Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

I lived in a yogic community for 14 years where I did yoga and meditation for several hours a day. I loved that practice and often find that I miss the extended practice time. I still love yoga, meditation and mantra and continue to practice it daily. Without it, I find myself scattered and unfocused.

I believe that if more people had a regular practice of relaxation, meditaiton, quieting their mind, yoga or QiGong, we would all experience a more peaceful and loving world.

Nature's Art

This picture was taken early one morning last week while walking my dogs. I carry my camera with me wherever I go as I find that nature provides its own artistic expression. I've never seen snow roll off a roof this way before! Early morning donuts! I returned to only a cup of coffee without the donuts to start my morning.

This photo reminds me to always expect the unexpected and then celebrate the joy I see! Soon the snow will be gone and I can return to hiking the trails around New England, camera in hand. I am always looking for the geometry in nature and this is a perfect expression! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The donuts are now melted and I am looking for more art in nature as the snow melts and spring finds its way into my morning walks.

Ice melt is such a delightful thing in New England after a long winter. Today is March 1st and I feel a sense of hope that Spring is indeed on its way even though more snow is in the forecast tonight. Season changes are always a time to re-evaluate life. Moving from winter to spring is a time of leaving the internal, quiet experience of the cold, dark days into a time of new growth and emerging renewed. Spring heralds a sense of excitement, growth, shedding layers of winter. May this photo be a reminder of the melting of whatever is held to keep us warm through the winter and the hope of new growth as spring emerges new and fresh!

It is New Years Day and I am happy! The holidays are over and life can return to normal. Just outside, Orion is rising in the sky. Seeing Orion always makes me smile. Like seeing a deer in the woods or a fox walking down the road in the early morning, seeing Orion always leaves me feeling that all is well.

My prayer and hope for this new year is that it will be a year of possibility and fulfilled dreams for everyone. I don't write resolutions, I write intentions. What are your intentions for this new year? I write my intentions on prayer flags and hang them outside. When I walk outside I am reminded of my intentions ~ I like that.

I've named my blog "Shiba's Nest". You might wonder what is that? I love dogs and my dogs are Shiba Inu's ~ a Japanese breed full of energy, life, devotion and love. They are my companions and my home is their nest that they allow me to share with them. For that, I am grateful! At the beginning of this post are photos of my lovely girl, Sachiko.

Enjoy & Happy New Year!

It seems appropriate that I begin a blog on Christmas day as I have so much to be grateful for this year.

A week ago, I was one of over 500,000 people without electricity for 8 days from a most impressive ice storm in New England. Waking from the sound of trees breaking all around was one of the most fearful experiences I have ever had in nature.

This photo is one of many I took the morning after the storm. Ice covered branches in sunlight is an awesome sight yet so destructive! I wonder what the animals in the woods and fields do in such storms?

I found myself being creative in the challenge of living in darkness with no running water. I was one of the lucky ones who still had heat. Each day my discouragement, disorientation and disappointment grew. Living simply by candlelight, filling buckets from the stream to flush toilets and leaving behind most daily comforts was exhausting. My solace and my company throughout were my animals and what great companions they are!

Power and lights were restored just before the Solstice, when light naturally begins its return in nature! I am grateful that I had lights to come back on. My prayer today is that all those still without power and light all over the world find peace and comfort in each other and celebrate the return of the light in nature!