March finds

A few of my favorite finds in the month of March:

Top favorite: Mornings in Jenin, which I listened to as an audiobook.  This story holds so much - tragedy and hope, how war and trauma affect generations to come, and a more-than-compelling story of one of the most captivating conflicts in recent history.

Favorite video: As I again read Women Who Run With the Wolves with 2 friends, this wonderful video about How Wolves Change Rivers provides the perfect illustration of the need for the life/death/life cycle.

Favorite article: The beauty of simplifying childhood and why it is important

Favorite recipe: A simple and quick tilapia recipe.

Favorite song: I started listening to classical music when Leo came around, and I've been taken by The Planets, Op. 32: IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.

Favorite quote:

“We don’t think ourselves into a new way of living; we live ourselves into a new way of thinking.”

— Richard Rohr

P.S. Do yourself a favor and sign up for daily meditation emails from the Center for Action and Contemplation.  Even in busy seasons, I can't fail to read these gems, which always bring me back to my Self and the bigger picture.

Favorite comedic relief: Leo, who gets goofier every day

Favorite new word: emolument - a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office.  From Arabian Nights.

Favorite product: This carved mahagony serving tray, bought on my trip to Lamu, Kenya.

An Easter ritual

Friday, the day of dying:
We reflected on the fears, old habits, and limiting beliefs that are affecting us, preventing us from the realization of our Selves.  What do we want to die to?  What within us must die? We wrote it down.

Saturday, the day in the tomb:
We walked into the forest, symbolizing going inward to the dark places, the tomb where transformation takes place.  While walking, we spoke of these fears, old habits, and limiting beliefs we wanted to release.  We stopped near a large tree and burned the papers inscribed with our most personal struggles.  We buried the ashes and, there, made a mandala from small items the forest offered.  This simple circle represented the cycle of life and death, the impermanence of all, including our fears, and the transformation of death to life.

Sunday, the day of new life:
We worked on our vision boards, knowing that the women we want to become might better be expressed in images than in words.  The life we want to manifest begins by envisioning it.  These images, we hope, will fill the spaces left by those things we burned and buried.  New life comes after death.

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Motherland

My body
Your first home,
first nation
first residence.

My breasts
Your first dinner table.
Your first bed and pillow
with my arms, your first blankets.

My body
Your first jungle gym,
roller coaster,
mountain to climb.

My face
Your first love,
first toy,
first discovery you ever explored.

My body
Your first mode of transport.
Your very first safety net.

I was your beginning.
The notch in your belly
demands you never forget
your Motherland.

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Lamu town, the Swahili stunner - round 2

It was wonderful to return to Lamu island for the Lamu Yoga Festival and while I loved spending days doing yoga in the village of Shella, I was also looking forward to visiting Old Lamu town once again.  I had visited this unique Swahili town with Eric back in 2010 and I told everyone it was one of my favorite places I had ever traveled.  I was anxious to return.  Would it still hold the charm it held for me while I fell in love skipping around East Africa?

It did.

Lamu town still bustles with life, beauty, and culture.  As I turned the corners of the small streets, memories of that first trip kept coming back to me.  This time, however, we only spent a quick day in town, which meant we acted and were treated much more like tourists.  I even ran across Happy Flower, the captain of the dhow boat that took Eric and I for a sail during our last trip.

Even still, after my second visit, I wish to come back.  And with the reasonably priced tickets from Nairobi, it's more than possible. 

Yoga, Swahili style

Last week Leo and I traveled with 2 friends to Lamu island, just off the coast of northern Kenya, for the best and only yoga festival I have ever attended.  The festival was held in the village of Shella, where the roads are made of sand and donkeys are the main method of transport.  In Shella, we could walk from one side of the village to the other in 10 minutes, going from one yoga class to the next.  We tried new styles of yoga and learned from different teachers, strengthened our practices and awakened our inner yogis.

Here are some photos of our days in Shella village and practicing yoga in this lovely, unique paradise.