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Latest Posts

  • Reflection Journal – Cultivating Steadiness and Calm
  • Winter Newsletter 2022/23
  • Sacred Circles – Survey
  • $10,000 from the Joan Feynman Climate Action Grant received through Rural Communities Foundation of NS
  • Bell Let’s Talk – mental health day
  • New Year Visioning Journal & Guided Meditation is here!
  • Igniting your Inner Wisdom

sacredcircles.yoga

147

sacredcircles.yoga
Open
Great circle yesterday with a wonderful group of people who are all working in the fields of climate change and land conservation. Thanks to @merseytobeatic for everything!! Was so fun to do an info session on an upcoming retreat and talk about our theme of cultivating resilience and hope with the amazing brian Braganza @tandemtruths.. funded in part by the Joan Feynman climate action grant through rural communities fund of Nova Scotia @rcfofns & thanks to @fancypantscafe for the wonderful treats ✨🤍✨#circlesoftrust #courageandrenewal #blessedlife #hope #communityjoy  #rcfns
Open
A Proclamation for Peace

Whereas the world is a house on fire;
Whereas the nations are filled
with shouting;
Whereas hope seems small, sometimes
a single bird on a wire
left by migration behind.
Whereas kindness is seldom in the news
and peace an abstraction
while war is real;
Whereas words are all I have;
Whereas my life is short;
Whereas I am afraid;
Whereas I am free—despite all
fire and anger and fear;
Be it therefore resolved a song
shall be my calling—a song
not yet made shall be vocation
and peaceful words the work
of my remaining days.
                              
Poem by Kim Stafford

Where might you be finding hope?

What song are you singing today?
#holdinghope #songsofhearts
Open
Giving and receiving welcome is a big cornerstone of circle work. Having a mindset of welcome - both the giving of it and the receiving can totally shift the quality of our interactions with others. 

Its an invitation to choose to treat others as we want to be treated. It is giving people the benefit of the doubt and choosing to be open and welcoming rather than shutoff, judging or guarded, even in new situations.

Michael Prince, a coach, speaker and facilitator who is passionate about Courage Work writes, "... whenever I notice the old patterns being triggered, I practice sidestepping them by intentionally choosing to give and receive welcome firstly to myself AND secondly to the person(s) with whom I’m interacting:
* For Myself: I give myself a moment of silence, time to breathe and become comfortable in my own skin in the new situation. I acknowledge any feelings of nervousness as normal and don’t give myself a hard time about them. I allow time to gather my thoughts and choose my intention.
* For the Other: Instead of starting guarded, I choose to practice treating others as I want to be treated. I assume others will be open and welcoming of me rather than the opposite, especially if they experience this from me. I assume their best intention until I receive specific evidence to the contrary."

My kid came to a yoga at the cove last night and tried out a class for first time ever - the teacher and all the beautiful people there were so hospitable and welcoming and he really loved it! Their welcoming made all the difference. Thank you @mary.frier @burkey_burktokomous @paula_crowell @goodygoodytutu & others for your kindness. It mattered! ✨🤍💙🤍✨

We also learn when we feel comfortable. How might you give yourself some welcome, care and kindness today and how might you also share this with others?

#courageandrenewal #welcomeyourselfasyouare #welcomearts #welcomeothers #kindnessmatters #giveandreceive
Open
“When we do not trouble ourselves about whether or not something is a work of art, if we just act in each moment with composure and mindfulness, each minute of our life is a work of art. Even when we are not painting or writing, we are still creating. We are pregnant with beauty, joy, and peace, and we are making life more beautiful for many people. Sometimes it is better not to talk about art by using the word “art.” If we just act with awareness and integrity, our art will flower, and we don’t have to talk about it at all. When we know how to be peace, we find that art is a wonderful way to share our peacefulness. Artistic expression will take place in one way or another, but the being is essential. So we must go back to ourselves, and when we have joy and peace in ourselves, our creations of art will be quite natural, and they will serve the world in a positive way.”
 
​Thich Nhat Hanh, excerpt from p. 40, in Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Some inspiration for your day xox
Exquisite photo by @jim.kreutz
Open
“I want to understand as much as I can about life, the universe and everything. But sometimes I realize it’s more important to stop asking why for a minute and just accept that something simply is”

Yes!  I love this! Thank you @lucyhendrixson for sharing this .. ahh my endless curiosity 😜

funny enough, I was just thinking about accepting things as they are last night, about being OK with ‘not knowing’ what an outcome might be.. 

Imagine that, just letting go of my grip and accepting something as it is for a few minutes?

Yes please!

Last night I wrote, “can I learn from it without having to change it on the outside and arrive at some sort of truth about it? Can I sit in the discomfort, and be ok with the uncertainty, instead of trying to fix it right away.... That way, I can be in a state of receptivity, of acceptance. I can then…

Allow an Opening for Grace.”

I think that’s why my yoga and meditation practice is so important .. and the cold water swimming.. 

when I can anchor to that part of myself that is unchanging, I can continue to show up more in the way I want to (back out there in the messiness and uncertainty of life)…

Thank you!! 

Happy Monday all xoxo

🫶❄️🤍🤍💙🤍🤍❄️🫶 #coldwaterswimming #acceptance #chillthecoldwatercure #tantrayoga #innerteacher #innerwisdom #anchortopeace
Open
Collecting good memories as I go.. having fun with the family and also planning my next retreat in March. So grateful & much to be smiling about.. I just have to train my brain to also remember all this good stuff. #sundaygratitudes #lovemyfamilyandfriends
Open
I thought it would be fun to share some of the touchstones or guidelines that we use in circles.. knowing that everything you choose to share is totally optional puts people at ease. It takes a bit of getting used to listening for what you need, rather than trying to say what others might want to hear or what you think might be the ‘right answer’. #sacredcirclesyoga #courageandrenewal #invitational #listentoyourheart
Open
One of the things you can tap into during circles is the power of your own inner wisdom. Slowing down enough to hear yourself think, & being OK with silence. It’s a powerful tool in our busy world. 

@goodygoodytutu kindly shared this…. “Today I got a letter in the mail that I wrote to myself on October 15, 2022. October 15 was an incredible day for a number of reasons. ❤️ I had been going through a very difficult time but that day, suddenly the tides changed.

I attended a yoga retreat that day hosted by @sacredcircles.yoga with a group of incredible women. We all wrote letters to our future selves for Sally to send us later. I had forgotten about mine.

Here are some excerpts:

You are exploring the balance found at the bridge of opposites. Sometimes it’s messy but that’s ok. There is no right or wrong way to feel about anything.

It’s ok to trust yourself.

You know what to do.

In the midst of the chaos at the centre of the spinning wheel there’s stillness. Go there. The middle point. The velocity stops and you are safe and still. Use the paradox of breath to get there. In and out. In and out.

You will always find a way.”

Thanks so much for this!! It makes it all worthwhile.  xoxoxo
#notetoself #community #sharingiscaring❤️ #sacredcirclesyoga
Open
I did a co-presentation yesterday to about 80 scientists, researchers, and planners, etc talking about a project im working on that protects biodiversity and combats climate change at the same time (Squeeze, insert my excited voice)!!
I’m finally showing up with my joy, my imperfections and a part of myself that has previously been hidden… (I got them all stretching and I included a photo of myself hugging a tree in the presentation.. coz ya know, being on the front lines of biodiversity loss and climate change can lead to random acts of tree hugging from time to time)!!
Anyway feeling pretty brave and also grateful for the people who are standing beside me and doing the hard yards on this! Including @david.mackinnon2 - you are my anchor (haha)! 🥰 #selflove #healingjourneys #highestself #savethetrees #findinghealingfindingjoy
Open
Here’s the open question I’m asking myself – what if it doesn’t have to make sense to anybody else? That said, it helps to have a few people in your pack who get it! Looking forward to the next Coldwater dip with these lovelies!  #circlesoffriendship #coldwaterdipping #chooseyourself #choosehappiness #choosejoy #openquestions
Open
The Cure for it All
 
Go gently today, don’t hurry
or think about the next thing. Walk 
with the quiet trees, can you believe 
how brave they are — how kind? Model your life 
after theirs. Blow kisses
at yourself in the mirror

especially when
you think you’ve messed up. Forgive
yourself for not meeting your unreasonable
expectations. You are human, not
God — don’t be so arrogant.

Praise fresh air
clean water, good dogs. Spin 
something from joy. Open
a window, even if
it’s cold outside. Sit. Close
your eyes. Breathe. Allow

the river

of it all to pulse 
through eyelashes
fingertips, bare toes. Breathe in
breathe out. Breathe until

you feel
your bigness, until the sun 
rises in your veins. Breathe 
until you stop needing 
anything
to be different

until
you have unwavering faith 
in what 
is.
 Julia Fehrenbacher
#poetrylovers #lovetreees #selfforgiveness #seflovequotes
Open
All the Hemispheres
Leave the familiar for a while.
Let your senses and bodies stretch out
Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new watermark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.
Change rooms in your mind for a day.
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.
All the hemispheres in the heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.
~ Hafiz


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