Category Archives: Sustainable and Healthy Living Practices

Twelve Wellness Perspectives

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As a yoga teacher, a strength training coach, and an outdoor educator, I thought I’d summarize some of what I’ve learned throughout my own personal life experiences in the format of my own 12-step outline for personal wellness. I call them perspectives because they are topics to be considered and perhaps explored further (they’ll have different meanings for different people), and because that’s what I’m now calling my Vermont-based coaching work: Perspective Coaching.

So, today I am posting a draft of my outline for my friends to review and to help guide me as I develop content for the next twelve posts.

I come to this effort with a desire to help readers evolve to a healthier – perhaps more sustainable – lifestyle. My assumption is that each of us are struggling to exist in a challenging world, that each of us have our own life-story of hardship and distress, and that each of us is looking for a way to flow through life with a greater sense of ease and common good. I’m also offering these 12 wellness practices from a guy’s perspective… but I’m not intending it to be only for guys.

My preliminary outline is below. Within each topic, my plan is to develop how-to’s which give some options for people to try. Please contact me with comments.

I’ll discuss perspectives my own experiences in Yin Yoga and Power Yoga, indigenous cultures, experiential and adventure learning, therapeutic and adaptive yoga and sports, western strength training and wellness practices, and my own body-mind-spirit explorations.

1. Calm Waters: Finding Safety in the Storm. (I’ll discuss basic practices to help calm the nervous system, including surrounding yourself with support.)

2. Breathe: Our Primary Focus. (I’ll discuss breathing techniques and some visualization practices to enhance abilities to find calmness and focus.)

3. Cultivating Awareness: Being our own Witness. (I’ll bring attention to the concept of observing your thoughts and not becoming attached to them.)

4. Heart Sense: Moving from Head to Heart. (I’ll discuss concepts such as acceptance and compassion, and share practices which help develop intuition and sense of inner knowing… and moving away from a life of judgment and comparison… and moving towards a thriving life, naturally.)

5. Setting Intention: What am I Practicing? (Based on the idea that we become what we practice in life, I’ll discuss goal-setting practices and the benefits of setting positive intentions… and living in a manner as if they are already happening.)

6. Reach Deep: The Courage to be Your Self. (I’ll discuss practices to let go of “what you think should be” and to develop an attitudes of positivity and courage. I’ll discuss the concept of Dharma, and realizing your strengths.)

7. Mindful Movement: Finding Inner Power and Balance. (I’ll discuss basic principles of yoga asana and mindful strength training practices, and developing physical balance and alignment. I’m guessing that this will my focus for further posts too.)

8. Nurturing Harmony: Stabilizing Attention and Intention. (I’ll discuss practices which support finding equanimity and personal harmony, including the benefits of nutrition and regular practice.)

9. Adventurous Spirit: Maintaining Attitudes of Awe and Discovery. (The world is constantly changing. I’ll discuss practices which enhance abilities to learn, adapt, and sustain an awesome life in the light. Live a life full of experiences.)

10. Practice Loving-Kindness: The Karma of Connection. (I’ll discuss the concepts of Karma, Oneness, Gaia, and the importance of feeling connected and engaged in the bigger picture, with others, with nature… and perhaps leading changes within your family and community, one relationship at a time.)

11. Reflections: Strengthening Learning and Self-Regulation. (The learning occurs during the times of reflection. I’ll discuss non-judgmental reflection and de-brief practices.)

12. Starting Again: Life Goes On. (I like to look at my life according to the legend of Kokopelli, bringing joy to my surroundings, one day at a time, planting seeds, then moving on. I’ll discuss this perspective, the power of living in the present, but also the concept of being part of the evolutionary cycle of life. My Soul Lives.)

Be Selfish. Practice Yoga.

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When teaching yoga to young people, especially when many of them are new to yoga, I remind them that the practice of yoga is really about learning about themselves and perhaps how they each relate to the world. I ask them to be selfish; to take away from their yoga practice the necessary skills and knowledge that might be relevant to their current lives and their personal goals.

At a fundamental level, our basic instinct is to survive. We can’t help anyone else if we aren’t alive and able. Learning how to adapt and be resilient in a changing world is fundamental to our existence, each of us, individually and collectively. This starts with awareness and presence. What’s going on now? Use yoga to learn present-moment awareness. Use mindfulness-based practices to not let your personal intentions get “hijacked” or disrupted by distractions and unimportant mental constructs. Use yoga-based movements to train your body to be balanced, strong yet flexible, hard yet soft, determined yet adaptable, aging yet youthful. Use these skills to be aware of change as it happens and to survive through, or breathe through, or move through, the inevitable hardships and stressful challenges in your life. Use yoga to re-program your body when stressful or traumatic events happen, to re-wire your neurological circuitry and let go of bodily stressors which no longer serve you, and to build resilient whole-bodies.

In a competitive world, our desire is to perform well. To win a game, we practice playing the skills of the game better. To score well on an exam, we study and learn the information being tested. If we don’t perform well, it’s not a reflection on who we are, the fabric of our being; we just didn’t perform well. Use yoga to learn focus and to enhance personal mind-body-spirit performance. By learning to let go of thoughts and behaviors that aren’t serving you well nor enhancing your overall ability to perform well, you are better able to focus, to see clearly, and to perform naturally as you have learned and practiced. By focusing on the performance of your whole being – body, mind and spirit – you bring your whole best-self to the game of life.

In our modern world, our instinct is to strive for happiness. We tend to be happier when we are well. We tend to be happier when we feel engaged and connected to people in our lives and in the natural world around us. Use yoga to discover your strengths, what makes you thrive, and to learn how your body responds to healthful and unhealthful habits. Use yoga to discover the natural and instinctive needs that our bodies desire for supportive personal interactions, community, time in nature, and feelings of acceptance, compassion, gratitude… and love.

Of course, survival and performance and happiness are all connected. We are all connected. Use yoga to explore the wondrous possibilities of mind-body-spirit connections, the miraculous possibilities of our human existence, and the infinite Oneness of our Universe. Feel connected. Accept possibilities. Have faith. Practice.

Infinite Possibilities

Infinite Possibilities

Yoga is not just about seeing how far you can stretch or push yourself into a posture. Yoga is about learning about yourself and how you relate to everything around you; it’s about finding balance between your desire to strive and your natural instinct to just live; it’s about learning how to move through – and breathe through – life’s rough spots and living well when you’re tested; it’s about being aware, paying attention, and letting your whole-self thrive naturally and holistically.

Go ahead. Be selfish.

Survive well and be happy. For yourself.

Practice yoga.

We’ll all benefit from each other’s wholehearted practice!

 

 

 

A Winding Path. A Constant Direction.

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Bobopelli in VC City 2014

My work has led me on a winding path: architectural / structural engineering; teaching skiing and snowboarding; training and developing staff; leading outdoor hiking and biking trips; teaching middle / high school; designing homes; managing programs, projects, and businesses; improving systems and processes; facilitating health and wellness programs; training athletes; working with wounded veterans and people with disabilities; teaching yoga. It’s been a wild ride, full of adventure, full of learning, full of change, full of kindness and love.

In fact, I am going through another change right now as I announce my re-re-retirement as an actively employed professional engineer. Yes, I will continue to help long-standing clients like Vermont Barns and The Wadsworth Company as a part-time design and business development consultant; I still enjoy the creative, problem-solving process collaborating with like-minded timber frame artisans and Vermont “homestead” developers. But, I am letting go (again) of the identity of a professional structural engineer. I don’t believe the identity alone allows me to thrive on a day-to-day basis in my natural wholehearted way.

My path has always been directed with the intention of helping people, serving others, and making connections… Connections between what-we-do-today and a greater good, connections between people, connections between challenges and answers, connections between ways-of-living and nature, connections between mind and body and spirit, connections which help us all come together…

So, whether it’s working in the non-profit or the educational sector or the wellness sector, whether it’s working independently or as an employee, whether it’s coaching or teaching or leading or training or facilitating groups, I’m back on my way. Diverse, yet directed.

Kokopelli lives on. Planting seeds. Spreading joy. Bringing new life to local villages.

Wish me luck. I’m open to ideas. But, I really just wanted to say:

I’m baaack!

2013-11-23 Visual Vision

Connect, Cooperate and Collaborate

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I believe it is our natural, indigenous tendency to get along with each other: to connect, to cooperate, and to collaborate. It is at least the way I work best. From my perspective, we are responsible for ourselves and for each other.

It seems that we live in a world of specialization, separation, competition, comparison, and blaming others for things that occur in our lives. Things happen. But we are all in this together, aren’t we?

Who-we-are, in my opinion, is NOT the story of what-happens-to-us. Who-we-are relates to how we practice living in our daily lives, how we do what we do. Are we practicing living our daily lives in a manner consistent with our life’s purpose? Are we paying attention to our intentions, individually and collectively? And, are we missing out on real opportunities for expressing our higher selves and living full lives by separating ourselves and not connecting with others?

It is with these thoughts and feelings that I will try to better focus the work I do, again. I have believed for a long time that my work should be a true expression of who I am. In an economy based on competition and comparison, it seems natural that most workplaces promote attitudes of competition and comparison, specialization and separation, sometimes requiring daily work defined by the needs of others or an employer. It is so easy to be caught up in the race…

One of my skill-sets is problem-solving in the professions of building systems, structural and architectural engineering. I have found challenging and engaging work in these fields. I have accomplished much for which I am very proud. But, it is difficult to express myself fully in this field of work alone, to approach my work in my natural wholehearted manner, when I am defined by someone else’s definition of my scope of work and my job responsibilities. I don’t want the business needs of someone else (an employer, for instance) to define who I am.

It’s time to take charge of my work and my career, again, and to find like-minded, inspired individuals and organizations with whom to connect, cooperate, and collaborate. I am confident that I can find ways to better practice living and working in a manner more consistent with these intentions here in this southern Vermont community.

I am so very fortunate to have a few people in my life who see the bigger me, the real me, and who have consistently believed in me and my work. Thank you Rob and Besty Wadsworth of Vermont Barns and The Wadsworth Company, Jo Kirsch and Andrea Ross of Heart of the Village Yoga Studio, Linda Walsh and Larry Geller of Ability Plus, Eva Belanger of Warriors Live On, and Paul Jensen of Albany Therapeutic Massage and Sports Performance Center. Thank you also to my yoga teachers, especially Beryl Bender Birch, Biff Mithoefer, and Eoin Finn… and Jo Kirsch… and also every skier and snowboarder with whom I’ve ever shared the slopes… for helping me see my light. Thanks also to my parents, Alex and Natalie, Jo (again), and my warrior brothers and sisters, for accepting me and standing with me… even when I walk astray. And thank you even to my engineering peers, who have continually given me the chance to perform valuable and important community-building work, albeit somewhat specialized, even when I randomly walk in and out of their business world!

So, I am announcing that I am re-re-retiring from my work as an employed professional engineer! I will continue to do some project development and design work as a self-employed consultant, working on projects and collaborating with organizations doing timber-framed and sustainable home design/build work, but I will also focus more and more on working with non-profits and educational organizations as a coach, a teacher, a visionary, and a team leader and facilitator, too… connecting, cooperating, and collaborating.

Here we go again. One life to live…. celebrate impermanence!

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Inner Power: Balancing Life-Forces

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I’ve been fortunate so far in this life to be able to “weather the storms” which often bring havoc to our lives. Sometimes, I feel like I need to be the rock which stands steadfast in the storm, clinging to my mission. Sometimes, I feel like the best course of action is to let go and let the natural forces of nature guide me to a better place.

As I reflect back, I wonder about this sense of inner power which has helped guide me through these ever-occurring changes.  It seems to simply emanate from an understanding and appreciation of opposing life-forces, then practicing ways to find steadiness and equanimity as these forces shift.

From a Tao perspective, one might say that our spirit is guided by opposing forces. On the Yin side, we accept that our life is an animation of our organic matter and our natural instincts. On the Yang side, we shape our character through our life choices and our expression of ego.

We are consumed by a culture that focuses on the Yang: comparing our situation to others, then making choices, often ego-based, to create the situation we desire in life. Our actions are usually self-directed, fighting external forces with personal strength, determination and ambition. It’s often a “win-or-go-home” attitude; be successful (in comparison to others) in order to survive. We participate in competitive sports, we strive to get higher grades, we compete to have better jobs or make more money or be socially accepted, in order to build character and a sense of self as expressed in comparison to others.

We often see success from this perspective… from an externally-based sense of power and strength.

But in the long-run, I wonder if real power, inner power, comes from more of a balanced perspective between Yang and Yin, action and non-action, pushing forward and letting go, outward action and inward acceptance.

Perhaps this is why more and more people are finding comfort in restorative Yin yoga, meditation, and other relaxing mindfulness-based practices. Perhaps that is why more and more people are choosing community-based service as a means to find personal happiness and satisfaction. Perhaps this is why more and more young people are choosing cooperative relationship-based lifestyles over highly competitive work environments. Perhaps this is why we are paying more and more attention to the ways of our natural environment and the survival of our earth and our climate.

Instinctively, we know deep inside we are living in an unsustainable “red zone” of stress and externally-based achievement. We know deep inside that our health and happiness depends on feelings of connectedness with others, with nature, and with everything around us.

Perhaps the pendulum is swinging back towards our Yin nature and an enhanced understanding and acceptance of our instinctual nature as we find balance again. Perhaps with this balance we will feel a more powerful sense of flowing-with-life.

For me at least, it seems that developing an understanding of these opposing forces helps me maintain a sense of calm in the storm, a sense of purpose within the chaos, and an inner sense of power that is unending. And it seems that as I understand more and more about my body through yoga, personal exploration and interpersonal relationships, and time in nature, I know that many of the answers in life are inside of me, and within my power to let (or make) happen.

I guess it is my Yin nature that helps me realize that inner power comes from a deep feelings of connection with the Universe, and feelings of unconditional love and respect for everything which lies both within me and outside of me.

And if I operate from this place, perhaps, I will better utilize my Yang capabilities to effectively impact this world in more positive, sustainable, and powerful ways.

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Consulting vs Coaching

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Years ago when I was in high school considering college options and thinking about career choices, I knew I wanted to do work that benefited people and the planet. I was good at math, science and art. I was more attracted to being outside than spending time indoors. And, I seemed to enjoy figuring things out on my own. My dad was an engineer. My neighbor told me about civil engineering (engineers solving people’s civilization problems). So for me, it was a decision between architecture and engineering. Within 4 years of graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in engineering (civil/structural), I was a professional engineer working with architects on building design projects. Within a few years, I was an associate and by the time I was 30 years old, a principal (part owner) in a top-ranked structural engineering firm in New York State. I was on a fast-track for sure.

My work gravitated to project management, client relations, and more and more, human resources and staff leadership. I enjoyed being a mentor. I enjoyed exploring personality styles to consider ways to improve office communications. I enjoyed building a sense of team and improving the quality of our services by taking advantage of multiple talents and areas of expertise.

All during these years, from the time I was a sophomore in high school, I taught skiing on weekends. I became full-certified as an instructor while still in college. My spirit has always soared outside, in nature, in the mountains, in the trees… skiing, riding, hiking, biking, camping…

After more than a dozen very successful years doing engineering work, I decided to take a year away. I felt the desire to take a time-out. I had never really taken an extended vacation before. Things in my personal life were in a bit of an upheaval as I went through a divorce, and I just knew inside that there was something more that I was destined to do.

During these years of renewed career decision-making, I rode my bicycle around the south island of New Zealand; I competed in triathlons and bicycle endurance events; I took a month-long NOLS course in the Washington Cascade Mountains; I led mountain bike tours. I was offered full-time employment in a ski school as a manager. I met Jo and Alex and Natalie. I moved to Vermont.

Since that time, my life has been in a continuous state of change and exploration, exploring consulting engineering work and outdoor education work, being a step-father, and learning more and more about myself as I was thrust back towards my original childhood vision… helping people.

My consulting work in Vermont is a little bit more hands-on and directed more towards earth-friendly pursuits- timber framing, sustainable design, community revitalization projects, home design. In Southern Vermont, however, people don’t often value the services of structural / architectural engineers; the people of Vermont are little bit more hands-on and self-empowered to do their own design and construction work.

My coaching work seemed to build more and more upon my strengths-based perspective learned first during my engineering work, later magnified when leading a snow sports program founded on strengths-based principles, then ultimately coming to fruition while coaching adaptive sports later on.

I’ve learned also that if we want to ultimately live in a more sustainable and earth-friendly way as a society, it is going to start with an aware and motivated society. It seems to me that I may be of more value to society (and the earth) helping coach people to be more aware and motivated to take care of themselves (which in turn necessitates taking care of others and the world they live in) than waiting for the aware and motivated client to look my way for sustainable design services.

So, more and more, I try to limit the consulting time I spend on design projects that are not complimenting my idea of a healthier society, and more and more time coaching people towards a healthier state-of-being. For me, it’s similar work in that I try to “connect the dots” (figure out solutions to client goals), whether for people-coaching-type work or for building-consulting-type work. For me, it’s also interesting to reflect back on the choices I made, and the paths I followed, and how they all tend to fit together. Original childhood dreams and talents… discovered strengths and abilities learned through many career paths and personal explorations… tough times and more joyful times… logical choices and intuitive choices… all have unfolded in mysterious and magical ways. There has been something learned, something valuable, from each step of my life.

The NOLS educational experience was a game-changer for me; people having heartfelt, team-building experiences in nature, then going back to their own real worlds inspired to make positive nature-sensitive and people-helping-people changes in their local communities. It seemed like a good model to me! I feel like since that time, I’ve been pulled towards creating similar-type educational experiences for people.

Maybe my consulting will be more and more about coaching. Hmmm.

Time for another time-out? After all, the learning is in the reflecting…

Bodybuilding and Yoga

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I started lifting weights in my adult life primarily as a means, I told myself and others, to maintain an athletic lifestyle late into life… to be able to ski and ride well for as long as possible.

Inside, however, I think I knew it just made me feel good… it was easier to maintain positive energy, I became more active, I became more aware of my whole body (the union of body-mind-spirit), and I liked how I looked.

So, here was my dilemma: I believe my natural self to be relatively ego-less… or perhaps said differently, more comfortable in a non-attention-getting environment; I thrive when I feel like I’m helping things function better or people live happier in a behind-the-scenes way. My perception of the term “bodybuilding” seemed to be in conflict with my natural tendencies to not draw attention to myself. After all, weren’t bodybuilders just bringing attention from others to themselves? Wasn’t I just bringing attention to myself?

But as my strength training regimen continued, and my interest in understanding my whole body grew, I realized more and more that I was building my whole body. As my body adapted to how I trained and practiced living, my mind adapted, my emotions adapted, and my sense of self adapted. I knew my (whole) body better.

And as I knew my body better, I listened to my body better. I came to realize both from my expanding yoga practice and my expanding bodybuilding lifestyle, that my body, my whole body, knows innately how to be healthy and happy. I just have to listen and understand it.

I now know that modern Hatha yoga asana and bodybuilding grew together in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s with the rise of an international “physical culture” and a growing interest in fitness and body-mind-soul health. (1) Many of these Western-influenced, posture-focused yogis were indeed also bodybuilders and gymnasts.

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Push-Up or Chaturunga-Dandasana?

Come to think of it, when I lift (bodybuilding) I am present-moment focused, I am aware of my breath, and I am moving with my breath. That’s yoga, eh? When I practice yoga asana, I am flexing and extending my joints, I am working on body strength (stability) and flexibility (mobility), and I am focused on being my naturally awesome self… accepting how I am, yet putting in the dedicated daily work required to bring out my best. That’s bodybuilding, yes?

I also wonder now if bodybuilding, when viewed from the perspective of whole-body building, is a way for us to view a sustainable world. It seems to me that when I pay attention to my whole body, I eat more naturally and am healthier, I care more about the survival and happiness of our interconnected communities, and I maintain a long-term perspective of my life and our world. I am more resilient. I live, I learn, and I adapt. I value everything more, because I know what my body desires… and it desires whole health (for survival)… and it desires interdependent, supportive relationships with all (also for survival).

Through whole-body building and yoga-practicing, I know my body. And now I know that my body knows the way to be healthy and happy.

And yes, my body knows that being outside with others… skiing and riding, hiking and biking… connected… is where it feels alive!

(1) Singleton, Mark: Yoga Body – The Origins of Modern Posture Practice; Oxford University Press (2010).

 

One Perspective: Daily Intentions + Long-Term Vision

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Health and happiness can be found living in the present moment.

Yet, we often find our minds wandering into the future or stuck in the past.

I am a very big-picture person; I have an innate desire to understand, Why? That is, how does what-I-do-today relate to who-I-am and my understanding of myself and my life, or how do my daily actions relate to my life’s goals?

For me, once I understand my long-term vision of my life, it becomes easier for me to find ways each day to manifest that vision.

It all starts with a continued practice of understanding who I am, much of which is just learned by living life each day, taking the next step, and paying attention… being open to change and different perspectives.

It is reinforced by a mindful intention to be aware, to accept what is happening around me, and to adapt with ease and mindful intention to learn and proceed accordingly.

It is heightened by my realization that I can’t control the future and that becoming attached to an outcome might only cause suffering.

It is solidified in the inner-knowing that I am a child of the Universe, alone on the one hand doing the best I can, but intimately connected to, and supported by, everyone and everything around me.

All I can do each day is to act in alignment with my long-term vision of who I am… and intentionally bring my presence back to that mindful intention whenever my life’s experience takes me on a different path.

“Take a mindful step forward each day in an intentional direction, letting go of the last step, and having faith in the next step. Walk today towards your dreams of tomorrow… realizing everything could change tomorrow when you will step again. Act out your intentions today, and your dreams for tomorrow will live today.”

If you want to be good, walk with goodness. If you want to be at peace, walk with a peaceful presence. If you want to feel love, walk with loving-kindness in your heart. If you want to feel inner power, walk with a sense of inner knowing.

Walk your walk. Today.

Bobopelli in VC City 2014

Dignity and Mindfulness

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A few weeks ago, I shared a personal vision that spoke of my intention to lead in a manner that inspires dignity.

I defined dignity as follows: an internal state of peace that comes with the recognition and acceptance of the value and vulnerability of all living things. (1)

One might also think of dignity as practicing non-judgmental awareness in a manner which leads to kindness and feelings of compassion for yourself and for others. One might also just think of this as practicing a higher level of respect for yourself and for others.

Practicing this awareness in a sustainable way is what we might call practicing loving-kindness mindfulness.

Here are some steps to help develop this practice: (2)

  1. Find yourself in a state of support and safety, perhaps somewhere where you feel connected to nature
  2. Set your intention, answering the question “What am I practicing?”
  3. Cultivate a witnessing perspective, observing your thoughts like clouds drifting by, being aware of your inner landscape and old unhealthy autopilot reactions
  4. Stabilize attention and strengthen focus, using the breathe as a tool to nurture the harmony of intention and attention
  5. Strengthen self-regulation, settling negative energies intentionally and shortening the time that it takes you to recover from emotional hijackings
  6. Practice loving-kindness meditation, calming the inner critic and practicing non-judgmental acceptance and compassion for yourself and others.

Tetons- Bob Meditating

I have led workshops or classes intended to help people heal, build self-esteem and resiliency, and find happiness. Many of these workshops have utilized outdoor education and strengths-based adventure as a means to build a sense of self and self-efficacy. To me, however, successful experiences all start with a inherent culture of dignity and mindfulness.

It is time to practice.

What’s your perspective?

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(1) Donna Hicks, PhD (2011): “Dignity – The Essential Role It Plays in Resolving Conflict”

(2) Terry Fralich, LCPC, JD (2014): “The Five Core Skills of Mindfulness – A Direct Path to More Confidence, Joy and Love”

Reflecting upon Blissology YTT Van City 2014

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Bobopelli in VC City 2014

I arrived home last night at 2:30 am after attending a 100-hr teacher immersion with Eoin Finn and Blissology in Vancouver, BC. I wrote down the following reflections on the first leg of my trip home.

The group of 20-some participants discussed their personal missions in life. Mine has ebbed and flowed around certain themes over the years as I uncover more and more of my authentic nature, but I wanted to expand upon my “ribbon-sized” shared statement. It is enhanced by the interactions I’ve shared with each of my YTT partners; I thank each of them from the deepest part of my heart. 

My expanded “Life Mission” statement:

To Live, Love, Learn, and Lead… For the ultimate benefit of Earth and our Oneness Nature, but beginning with the experiences and interactions I have each day along each step of my journey.

My definitions:

Live- to experience the richness of a full life, each day as a soaring spirit and as a grounded soul;
Love- to nurture life; to demonstrate care and attention towards all things on Earth, beginning with myself and radiating unselfishly both outwards and inwards,
Learn- explore with a sense of wonder and joy the interconnectedness of all things and of all my experiences;
Lead- With a sense of humbleness and awe, plant seeds of Illumination and walk a path inspiring Dignity and Divinity.

Earth- our planet viewed as a single organism; Gaia.

Illumination- to raise consciousness; to help others see their light and to thrive.
Dignity- an internal state of peace that comes with the recognition and acceptance of the value and vulnerability of all living things.
Divinity- Our collective consciousness, raised through deep feelings of presence, connectivity, peace and Love.

Oneness Nature- Each of us is but one piece of a magical natural puzzle called the Universe. However, each of us is also a powerful piece of the puzzle, for the puzzle is not complete without us. In community, together both as One individual organism, and with each other as One collective organism, we Live.

One Living Universe- the unexplained mystery which connects us all, the flowing structure within the chaos, the changing puzzle, the wonder which always has and always will inspire us towards a more magical state of bliss and joy…. often called Enlightenment or Heaven… It is found both within us and outside of us, in the present moment, with each soothing breathe, with each mindful step we take.

Some other reflections:

Everything happens as it’s supposed to, following natural flows and attractions of energy within us and all around us. Ever since the days of my youth when I would lay below the stars in open fields and feel connected in a multi-dimensional way, I believe I have known this deep within. Reflecting in a mindful way on past experiences, I see the many connections and teachings along the way. Here are some reflections and intentions written on my plane ride last night:

A dozen years ago, I started a consulting business called Gaia Structures, LLC, intended to help people design earth-friendly, timber framed homes. I studied sustainable design at a post-graduate level; I’ve designed many healthy and energy-efficient homes. After this immersion, I am reminded that I know that my mission extends well beyond the mental processes of my current work… this immersion has helped validate my natural strengths in other more humanistic, holistic, and yogic ways.  I will set my intention to transform my company to a consulting organization which better supports my life mission to include work as a Life Coach, Consultant, and Group Facilitator or Leader, based on principles of yoga, sustainability (Gaia), experiential education, and integrated health. I will combine healthy living leadership work with my healthy home consulting work; I will continue my current educational interests in nutrition, strength and conditioning, and integrated wellness, and expand my study of yoga. I will start teaching and facilitating wellness events at Heart of the Village Yoga Studio (as the Owner allows). Maybe even one day, I’ll also be an affiliated Blissology teacher or workshop facilitator!

For the first two dozen years of my professional career, I pursued work geared towards my life mission, but from more of a place of career building, family support, and personal attributes of responsibility and integrity. I successfully performed work which was very fulfilling, in leadership roles, yet usually intellectually-based. I am after-all a problem-solver or solutions-finder, relating present challenge to future vision, finding clarity or structure in the multitude options or variables. (See previous post on Structural Engineering written one month ago.) In Eoin, I saw a mind that finds solutions in a similar way, from a yogic perspective and with an innate inquisitiveness.

Marrying Jo, Alex and Natalie more than 17 years ago exposed me to a world of emotions that has helped my spirit soar in ways previously not experienced. We’ve soared together, high and low, through lightness and darkness. We’ve experienced life to its fullest; we’ve experienced life as it fades away. Recently, for a period of 3 years, Jo and I were blessed to have the opportunity to serve others as a result of what we learned from our darkest days with our work at the Adaptive Sports Foundation and with the Wounded Warrior Project. Through it all, I have come to know me better. After this immersion, I have a greater sense of the valuable insights I personally already have regarding helping others heal and find happiness in their lives. For us, healing and finding happiness through yoga is real.

My father passed away one year ago; he was a hard-working man of high integrity, dedicated family values, and community service; he was mourned by a community that had previously recognized him in the naming of a new school library and media center. I slept by his side on his last night, held his hand as the morning sun rose, and watched as his spirit left his body alongside my siblings and his wife of almost 65 years, my mother. I had helped care for him in his last years. I have come away from this event feeling like it is time for me to expand my wings, using both the strength of his spirit and the freedom from his earthly care.

Natalie graduated from college last year; both kids are happily employed in Boston. Jo has successfully started a new yoga studio, Heart of the Village Yoga Studio, and has found a new sense of peace and connection with the community and with our one-year old dog, Emma. She already shared with you how she felt the power of these relationships and their personal value while being away from them on our trip to Vancouver. During the immersion, I suspect she also validated the power of her previous experiences and her yoga teaching expertise. I think we both have come home with a new sense of clarity, confidence, and connection with our Manchester home community and being out in nature. I feel like I can now give myself permission to expand my wings and ” let go of the reigns” somewhat at this point in our lives.

On our trip, I had time to practice, observe, feel, and participate away from the intellectually-based world of structural engineering. Like Jo, I was also reminded of the power of my previous life experiences and teaching insights. I found a yoga mentor in Eoin whose teachings resonated with me and my inner wisdom… I have always found my spirituality in nature, in the mountains, helping others fly and find happiness. I was inspired by what I learned from Eoin about the physical body, it’s alignment, and the relationships between my understanding of yoga asana and current strength and conditioning methodologies. I see consistency in the balancing of stability and mobility approach in the Blissology concepts, whereas before I saw yoga placing too much emphasis on just mobility. I come away wanting to practice and learn more; I am no longer frustrated by the limitations of my own physical body.

I am my father’s son; I care for my mother; I am my wife’s partner and my kids’ step-father; I am the mentor of some and have inspired some more. I have done my best, and that is good enough. I am now giving myself permission to let my wings expand in ways that may be risky and more variable, emotionally and economically, but in ways that may help me soar higher and better fulfill my life mission… A mission that I believe has been within me forever.

To Eoin, Dylan, Steph, Alissa, Insiya, and my fellow YTT partners- THANK YOU! These reflections come to me as a result of our personal and group interactions. I ask for your continued loving support; I will feel it across the Universe, wherever we are. I will carry your influences forever; our individual pieces of our infinite puzzle have come together and will be forever linked. I am very grateful for that. Remember, if 1 + 1 = 3, than our Universe is expanding!!! Thank you! I love each of you. Be Inspired. Be well. Now life goes on…

Explanation:

My tattoo of Kokopelli is intended to remind me of my intention to plant and nurture seeds of life and joy in whatever village I visit… The wings remind me to keep a heavenly perspective. I got the tattoo with the first wounded warrior I met 5 years ago. He got one on his chest that said, “Let Love Live”…. I pray each day that it does… That he does… And that I do.

To steal the words of a great philosopher friend of mine named Zach: Love + Peace!