I feel the heat building in my body-mind-spirit as the scorching, hot days turn into weeks without rain down here in southern Arizona.

I have settled into the season. I am slow and enjoy the privilege of an afternoon nap. I celebrate the cool morning before the sun pours out across the horizon. I welcome each tiny flower that dares to sprout from the dry, hot earth.

As I honor the beauty, I acknowledge the destruction and suffering. I wonder about the transformation to come. This is my practice of grief and celebration.

I recently did the most difficult jigsaw puzzle ever, and it was an experience that took me on a deep, spiritual journey. A journey of self reflection and introspection. A journey of relationship with self, other living beings, and spirit. This seems to be part of the current phase of life in which I presently reside. I have been knowing, and talking about all things as spiritual practice for some time. I have learned how to reside in the space between, where more is revealed. I have learned the balancing act of compassionate boundaries and self discipline as a form of self love paired with the gift of space, breath, and adjusting to what is. I have learned these things and continue to learn them, one breath at a time.

I hear the sounds of Spring, I feel the energy of rebirth.
The desert is alive with light, birds, flowers, and the promise of new beginnings.

Self care begins with me, but it is not about me. Only when I care for my own being am I available to be of service to others. If I show up for you with an unstable being, I am not able to offer stability. If I show up tired or stressed, I offer you those same qualities. When I arrive feeling rested, fed, cared for, I am able to offer you patience, compassion, and nourishment. As humans living in the world with friends, family, peers, colleagues, and whomever we cross paths with throughout the day, we have an obligation to care for ourselves in order to interact with the world around us honorably.

Spring is a time of inspiration and transformation. We shed what has built up during the Winter months, reflecting on the opportunity to emerge anew, and opening up to the continual becoming that is our being. Embrace this time of seasonal transition, and allow yourself to renew commitments and welcome growth within and without. Creating seasonal rituals is a way to honor mother nature and offer touchstones and sacred space for your own seasonal cycles.

Winter into Spring, from hibernation emerges exploration. As we approach the Vernal Equinox, birds are building nests and seedlings reach out their tiny green leaves to the sunshine. If you've embraced Winter's invitation to slow down, and turn inward, now is the time for reemergence.

The space between. The liminal spaces between endings and beginnings. The space between the inhale and the exhale. The still, silent space in between each mobile thought. Ākāśa, the element of ether and/or space. A place to be, a place to listen, a place to wonder and wait.

The country is on fire in all the ways possible. As desert and forest lands burn, along with animals, amphibians, and insects, fire rages in the streets and in the hearts of many. It burns in people’s speech and actions, it is evident in their eyes and movements. The fire element governs transformation, it is neither good nor bad. Fire serves a valuable purpose, and can also be used a weapon. All substance and energy can be medicine and it can likewise be poison, depending on how one engages with it.

As we move into June in Southern Arizona, temperatures remain high. Here in our rural town of Arivaca, even with blazing heat in the day, the nights and early mornings are cool. It’s a time to wake early, rest indoors or in the shade during mid-day, and enjoy the cool evening moonlight. I was “supposed to be” in Vermont right now, where is it significantly less hot and summer has barely begun to peek through. “Supposed to be”; it’s funny how we think we know things. How we think plans are meant to happen simply because we decided to plan them.

Never before have I seen such a collective opportunity to individually dive deep into the nature our true selves. Wide spread, contagious, life threatening illness is not new, nor is this kind of universal opportunity for awakening. It may be new to those of us who are living in this current time and place (I only have 40 years on this planet, after all), but the earth, the animals, and the humans have experienced this before. And the earth healed, and the animals repopulated, and the humans survived long enough to find new, beautiful ways of being, eventually falling into old patterns of selfishness and greed.

From the ancient texts of Āyurveda, we see that epidemics have occurred since the beginning of existence. I suppose with less ability to travel and move about the planet, pandemics were rare. Guidance and experience like this can be found in many ancient texts and scriptures. The quote below is a suggestion of how to be during times of epidemic and basic tenants for everyday living.

We become what we eat. The energy and qualities of the foods we put into our system become part of us. This includes the elements and qualities of the foods themselves, in addition to the energy and qualities of the production and processing of the food before it reaches our plate. We are consuming the intention and mind-state of the beings who grow and harvest the food, the manner in which animal and human workers are treated, and the emotional state of the person preparing the food. The relationship we have to what we consume and the attention we bring to meal-time is equally important. The confluence of all of these factors, including our physiological and emotional needs at the time of consumption dictate how the foods will act upon the body-mind-spirit.

Āyurveda does not separate the body-mind-spirit, though the science has specific methods for focused healing of each. Physical and psychological diseases seldom occur one without the other. Physical pain or dis-ease affects ones’ mental and emotional state and weakens the senses. Psychological imbalance often creates desire, craving, or confusion which lead to diet and lifestyle choices that affect physical health. Stress to the nervous system can cause digestive issues, which is a root cause of disease. Holistic health care and prevention understands that body-mind-spirit is one, and addresses the whole being accordingly.

As the light dims, I am embraced by darkness.

Quiet, still darkness holds me, supports me, allows me to be.

As darkness enters my being, so too emerges glorious light.

Light in all forms shines within, around, and through the dark corners.

I am silent darkness, I am radiant light.

The darkest day approaches, and rays of light slowly increase.

Darkness moving into light, light moving into darkness.

The cycle of nature, the cycle of my being.

I am silent darkness, I am radiant light.

The main digestive fire in the GI tract is commonly referred to as Agni, which translates to Fire. For those who study Āyurveda, there is more specific vocabulary that we use in reference to physiology, but for our purposes here, we will refer to the digestive fire simply, as agni. As we begin to learn about, and become attuned to our own agni, we are better able to honor our unique needs. If we are not aware of our own digestive fire, its’ strength or lack there of, we are not able able to make healthy, informed food choices.

The leaves are changing and fall has arrived in Vermont. Though many of you will be reading this in Arizona, I am compelled to write about this amazing time and place. Fall in the north eastern part of the country is my favorite season. I love watching the leaves burst forth with color, moving from green to bright reds, yellows, and oranges. Here at the homestead we are preparing for the cold season by stacking firewood and shutting down seasonal out buildings. The air is crisp, and I am grateful for wool underwear and warm tea.

Cultivating a meditation practice can seem daunting for many of us. There is no right way to mediate, and discovering what meditation means to you is a personal journey. Though tools are provided to guide us, meditation is not something that can be taught through instruction, it must be experienced through practice. Each of us will have a unique meditation practice, and within our individual practice, each time we sit will be a unique experience in itself.

In a world full of “do more, produce more, be more” and “no time to waste” attitudes, I am currently in a practice of slowing down and doing less. I say, “there is no time to rush”. The slowing down is part action (or non-action) and part a state of being; an attitude of slow, calm, ease, and acceptance. This is not my default setting, and did not come easy to me at first.

As the summer heat descends, keeping cool becomes ever more important. Both in the physical body as well as in the mental and emotional bodies. Excessive heat can lead to anger, irritability, and impatience as well as hives or other rashes, heartburn, headaches, diarrhea, and dehydration. Caring for our body-mind-spirit as a whole is a necessary part of overall health and well being. Summer requests that we rise early when the temperature is still cool and rest in the middle of the day when the sun is at the highest point, heating the earth and air. The days are longer to accommodate an early rising, mid-day rest, and enough daylight to resume some activity in the evening before sleep.