Winds of Change
“When the winds of change blow,
Some people build walls and others build windmills.”
We sit and marvel at the light shows in the sky during a storm, letting the wind flow through us and take our breath away. On clear nights, by the light of many moons, it blows warm air across towns, cities, farm land, and slowly rolls over the mountain tops to cool itself in the valleys below. It is those glorious nights we stare in wonder as the stars and fireflies come together creating the magical moments of summer. It is not always something we can see, it is a force moving energies through the air – the beautiful smells of a summer night, a cool and gentle breeze, or harsh surge of strength….but above all, it carries one very powerful thing….the winds of change…
“I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change
The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future’s in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change…”
Storms come as a cleansing time, a time to clean out and clear the earth of things no longer needed as they are. They break branches to make way for new shoots, providing light below for those little seeds on the ground to take flight and ground roots. Many fear the thunder, gusts, crashes of lightning both heard and seen by closing windows, doors, and building walls. There is fear in life changes or perceived ones…loss of power, food, shelter. The safety of life as we know it could be in “danger.” Building walls or resistance to change is natural especially when we don’t know what 
to expect or life changes seem so far off the path we once envisioned. Knowing that we have a purpose here in this life to teach, love, or touch another soul is hard. Faith, like the energies carried by the wind, is not something we can always see but one we trust. Trusting our intuitions and life path to guide us toward the unknown or down the gravel road closer to self discovery will open doorways in walls we created to walk through even in the deepest and darkest times of fear.
Some have learned to live in this place of trust and faith, and have discovered through whatever life challenges lived already that this is going to happen anyway. Perhaps illness or loss has taken them through the walls already or broken them down all together as it no longer serves a purpose. They wait for the storms’ end to wander outside and see what has changed, where it will take them, and what to do with all of the new gifts it has brought. Even in devastation there is a gift to be found under each tree limb, in the light that can now shine brighter into areas of the earth and our lives that has yet to see or feel the warmth of the sun…
“Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change…”
Dream your dream to life of living your dream…
”Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions” – Albert Einstein
**des·ti·na·tion** - destination - the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey);goal, finish,end, terminal - either extremity of something that has length; finish line, finishing line - a line indicating the location of the finish of a race .
1. The place to which one is going or directed.
2. The ultimate purpose for which something is created or intended.
3. Archaic An act of appointing or setting aside for a specific purpose. the predetermined end of a journey or voyage
4. the ultimate end or purpose for which something is created or a person is destined
………HMMMM, if you asked self? #3 or #4
Destination is not a way of life. There is no, “When I accomplish “____” I will be happy. Certainly not in our yoga practice. You won’t be when you get there if you are worn down, tired, and forgot where you were going in the first place. We were raised around it and have seen or already experienced the list: 1) College 2) Have a career making money 3) Fall in Love 4) Get Married 5) Buy a house 6) Have children. Know anyone who 
has skipped a step and heard how they feel? It’s great but that’s not always the way it works out. Then what? Hopefully, that all works out and maybe not in order, but it works. Hopefully, when you have done it all it doesn’t take you back to number 2) Make MORE money and start all over. Hopefully, when you get there you are happy with all that you lived along the way and don’t wake up wondering what in the heck you are doing or did.
Dreaming your dream to life of living your dream is knowing and living what is true to your heart, soul, and spirit. Let it happen by allowing the little gifts along the way and signs guide your way like fireflies through the night. They are there AND they are shining. Life’s requirements didn’t come in a brown box with a “To Do” List – we made that. Living doesn’t happen on a Post-It, in a smart phone, or online calendar….it happens while you are making lists, and checking them twice, of what you “want” to do.
It all starts with having faith in yourself…and when you forget, those who have faith in you inhale and riSE… We have a 
lot more power to walk a little lighter than we think if we stop thinking and start letting things happen naturally. Freeing our mind, letting emotions, feelings, thoughts, and love flow in and out takes practice. Learning to identify what we should keep and what to allow go, freely riding the next breeze coming through happens. It can happen with peace of mind that, with destiny, it will return again if it is intended for us.
We will begin to see, feel and make connections with the natural world around us and how in sync we really are if we allow ourselves to let go. There are moments, times, seasons of fear or uncertainty and sometimes very real lessons for us to learn there. Remember, those special souls connected in your life carry shared faith stand right behind you…in need, all it takes is to stop, slow our pace, and turn around.
“The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change…”
Let your love shine through in all you do…
it spreads and floats like an open flow on the wings of air and waters below…
Contact : Connect : Collide : Completely
Letting go on our mat begins the second we make contact with ourselves…mat included, but not required. Yoga is the practice of releasing emotions, thoughts and fears. Self judgement and expectations slide away as we make way to find a deeper connection with self. We do so in meditation, through asana sequences, bringing breath and body together. We return to asanas in our practice as recognition of revisiting where we are now; in a very different place, yet in the same form. It is something I personally teach and practice myself daily. Each day we leave our houses, jobs, family, or friends and each day when we return home or come back together we are very different – our journey, moments in time, change that and there isn’t a thing in this world that can stop time. Living in the present and recognizing that takes practice for some. On our mats, without distraction, we connect and collide with soul….hopefully, completely.
Flow with the wind,
wake from the storm,
embrace change,
trust the signs,
hope for the best,
and have faith…
the future is on that path just ahead,
even if you can’t see it yet…
build windows, doors, and windmills
not walls…
♥ Namaste
- 1990 power ballad written by Klaus Meine, vocalist of the German band Scorpions
-Loudoun County, Virginia Photographs – Lara Ward
- Purcellville Yoga
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