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“Let your capital be simplicity and contentment.”
- Henry David Thoreau
 Photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane In our ever increasingly endangered world, voluntary simplicity is an idea that looks at ways of living that are vital for building a feasible future. This idea is not new, over two thousand years ago Christians were saying “Give me neither poverty nor wealth,” (Proverbs 30:8). Taoists said “He who knows he has enough is rich” (Lao Tzu). Buddhists were recommending the “middle way”—the place between poverty and mindless accumulation. Continue reading Simplicity and Contentment
 Artwork by Eileen MacAvery Kane May there be good health and healing for this Earth,
May there be Beauty above me, May there be Beauty below me,
May there be Beauty in me, May there be Beauty all around me.
I ask that this world be filled with Peace, Love, and Beauty.
(excerpt from Earth Healing Ceremony Prayer) Continue reading An Earth Day Wish
 Photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane The ability to focus all the mind’s attention toward one thing is the foundation of dhyana or meditation—and is absolutely necessary if the practitioner is to reach the liberation of samadhi.
People learning meditation are instructed to focus on their breath. This is one way of achieving focus. Visualizing a single flower petal or a single raindrop are other ways to narrow your focus. Whatever your method, your goal is the same—filter out all the “noise”—the stuff that makes your mind race like a drunken monkey. Focusing on one object or one of our senses creates a deep sense of unity with the object or activity—helping us to achieve samadhi—the highest state of consciousness.
Source:
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/461?utm_source=Wisdom&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=Wisdom
 Photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane Pratyahara, the fifth limb in Ashtanga yoga, means to consciously withdraw energy from the senses and the world. In yoga one way to begin to understand it is to practice the corpse pose. By remaining motionless and letting go of all stress and tension, you begin to achieve a wonderful state of stillness while the world goes on around you. You achieve a state of nonreaction—like a leaf floating on the water, you are in the world, but not of it.
Source:
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/459?utm_source=DailyInsight&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=DailyInsight
Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house … kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness. –Mother Teresa
 Photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane Love is the message of the Heart Chakra and we bow in homage to it. The element of Anahata, the Heart Charka, is air. Air spreads and energizes. Like water, air assumes the shape of whatever it fills. We naturally imitate the people around us, we adopt their ideas about appropriate behavior, and we feel what they feel. Acts of charity are no exception, they will spread like air.
Read more about the science of spreading good.
Sources:
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=201
http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/898?page=5
“Ultimately, blind faith is the only kind.”
-Mason Cooley
 "Moonrise" by Eileen MacAvery Kane Faith (Pāli: saddhā, Sanskrit: śraddhā) is an important element of the teachings of the Buddha for all traditions of Buddhism, though the kind and nature of faith changes in the different schools. Continue reading Faith
 Photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane The mantra for Anahata (the heart chakra) is Yum. Maybe that’s why chocolate is associated with Valentine’s Day:)
Mentally repeat this wonderful word as you focus on love, kindness, compassion, self-acceptance, forgiveness, hope, sympathy, empathy—and eat chocolate.
People often surround themselves with beautiful crystals while meditating. Crystals are used as conduits for finding inner peace as well as healing through their unique properties.
We can also use the ethereal and soothing sounds made by crystals to tone our bodies and mind. Sacred Music Practicioner and Sound Healer Amy McTear says our bodies are crystalline in nature. Quartz crystal has the ability to receive, store, and transmit energy, which is why it is used in most advanced telecommunication systems such as computers, telephones and radio equipment. The crystal singing bowls that McTear uses in her practice are made of pure silicon quartz crystal. When struck they emit a pure tone that influences the fluid, muscle, bone, tissue and energetic field of the human body. Active listening and receiving of the pure sounds of the bowls can take us to places of deep tranquility.
Source:
http://amymctear.com/crystal_singing_bowls.html
 Photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane Light visualization is often used in meditation. You can also use it to aid in healing the physical body. A recent Yoga Journal article advises us to visualize a shining light radiating from our heart chakra in order to keep our shoulders back. This will help prevent slouching and all its adverse effects.
 photo by Eileen MacAvery Kane Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time.
~Deborah Chaskin
When we decide we want change, we want it immediately. It’s often hard to realize that the work we are putting into it may seem long and tiresome, just like a caterpillar trudging along. As one unknown author said, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
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