pilates on the path

Good morning, walkers!


Yesterday, I decided to Breathe just a little deeper and expand into a way for me to reach out to the health and fitness community specifically through my Pilates and Physical Therapy background. This will hopefully provide a pathway to introducing even more people to the health benefits of walking labyrinths. We'll see what happens...

So, take a stroll over to the new "Pilates on the Path" blog and tell me what you think, OK? I have also set up sites on Facebook and Twitter and a little mini website, too.

It's been a fun little trip so far! Can't wait to see where it will all lead. Just putting one foot in front of the other right now and remembering, of course, to B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

Love,
Robin

why write?

Because of this very reason:

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it." - Anais Nin

I saw the first phrase of this quote on the cover of a Journal today. I loved it this morning and finally just looked up the full reference.

I needed to read, hear, touch and breathe these words today. How about you?

so proud of our Ben!

Meet the coolest cooking kid on the planet: Ben Ostertag (also my sweet godson)!

Thanks to Amy for always sharing the happenings of Ben's amazing life with me...I love you friend!

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/may/19/wine-and-wishes-fundraiser-to-benefit-make-a/

affirmation

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Rumi

Thanks Patti, Dave, Spencer and Sophia for this special reminder. These treasured words have draped across my heart all week, and I am so grateful...Love, Rob

more May flowers

(I sure do LOVE this month!)

Love Day

Mother's Day.

This Sunday in May always used to be a tough one for me. My husband and I longed for a child for many, many years before he finally arrived - our miracle. I know how hard Mother's Day can be for women who desperately desire to be moms or whose children or mothers are separated from them by distance or by death. My heart aches for each of you...

I pray love and peace to you on this bright Monday. You are Beloved. You are no less you because of what has or has not happened in your life. You are no less blessed, and I am no more blessed.

Life is just too mysterious for words.

May you have a blessed Mother's Day

centering time...

Walking as ONE

Happy WORLD LABYRINTH DAY to all walkers of the world!

Join your friends around the globe TODAY at 1pm (in your own time zone) as we "Walk as ONE at 1"!

Walk a labyrinth with your feet, trace a labyrinth with your fingers, draw a labyrinth, or even try an online labyrinth at your computer. Check out all the free downloadable resources and helpful links at The Labyrinth Society website!

Here's the link to share: http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/world-labyrinth-day

See you on the Path today at 1pm! Make sure and come back and share your WLD stories with me, OK? Share them here, on our Facebook page or on Twitter.

Peace for your Path,
Robin

National Day of Prayer

One nation, under God....

Blessings to all on this day. Here is the link to our President's National Day of Prayer 2011 proclamation if you'd like to share it or just read it here:

THE WHITE HOUSE

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 2011

- – – – – – -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION



2011 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION

From the President of the United States



2011 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION



Throughout our history, Americans have turned to prayer for strength, inspiration, and solidarity.





Prayer has played an important role in the American story and in shaping our Nation’s leaders. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.” The late Coretta Scott King recounted a particularly difficult night, during the Montgomery bus boycott, when her husband, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received a threatening phone call and prayed at the kitchen table, saying, “Lord, I have nothing left. I have nothing left. I have come to the point where I can’t face it alone.” Dr. King said, in that moment of prayer, he was filled with a sense of comfort and resolve, which his wife credited as a turning point in the civil rights movement.





It is thus fitting that, from the earliest years of our country’s history, Congress and Presidents have set aside days to recognize the role prayer has played in so many definitive moments in our history. On this National Day of Prayer, let us follow the example of President Lincoln and Dr. King. Let us be thankful for the liberty that allows people of all faiths to worship or not worship according to the dictates of their conscience, and let us be thankful for the many other freedoms and blessings that we often take for granted.





Let us pray for the men and women of our Armed Forces and the many selfless sacrifices they and their families make on behalf of our Nation. Let us pray for the police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect their fellow citizens. And let us ask God for the sustenance and guidance for all of us to meet the great challenges we face as a Nation.





Let us remember in our thoughts and prayers those who have been affected by natural disasters at home and abroad in recent months, as well as those working tirelessly to render assistance. And, at a time when many around the world face uncertainty and unrest, but also hold resurgent hope for freedom and justice, let our prayers be with men and women everywhere who seek peace, human dignity, and the same rights we treasure here in America.





The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has called on the President to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a “National Day of Prayer.”





NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 5, 2011, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith or conscience directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I ask all people of faith to join me in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for our Nation.





IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.





BARACK OBAMA



Peace for your Path,
Robin

a tale of two cities, one saint and a couple of flops

These are the Reefs I told you about a couple of days ago.

First, read what I learned about St. Anthony online:

This prayer to St. Anthony asks for help in finding missing items:

"Saint Anthony, perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that I may find (mention your petition) which has been lost. As least restore to me peace and tranquility of mind, the loss of which has afflicted me even more than my material loss.

To this favor I ask another of you: that I may always remain in possession of the true good that is God. Let me rather lose all things than lose God, my supreme good. Let me never suffer the loss of my greatest treasure, eternal life with God. Amen."

Here’s another good prayer:

"Wondrous Saint Anthony, glorious for the fame of your miracles, you had the happiness of receiving in your arms our blessed Lord as a little child. Obtain for me from His mercy this favor that I desire from the bottom of my heart: (mention your request)

Since you were so gracious to poor sinners, do not regard the lack of merit on the part of him who calls upon you, but consider the glory of God, which will by exalted once more through you, by the salvation of my soul and the granting of the petition that I now earnestly present to you.

As a pledge of my gratitude, I beg you to accept my promise to live henceforth more faithfully according to the teaching of the Gospel and to be devoted to the service of the poor whom you ever loved and still love so much. Bless this my resolution and obtain for me the grace to be faithful to it till death. Amen."

Now, here is the tale:

I spent this last weekend with my family across the state in St. Petersburg. I am super lucky to be the support crew for two fantastic triathletes: my son and my husband. Both were competing in events at The St. Anthony's Triathlon. It was an amazing weekend of time with friends, neighbors and teammates (which included not one but TWO flat bicycle tires in one day for my two guys) and lots and lots of prayers and Grace. In fact, the "Become Your Dream" chalk drawing pictured here on my blog was found on Saturday morning on the way to the swim venue for our son. It is now my new iPhone screen saver.

Shortly after I posted my "Shadow Walk" blog story about the black flip flops that I felt we needed to return, I found Scott preparing to pack the Reefs for our weekend away. When I started laughing at the sight of this, I learned from him that he had not yet read my blog post from that day. He said he thought he just might wear the Reefs to the swim start for the walk from the hotel on Sunday and just leave them for someone else to enjoy.

Hmmm.....

The next morning I was brushing my teeth when I thought I remembered learning many years ago from an old patient that St. Anthony was known as the Patron Saint of Lost Items. This sweet lady even went so far as to give me a prayer card because I seemed to be losing so many things at that point in my life.

I looked for that card, but unfortunately, I had lost it. So, I ran to the computer, Googled a bit and learned that I was actually correct about St. Anthony.

That's when I told Scott I thought it just might be OK to leave the shoes in St. Petersburg after all...

We prayed a lot this weekend as a family, but not anything specific like the prayers listed here. Extreme tests of mind, body and soul tend to force us to our knees. I have just included these prayers here today because I really like them, and I especially love their message of brokeness and surrender.

Anyway, Scott wound up having the most incredible race of his life, but that is his own story to tell when he is ready to share it.

The End.

to be continued...

my little slice of Heaven

Juno Beach, FL at the old "Turtle Tunnel" walkover 

sunshine work

The best place for me to learn to listen is always the Ocean...

they're back - the leatherbacks!

shadow walk

Is this a photographic example of "juxtaposition" ?!? Perhaps....

I came across this huge piece of driftwood today lying flat on the beach not far from where we saw our upright "Ebenezer" just after New Year's Day (see photo in sidebar of this blog for the story). Of course I had to stop and photograph it. I was struck by the capturing of my own shadow beside it in the sand on my first shot, so I moved my lens a bit to make more room for me and snapped again.

Me. Beside wood. Adrift.

I came to the beach this morning to do some personal shadow work so the synchronicity of this finding was not wasted in the least. When I first arrived, I could not begin to silence the chatter in my busy brain. All kinds of dialogue about all kinds of "stuff". It took quite a while of walking before I finally began to hear the splashing sounds of my feet in the water and the surf as spilled over the shells. The water was making that special wind-chime music that I love. I finally started hearing my feet strike the sand, and then I began focusing on my breathing trying to slow everything down.

I rolled up my wet shorts and tied up my t-shirt to feel the full warmth of the sun's rays against my belly and thighs. I walked side-by-side with sandpipers and rescued a wet-winged bee half buried in the sand with a piece of sea glass that I almost threw back because I didn't think it was quite "done". Thank goodness I kept it as it was just the right size and shape for bee-scooping. At first I thought the bee was missing a wing, but after a while in the dry sun and sand, she began to fly again in short little bursts. Resilient.

I sat on a rock for a while and prayed rambling prayers of hope. I photographed Leatherback sea turtle nests and picked up plastic trash from the wrack line that they might mistake for jellyfish if it washed back into the ocean. A piece of swallowed plastic bag can cause an excruciatingly painful, slow death for a sea turtle. I reflected that it's we careless humans who are the real trash on the beach and then I started getting grumpy and judgmental again, and so I started walking once more.

On the way back, I passed the rainbow colored condos where I know that someday I am destined to live. I have known that since the first day I saw them many years ago. I just haven't decided which color yet I will pick - coral, blue, or green. Life is full of so many choices.

And as always there were my flip flops waiting for me right where I'd left them. I always smile when I see them. There is a beach code of trust here in Florida. Never pick up two flip flops placed together. One flip flop on the beach near the water is likely trash, but two flip flops near the dunes or the walkovers or the sidewalks are off-limits. Some beach comber or surfer or walker has placed them there on purpose, and it is very bad karma to remove them.

When we first moved here, we did not know about this code, and my husband picked up a pair of black sandals lying out by the street late one evening with no cars in sight. They were just his size. We thought it was great luck at the time, but I truly believe now that those flops need to go right back to where we found them. I think we need to include a note tied to them that says "Sorry, beach friend, but we just didn't know the code. We thought these were meant for us, but now we understand we were wrong. Thanks for lending us your shoes for the last seven years. They have carried us a lot of places. Peace for your Path."

Or something like that...

The Use of Juxtapose | eHow.com

I did really like the photo in this article. Wasn't sure of the copyright so thought I'd share the whole article. Kind of helped me a bit....The Use of Juxtapose eHow.com

juxtaposition

This word has fumbled around in my brain for a few years now...

Juxtapose means "To place together; put side by side." But the letters and the sounds of the letters blended into the word feel more like a jumbled mess in my head rather than an orderly, deliberate action. They feel like life can feel to me sometimes when I spend too much time lost in my thoughts and frozen in space and place.

Honestly, I am incredibly glad these forty days of Lent are finally over. Easter morning was more of a relief than a Joy to me this year. I finally managed to put up a couple of decorations late Saturday afternoon and even successfully cooked and tie-dyed six eggs with my son (I started with a dozen - seriously I do not cook). But through the whole weekend, I just felt like I was swimming under water: tear-blurry vision, clogged ears, pruny fingers and hard to take a full breath.

So many incredible things happened this Lent like the matzah bread and our little Seder dinner. Maundy Thursday's labyrinth walk for me was particularly special as I sat under the live oak trees. Earth Day falling on Good Friday was very emotionally significant, too, and I really felt the pain of our struggling planet. I set the intention of not giving up anything this Lent but rather adding a spirit of gratitude and I think I did a fairly good job of that (sort of).

But anyway...

See? This is my trap - looking backwards and trying to understand it all rather than moving forward. Ugh.

Today, I just read the Earth Day 4/22 reading on my Simple Abundance calendar.

"The search for authenticity is like living on a fault line; you never know when the earth is going to move beneath your feet. " - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Reading it now brought me full circle back to "juxtaposition" all over again. Maybe I'll sort this out soon...Let me know if you have any suggestions for me. I am open as can be right now to insight and enlightenment. Thanks.

Easter blessings to all God's creatures

pups