response
I took the bus to a different part of Istanbul for a job interview. Traffic was jammed, the bus was packed, and I became hot and agitated.
Many people were coughing and sneezing, and we stood thigh to thigh.
My body immediately tensed. My hands were sweaty and clenched, my shoulders went up, and my back rounded in the stance of protection. All of this occurred within less than a second.
I closed my eyes and took deeper breaths. I imagined breathing for the entire bus: the young, old, and irritated bodies around me.
I centered on my heart and imagined sending white light to my hands and into the atmosphere.
As I focused on the visualization, my body softened. I was able to refine my posture and hold the light in a wide sphere that enveloped the length of the bus.
I stayed like this for forty minutes until I arrived at my destination. I performed the same reiki on the bus ride home.
If you’re unfamiliar with reiki, watch this clip of Morain from The Wheel of Time and skip forward to timecode 10:03 - 10:23.
As my discipline and devotion intensify, I’m noticing subtle shifts in the spaces I occupy.
Here is a quote I’ve been meditating on daily:
What you can do is limited; the self alone is unlimited. Give limitlessly — of yourself.
You alone are immeasurable. To help is your very nature. Even when you eat and drink, you help your body. For yourself, you need nothing. You are pure giving, beginning-less, endless, inexhaustible.
—Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The word responsible comes from the Latin word respons. It means ‘offered in return.’
I am sitting with the question of what I want to be responsible for and with whom—I want my response to be spacious, compassionate, and controlled.
To have such a response, I must be careful in how I place myself. When my energy is depleted, I have less to contribute when I enter spaces with others.
And I want to contribute. I want to give blessings and send light where there is disease. I want my body to be steady and soft—even when there is pain and stress, and especially when it is not mine.
Sending you love and white light,
Sera
Zoom Yoga
KRIYA VINYASA - WEDNESDAY
7am pst | 10am est | 4pm cet | 5pm trt
KUNDALINI YOGA - SATURDAY
8am pst | 11am est | 5pm cet | 6pm trt
These classes are open for everyone to attend.
Please email me directly if you want to be added to the weekly Zoom link list.
Poem s
Aura by Seraphina Dawn
I once cracked a sand
dollar to see its insidesI discovered tiny bones
shaped like doves.Petal-print shadows.
bleached by sunlight.A desire to be many,
and to be alone.Swish-swish-swish.
The needle skips.Light shatters to produce
color.
CURRENTLY
What I’m reading:
◇ The Unreal and The Real by Ursula Le Guin.
What I’m watching:
◇ Extrapolations on Apple TV
What I’m listening to:
Quote of the Week:
Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.
― Ursula Le Guin
2 questions to brew on:
What will your response to the world be in the coming weeks?
What are you/will you be responsible for?