rest your hands in any position that is comfortable for you.
- Regardless of where you are seated, notice, relax into the support beneath you. Imagine you are lovingly supported by the earth. Pause for a moment, truly feeling this support.
- Invite your spine to softly rise upward. Imagine you are being gently and lovingly embraced by the space around and above you. Pause again, appreciating the space and air supporting you.
- Soften across your neck, shoulders, jaw and your facial muscles.
Practice—
- With a soft gaze, slowly look around wherever you are. Try to do this without labeling or naming, and just allowing the various shapes and colors to register through your eyes. Take your time. Whenever you feel ready, return your gaze forward. You may wish to close your eyes for a moment.
- As your sit quietly, notice any sounds – near or far. Again, take your time. When you are ready, please continue.
- Gently rub your palms together until you feel some warmth in your fingers. As you do this, continue your awareness of being supported by the earth beneath you and the air and space around you.
- (Read through the next step before practicing it.)
- Raise your palms upward in front of your face. Close your eyelids. Then, lightly rest one or two of your fingers of each hand on your eyelids, i.e., fingers of your left hands on your left eyelid, and fingers of your right on your left eyelid. With your fingers in place and closing off visual inputs, close off sounds. Do this, by stretching your thumbs and gently pressing your thumb tips over your ear flaps (tragus). Breathe here for six, easy slow breaths through your nostrils.
- After your sixth breath, slowly look around once again, taking your time. When you are ready, pause and then again notice sounds near and far.
- If you feel so inclined, smile.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- With soft, gentle inhalation and exhalation, sit quietly for as long as is comfortable. Invite continued awareness of the seamless support within the ever-changing visual and auditory diversity.
- When you are ready, return to your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems, page 48, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2023.
SPRINGTIME 2023 CLASS WITH KATE
Pathways to Peace: Truthfulness, Non-Stealing, Compassion and Other Universal Principles
5 Thursdays, March 30 to May 4 (with no class on April 6), 3:10-4:30 p.m. PT via Zoom.
Offered through with the College of Marin Community Education.
Click here for more information and to register,
by KateVogt | Feb 5, 2023 | Nature, Spiritual - Inspiration
Mountains are steadfast but the mountain streams
go by, go by,
and yesterdays are like the rushing streams,
they fly, they fly,
and the great heroes, famous for a day,
they die, they die.
Hwang Chin-i
Translated by Peter H. Lee
A new month has waltzed in, causing me to turn the page of my old-fashioned paper calendar. The holidays of the month hold promises of remembrance of love and spiritual sacrifice as well celebrations of the praised and unsung heroes. To the right of my calendar is my sketchbook, which holds a different form of promise – one of remembrance of the everyday beauty and grace in the natural world.
I am shy about sharing my sketches. They are a sort of personal diary of my attempts to register the feelings of communing with another living being – a tree, a flower. To an outsider, the image may or may not be recognizable, but for me, the blank space punctuated with a random set of lines is like a record of celebration of my heart.
One such sketch was of a hibiscus flower. The drawing itself barely looks like a flower, but I still feel a rush of having been immersed in the presence of pure, delicate sweetness. This was a complete sweetness of spirit – free of any traces of malice, greed, or prideful-ness. That sweetness felt powerful, almost like a condensed essence of the timeless potentiality of all life. There was an inner stirring within me of the feeling of the grace of true beauty – ever-present, independent of form.
In being in the presence of the hibiscus flower, I felt like I had tuned into the real news channel. The “breaking news” alerts were messages for my soul and reminders of the fleeting nature of existence. Within one breath, there is an entire universe, reaching across all time and boundaries. Similarly, within a blink of an eye, there is all time: waking, sleeping, and dreaming; and, sunrise, high noon, and sunset.
As I journey through this month, I will remember the message of the hibiscus – that each moment blooms and then fades. In the blooming, there is a wholeness and completeness. There is a grounded-ness in what is, rooted in the present. There might be insects or hummingbirds that come to rest on the petals, or other potential disturbances, but the blossom blooms fully. I hope you will join me in being more attentive to thoughts, words, and gestures in each moment.
Practice
This practice supports awareness of the loving support in the world around us.
Prepare—
- Set your phone on airplane mode.
- Interlace your fingers, stretch your fingers out in front of you, and reverse your palms. Invite two to three full breaths into your lungs.
- Let your hands relax into your lap and notice their natural weight on your thighs.
Practice—
- With your hands resting in your lap, recall being in a place, or situation, where you felt completely safe, trusting, supported, calm, joyful, and maybe even in the presence of unimaginable magnificence.
- If you have difficulty doing this, slowly look around at your surroundings and find something from the natural world that you find beautiful—a flower, a plant, a wooden floor, a cotton fabric. (Ideally, the choice is not an image of another human.)
- Invite this memory (of being totally safe, trusting, supported, in awe, and/or being loved) to seep into your awareness. Imagine this sweet memory is spreading throughout your entire being.
- You may wish to imagine that with each inhale, this sense is slowly expanding outward from deep within your heart center. Like rays of the sun, it radiates out in all directions. And, with each exhale, you can savor the sweetness as it nourishes each cell of your body. Take your time with this. You may feel or notice resistance. If you do, try to gently coax your awareness toward this subtler, more peaceful memory.
- Once you feel the sweetness having gently filled your entire being, sit quietly.
- Imagine: awakening into this feeling; moving through your day; eating your meals; talking and interacting with others; and then, falling asleep, still with this feeling.
- Know that this sweet, gentle part of you is always there.
- Throughout the practice, invite the facial, neck and shoulder muscles to release tension. Invite a soft gaze into your eyes. Your breath is easy and relaxed.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- Invite this feeling to settle into the tips of each of your fingers.
- Take your time before returning to your day. Instead, consider sealing in this practice within the environment around you through touching your surroundings. (If you are in a public place, you can imagine touching your surroundings.)
- When you are ready, return to your day.
This poem appears in Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems, page 60, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. The practice is an excerpt from Our Inherited Wisdom: 54 Inspirations from Poetry and Nature, pages 329-330, authored by Kate Vogt. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2023.
by KateVogt | Dec 23, 2022 | Nature, Spiritual - Inspiration
With Thy look of love
Thou didst
Leave in me
grace and beauty.
St. John of the Cross
Translated by Edgar Allison Peers
I love rising early. The late-night noises and movements have faded. And, before life stirrings begin anew, there is a sense of an all-pervading calm. It feels like a prayerful pause when, if even momentarily, the quietude is all there is.
Within that moment of complete peacefulness, I both lose and gain a sense of beingness. Like the nighttime noises, all the normal sensations of age, health, gender, accomplishments, race, or even species are absent. Hankerings born of yesterday and expectations for tomorrow have disappeared. Instead, there is a calm expanse that feels infinitely abundant in pure grace and love.
As if an expression of the tranquility, bird sounds begin to fill the air. Rather than ending the calmness, their voices seem to amplify it with effusive, melodic beauty. Their song gives way to the first rays of morning light, which in turn magnifies the awareness of a peaceful, loving presence.
The calm of the early morning is true benevolence. Saints, prophets, sages and indigenous people are intimately connected with its abiding presence. it is generally less perceptible for the everyday person. But, luckily the natural graciousness of early morning gently and lovingly envelopes the earth and all beings – human and non-human, animate and seemingly inanimate.
Such endless benevolence is free of selfishness, judgment, or duty. It is not transactional or laden with an anticipation of reciprocity. Rather than being a single act, it is universal and freely supportive of all. It melts boundaries between the outer and inner and erases the illusion of separateness. Even when ignored or overlooked, it is untouched by sorrow or dismay. Instead, it peacefully and lovingly remains a source of courage to boldly arise into a new day.
Practice
This practice supports awareness of the benevolence of peacefulness
Prepare—
- Find a quiet place where you can be free of human-made sensory inputs for the next ten minutes or so. Silence the digital device you are using to read through this practice. Remove any other devices other than the one you are using, including smart watches, computers, earphones, stereo speakers.
- Standing, gently pat one foot on the ground beneath you. Then, the other foot. As you do this, invite an awareness of the earth, offering you safety and solid support in this moment.
- If you are feeling a bit dull or agitated, take a few moments to shake out your limbs. Shake one at a time, i.e., right arm then left arm, right leg then left leg. If it feels comfortable, fluidly move in any way you feel inspired, e.g., dance to imaginary music.
Practice—
- Find a comfortable seated position. If you are on a bench or a chair, allow the soles of your feet to rest on the ground beneath you. Wherever you are, invite a remembrance of the earth solidly supporting you in this moment.
- Slowly, reach your arms to the sides, palms upward with fingers relaxed. Slowly, roll your upper arms back until you have the sense your upper chest and face rise slightly upward toward the sky. Allow a gentle inhalation, and perhaps a feeling of a soft opening across your facial muscles, throat, and heart center. Invite an awareness of the sky and how it lovingly and peacefully holds all life near and beyond.
- Even if temporarily, imagine the heavens are filling your hands, eyes, cheeks, mouth, throat, and heart center with infinite peacefulness. Pause, allowing yourself to be bathed in infinite grace of quietude.
- Then, slowly bend your elbows and place your hands on the top of your head. Invite your temples and crown of your head to relax. Imagine the entire inner space of your skull – top, back, sides, and front – is filled with the grace of peaceful contentment, even if temporarily.
- Stay here as long as it feels comfortable for you supported by your natural breath. Give yourself permission to go at your own pace free of a sense of judgment, competition, comparison, or rushing – remembering the earth is supporting you and infinite benevolence is enfolding you. Continue with this sense of acceptance and kindness toward yourself.
- Allow your palms to rest on your thighs. Imagine your legs and feet releasing into the earthly support, and are infused with peacefulness.
- Then, allow your palms to rest on your belly. Imagine the entire inner space of your belly – back, sides, and front – is filled with the grace of peaceful contentment, even if temporarily.
- Allow your palms to rest on your heart center in any way that is comfortable – e.g., one hand one top of the other, palms together. Imagine the entire inner space of your shoulders and upper chest – top, back, sides, and front – are filled with the grace of peaceful contentment, even if temporarily.
- With your hands still over your heart center, allow this feeling to seep deeply into the core of your being. Bow your head slightly and again invite a release of any tension in your eyes and face. Stay as long as you are comfortable.
- If you have a particular faith, you might wish to bring in a feeling of deep surrender into the grace of the ever-present peacefulness.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- Slowly lift your chin to a neutral level. If you had your eyes closed, slowly open them. Taking your time, look around the area where you are – perhaps noticing the spaciousness between the objects and overhead.
- Sit quietly for a few moments.
- When you are ready, transition back into your day.
This poem appears in Mala of Love: 108 Luminous Poems, page 51, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. Photo by Sebastian Scheuer on Unsplash. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2022.
Please consider further poetic inspiration from my books:
Our Inherited Wisdom: 54 Inspirations from Nature and Poetry
Mala of Love: 108 Luminous Poems
Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems
by KateVogt | Nov 23, 2022 | Nature, Spiritual - Inspiration
What
Is the
Root of all these
Words?
One thing: love.
But a love so deep and sweet
It needed to express itself
With scents, sounds, colors
That never before Existed.
Hafiz
Trans. by Daniel Landinsky
The morning sky has been grey and misty this past week. People scurry along the sidewalks with their chins tucked into the fronts of their jackets. In the coffee shop, the conversations are about the gloomy weather, with wishes that it would get a little brighter.
Instead of feeling dreary, I feel joyful within the grey. It is as though the earth has merged into the vast sky. Or, that the sky has come to visit the earth, to show us that it is always there, holding and flowing through us. The grey-ness softens edges and boundaries. It gives everything a quality of being infinite.
When the grey gives way to a clearer sky, the world begins to sparkle in its different colors and shapes. Birds sing, and the steps of people on the street seem to lighten. Surprisingly, some even pause and look up at the sky in a way that appears they are seeing it for the first time.
The grey invites us to realize anew the beauty of the world. Being enveloped in grey along with our surroundings can feel like a tender caress. It can stir a sense of a sweet, loving Presence that is more immense than any other love we have known. This love is love itself, luminous; omniscient; virtuous; and everlasting.
Prophets, sages and great poets like Hafiz remind us that our world is an expression of a love that never ends. As an integral part of the world, we too, in our heart of hearts, are love. We forget this and go looking for the love that we already are. There is still our pain and discomfort, but beneath it all is the love that sustains.
Sacred poetry and misty mornings are outer reminders that we are living expressions of love. A complete shift into this knowingness takes long-term, continuous practice of daily meditation and/or prayer. Yet, little things also help. This inspires me to feel a little lighter and more hopeful every time I say, hear, write, or see the word “love.”
Practice
This practice supports awareness of love from the inside out.
Prepare—
- Hug yourself. Shift so that your other arm is on top, and re-hug yourself.
- Gently squeeze each arm, one arm at a time, using the opposite hand. Begin at your shoulder, then move down to your elbow and then your wrist and hand.
- Pretend to wash your face with your fingertips.
- For example, gently brush your fingertips up from the eyebrows to the hairline, and then down across the temples and cheeks.
Practice—
- Find a comfortable seated position, either on a chair or on the floor.
- Allow your spine to be in a neutral, upright position and your breath to be free and unhindered.
- Rest the back of one hand, i.e., palm upward, in the center of your lap.
- Then, as though holding hands with yourself, rest the other palm in the palm in your lap (i.e., the palm is upward on your lower palm; and downward on the upper. The palms are at a 90-degree angle).
- Imagine that your lower palm is the hand of your most loving friend.
- Relax the muscles in that arm. Let that relaxation stem from your heart-center, shoulder blades, shoulder, entire arm, and fingers.
- Let the other hand relax and receive the loving support.
- Allow your eyes to gently close, or find a soft gaze. Relax the muscles across your face. Allow your breath to be soft and smooth.
- Stay for as long as comfortable, preferably at least three minutes on each side.
Transition Back into Your Day—
- Place the backs of both hands on your thighs. Invite a few full, gentle inhalations and exhalations. Allow for a slight pause between your inhales and exhales.
- Sit quietly for a few moments.
- Give yourself a hug and sincerely say to yourself, “I love you.”
- When you are ready, transition back into your day.
This HEARTH is an excerpt from Our Inherited Wisdom: 54 Inspirations from Nature and Poetry, by Kate Vogt, pages 315-318, available through Bookshop, or order through your local independent bookstore. HEARTH is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2022.
