More photos of our Seed To Soul Retreat

we all knew how to move with springiness and resiliency when we were children...
When we know the truth, we know it in our bones.
The model of our structure is often in our bones, not so much in the soft tissues - muscles, tendons and ligaments.
Why don't we know it in our ligaments?"

(Inspired by floating bones.com)

Seed To Soul Yoga Retreat

Hello All.

Sarah and I just enjoyed our first retreat that we co-taught at the Sea to Sky Retreat Centre.
What a wonderful group and a peaceful setting. We look forward to sharing again like this November 23rd to 25th 2012.
Many Many thanks to all who made this possible.
Also, both hands together to Michiko and Ron at the Sea to Sky Retreat Centre who nourished us and provided the setting. To all the volunteer workers and Karma Yogis - soft smiles of gratitude and respect.

Enough.
These few words are enough.
If not these words, this breath.
If not this breath, this sitting here.

This opening to life
we have refused
again and again.
Until now.
Until now.

david whyte

A Little Less Light

Body resting on the floor.
Almost half covered in the earth, like being partially buried in warm sand.
Eyes slowly open and see the prayer flags directly above, bathed in light.
The light coming through the window illuminates the back of the flags as the front of them stay semi-shaded.
Noticing that the light has bleached the back of the material, it looks weather worn and faded.
The part that gets more shade looks richer and the shades of red, yellow and blue really show up.

The back of the flags look like they have grown tired from too much light. They look like they are at the end of their life, exhausted from the shine.
The darkness and diffused light that the back of the squares have received has kept them well, they look closer to being alive.

Love
Lydia

Our marriage happened last weekend.
Here are some of the quiet moments.

Stepping into a circle of rocks carried to the cedar alcove by family and friends.
We slide out of our shoes to enter the sphere.

Bare feet, blades of grass intertwine underneath our soles/souls? like lightly closed eyelashes. The earth meets our feet, allowing our roots to grow 9 feet deep and incline towards each other.

Not even a breeze, gale force love. Long beams of light.

"I do"

I promise to see the mystery in you each day.

Close enough to smell each other. Feeling the warm smile of mothers and fathers wrapping a supportive cloak around our backs, that we can lean into.

Toaist Tadasana. Taking lessons from the trees. Feeling the shine of the unapologetic daisies. Learning how to stand together.

"Yoga is not standing on your head--Yoga is standing on your own two feet."

From this day forward, I want to live in the flow with you.

Lydia

Treasures Untold.

Lying in summer sunshine,
so far from my home.
I am beginning to feel like this whole life is a dream.

I can't remember what life was like before Finn.
and, I can only imagine what it will be like when he is gone.



Garden discovery walks.
Each morning we stroll through the green carpet,
waking from the oblivion of another sleepless night.
Reading Basho's simple journal on the porch
At this pace, I have time to watch the flowers grow.



To watch a baby,
is to look into the eyes of the earth -
to find moment after moment of perfection.
Life as it is,
in an imperfect world.



Perhaps this is reality?
raw emotion
and true love
in every breath.



Everyone has gone from the porch.
Only the two of us remain,
mother and son.
And, the wise sounds of the wind blowing through the trees.

You are still here,
like an oasis of love, awake for another day.
And, i think?
you will still be here even when you are gone.
For you are greater then time.



Looking inside,
it feels like the world is racing
and spinning all around me.
Often out of control.
So much has happened in the short time i have been gone.
Forever has passed.

Looking outside,
these eyes are gazing and open
flowers bloom,
slowly beside the lake, and then die.
So much has happened in the short time i have been here.
The world looks different everyday.



Every moment that i smile
and he smiles back at me,
there is an instant where the future doesn't exist.



Imprint your soft smile on my heart,
so that when i am quiet on the inside,
years from now
we can smile together at the trees.



I can feel him sharing with me from inside his cocoon.
'One day there will again be innocent joy'
without knowing why?
or how?
or what is going on?
Because, everyday Finn whispers secrets to me with his eyes.
and, I believe him.



thx endlessly to everyone for all the love and support.
lv sarah scotty finn and chinook

A Photo Essay

Amidst so many moments of sadness
there are jewels of joy
intense deep love, immediacy
eye contact -
and then stillness.



Red cardinals
painted with morning sunshine,
living in a lakeside fairytale.
Here we are for a while,
beside our families
dancing in and out of sadness
flowing in and out of bliss.
Maybe not all stories have happy endings?
Perhaps all stories have happy endings?



grey days
driving south through rain and smog
sitting between two boys,
a warm wind and a sleeping beauty.
Staring in the mirror,
connecting with the soft blue eyes of a papa.
In my heart we are a family,
lost in this wide open flat space.
Missing the cedars,
loving each other.



A few moments to myself,
staring at an inverted horizon across the lake.
Upside down on the dock,
new perspectives,
but the truth is still the same.



Living beside this lake for a while,
our simple life fits this place.
Endless open space for the warm wind to blow,
and calm waters shelter us from stormy minds:
as we paddle our canoe.



Hand creases.
Foot prints.
Molded forever in black paint
stored with birch bark
signed with the initials of a baby.
F.R.E.



The trilliums are gone,
another cycle goes round
another year of life and death on the forest floor.
The innocent beauty of death
stares at me through the eyes of the forest,
year after year.
Yet, nothing prepares us for the death of a child.



Old friends gather,
memories of half a lifetime.
I am amazed, yet again,
by the ability for one short life to inspire love,
to bring out the best in people.
Near and far.

Without a word,
without knowing,
barely two months from the womb,
this son of mine is teaching us how to live.



Sitting again, wrapped in a koala bear
breathing heavily on my chest.
Bodies touch.
I kiss his sweet forehead
and watch again as little Finn finds his way to sleep.

with lv.
Sarah (Scotty, Finn and Chinook too)

The Play of Light

Something traumatic has happened in the life of my best friend. I feel stuck in time and space, like I am living two lives. Who is in this body?

Someone has taken over and is dealing with the interfacing of this body and the tasks that need to be done.

Some of me is standing still, watching things whiz zoom and buzz by.

I completely embodied the still being today for a short time. For the first time in a few weeks I noticed the way that the light streams through the studio window and dances with the dust. It was almost like that moment lasted for an eternity. It was like the silence was an entire musical piece. There were so many layers upon layers of delicate sound that made a symphony of silence. I could feel the warmth of the sun. Bird sounding through the open window. Curtain blowing in the wind caught in the periphery.



Oh yeah. Enter here, I thought. This moment is all right.

Oh yeah. There doesn't have to be any meaningless meaning.

Oh yeah. I thought. Just love.

Lydia