Words to inspire, poems from the 2017 Sleeping Lady Retreat

I was lucky enough to spend three days with a fabulous group of openhearted yogis a the Sleeping Lady Resort in Leavenworth this past weekend. We shared beautiful practice, amazing food and the wonderful opportunity to watch seasons change right before our very eyes. As part of the weekend, I shared several poems, here they are to inspire you on your own journey:

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From our first practice on Saturday morning:

The Weaver & The Loom
by Dana Faulds
Sit here for a bit. Place yourself
​outside the frenzied pace of life.
Slow down long enough to
appreciate birds in flight, water
drops like prisms in the grass and
countless shades of green. Step
off the fast track and listen to the
sound of breath and birdsong. Take
a moment to just be, and in the being,
know the whole of this creation,
mystery and madness, passion and
profanity, know it all as one, stunning
tapestry. Sit still and the thin line
between sacred and profane simply
fades away. There is nothing then
to reconcile. All the disparate threads
are woven on the loom of life. Sit here
for a bit and your unique place in the
pattern becomes clear. Take the still
point with you when it’s time to walk
away. Make the choice to see affinity,
to watch the picture taking shape as
thread joins thread. Dare to be the
weaver and the loom, creator and
creation, the sower and the sown.
In a moment of stillness, all that
came before is seen as one. 
 
Let It Go
by Dana Faulds
Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold, the holding of plans or dreams or expectations – Let it all go.
Save your strength to swim with the tide.
The choice to fight what is here before you now will only result in struggle, fear, and desperate attempts to flee from the very energy you long for.
Let go. Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes through your days whether you received it gently or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders.
Take this on faith; the mind may never find the explanations that it seeks, but you will move forward nonetheless.
Let go, and the wave’s crest will carry you to unknown shores, beyond your wildest dreams or destinations.
Let it all go and find the place of rest and peace, and certain transformation.

Quiet friend who has come so far
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent Earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

And from Sunday's meditation:

Setting Forth
by Dana Faulds
Something will be born from
this goodbye. In the pain of
setting forth, something will die.
With the release of the old
comes a moment when nothing
is firmly held, and the unknown
burns the bridges of the past.

When the smoke clears, my eyes
seek out the new horizon.
Nothing is known here, but
the air is sweet and breathing
deeply I see long dormant
seeds send up their shoots
from the fertile ground of change.
As leaves unfurl to meet the sun,
the circle is complete.
I will not forget a single
step of this journey, nor will I
let comfort lock me
in its warm embrace.

I do not know what fruit these
seeds will bear, but I have faith
that what is taking root today
will surprise me with its vigor.
In birth and death,
in breath and the final exhalation,
there is pain and the movement
into truth. I take the step
that I am called to even if
I do not know the final destination.