Artwork: Healing Hands by Fred Hatt

Hello Fellow Body-Mind-Hearts –

I have been contemplating the act of blessing lately. Not just the practice of counting my blessings but the practice of offering my blessings to others and to the world. Each of us can offer blessings…yes, you read that right…each of us has has the inherent authority to offer blessings. At least this is my belief and understanding of how blessings and life work.

In our society we have been told over and over again that the power to bless and venerate is somehow reserved for those who are given authority by certain institutions. That the only people who can consecrate and make a moment holy are those with a particular kind of outfit, certification, or ‘approved’ connection to the Divine. I call BS. Each of us, based solely on the fact that we are here as embodied souls with deep roots in the unseen and mystical world, has the power to bless…to uplift and call forward beauty, presence and Grace. I have seen this over and over again.

One way I see this unfold is when I am open to the blessings of the moment, simple and everyday…the gift of breath/life right now, the texture of softness, the smell of rain, the blue of the sky, the taste of basil, the sweet purr of my fur-babies…I recognize my birthright of being here and the gifts that I don’t have to earn. And if I allow this to actually register and land in my tissue and awareness then I can more easily become a conduit for blessings to flow through me. I can offer the simple act of a kind word to another, an attentive touch to the earth, tree or river, an offering of thanks and presence, the gift of forgiveness. And in this way, I fulfill the invitation of my aliveness to honor and bring another being more alive with blessing.

I invite you to consider how you can offer the gift of blessing in your movement through the world. How can you bring reverence to the way your feet walk the earth, prayer to the way you sing in the shower, consecration to the way you hold the door open for another and offer a smile? What are some of the simple words you might offer to another, spoken or written, that might bring them into a sense of their own sacred nature? This life is magnificently divine even in its wild uncertainty and cruelty and how can we invite that into the presence of our days?

I welcome your shares about the power of blessing and being blessed. Until next time…

Upcoming events and offerings…

Seattle Yoga Arts Gathering/Celebration: January 28, 3-6pm PT at Om Culture in Wallingford and via Zoom. This time is to honor the many years of life sustaining practice and community anchoring the studio offered. I plan to be there IN PERSON and hope I can hug as many of you as can come.

Yoga for Resilience: Mondays 10-11:30am PT. This is an ongoing 90-minute virtual weekly class offered for all bodies and abilities to encourage and support you in finding more resilience and capacity for life. Drop in and 10-class cards available. Register Here

New Years Day Practice: January 1, 2023, 10a-12p PT. Join a community of practitioners in welcoming the new year with attention and intention. Tending thresholds has long been a powerful practice and is even more potent when done with the collective. We will gather to move, breathe and meditate with the express purpose of honoring this transition. All bodies, abilities and levels of experience are welcome. Register Here

SAVE THE DATE: I will be offering a Part II; Tending Our Nervous System; Resourcing Ourselves Amidst Tumult on Monday, January 30, 5:30-7:30pm PT. We had such a deep time at the workshop earlier in November that we decided a second evening was desired. You are welcome to join us whether you attended the first workshop or not.  Register Here

Guiding Lights…

John O’Donohue is one of my teachers. His wisdom, found in his numerous books of wisdom, poems and philosophy of life continues to move me even now, so many years after his death in 2007. I recommend all his writings and recorded words but most especially, “To Bless the Space Between Us”, as a resource for this deeper understating of blessing and being blessed.

May we pause and allow the simple blessings of the moment to enter and fill us

May our presence be a boon to those around us

May we be a channel of kindness, thanks and Grace in the world

May we fully embody what it means to be sacred and divine. 

Practice Prompts:

• Practice pausing at different times during your day to let the simple moment land in your tissue and bless you…the feel of sunlight on your skin, the smile the person in the store offered you, the kind gesture a family member gave you, the deep listening presence the trees offer and so much more. Drink them in and savor them.
• Make it a practice to offer blessings…send messages beginning with May you…., offer the space for tears, offer a touch of benediction and love…offer and reflect the sacredness of others to themselves including the magical natural world we are a part of.
• In some sacred artwork the hands and feet are depicted with eyes. This is a symbol of their sensitivity to the world and their ability to receive and bless all they encounter. Consider how you might move through the world and touch and be touched with this kind of sensitivity and ability to bless and be blessed.
• I offer one to one sessions in person in Bend, Oregon and virtually all over the world. If you would like to learn more about my offerings please email me or schedule a free 20 minute Exploratory Session.

Upcoming Live Streaming Practice Opportunities:

• Yoga for Resilience, Mondays, 10-11:30am PT, livestream through Body of Insight
• Continuum Inquiry Playshop, Monday, January 16, 5:30-7:30pm PT, livestream through Body of Insight
• All Levels Yoga, Sundays, January 22, 10-11:30am PT, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
• Tending the Nervous System Workshop Part II, January 30, 5:30-7:30pm, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
• On Demand Yoga Practices…All Levels… through Two Dog Yoga (practice with me anytime, anywhere!)

Inspirational Wisdom:

ANCESTRY

My DNA results came in.
Just as I suspected,
my great great grandfather
was a monarch butterfly.

Much of who I am is still
wriggling under a stone.

I am part larva, but
part hummingbird too.

There is dinosaur tar in
my bone marrow.

My golden hair sprang out
of a meadow in Palestine.

Genghis Khan is my fourth cousin,
but I didn’t get his dimples.

My loins are loaded with
banyan seeds from Sri Lanka,
but I descended from Ravanna,
not Ram.

My uncle is a mastodon.
There are traces of white people
in my saliva.

3.7 billion years ago I swirled
in hydrogen dust,
dreaming of a planet overgrown
with lingams and yonis.

More recently, say 60,000 B.C.
I walked on hairy paws
across a land bridge
joining Sweden to Botswana.

I am the bastard of the sun and moon.

I can no longer hide my heritage of
raindrops and cougar scat.

My mud was molded with your grandmother’s tears.

Admit it, you have wings,
vast and crystal,
like mine, like mine.

You have sweat, dark and salty,
like mine, like mine.

You have secrets silently
singing in your blood,
like mine, like mine.

Don’t pretend that earth
is not one family.

Don’t pretend we never hung
from the same branch.

Don’t pretend we do not ripen
on each other’s breath.

Don’t pretend we didn’t
come here to forgive.

~ by Fred LaMotte