Though the rose is a very good choice for our National Flower (understood to have the highest vibration of all flowers), we have some work to do to reach that enlightened state! For now, my vote for “most helpful National Flower” would be the Milkweed.

It couldn’t be more timely, its flower resembling the fireworks of Independence Day, reminding us to celebrate the small ways in which we free ourselves from that which oppresses us--especially and perhaps only the very thoughts we allow and cultivate in our own mind.

As we learn how to better “do no harm” (ahimsa) within our mind, we simultaneously begin to see the contrast between what no longer serves us and what nourishes and supports our personal growth. When we begin to release the old and find situations and relationships that lift us up and make us feel amazing, we feel so FREE! Free to be ourselves, and to enjoy this amazingly beautiful world.

The Milkweed plant is the ultimate in supportive relationships...so much so that the Monarch butterfly will not breed unless Milkweed is present. The eggs are deposited on the underside of the protective leaves, the larvae eat the leaves as a sole source of food, and the otherwise “toxic” nature of the milky substance within the stems actually protects the butterfly from predators too.

The Milkweed, in turn, receives assistance from the Monarch butterfly in pollination, allowing it to successfully produce seeds for the years to come. This relationship also benefits other pollinators, like bees, which together are responsible for one in every three bites of food we take! Wow! Milkweed wins. Monarch wins. Bees win. We win. This is the beauty of interdependence. These kinds of relationships help each participant thrive...to be free to be who they were meant to be.

May you feel your independence from anything that doesn’t serve your Highest Self, and may that void be filled by newly inspired and supportive relationships, leading you to be FREE to be You!

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"Independence Day" Video playlist -  (click on the photo) Track 1:  2:37min; Track 2:  2:21min; Track 3:  2:23; Track 4 (Yoga Practice):  40min

What if we were all committed to only having inspired conversations? From a yogic perspective, inspiration is the act of drawing air into the lungs. My 8 year old daughter said to me on a walk the other day, “Mommy, isn’t it amazing that if we stop breathing we die, but all we need to do is breathe in, and then we live”.

If we stop breathing, we die.

I started to think about how the current authorities, systems and hierarchies in our world are quite literally not breathing anymore...they are dying. This is a good thing. But what do we collectively want to breathe in? Can we cultivate this new intention for the world within our own breath, and bring that new life into our conversations with others, thereby literally co-creating a new and better reality?

All we need to do is breathe in, and then we live.

The symbolic wisdom is there in every step of the inspiration:

1. Start by relaxing your lower belly, allowing it to soften and expand outward. Notice and relax all that you hold tightly to. Surrender thoughts of lower vibrations (fear, doubt, shame, blame, judgment), making space for new expansion in your consciousness. Feel this softness in your soul as you release what no longer serves you. Stay with this belly breathing as long as you need to, and return to it like a “coming home”.
2. Now notice how, when we breathe into the belly, the diaphragm (an umbrella-like organ below the rib-cage) lowers down, making room for the lowest portion of the lungs to expand and absorb more oxygen. As you notice the lower lungs expanding with new freedom, trust the “opening to the unknown”. We need this Trust when we are committed to raising our vibration. Feel the new breath of life entering your Beingl
3. After breathing into the belly, and allowing the breath to rise into the lower lungs, now allow the rib cage to expand outward, freeing the middle portion of the lungs to expand. Suspend any striving upward but instead a lateral expansion. Allow a sense of neutrality, witnessing, listening and “being with” what is as you commune with your own energy in this moment. Consider someone you have difficulty relating to. Remember that you misunderstand them deeply. Be on the same level with them. Remember that they know something you don’t know. Receive the wisdom you’ve chosen for them to teach you.
4. With belly relaxed and rib-cage expanding outward, now allow the upper lungs to rise and fill to their potential, breathing in a little more than you thought you could. Did you know you could elevate this high? Can you feel the fullness of life beyond your current reality? Notice any resistance to being your Highest Self, and how we doubt our worthiness, or fear our failures.
5. Exhale easily, slowly and gently. This process of elevating our consciousness is not supposed to be hard. It is a surrender to the sacred flow of Life. It is a letting go of the need to judge, change or fix ourselves or another human being. We can release the need to know or control the future but, rather, trust the present moment, and the next breath.
6. At the very end of the exhale, gently lift the perineum, engaging these muscles for a moment and then slowly releasing with the the next inhale into the belly. This “lift” of the root chakra is called moola bandha, engaging our life force and re-directing it upward. We can decide what energy we want to bring into the world with every moment. We can have inspired conversations with whomever crosses our path, supporting and uplifting one another with a spaciousness, trust and love. As we focus upon this intention, this vibration, we co-create, cultivate, uplift and manifest the future of our dreams in the here and now.

For a pdf of Julie's breathing practice please click here Breathing_Life_into_Your_Relationships.pdf

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Video tracks -  Breathing Life Into Your Relationships 13:04 minutes; Harmonious Conversation 16:39 minutes;  New Growth and the Color Gray 2:13 minutes; Reframing Annoyances 2:06 (click on the photos to access the videos).

Many of our Yoga Philosophy students had difficulty with our topic this month, which was the Divine Masculine archetypal energy. We have long known there is an overly-developed Wounded Masculine energy in our world, but not until recently did we see how embedded it was within our psyche. Regardless of our gender, seeds of its energy are within us when we are governed by our Ego, resulting in a tendency toward judgment, dehumanization, division, control and harm.  

More than ever, in addition to balancing the Divine Feminine (which also has a wounded side), we need to shine a light on the Divine Masculine in order to successfully lift our world out of darkness. As I recognized my student’s resistance and confusion with the Divine Masculine energy, and with Father’s Day in our midst, I knew we had another chance to understand this energetic half of the whole! As always, I took this study to my daily walk in the woods, to my evening meditations, and to a practice of listening for Wisdom in all events around me.

Not always found in the biological Father, the ‘Divine Father’ is available to us via the work of living and past Monks, Saints, Priests, Fore-fathers, and Guides, from the spiritual path of our choosing. The fundamental archetype of this Spiritual Father is to protect us from evil, harm, deceit and any force that will come in the way of our freedom to return to our GodSelf.   

The Divine Father has the soul’s freedom at heart. With discerning mentorship, he shines light on the obstacles and dangers around us, demonstrating a seemingly passive but ultimately loving, compassionate, honest, focused and clear guidance, as he aligns and directs us on our sacred pilgrimage with complete faith.  

This Fatherly quality of knowing us deeply, and keeping us on track amidst a world of chaos, is the flower essence of the Indian Cucumber root.  Many mythologies, including Native American, speak of Father Sky, which represents the atmosphere that surrounds the earth, giving his children air to breathe, rain to refresh, and light to banish the darkness.  

The stars of Father Sky bring us oxygen, nitrogen and carbon, the elemental building blocks for our earth as well as our bodies. We are made of the “stuff of stars” and the Starflower’s essence reminds us that we are “spiritual beings living a human experience”. This is what the Father lifts us up to see, showing us a path or bridge, and illuminating the darkness.

It is this same bright Light that he shines upon us with focused patience while we become ready for our next step. He knows that we have free will. When we find our flow, he relaxes with a smile and steps out of the way.  The greatest Joy is when the Father’s children return home, no matter what has transgressed, accepted with a loving heart.      

Though fearsome, this Spiritual Father is not to be feared. The only thing to fear is our separation from our Soul’s destiny, the forgetting of our divine spark. The only judgment is our own, reflected back to us in order that we can be True to who we are. Any dismissal of emotion by the Spiritual Father is merely an invitation to step up into the discerning intellect, and then further up into the spirit of vast and ancient consciousness. We have to allow for some “unknowingness” in order to be lifted to our spiritual heights.  

We are so much more than we think. The Divine Father can help us assure the humanity of all individuals, despite differing ideology, blocking out all the evil that threatens to close our heart to ourselves and others. May you feel this abiding Light, Wisdom, Focus, Patience, Protection and Faith in the freedom of each Soul to reach its destiny. 

With great love,
Julie

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"Father's Day" Video playlist -  (click on the photo) Track 1:  1:25min; Track 2: 1:52min; Track 3:  :42min; Track 4 (Yoga Practice):  :40min

One of the common themes I heard from students this month, as we continue to navigate COVID, the murder of George Floyd, and what will inevitably be more divisiveness amidst an election year was, “I don’t really know what to do.” I experienced this same level of sadness and humility in many deep thinkers around me. We are truly beautiful people trying to study ourselves in this difficult time.

I took this compassion and heaviness with me on my walk yesterday and was met with the following wisdom. The Owl swooped in reminding me to “Conserve your energy and be aware of your surroundings”. Traditionally a symbol of Death, the Owl alerts us to change, and the need to release the Old. Letting go of what no longer serves us is a healing process, and it beckons us to allow more stillness and rest.

In this place of pause, we can learn from the essence of the Chipmunk, abundant in the woods right now as new ones have recently been born. The message of the chipmunk is typically of playfulness, curiosity and trust. I struggled a bit to feel the appropriateness of their lesson, until I recognized that when we’re down, it’s important to continue doing things that bring us small joys, remembering what we love and are grateful for. Don’t let these things go. We need you to stay vibrant and balanced.

As many of my students reflected in this month’s Yoga Philosophy Community Call, the evolution of our humanity is not an easy fix, nor are we guaranteed to see any progress in our lifetime. The only change we can truly affect is within ourselves.

I hope you will feel as supported and encouraged by the wisdom of Nature as I am, in the video playlist below. Like spiders weaving their webs, little by little into a complex masterpiece, we can take one small step in the direction we want to go. The snake helps us remember that a natural part of life is shedding our skin, personally and collectively. The blackberry flower encourages us to stay grounded and that we will have the energy we need to act, when directed from the unique wisdom of our Self.

With Great Love,
Julie

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"Help For Our Collective Healing" Video playlist -  (click on the photo) Track 1:  4:44min; Track 2: 1:19min; Track 3:  :53min; Track 4:  :42min

As we navigate continued events in the world that cause anger, fear, anxiety and division, let us rise to the heights of our human Heart, Intellect and Spirit.

Though our emotions are very important and useful units of energy, they are tied to our ego which has only a limited perspective of the whole picture. Our emotions also threaten to lash out with the same energy we fundamentally oppose.

It is crucial for us to guard the shadow side of our emotional being which is vulnerable to the constant provocations of our mainstream media. Remember, every headline and news story, by nature of the industry, seeks to provoke us so we will keep watching, keep reacting, keep buying.

Though evil and unjust events are happening all the time, which bring me great sadness, I want for us to be effective in our approach to shifting and changing our world.

Rather than reacting from an emotional place, it will serve us and humanity better to practice the Witness Perspective that Yoga teaches us. This will give us greater space to see the whole picture, and unite our emotional being with our more discerning Intellect, resulting in a better plan of action to bring about the change we wish to see in the world.

Even better would be to invite in a ‘Beginner's Mind’. Invite in compassionate conversations with a variety of people, especially those in our own family, neighborhood and local community, to better understand the complexity behind all of these situations.

We are not the enemies of each other. We are the enemies of violence, greed, hate, and all other dehumanizing energies.

Yoga, and many traditions, provide us with the first step: First, do no harm, within your thoughts, words and actions. In Yoga's 8 Fold Path, Ahimsa is this first step, and one we humbly return to again and again.

We must become more attuned to the qualities of negative energy as they exist in the world and exist within us. With the power of Awareness we can direct our energy to releasing and letting go of lower vibrations, making space for the uplifting Light and warmth that is our true nature.

Be careful with what you give your attention to. Try out this 13 minute practice instead of the news, and notice its rippling effects on your energy, well-being, effectiveness and fulfillment in the world. From this Energy, we can all do amazing things.

With great Love,

Julie

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Video playlist -  (click on the photo) Track 1: 13min; Track 2: 1:17min; Track 3: 2:48min; Track 4: 1:10min