Beloved Reader!

I love fall, especially Scorpio season. It happens to be my birthday month, and I look forward to the crisp, clear air and colours that surround me. I also look forward to the Royal Winter Fair (horses!) and the Ekran Polish Film Festival (ancestral culture!).

This fall has also been demanding. Does anyone else feel as though things are speeding up? Or that extra challenges are popping up?

On my side, I’ve been making a conscious effort to express clear boundaries. I value being supportive, but I’ve tended to be over-accommodating, and I’ve given away too much of myself.

In two separate situations, I made my limits clear. In one, my needs were met and embraced, and the relationship blossomed in the most marvellous manner. In the other, all hell broke loose....

Having had decades of experience as a “people-pleaser”, I was thrown into intense doubt and second-guessing myself. Luckily, I had a very positive experience as an inner compass to ground me, and to affirm me.

In addition to the positive experience mentioned above, I also attended a wonderful yoga retreat in California. There, I was supported through nature, fresh air, healing food, the company of other seekers, and nurturing practices. I skipped email and FaceBook. I played qigong outdoors in the Santa Cruz mountains, before dawn. I had a beautiful tree as a companion, and stars above to remind me to connect with the Bigger Picture. In my cells, I felt my feet rooting into Mother Earth, and I felt my crown suspended by the heavens above. I could stand in the best version of myself: ennobled, connected, and contained. There, I always found peace.

Coming back home, I continued to be lifted as I recalled these nourishing experiences. I feel them once again as I write.

I drew upon this nurturing energy as I returned home to a very busy work week, organizing and administrating a large group workshop on behalf of a beloved teacher. As a result of tapping into positive alignment, I was able to enjoy all the tasks involved with the workshop. Each email was an act of loving connection, each errand was a step in welcoming the women who were gathering for the teachings. And each breath was an opportunity for deep gratitude to our teacher, her teachings, and the generous help of the Toronto team who pitched in with love. Everyone was getting ready to share in the healing and centering practices of qigong, and in the magnified energy of all the hearts coming together for the same reasons. It was a magnificent workshop, and I am still aglow....

Yoga teaches us that everything that comes to us is a benediction. The hard things as well as the sweet things. Everything is a lesson to be digested; all is an opportunity for growth, expansion, and compassion for self and other. Strength comes from aligning with gratitude, positive energy and positive people.

These days I make sure to include unstructured time each day. To walk, explore, gaze into space.... without guilt! These little oases also nourish me, and rest me. When I return to my tasks, they feel lighter and easier.

I continue to drink from the wellspring of Universal Love. I stand, walk, sit and lie down knowing that I can always remember to align with earth, stars, and ennobled human form. It is only a thought away, yet it takes care of everything. The old can fall away, and the new can flow in and draw me into its embrace.

I am grateful for you, dear reader. May you rest in oases of stillness, in the midst of the ups and downs of life. And may you be calmed and nourished as you take up the next leg of your journey.

May this fall be a season of letting go with ease and grace, and of filling up with Love and Light.

~ Karusia Nirmala