Kindness Tonic

Very rarely, does the first hour of the morning upon waking go the way I would dream.  Tick removal, poop bag responsibilities, and an overstimulated mental capacity are not high on my list of a what I would consider to be a smooth sailing start to a new day.  A healing tonic of warm, lemon water with ginger and honey followed by meditation practice is the way I prefer my mornings to flow.  As I stood in the kitchen assembling my tonic, I could clearly recognize and connect to the sensation of external pressure being applied from all directions.  I meandered up to my mediation spot in our loft, lit a candle, unwound my mala beads, prepared my seat, set a timer, and closed my eyes.  

During the course of this practice, I adjusted my seat twice, as my left leg likes to fall asleep repeatedly.   I gently explored the depth of my breathe, while becoming one with my mantra.  As the messages surfaced, the pressure subsided, and I could once again step into some level of clarity.   The thoughts, ideas, and emotions that plagued my morning were replaced with permission to rest, to nourish, to seek more stillness.  

Perform acts of kindness toward oneself…what an idea!

Post meditation, I choose to hesitantly explore FB; I open it ever so briefly.  The first post I see is a “celebrity” yoga teacher being ostracised for showing all the colors of her life, not just the flowery parts.  I see another popular yoga teacher who keeps getting shut down by IG due to complaints from her followers for being raw, real, and vulnerable. Then, one of my dear friends, who also happens to be a yoga teacher; posted her experience of a new style of practice and wanted to swap insights with her followers.  As most of those posts were positive, there were clearly students who had strong unresolved issues of dislike toward the metamorphosis of the teachings and/or the teacher themselves.

Here I AM, receiving a clear signal from the core of my divine self to practice kindness.  In the very next instant I AM shown the magnitude at which the acts of unkindness plague our worldwide tribes, families, and communities.   

I AM guilty of being a spiritually guided student, teacher, and human; who at one time was unkind and placed judgement on the addictions of those serving as mentors in the alternative health care field. My heart sank when I witnessed the ripple effect of throwing that pebble of judgement into cyber space.
Too much honesty is apparently becoming undesirable, leaving the revolving door open to all levels of criticism or praise.  Undesirability, requires the act of desire to be present with expectations following close behind. When those expectations are not met, the judgement unravels directly upon ourselves, first. This is the fork in the road. Choose to either follow the path of judgement, while displaying your frustration in an unkind outwardly expressive manner OR check yourself into a time out corner on the path to spreading the kindness.

A kind bath, a kind lunch, a kind meditation, a kind yoga practice, a kind book break. 

Be your kindest self.