Balancing my Dosha

In Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient practice of India, “balancing doshas” is the first step in the healing of many ills. Based on the concept that all beings are one with the earth and we carry those elements in our bodies, we can find health by finding balance. This has resonated with me over the years as I can intuitively feel when my life and my body are “out of whack”—another ancient Hindu saying. There are three doshas-Vata, Pitta and Kapha corresponding the elements air, fire and earth and water. Me, being a Vata, or “airhead,” spends the majority of my time in the ungrounded world of ideas. When I begin to experience the symptoms of unbalance in my life-worry, anxiety, being overwhelmed, I must turn my attention to balancing the kapha in my life—or turn to the earth to once again ground myself.

O.K. that was a very long explanation to why I find peace and harmony with a lump of clay or digging in the dirt of my garden or sitting in the grass—it helps me to balance my dosha-even though balance on a potter’s wheel is a hundred time harder that I ever imagined. I love Mondays, I love the feel of the clay, I love being surrounded my earthy people in Tevas and dreadlocks, I love having a goal of someday, somehow being able to “throw a pot” that looks the same from all sides. I love coming down from the clouds and playing in the mud—it is just what the doctor ordered.

More about "doshas" can be found here and here--just in case anyone is feeling a little off kilter!

Care of the Soul

I'm an Arizona, Arizona, Arizona star,

And I come from the West where the cowboys are;

I can ride 'em, I can rope 'em I can show 'em how it's done,

I'm a rootin' tootin' cowboy with my six-shooter gun!

Flying into the "Valley of the Sun" is always a going home. A wave of nostalgia sweeps over me when I look out the airplane window and see Camelback Mountain, the mountain that I could see from my bedroom window growing up. Stepping off the plane, I always think of walking through the tunnel and into my Dad's arms as he waited for us each summer. It has taken being a mother myself, to realize how he must have felt after not seeing us for the nine months of the school year. A little pang of homesickness hits me as I look forward to walking through another tunnel someday and seeing him waiting.

Each Spring after a long, long winter my body and soul craves a day in the sun like it craves food. Fortunately, by this time of year Steve usually has a few SouthWest tickets saved up and in one hour all my needs are satisfied--water, sun, dry, green, heat----and a lounge chair

And spending time with Steve and Katelyn and Jake was the icing on the cake (thank goodness, they all love to read as much as I do!)

Yesterday

all my troubles seemed so far away....

Today----well---hell----o winter!

A little More Peace, Love and Rock n Roll

One of my favorite activities--Trevortex Open Mic Night!

Birds of a curl, flock together!
He sings, he organizes, he buys the hot chocolate and he even writes his own songs!
Many bodies warm up an otherwise cold winter's night!
They are all driving now--how did that happen?
It gives new meaning to the word-GarageBand!

So, the whole experience is giving me those deep, profound, thoughts which will take a few more days to mull over in the back of my mind-and post elsewhere, if it ever becomes intelligible (and I get some laundry done)! Check back--

Whirled Peas

Perhaps, part of the unrest in the Middle East is because they just don't have enough snow!

Grandpa Down

William Andrew Down

February 25, 1936 to February 1, 2011

He loved us all unconditionally--for that I will always be grateful!

Oh, how you will be missed.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

While birthdays are always a time of celebration for the birthday boy or girl, it is a time reflection and gratitude for the mother. I never wake up on a “birthday” without saying a little prayer of thanks for my children and the joy they bring into my life. There is also a wave of nostalgia that sweeps over me as memories of days of birth flood my mind. I remember a card that Aunt Ruth attached to one of the myriad of gifts that she welcomed Heather to the world with—it said, “On this beautiful, spring day a new baby has blessed our lives.” I try to remember Heather ushered in Spring in California, even though today the thermometer in the car reads 15. She has continued to bring the hope of springtime into our lives for the past 29 years.

And then there is Andy, on a day never to be forgotten in my life, I always remember the great lesson that sometimes in our darkest hours, we have no idea of the joys that lie just around the corner. Andy has been riding “shotgun” on the ride of my life for twenty-six years now and what a trip it has been! Happy Birthday number one and number three—I will be thinking about you all day today!