Sky Dancer ~ In the Blink of an Eye

Today’s post comes from reader, Sky, who lives in Washington State. Last I had heard, the mudslides had harmed only 20 people, but Sky gives a sobering update and a reminder to cherish those we love. I’m sharing her email for background, as well as the beautiful poem she wrote in response to the lives lost and permanently altered in Washington. Thank you, Sky, for your generous, loving heart! Prayers and Reiki to all of those affected there and in other areas of natural or man-made turmoil.

Dear Laura,

There was a huge mudslide in Washington, which has taken the lives of over 125 people. Most were people who lived there, others were people driving on the highway that passes through there. They are having a very hard time finding, removing, and identifying people. Tomorrow another rainstorm is expected. They may never be able to find and remove all the people trapped in the mudslide.

I have a friend that lives only 5 miles away from the slide; she and her husband are safe. However, everyone in Darrington and Oso, Washington knows two or more people that died or are missing. Entire families are missing. I am very glad that my friend, her husband, and her daughter, who is staying with them, are safe. But I am sad for all the people in Arlington, Oso, and Darrington, Washington, who have lost family and friends.

Perhaps you can blog something about or in relation to this event? Or share my poem below? In the blink of an eye, so many people’s lives were ended and others were forever changed.

In the Blink of an Eye

In the blink of an eye,
so many people’s lives were ended
and others forever changed.

In the blink of an eye,
some were taken
and others left behind.

In the blink of an eye,
today became forever.

In the blink of an eye,
it was both too soon
and too late.

In the blink of an eye,
tell those you love
that you love them.
Every day.

In the blink of an eye,
today can become forever.

In the blink of an eye.

~ by Sky Dancer (copyright 2014)

Feel More Love, Loving and Loved through Three Magical Breaths

My Facebook friend Sandra Lavender shared this simple, yet beautiful exercise today. When I asked if I could share it with my blog readers, Sandra replied, “When I find something that is truly wonderful I want the whole world to enjoy..This is for everyone from enlightened beings….The new world doesn’t need complicated exercises to reach enlightened states.” Yes, she’s a lovely one! Here are her observations and techniques:

“If you want to feel more love, loving and loved, you must do one essential thing. You must allow yourself to become more sensitive. The more sensitive you are, the more love you’ll be able to feel inside your being, and radiate through your heart to others and yourself. Being sensitive means being open, vulnerable, and willing to feel that which you’re afraid to feel. It means being willing to face that which you cannot face inside. An insensitive person has put walls around that which he/she cannot face or feel. The pain was too great at the time, and they believed they were too small to find peace within the pain. It takes a deeply courageous person, who has an inner strength and spiritual warrior to continuously choose sensitivity over anything else along their life’s journey.

“Choosing the path of sensitivity means you’re wiling to truly be alive. You’re open to feeling the wounding that others are holding in their body as well as what is buried within your own. This willingness to feeling the wound is the door to feeling the love, and healing that which is needing love. If you shut the door on feeling pain, you’ve turned your back on love. A deep compassion for yourself (and others) is born out of this path to higher sensitivity. It is one of the most essential and over-looked ingredients on the journey to self-realization and enlightenment.

“If you want a practical exercise to become more sensitive this week, try this one out:

“You can shift into higher sensitivity with 3 magical breaths. Anytime you feel reactive, defensive, or start to shut down emotionally, first take 5 seconds to yourself to go inside and feel where in your body the wall is forming. The wall can show up as tightness, tension, overall anxiety or even the stopping of your breath.

“Take that very next moment to breathe into this tension, and feel the wall between you and it shift into a warm liquid feeling.

“Then, take a second deep breath and merge with this liquid wall of light. Let yourself become the wall.

“On your third breath, imagine a vast open Universe inside and outside of you. Merge with the vastness, feel the spacious silence all around you and the sense that you can expand out into infinity. Relax as deep as you can into this experience. If any stuckness or wall tries to reform, simply start the process over with the first breath. Enjoy!”