Eagles still fly across the skies of the Northwest. Sitting sentinel on a 520 Fwy telephone pole, or sweeping over the treetops of my house, the “urban” eagle inspires us to find grace in our day to day rhythms, whether commuting or communing with the natural world. Their flight also beckons us to rise above our mundane awareness and lifts us up to higher planes of existence.
Inspiration is intoxicating ~ A fire to be fueled into a steady windless flame that keeps our creative life force glowing. So present and yet so elusive unless we cultivate our connection to it with dedication.
Intoxicating Ever Illusive Inspiration ~ Where do you find yours?
Georgia O'Keeffe, Rams Head, White Hollyhock and Little Hills, 1935, Brooklyn Museum
Midway through the year, after birthing a yoga studio and burying my mother, it is time to shrug off the heavy garments of personal strife, unbind myself from the effects of our country's political disarray and natural world disasters, and hear the possibility of freedom, unfettered and alive, that is the summer.
While siestas and sunsets give rise to inner peace, Art & Yoga take me to the wide open skies of inspiration.
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)stands at an easel outdoors, adjusting a canvas from her 'Pelvis Series -Red With Yellow,' Albuquerque, NM, 1960. Tony Vaccaro/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Pure color and nuanced line, the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe evoke a deep connection to quiet witnessing of the earth’s simple beauty. Her work suggests a communion between ourselves and the natural world sustained by exceptional beauty and manifested by the eye of the artist.
In 1982, it was Georgia O’Keeffe that inspired me to seek beauty, become an art historian and now, turn to the desert and its raging simplicity to heal my urban wounds. She purged herself of New York in the 30's, and a career/husband combo to embrace the unlimited inspiration of the open landscape. Her grace, her visionary aesthetic, her mind, body & spirit united through her brush. Her muse was nature. Her wardrobe ~ fabulous!
What would Georgia have done with yoga asana?
"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else." Georgia O’Keeffe
Worlds of inspiration surround us, at every moment we can touch a small particle of wonder, in the flight of eagle, a hollyhock pushing out of the pavement, native american bead-work, taking a deep breath. Inspiration is transformation, an inexplicable sustaining source of being, a stepping into ourselves with the hand of the artist, carefully crafting our lives as works of art.
Inspiration is Manifestation ~ Working with master yoga teacher, Tias Little this week on Orcas Island opened pathways to the impossible. His groundbreaking research on the Anatomy of the Chakras sheds light upon the profound wisdom of the ancient yogis to intuit the interwoven fabric of our micro & macro bodies, and the incredible poetry of our physical presence. Each asana fed my spirit. Each breath fanning the embers of my inspiration to flame. Not a coincidence that a bald eagle swooped the studio window one afternoon as I was in Dhanurasana, one of my favorite asanas. After 5 days of pure inspiration that comes from masterful teaching and a profound connection to my personal practice, created a watershed moment. I will be training and teaching this work in the year to come. Tias ~ Thank you for igniting my devotion to the practice.
Dhanurasana - bow pose - expresses a fullness that lifts your spirit and enhances feelings of inner joy. The magical elation and profound happiness is caused by activating the neurons and synapses of your body, like a surging crescendo of an orchestra, all the systems of the body resonate in unified harmony.
Ode to Enchanted Light
Under the trees light
Has dropped from the top of the sky,
Light
like a green lattice work of branches
shining on every leaf
drifting down like clean white sand
A cicada sends
its sawing song
high into the empty air
The world is a glass overflowing
with water
~ Pablo Neruda
Wishing you all an inspirational and inspired summer.
Speak to the land, Dance in the moonlight, Feast on your Life!
In beauty,
Gianna