Thanksgiving, turkey= community

 

When I was considering Peace Church as my new yoga home, I was sitting in back by the fire pit.  I sensed something close by.  There was some ethereal movement in the woods.  Then I saw a gaggle of wild turkeys.  So I researched the meaning of Turkeys.  I'll add more about this later, but the medicine of turkeys is community.  They are really an incredible animal.  Like many people I know, I am trying to eat less meat...mostly because I hate the way that they are cramped into small spaces.  I'm glad that there is a movement towards small family farms where animals get to roam.  Bless the beasts and the children. 

This is a sacred time of year. There is a lot of sadness about not being able to be with loved ones.

When we  do yoga together, it is sacred time. We tune into the body and the breath . We pause as we hold the pose and between Poses... the goal being to slow down, ...get out of our mind.  In doing so, we reconnect with our temple, our body .

 All of this ends with corpse pose. Savasana. where we practice being dead - to our life. We are still, our mind is still and our life is "on hold " for 10 mn.  When we sit up after savasana, we are more connected to each other cuz the world has finally fallen away.  We are more present.

During a normal thanksgiving this is what happens over the course of 4-5 hours or more. First, theres a lot of planning, then everyone comes together and theres a lot of chatting and food preparation. A lot of doing.  Then we sit and eat, then the table is cleared and we sit in the living room as we digest our food. And finally, people really settle into their bodies.  Everyone becomes a bit groggy perhaps,  time slows down and we become more present to each other.  Conversations deepen. We listen more attentively. This process usually takes about 5 hours.

If you are unable to be together around a table with your family this year, your can create this same sort of feeling with a zoom call.  Just try to really be present. Get in touch with your heart. Ask meaningful questions. Ask others what they miss about Thanksgiving together. Or ask them to share their favorite family time together. Reminisce.Take deep breaths. Listen deeply. Let there be space in the conversation where you can just "be". 

 I hope you get a chance to listen to Marianne's williamsonscrecent talk about "being" talk, it's really wonderful. She talks fast, but she says good things.  . If you cant find that one, listen to any of hers.  She is amazing at merging old biblical texts with modern thought in a way that's not preachy. 

In heartful connection, hiyala