“Find the thing that stirs your heart and make room for it. Life is about the development of self to the point of unbridled joy.” ~ Joan Chittister Hi, friends!
Happy unofficial start to summer! Memorial Day Weekend brought all kinds of weather: sun, rain, thunder, fog. chill, warmth . . . yep, it happened. Town was packed! We had a blast with nieces and nephews and so many friends. I’m especially thankful the weather cleared on Sunday. Yes, I got a little wet during my yoga class at Lakeshore Resort that morning, but Mike’s band got to play outdoors at the Burn Your Socks Party later in the day. (It’s a sailing thing that happens at Yacht Clubs to signify the end of winter. And yes, socks really were burned. 🤪) When everything turned gorgeous on Monday, we made the most of the sailboat. No actual sailing, yet, but we cruised up the river and took a quick spin in the Big Lake. The best part? After our delicious lunch on board, we were able to enjoy a nap inside the boat! That means Little Wing looks less like a tool shed these days, and is just about ready for prime summer season. 🩵 Amidst the barbecues and festivities, gratitude to all those who serve and sacrifice for our Country. If you missed this week’s quotation, take another look. ⬆️ In preparation for Sunday’s Full Moon Yoga Circle, I’ve been thinking a lot about discernment. I find the definition of discernment interesting: “the mental ability to judge things clearly, perceive subtle details, and make intelligent decisions. It involves separating truth from falsehood and recognizing what is essential, even in complex or confusing situations.” (Merriam Webster) So, it’s a mental ability that relies on perceiving subtle details to separate truth from falsehood. Wow! That’s pretty complex. At first, it sounds like our thinking mind is responsible. Then, it layers in we have to be able to perceive subtle details. How, precisely, does a person do that? And, it sounds like our ability to do is important, because it helps us make good decisions. This will what we’ll be exploring together at Sunday’s Full Moon - Blue Moon class. How do we help ourselves perceive subtle details? How do we build the ability to make really great decisions for ourselves, even when things are complex and confusing? There’s a series of threads, called Sutras, that serves as the foundational philosophical text of Yoga. There are 196 Sutras, and it’s the second one I want to talk about today: Yogas chitta vritti nirodha in Sanskrit. In English: Yoga is the calming of the fluctuations of the mind. So, if we can calm the mind . . . which wants to chatter and bounce around constantly! Then, maybe, that’s how we are able to perceive subtle details happening within? While I appreciate that meditation (one of the eight limbs of yoga) is being more widely talked about, I wonder when I see something like this on TV: Woman walks outside from her hectic hospital job and sits on a nearby bench. Puts in earbuds. Uses phone to turn on her Meditation App. Spends 15 seconds trying to close eyes and be completely relaxed. Mind stays busy. She is now even more frustrated? Decides meditation is not for her. or that she’s “not good” at mediation. To be clear, I have nothing against electronic versions of meditation. I use an app myself sometimes. But is it realistic that with no training, we can shift ourselves from real chaos into complete calm, simply by turning on a recording for a few seconds? There must be a different pathway into knowing how to calm the fluctuations of the mind. And, when we can calm the mind, then we can tune into signals from other parts of our body and being. This subtle body perception helps us with discernment! Sunday’s Full Moon Circle is going to be a lovely internal exploration all around this. I hope you can join us! With so much love and light, m
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AuthorMichelle Shaw: Archives
June 2026
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