In yoga there are many practices that can be used to calm and sooth the restless mind, or the Manomaya Kosha (Mind Sheath). This sheath is affected by pranayam, mantra, pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), visualization, reading scriptures and texts, yama & niyamas (ethical observances and restraints), and svadiyaya (self-study). Another practice is to let the gaze fall softly upon a repeating pattern in nature, which can help to quiet the mind. I think of this every time I walk through fields around the house lately. It's incredibly calming.
If you want to test this out (in case you hadn't already realized that being in nature is soothing) you can also get this sensation from waves, leaves, hillsides, trees, flowers, river rocks, rain drops, etc. Or you can look at this photo. Namaste bitches, xx.
this too is the world, just not how you're used to seeing it.
One day I walked outside and noticed everywhere, little signs of spring.
this is just a reminder: we are defined by our reactions to turmoil, hardship, fear, and pain. stay classy, stay kind, and don't let the bad times get you down. namaste bitches.xx
this is life. sometimes the mistakes are the prettiest.
this is just a reminder:
the beauty of the bud begins with the breakdown of the bloom.
i'm living in a condo, in the center of a development, in the center of a farming community, on the edge of the western slope of the rockies. it's a strange place, different from any i've ever live in before. i've lived on farmland before, but not land peppered with giant and i admit - hideous - developments. it's a weird place to drive around, admiring the old barns and rolling fields where they've started making hay, and then boom! development. it makes me sad of course; the waste of this beautiful prairie. but then again i'm glad i'm not living in the city proper so i guess i'm part of the problem, not the solution.
anyway, i've decided to just embrace development living. i know it's temporary, and it certainly has it's conveniences, so i'm going to enjoy it. i've been playing around with the idea of doing a photo project on suburbia; trying to find the visually interesting in a place i find somewhat visually and creatively repellant. but for now i just can't help it. i'm more enamored with the farmland.
someone has to document all these beautiful, abandoned barns before they tear them down and put in a golfcourse.
