BarefootAndUpsideDown

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | February 23, 2010

gibbous moon slants
poems composed in darkness
feverish heart beats

Category: Meditation, Poetry, haiku | No Comments »
Tags: gibbous, haiku, moon, poems

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | February 19, 2010

Death reminds me that there is really only one way to live. From the heart of love.
Returned last night from burying Mom in North Carolina. A devoted Catholic, Priscilla Lasecki Kieber embodied the heart of bhakti yoga.
Whether she was sitting on the beach, enjoying the beauty of the rolling oceanic waves, preparing cake for a [...]

Category: Life, Poetry, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS | 9 Comments »
Tags: bhakti, compassion, death, Henri Nouwen, Kahlil Gibran, love, Poetry, Priscilla Lasecki Kieber, the Beloved

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | December 23, 2009

Yoga Sutra 2.39: aparigrahasthairye janmakathamta sambodah
One who perseveres on the path of noncovetousness gains deep understanding of the meaning of life. (trans. B. Bouanchaud)
I DO pray for aparigraha to blossom in my life like a spiritual flower showering me with the clarity and buoyancy of a saint. T.K.V. Desikachar suggests the five yamas are [...]

Category: Poetry, Sutra, Yamas & Niyamas | No Comments »
Tags:

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | November 11, 2009

I am tackling the NANOWRIMO challenge this month, so blog posting has taken a back seat, I am sorry to say to my loyal readers and friends. However, what a great time to begin a haiku-post tradition expanding Laughing Yogini’s Poetry tradition? 

There is a great tradition of linking haiku and meditation, particularly zen [...]

Category: Meditation, Poetry, haiku | No Comments »
Tags: autumn, dandelion, haiku, Poetry, poetry meditation, zen

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | October 22, 2009

What is it that I am waiting for? Why do I think I am not good enough or strong enough or smart enough or beautiful enough or kind enough? Why is the ripeness, the fullness of my existence so difficult to accept?
Why do I think someone is more ~ or less ~ then my self? [...]

Category: Life, Poetry, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS, journaling | 7 Comments »
Tags: gratefulness.org, Gratitude, Jane Hirschfield

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | October 7, 2009

What is certain in this life?
CHANGE. Only change.
If I am filled with utter happiness, I can sure that at some point, I will no longer enjoy the feeling.
If I am crying my eyes and heart in grief, I know too that that sadness will not last.
You will not last. I will not last.
The stress of [...]

Category: Life, Poetry | 8 Comments »
Tags: autumn, certainty, change, Panterra, poem

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | July 12, 2009

from the collection, BAREFOOT & UPSIDE DOWN:

This place spreads
Without intellect,
Or sincerity.

Trees bust boundaries with the sky;
In the valley, wildflowers dangle
Everywhere, simple animals skitter.

Visual harmonies break,
Create a palette of incongruous
And unknown mores.

The sky keeps
Claiming sight as it drifts.

Nothing is still.
Nothing tells me
Anything of truth or untruth.

I have no sense if [...]

Category: Poetry | 1 Comment »
Tags: Barefoot & Upside Down, Poetry

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | July 4, 2009

Happy Fourth of July to American yogins everywhere.
Beyond the flashy fireworks and barbecue festivities, this is a day to reflect upon the meaning of freedom and to celebrate the birthday of our country. Revolutionary War soldiers certainly felt as if Colonial powers were impeding their lives and their freedom. For many of us however, the [...]

Category: Life, Meditation, Poetry, VIDEO THURSDAYS, asana, happiness | No Comments »
Tags: asana, freedom, July Fourth, liberation, Meditation, tara brach

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | June 11, 2009

Poetry can be used as a wonderful tool for your meditation. There is a layer of a good poem that is “off the page.” When I teach poetry, I ask my students to try to understand, not only the literal interpretation of a given poem, but also whatever levels they find off the page.
Often, we [...]

Category: Poetry, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS, journaling | No Comments »
Tags: "Only Breath" "Say I Am You", Anoushka Shankar, Eleni Karaindrou, IshqDaFakeer, Jallaludin al Rumi, Meditation, mystical poetry, rahmama2, reading poetry, sufism, video

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | March 13, 2009

from BAREFOOT & UPSIDE DOWN, poems by carolyn kieber grady:
Awakening Saint Carolyn
They still call me their Christmas Carol—
I was born during a Buffalo snowstorm in ‘54
On a Jersey estuary I caught crabs in coffee cans and learned how to bail
I don’t know anyone who died in Viet Nam
though rock n’ roll [...]

Category: Life, Poetry | No Comments »
Tags: awakening, Barefoot & Upside Down, carolyn kieber grady, Poetry