Meet Me In Between

My brain and body have finally
Caught up to my soul
Which has loved you
I suspect always
And has even caused the symptoms
Of love
Which I did not see
Until my brain was ready

I already know that I love you
With all of me
So slowly
Show me
All of the causes
For my love
And manifestations
Of that soul
I so love
As it trickles through the facets of your mind and form

Quiet still nights
With the echoes of trains
Let the others sleep
Let them have their normality
As we cannot settle for that

And I will meet you in the center
Of everything
As you are of the night
And I of the day
We are just the same,
And of complimentary
Corresponding colors,
The same and yet not at all
Yet brighter
Together
Than ever
Alone

Somehow I breathe easier
Stand taller
Dance lighter of foot
Smile brighter
Love deeper
Sing truer
I am simply more alive
Because of you

And we will meet in the center
Of ourselves and all opposites

I was whole without you
I found boundless joy and was alive all alone
Just the sky and I
But the sky couldn't hold me
The trees couldn't speak
And your mind is as fascinating as the stars
And as ancient

So let me unfold you
Slowly
And see me
As soul
Dancing in the kitchen
Soul upholding
Physical form
Your chef
And sweet goddess

And let me see you
And how you work
In the world of form
Let me know this soul
I already love so

And I will give you all of me
When I meet you in the center
The Inbetween
The balance of all opposites,
Dawn and dusk
Equinoxes
After all,
You are a libra
And I am the flowing, never-ending waters
Of love and enraptured synchronicity

And I love you
Boundlessly
From far beyond just me
Meet me
Sweet love
In between.

Alone; And Not Alone

Alone; And Not Alone

by Laura Harrison

There was an inherent belief I carried with me,
that chipped away at my sanctity,
I don't understand with all the time alone I've spent,
in strength, and adventure, delight and creativity,
where or when or how it crept in again.


Its as if feeling my own beauty isn't enough if there isn't a man to appreciate it
but I don't feel that way
why did I let my mind drift that way?
Why worry about who or where or when
when I have all of this in each moment?

I have delight, and true happiness,
I have the strength of my two legs connected to the Mother Earth,
I have a son that is the sun and full of everything lovable and joyful
I have creativity, playfulness, poetry,
I have nature,
I have the wisdom and I feel that the Beloved is inside everything.

And while I welcome the day that the Beloved in the form of the partner finds his way to me,
I am no less, and I am in no hurry,
because I love what each day is bringing me,
and it is a sacrilege and ingratitude to look past the light of here and now
with dissatisfaction towards what I think should be here.

I realize the strength of independence comes from the knowledge of connection
and quietly and inconsciously it was the Feeling of The Beloved, loving me,
through me, through the air, through the trees,
through the faces and hearts of everyone I meet,
and it is he that is rocking me to sleep.
The Divine Consciousness that is the fabric of all that is,
feels like light, like the sun shinng through me with love

It is enough to be in love with myself, with my life, with Life Itself,
with the world, all living beings and the Earth,
and when the Beloved in the form of one man finds his way,
that will only add to the beauty of my days,
but I will not compromise nor pretend, for that is to lie,
and I will not pander or beg, though I am not above anyone else in worth,
I have self- respect and I have trust in the unfolding,
that Real Love does not have to be begged, borrowed or feigned.

There is no forever, but there is a conscious choice in each day,
and when the Beloved comes to love me in form of a man,
he must be my equal in all ways, and the Love completely mutual,
so Love is not love that is begged borrowed nor persuaded
and I am loved and I am loved and I know my beauty has not faded.

I do not fade because I do not let a man inside of me
and to be independent isn't a form of poverty,
I am Lover and Beloved, and life is my playground,
I am female power, I am the Mother, I am charm and grace,
and to love freely and smile, to laugh and dance each day,
there is a genuine smile upon my face..

I want what is and what will be,
but will not throw away now for the potential reality

now and the rich potential of unknown are one
and feeling the intensity of that is half the fun.

We are never alone
when we are alone
we are still with our Selves

The One Consciousness of which we are all part
is there with us in our heart.

We are never alone.
Always loved,
and all the demanding and the pointing and the longing is a role, an act, a sleight of hand

Finally, when I remember this, I am FREE!
Freedom is in wanting nothing more then this moment,
and this moment, and this moment,
sowing the seeds of our blossoming by the joyful following of our natural truth in each moment..
and feeling that rightness filled with love..
freedom..
bliss.
we are Lover and Beloved and we are never alone.

A few Poems by Mary Oliver to Savor

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?

The Sun

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone--
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance--
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love--
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed--
or have you too
turned from this world--

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

The real power of Yoga- why daily practice is key!

Coming together as a community to practice is powerful. Practicing once or twice at the studio each week is important to learn under the guidance of a professional, and to ensure that a practice center can remain open. But what about the weekend, the days in between, and the snow days? Natural Yoga is intended to be practiced everyday, it is intended to empower you to integrate practice into your lifestyle.
The word used for practice is sadhana, indicating spiritual practice, which in the Indian context is inseperable from life. Life is spiritually-infused, a journey of the soul in the body through the manifest world.
Don't depend on being at the studio to practice Yogic ways, anymore than one should only practice piety in church. Coming to the studio is to learn techniques, create community and to become inspired More deeply. Practice everyday- mindfulness of the breath and posture all day and aanas and/or meditation for at least a few minutes, and you WILL feel a great difference.
When we practice, we go deep within to the fountainhead of life energy, we touch the ground of Being or Source as it connects within us. To touch this is powerful, deeply healing and inspiring. Touch it once a week, and you will feel a difference. Touch it once a day, and you will transform. Touch it multiple times each day, and you will feel nothing short of miracles unfolding around you and through you.
We are having a workshop that will help you to establish daily practice of Natural Yoga on April 21st. Please inquire if you are interested or stay tuned for more info. You may request information by emailng naturalmethodyoga@gmail.com or by calling/texting 518 866 3621.

We are all one... Reach out in Love

The tragedy in Japan is so sad. If we hear about destruction and suffering like this, and take a moment to be mindful, we can't help but feel it viscerally. There's an ache. A hurt. A deep longing. A desire to remove the suffering, heal the sick restore peace. I've never felt this way though... There's more connection then ever before. There may or may not be anyone I know personally there in Japan, and at the same time those are my loved ones, my friends, my family. The children are my children, the elders my grandparents. I'm not being idealistic, I feel connected.

Tragedy and disaster have a way of bringing out the best in people. We reach out a hand for someone in obvious need. We forget about the illusion of "us" and "them" if only for a moment. Sometimes, when something is broken down, its as if it breaks down our inhibitions too. We are more genuinely human.
With a deep urge to help, and discussion with some of my student-friends, I decided to reach out to a yoga studio in Tokyo. I thought that the best way to help would be to give, yogi to yogi, believing that they would be able to reach someone in need for us.

What has transpired has meant so much to me, it is hard to do it justice by relaying it in its simplicity, but I'll try. It shows that we are all connected. It also shows that while material assistance helps materially, heart-felt expression helps the heart. Without heart, material assistance cannot end suffering.

When I contacted the studio, OhanaSmile in Tokyo with my words of heart-felt feelings of oneness, longing to alleviate their suffering and offer to help, I received a beautiful response. I received the energy of real gratitude, and the message said the recipient was "deeply touched" by my message. While a link to donate to the Japanese Red Cross was given, what was asked for first, almost preferably, was for me to simply share my feelings on a yoga community forum, even taking the time to translate each part of the form so that I could really understand it. The message was ended with, "hontou ni domo arigatou gozaimasu"- I truly thank you very much, words which resonated with a lot of deep feeling.

The owner of OhanaSmile yoga studio, with whom I am conversing, also runs a yoga community website, a place for Yogis and Yoginis to post thoughts, conversations and discussions. It was on this site that it was requested I post, and I did. I posted A very raw, honest message to the people in Japan.

I posted from my heart, my feelings of oneness, my sincere desire to serve, to help, to relieve their suffering and bring peace again. I shared that I felt priveleged to share my feelings with them, and I truly do still feel it. I can feel passionately about this tragedy, but keeping it to myself or even among Americans feels one way. But sharing my heart with someone there, experiencing this as a reality, has transformed the energy of the feelings. I really felt that greater connection, interconnection, and oneness come alive.

There was another option, to upload a picture, but I didn't think much of it. The most important thing for me was to share those feelings. To say I'm deeply sorry you are hurting and I love you.
Within a couple hours, I was written back, asking for my picture, to place with the post. I feel connected. Its amazing that my words meant something, enough that I'm not simply forgotten. It's not me, per se or "my" words- its just the power of love, Love in service of Itself.

Some people say the world is going to end soon. I think that just the world as we know it will end. The charade of separation is getting too old and painful to continue. Let the veils lift, and may we all see the truth of our ultimate oneness, and live in the harmony of kindness and true love.

I am thinking that I will try reaching out like this more often, whenever the inspiration is present. I have been living a practice of deep honesty for a little while now, which includes sensitive expression of my true thoughts & feelings when appropriate. It's like this wonderful song, the title & artist I do not know, but the refrain is "...and the moment slipped away..." The singer recognizes these outstanding qualities or true bravery in various people throughout the song, but instead of sharing her loving appreciation right then when she is touched by it, see lets it go, and loses the opportunity to express that respect and kindness. Hearing that song for the first time in 2006, the year I first started the studio, moved me to tears. I started then to practice my hardest to not let a moment slip away, to express my loving appreciation, gratitude, admiration and respect right away. Until embracing this practice, I never overtly recognized the power of a smile, thank you, or a truly honest compliment to positively affect someone, to actually brighten their day. A kind word from the heart is so powerful!

Yet, until now this practice has been more focused on people I know face-to-face, although it has transformed the way I interact at all times to some extent.

Now, I will practice this deep honesty in a new way, reaching out beyond "here", inspired by Yoga's wisdom and this very beautiful experience..

The Only Secret to Lasting Beauty

The Only Beauty That Lasts is the Beauty Cultivated Inside...

Our culture is so fearful of old-age, so afraid of losing our youthful looks, and so distrusting of our value beyond the outer appearance.

 As we grow out of our angelic baby body into a full-sized adult body and reach the peak of growing, then hitting the beginning of our dissolution back into the earth, many people panic. 

We are shown in the media that we are supposed to look the same forever, to never age or if we do age, we should never wrinkle, or if we should wrinkle, we should immediately seek plastic surgery.


All too infrequently are we told, or less frequently shown, that the only beauty that will last is the beauty we have cultivated inside of us. As we age and our body dissolves slowly back into the earth, the world will see how we have lived, how we have loved, and what goodness and light we have liberated within us or what darkness and hate we have allowed to fester.


So instead of wasting precious moments of our lives looking for cold creams, expensive treatments and surgeries, or painting ourselves up because we can't stand to face ourselves in the mirror, perhaps that time is better spent cultivating the only beauty that is true, lasting and real.


I found this picture on a blog, the title links to it. It is an American Buddhist monk's blog. He shares a video about the magnificent yoginis and nuns of a special place in Tibet. When you look at her, do you see her as beautiful? Do you see the light that shows through the surface, illuminating her? Inner peace, inner beauty, shines from us. The more we cultivate it, the more brightly it shows, making the otherwise "less than beautiful" of the world look gorgeous, even to the eyes of some materialists.


Yet another reason to practice mindfulness, yoga and meditation, they make us beautiful, or they unleash our inner beauty. Let the practice of kindness, compassion, joy and equinimity be your beauty regime. Let the goodness you live and the bounds of your love be your make-up.As your body dissolves back into nature, let the light of your heart shine brighter and brighter.


namaste