Journey of the Heart

Anyone who’s ever experienced yoga will almost certainly know the Salute to the Sun. It’s one of the most all-encompassing and, for me at least, energizing and at the same time calming sequences.  Every day, I try to set aside some time - at the same time early every morning - to be what I think of as “Physically Spiritual”. A time when I try to engage my body, mind and spirit together in a holistic activity that brings me to a better experience of wholeness than I awoke with. Sometimes, I run. Sometimes I work out. Almost always, I do some yoga - even just a few minutes. Salute to the Sun is special... As I stretch high, I connect to Spirit. As I bend low, I connect to Earth. Touching my toes, I’m reminded of the Ouroboros - the constant circle and cycle of birth and life and death and rebirth. This poem is one of several that links with a painting of mine, called “The infinite Embrace”, that features the Ouroboros, the Sun, the moon and the Tree of Life...

This poem comes out of a very deep place for me…  A place of pain and darkness, but also the brightest, most “alive” place there is... and a realization that they’re the same place. Ouroboros - the serpent-circle, who in swallowing its tail, is in constant renewal, a continuation, an ancient symbol of eternal life and renewed life and the connection that every life has with Divinity and Eternity. For me, Ouroboros is one of the most potent and powerful symbols there is - and one that I feel, reflected in every facet of my life.  A constant renewing, moving forward and becoming, at the same time held and freed by the circle. My painting, “The Infinite Embrace” not only shows Ouroboros, but also the other symbol that has a special place in my heart: The Tree of Life. Sacred to many traditions, it symbolizes the connection between the material and the spiritual, Heaven and Earth and the Underworld, Life and Death and Resurrection. Again, the poem (in...