Today is the last Sunday of summer. If you know anything about the Summer of 2020 in California, you know we have been overcome with wildfires, hazardous air quality, continued lockdown, protests, economic and political upheaval and just recently the passing of our dear Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I could fill several blog posts writing about any one of these tragic circumstances. But today my mind drifts to the summers of the past when the only worry was when I was going to the beach that day and the next slathering of Noxzema. Noxzema was the cure all for everything from sunburn to rashes to bug bites and maybe even a broken heart. We used it for everything. It came in a beautiful blue jar and smelled like camphor and mom's loving touch.

I remember that summer day in my 5th year rolling down a grassy hill. I laughed as my body bounced and twirled not minding the bumps and divets along the way. When finally landing at the bottom I found myself eye to eye with the biggest praying mantis I have ever seen to this day. What was this creature? We stared at each other for several minutes. Time stopped as we both felt the slightest movement might mean the end for one of us. I closed my eyes and held my breath as my blood ran cold with terror. When I dared to open my eyes again it was gone. The heartbeat of time began again as the day's sunset came into view. I sat quietly. The air at dusk was rich and warm. Grass, trees, clouds, and my skin glimmered. As I watched the stunning beauty of that summer sunset I felt a deep, life affirming joy that one can only know after escaping death. I had gazed into the eye of creation and I survived. I wonder what would happen if I closed my eyes and held my breath right now. Will we have escaped 2020 when I open them? I am no longer five and neither are you. We both know in the deepest part of ourselves, that to meet the moment, we must gaze into the face of 2020 without flinching.

How do we manage the trauma and for some the terror of what we are experiencing now? Movement and breath are key to building resilience. Whether it's a yoga practice with mindful asanas and pranayama or soaking in the intoxicating aroma as you stroll through a forest, the time to take care of yourself is NOW. I'd love for you to join one of the offerings of Open Heart Yoga if it speaks to you. Most important is to find care and healing for yourself, reach out to others and connect with that deep love for life. Trust your intuition and you will know.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean--the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down --

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

With your one wild and precious life?

by Mary Oliver