Yesterday, I had a lovely time, teaching special yoga in a local disabled centre. We reflected on kindness and on bodhicitta – wishing good things for ourselves, the persons we love, those we don’t like, all the sentient beings around us: the animals – pets and wild – plants, the planet… Everyone!
We all enjoyed it so much that I stayed an extra 15mn and ended up missing my bus. It was all for the best as I found this new friend on the floor, in the mud, much too close to a busy main road…
I picked her up so she could have a rest and a drink of water in my cup. We spent the following 20mn hanging out together. That’s what I call an encounter with God. I don’t believe in God as a person, but I believe in Nature. I believe that animals are often Saints in disguise and that we have so much to learn from them. Each time I spend some quiet time with animals or in nature, it feels to me like an encounter with the divine, with Nature or as some call it, with God.
… Then God felt better, stretched her wings and flew off.
My bee friend is the same colour as this hand knitted Mexican poncho that my yoga teacher sent me in the post earlier on this week. She bought it in Nogales, Mexico, near Arizona. She said it was a case of “I saw this and thought of You”. The colour, the shape, the knitting are superb and you can tell it was knitted from hand spun yarn. Needless to say, I was totally speechless when it turned up in the post! Receiving a gift from her was very healing. Not that we ever fell out or anything, but it’s just that feeling of warmth, reviving the bond of our connection. Mind you, Bond is also her name!
Janet saw me through some very dark and difficult times. My yoga teacher training was very challenging as that’s when I started to suffer from chronic debilitating back problems. My depression came back and I fell in a very dark, bottomless pit. This experience taught me that yoga isn’t gymnastics – yoga isn’t a physical work out. To me yoga is acceptance, helping others, love, being of service and unity. We are not separate from one another. We are one. To me yoga is using my breath as a magic carpet to connect with myself and the natural world around me.
I’m totally in awe of this poncho! It’s a good reminder: you need to go through darkness to see how bright your light shines… 💡 Hurray for bees, new friends, gifts, kindness, orange and the richness of the Mexican culture.
Meeting that bee and receiving that gorgeous gift reminded me of that poem that Janet sometimes read at the end of her classes and I would like to share it with you here:
People come into your path for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do with that person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty…
To provide you with guidance and support…
To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually…
They may seem like they are a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then without any wrongdoing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die…
Sometimes they walk away…
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand….
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled…
Their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has now been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON.
Because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons.
Things you must build upon to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being a part of my life…
Whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime
–Unknown author
We had a gorgeous afternoon filled with rainbows here on Thursday… This is actually a triple rainbow, even though you can’t quite tell on this photograph.
I wish for you all to meet God or connect with the divine in some way today,
Noémie.
FocalHeart 
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