Grace’s Morning Diary.

In the early moments of the morning on my yoga mat I ponder the forces that brought me here. The passion that moves me to practice and the process of control + surrender. These are notes and scribbles, ideas tied together.

…… Our ability to control is only as good as our ability to surrender. The tug of war that is the experience of duality leads us to favour one path over another at any given time. For the masculine; control and to the feminine; surrender. The patriarchal culture within which that we operate favours control. Regardless of your gender presentation — where are you over controlling and where are you handing yourself away?

Now, instead of engaging in this stark duality, can we instead come to marry these beautiful opposites? In doing so, bring also bring about union of all aspects of ourselves and reality. This means to step into discipline in the direction of our soul’s calling rather than any conditioned programming and to release our anxieties away into love and the faith of engaged practice and our relationship with the nature of things.

What about skill development? How does anyone move towards expressing a gift that requires deep amounts of commitment and dedication? A craft — discipline can be different than control if we seek to know surrender in the process. If we seek to listen to the calling of the wild within — hear the voice of the mother in the process and never give away the knowing of ourselves. In this way our craft becomes art and the beauty of these things reflect upon the earth the vibrancy of heaven.

In order to know this path we must listen, literally listen to the birds, the bees — the trees everything that is around us equally as we listen to the depths of our souls. As above so below, as below so above — nature is calling you, you are calling you.

Soon you may come to see that the universe is really just a scientific algorithm which is showing for us our deepest truths. We see around us that which already exists inside of us. We experience a world based on the process of creation that we are constantly doing with our mind-bodies. Reconcile that.

So yes it is YOU who is determining your destiny. And yes you are linked to all things. You are not responsible for that which was created in the acts of ignorance, but now that you are awake — it’s time to breathe life into the space of your heart so that we may wash the warn wares away and begin to create anew. While our tiny ego-selves may not have chosen these past struggles rest aware that something greater within you did, let’s all work together now.

Enter the power of the collective, the power of culture. The water in which you are swimming is the culture of your people and this is the tide that you have the power to change. Culture often provides great inertia or waves of change. Sometimes it is extremely helpful and sometimes it is damaging. It is up to each individual to determine what aspects of his or her own culture they are ready to participate in. Engage where you are willing, and not because someone told you to or because you want to fit in but because you choose this path. Walk with respect for all peoples.

Tangentially… If there is something you experience in your world that you do not like — for example a way of thinking or judging either yourself or others then know that we (collectively) have the ability to remove it from our interaction process. When those thoughts appear in your mind, thank them and release them into the flow to continue so that we can choose again another creative thought.

The practice of meditation will help you with this process. Becoming more agile at watching and releasing thoughts will help all of us recognize the place of power within us and in then in the light of love and caring for each other we can use this new found power to select the thoughts and the beliefs that serve us as a united people.

A word of caution to the psychonaught. Do not go alone into the wilderness of your mind. Bring a friend, many friends. Be sure to explore this territory in the arms of your brothers and sisters who dare walk beside you. And when you come back from this brave journey inwards please embrace the love of a natural phenomenon such as a pet, plant or project that reminds you the kindness of the physical world.

This is your home too -you are meant to be here and everything the process of unfolding is perfect exactly as it is, messy hearts and all.