summertime...and the living should be easy

Summer solstice...the longest daylight of the year. Payback for all those cramped dark winter days. Historically it's been a time of huge celebration across all the northern climes. Understandably so. For we earthlings, our sun's pretty much god--we couldn't exist without it. It's a lifeline. But in more agrarian ages, the connection must have been truly heartfelt.

It's also the first day of summer. A day of transformation, from spring's sweet promise to the full fruition of summer's rampant fecundity.

So it's a day both of celebration and of transformation...very yogic...very tantric. Whenever we come to our mats, we come to celebrate life. We seek to transform ourselves, to become more. To flourish and evolve. To ripen.

But what about the not-so-big movements? Radical transformation is relatively rare (and often not so positive); instead change comes to us slowly, incrementally, often in units astoundingly small. Inching forward one day at a time.

Once we move away from youth, with its multiple yardsticks and benchmarks, we often neglect to stop and note an achievement. To celebrate. Time now flies by so rapidly that to mark a moment might seem irrelevant. And let's face it, lots of us aren't even that happy with where we are: we think, it could be worse--but it should be better.

Instead, we stand with our eyes fixed on a far distant horizon: The Past or The Future.

Staring into The Past, we dwell fixedly on our mistakes, rue the times we fell short of the mark. Regret the missed opportunities, the bad timing and the worse luck.

Then we peer wistfully--restlessly--at The Future, and dream. If only I could...then I'd be confident. If only I had...then, then, I'd be satisfied. Then I'd feel good about myself. I'd be successful.

The reality, of course, is that achievement is found in living, and as such is necessarily and emphatically dynamic. It's accretionary, not static. Hidden in the process of life, in the folds and creases of each day.

Between the hard work and the disappointments, between frustrations and setbacks, we must learn to recognize our tiny victories, our small conquests, for it is these incremental triumphs which coalesce to form a life well-lived. Day by day. Inch by inch.

Set a goal and work persistently to make it happen, because as the American Zen Master, Yogi Berra (hey--a fellow yogi!!) once said, "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there." Challenge yourself because nothing of value comes with ease. We seek instant gratification, but it's an unrealistic goal as well as an empty one. To master any skill takes effort, takes time--it won't happen spontaneously, and neither will it accomplish itself. Some days, just getting up is hard.

So rise to your own challenge. But don't forget to stop and pat your self on the back along the way.

why we OM...

Why do we OM?

Better transliterated as AUM, it's really three separate phonemes: Ah, Oo, and Mmm, representing creation, sustainment, and then dissolution--the expanding and contracting pulse of the universe. All things come and all things go. Change...there's no way around it.

OM is etymologically related not only to the english prefix "omni," meaning all (e.g. omnivore--all foods, omnipotent--all powerful), but also, interestingly, to "amen" (seems kinda obvious once it's pointed out, doesn't it?).

You might be surprised to hear that OM is a sacred sound to Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, as well as Hindus. Hmmm. That's not all: Christian, Jews and Muslims say amen too, or a slight variation of it (in Hebrew, it's ah-men, and for Muslims, amin).

Nice to have something all religions can agree on!

AUM's three sounds symbolize oneness, the relatedness and unity of all the universe. The A denotes all things of form: the flowers...the birds...us. U represents formlessness: water, fire, the air. And M is something existent, but having neither shape nor shapelessness--like the dark matter in space.

So three are essentially one. The entire AUM sound is an exercise in concentration, a mythic focus on one universal truth: all things manifest and unmanifest, the union of body, mind and spirit. Creation, and all that is/ has been/ will be created.

For Christianity and Islam, the usual translation for amen is concurrence, as in "amen to that" baby! (It's the same root as amenable--agreement.) The Hebrew form is translated as certainty.

So we're all saying--or chanting--the same thing. Truth. Word. Youbetcha.

Even scientists should be able to get behind OM. It's said to be the first sound, and I take that to mean that the Big Bang was actually a raucous Big OM chant, vibrating energy across the universe like one vast and mighty wave.

OM is simply a reminder that the source is one--whatever your idea of "source" is. One Big Bang. One Godhead. One energy. It's a signifier of the underlying relationship, not only between us all, but between us and our world. One love, one heart, as Bob Marley and Curtis Mayfield would sing it.

BTW, when I added up all the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Jains, the Sikhs, and to this, all the Jews, the Muslims and the Christians--guess how many? It's very nearly the entire world population! And here we are, all sounding out One Truth, joining together in this one sound...or its variants.

When we chant OM to begin our yoga, we are reiterating our relationship to one another, our solidarity. We merge the sound of our voices into a single chorus, both listening, and participating--involving ourselves with one another. We sing: One love, one heart. Let's get together and feel all right.

In this sense, OM means we believe in the power of community, of supporting one another in our pursuits, of lending a hand when we can. It's an appreciation that our culture belongs to everyone, that we all have a role to play in creating the reality we live in. We all matter. And together, we harmonize.

OM. It's really pretty cool.

it's all good, eh?

When I planned to return to Canada after many years of living in the US, people teased, asking if I was going to start "speaking Canadian." You know how to spell Canada, they'd say? C, eh. N, eh. D, eh. (I know. It's cute.)

But rather curiously, I did notice a shift in Canadian speech patterns, and it wasn't simply an accent thing. The tone was different...optimistic, upbeat.

People here say "Right on!" like it's still the Summer of Love. When someone asks you to sign your name, they don't mutter thanks, but instead chirp, "PERFECT!" With real enthusiasm. Authentic good cheer.

My favourite Canadian-ism, though? The ever-present, ever-lovable, "it's all good." Even when people here complain a little, gently whining about this or that, they invariably finish up by turning the tables back to the positive with an "it's all good." (Often adding a "no worries" for emphasis, they assure Fate they hold no bitterness.)

I love this phrase not simply for its buoyant bhava (flavour), because it's so beautifully Tantric. When life is seen from a Tantric perspective, it is not a tribulation to be tolerated or overcome, but a blessing to be savoured. Sucked on like the last caramel in the box...slowly, sensuously. En-joy-ed. To the nth. To the last drop. All the way. Full on.

Because it's all good.

Thoughts and feelings are held in our tissues. Habit is as much about recurrent patterns of thought as behaviour: we become what we think, what we do. We all know this--whether it's prejudice or injury, we're walking around schlepping our own baggage. We become it.

But when viewed with Tantric eyes--with all form emanating from one energy source--we put the stops on this kind of positive/ negative dichotomization. If all form is from the same one source, how can it not be all good? Then, whether you're one who judges the glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full makes no nevermind, it's all simply possibility: to learn, to grow. To explore our potential within our given form, with our given attributes. To be the best "me", a virtuoso of myself-ness. To top off our own--1/2 empty or 1/2 full--glass.

BTW, it's a trick glass, like one from a magician's showroom. It never gets full; there's always room for more. That's the way the universe is: there's always room at the inn.

Room to create yourself. To re-create yourself. To switch your vibration and become your deepest desire. To make beauty.

Because it's all good.

a balancing act...

The other day, I was checking out this book on jam making (Mes Confitures), looking for hints as the season of preserving comes upon us. The author, Christine Ferber, is France's most famous jam maker--an artist in her field. (gentle pun intended)

Perfectly ripe fruit is what she calls for, which carry jam's necessary components of pectin and sugar in just the right balance. How to tell? "Fruit is perfectly ripe when it makes no resistance to being picked."

---Whoa! Are we talking yoga here? Of course we yogis are always on the lookout for balance, bringing all our body pieces to the party on the mat. We aim to integrate our inner and outer worlds. But one of the most elusive of our balancing acts is effort and effortlessness: giving our yoga energy without hardness. Finding ease under a veil of sweat.

Birds do it. Once in a while you see a bird flying against the wind and you wonder if the poor dear will make it, as it struggles mightily, wings thrashing. But usually, birds know to ride the air currents. Witness them swoop and soar, arcing a grace-filled arabesque across the sky lifts our hearts.

Surfers do it too. They don't go out there to battle the ocean, but to catch a wave, working in tandem with the immense power of the water to feel an elation second to none.

The secret: it's not all on our backs. Of course, we do our best. But then we let go a little, we surrender. We catch a current. Ride the wave.

We offer no resistance, like a ripe piece of fruit--perfect.

And the Jam Lady's second insight? No two batches are the same. One's a little thicker, one sweeter. And that, she says, is its charm. Can we see our own day to day fluctuations on the mat--tighter one day, or more tired--as charming?

Well, maybe not.

But at least we can recognize that whatever is going on is just today's act, and our next go will be different. Every batch of jam is an act of creation, of transformation--just as every play day on our mats.

Enjoy the flow.