SURRENDER by Mary McManus

Last Spring I was sitting in my yard in meditation...

I watched a monarch butterfly dancing on the lawn and felt an amazing connection to this beautiful creature. She invited me to contemplate my journey of transformation as I had set out on an adventure to heal my life.

Just as the caterpillar has to die to be transformed, I experienced a death of my old ways, my old habits, of fear and of living in the shadow of myself afraid to express and experience the fullness of my Being. I was touched by grace and found amazing healers and teachers flow into my life once I set my intention to heal.

On my yoga mat, I express the fullness of my transformation living in the present moment leaving behind all that went before dancing with the butterfly the Divine dance of mystery and sacredness.

Surrender
by Mary McManus

No longer living life in retreat

hiding in the bunker

cowering, quivering, shivering

mustering courage

waving the white flag

a magnet for the light.

Pain pulsating

wringing out fear from every cell

space for love

exchange of love

end to torment of sleepless nights

tortured twisted thoughts

move forward….

plodding along on diminutive legs unnoticed

steadily stealthily moving forward in its journey

undeterred

undistracted

fulfilling its destiny in the Divine Plan

the caterpillar surrenders.

Weaving its temporary tomb entering the darkness

trusting

time suspended in the tomb womb

no choice but to be

just be as the mystery unfolds.

Relinquishing old ways

appendages absorb absolve

disquieting discomfort

unsettling uncertainty

seemingly never ending suspense

U N T I L

the beauty moment of freedom arrives

lighting on the lawn

wings flapping

she invites me to celebrate

warming sun

buds on trees

winter darkness a distant memory.

Orange and black bespeckled

bejeweled with Divine Love

glistening in all her glory---

Come dance with me

on my mat I move with the majesty of the monarch

I rise to salute the sun

open grateful heart

rejoicing

relishing freedom.

(This poem was originally published from Songs of Freedom: Poems From a Healing Odyssey Volume II: Seasons of the Soul available on Amazon with Volume I: Elements of Healing)

Photography by Heather Evans Smith

Mary McManus poet, blogger, and yogini left her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 to heal her own life. During the dark night of her soul she began to express herself through poetry. Her pen became a divining rod for healing, light, love, hope, possibility, health and wholeness. Her journey of transformation took her to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and, in 2011, to her yoga mat. Mary holds a BS in Public Relations from Boston University and an MSW from Boston College. In January 2013, Mary graduated South Boston Yoga's 200 hour Body Awakening Teacher Training Program. Be sure to visit her website here and follow her inspirational blog here Mary's books of poetry are available on Amazon here.

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

IMAGINE A WOMAN by Patricia Lynn Reilly

This poem invites you to look upon yourself with loving kindness… Gazing at your own true reflection, you will discover that everything you have longed for “out there” is already within you! I invite you to love your creativity fiercely. Faithfully plant seeds, allowing under-the-ground dormant seasons, nurturing your creative garden with love and gratitude. In the fullness of time, the green growing things thrust forth from the ground. It's a faithful, trustworthy process. AND it takes time and patience. Blessed is the fruit of your creative womb! I invite you to trust your vision of the world and express it. With wonder and delight, paint a picture, create a dance, write a book, and make up a song. To give expression to your creative impulses is as natural as your breathing. Create in your own language, imagery, and movement. Follow no script. Do not be limited by the customary way things have been expressed. Your creative intuition is original. Gather

IMBOLC by Caroline Mellor

The inspiration for this poem came after I watched a magical winter sunset and full moonrise from the top of Firle Beacon in the South Downs... Unusually for me, I wrote the poem quite quickly and changed it very little before publishing it – perhaps the energies were working through my pen! Imbolc is the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s a fire festival which I particularly love because of its associations with Brigid, the Celtic Mother Goddess of arts and crafts, clear sight, healing, inspiration and nurturance of creative talents – something which, through my writing, I am always trying to connect with. I also love Imbolc because, with so much darkness and negativity in the world today, it is a time for hope, potential, visioning and initiation. With love and blessings as the light returns. Photography by Chanel Baran IMBOLC by Caroline Mellor I am the dream of awakening. I am the returning of the night. I am the tough green

WINTER SOLSTICE: A GIFT OF LOVE by Carolyn Riker

I’ve had several days now of alone time… It is unusual and a gift that I couldn’t see until I breathed it. I have been able to watch the sun’s rise through the grey of dawn and smile at the flickers of frost melting on the waving boughs of evergreen. It’s unique to follow daylight as it traverses the tempo of a cat’s soft slumbering purr. Night comes swifter and the glow of candles and the flames of fire comfort me more than the steady stream of always-doing-more. As much as I resisted, I needed this break. I had no idea how much my body was trying to tell me slow down until the exhaustion settled in around my joints. My eyes swam in molasses. Heaviness of I-can’t-hold-out-much-long, walked me to the throne of my nest. It’s winter’s gift of self-nurturing and love. It’s been a quiet proclamation of femininity and a need for comfort foods. Lemon crisps and cranberry, white-chocolate shortbread dipped in tea; I felt a hint of being pampered without

Journey of the Heart

Search This Blog