YOGA IN PARADISE 2026
CONTEMPLATIONS
Put Yourself Back in the Center of Your Life
Sit quietly until one real, true thing emerges for you to do, and then go and do it.
If there are things to get rid of, let them go.
If there is something you want for yourself, go get it.
If there is something you know you must do, go do it.
If you need to enlist the support of others, let your needs be known.
If they won’t help you, go get it from someone who will.
If you’re tired of being good, try being naughty.
When your life is filled up with yourself, then you will be able to give to others out of your fullness, rather than your neediness.
There will be no stopping you - all the good you can do.
~Carol Osbourne, excerpt from her book
“The Art of Resilience”
This Breath
The senses are such extroverts,
always seeking, always vigilant.
Invite them to rest in your center
and focus inside for a while.
Gather your wandering thoughts
the way a shepherd might search for
lost sheep and bring them home.
Breathe in peace and breathe
out peace, the flow of breath
connecting to your essence.
Whether you feel distracted or
serene, the peace that passes
understanding is right here,
in the midst of your experience.
Rest for a time, your only task
to witness what it is to be alive -
this breath, this streaming energy,
this precios, present moment
opening wide.
~Danna Faulds, from her book “What’s True Here”
AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS
I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost . . . I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place
but, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in . . . It’s a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.
Copyright 1983, by Portia Nelson from the book “There’s A Hole in My Sidewalk.” Reproduced with kind permission from Beyond Words Publishing, Hillsboro, Oregon.
Practicing Silence
We do not need to be experts or gurus or geniuses
to remember that all of existence is precious.
We do not need cathedrals to remind ourselves
to experience the sacred. We need only to be
deeply respectful of what is fundamentally true;
and that is what we rediscover
when we center ourselves in silence.
Each of us can make a difference.
Politicians and visionaries will not return us
to the sacredness of life.
That will be done by ordinary men and women
who together or alone can say,
”Remember to breathe, remember to feel,
remember to care,
let us do this for our children and ourselves
and our children’s children.
Let us practice for life’s sake.
~Gunilla Norris, from her book “Inviting Silence”
Praying to Be Kind
I used to think that
being smart, successful,
and accomplished was
the key. And then I
believed that being a
disciplined seeker would
open the doors to divinity.
Now it seems to me all
that really matters is
being kind - kind to my
stumbling, imperfect self,
kind to every other being
I meet along the way.
I pray for the rough edges
of my judgment to be
smoothed so what remains
is kindness and acceptance
of this unfolding moment.
Inside this kindness may I
find truth and may truth
illumine my way today. Amen
~Danna Faulds, from her book “What’s True Here”
LIFT THE VEIL
Kabir translated by Sushil Rao
lift the veil
that obscures
the heart
and there
you will find
what you are
looking for
“Maybe soup is what it’s about.
Perhaps we are not each here to live out loud,’ or ‘be our best selves’ so that we soar above the masses, bobbing madly like tall poppies, asking to be praised and singled out. Perhaps the highest we can hope for is, that at some point, we melt into the relationships we have with others, so that together we produce something that is a healing broth for the universe, none of us needing to be more special or exceptional than anyone or anything else.
Leonard Cohen said, ‘I found that things became a lot easier when I no longer expected to win. You abandon your masterpiece and sink into the real masterpiece.’
The soup is the masterpiece. To become part of the soup is perhaps what we’re here for.”
~ Joanne Fedler