Shames, Shames, Go Away! And Don’t Come Back Another Day!
Inspired by Yoga Sutra 2.16 Heyam dukham anagatam
Avoidable is the suffering
that has not yet to come~
That feeling of shame
That sticks like chewed gum.
How do we get through places
That are stuck deep inside?
Where the holdings, the collections
The patterns reside?
The patterns of feeding
Our suction cupped shames~
With secrets and silence
And judgements and blames.
Attract the energy of movement~
And comfort with movement~
Comfort with change~
Comfort with improvement.
Create space between impulse
And action that binds~
The stuck feelings that resists
Our meetings of minds.
Space is the experience
Of minds open and bright
The Wisdom of Grace
Is filled up with light.
Grace is the knowing
Our mistakes serve an aim~
Instead of allowing
Our mistakes to serve shame.
So to prevent future suffering~
And the feeding of shames~
Create a steady practice
Of breath work and aims.
Here’s a mantra for you
To embody and embed~
Press thumb into each finger
And say in your head~
{I inhale to prepare~
I exhale to share~
I inhale to release blame~
I exhale to transform shame~*}
{Repeat 11 times}~
Keep your sitting bones rooted.
Slowly rotate your core ~
Counterclockwise 3 rounds
Your breath? Don’t ignore!
Inhale going backwards,
Exhale going forward .
Your movements ride on your
breath~
It’s pretty straight forward.
Pause and move clockwise.
Repeat 11 times.
Close eyes and listen.
To your heart beat like chimes.
Find someone you know,
You love and you trust
Show them your shames
And watch your blames turn to dust.
May we have what it takes
To transform all our shames~
To allow our mistakes
To serve our Great Aim~
The week before college life officially started at Belmont Abbey College, the Student Life department held one of its biggest and most important trainings of the year for its Resident Assistants. “RA’s” are some of the most influential student employees on campus. They represent the college in helping new students settle into resident hall life, assist in planning social events, lead discussions, report maintenance concerns, serve as a resource to campus information, lend a listening ear and comforting shoulder to cry on, perform room checks, work in the hall office and much more.
For many of us, a new year represents a blank slate, a Tabula Rasa. Imagine being able to “refresh” any or all areas of your life. Now visualize this table with two columns, Yes and No. You create your truest life by thoughtfully choosing what goes in the No column and what is a Yes. Everything you say YES to and everything you say NO to matters. What if your yes’s and no’s were tabulated and at the end of a day, week, year, lifetime, you could see how the data, otherwise known as your life, balanced out?
