sound the bells..

sound the bells for untangling the mangling
sound the bells for waking the children
sound the bells for comforting the elders
sound the bells for restoring the earth

sound the bells for remedying the rising seas
sound the bells for encouraging kindness
sound the bells for untethering jealousy
sound the bells for transforming malice

sound the bells for peals of laughter
sound the bells for sharing the wealth
sound the bells for feeding the hungry
sound the bells for wisely recycling

sound the bells for renewing our pledges
sound the bells for releasing our sadness
sound the bells for bowing to another
sound the bells for refreshing our hearts

sound the bells for sheltering the homeless
sound the bells for tending the wildlife
sound the bells for igniting the wonder
sound the bells for planting trees, trees, trees

sound the bells for revitalizing mama nature
sound the bells for purifying our mindstreams
sound the bells for cherishing all beings
sound the bells for deepening our friendships
                    and much, much more...



new year’s day bell ringing ceremony 

TUESDAY,  JANUARY 1ST 2019
10 AM - 11:30 AM

2  ( TWO ) LOCATIONS NEAR YOU !!

crescent moon yoga
w/ susan schanen & annie taylor
606 morris street
la conner, WA 98257
benefiting 
communityactionskagit.org

AND

ccmp - outcalt chapel
w/ dunja lingwood
4590 carmel valley rd.
carmel, CA 93923
benefiting
peaceofminddogrescue.org


please come!
for yoga, meditation & bell ringing  ~
bring a bell ( even a pot lid and a spoon will do)
we will ring our bells 108 times -
each person will have an opportunity
to place their wish or prayer in the burn bowl
- affirmations for the new year -
- regrets from the past year -
- any prayer from the heart -
prayers and wishes will be burned
at the end of practice  ~

these classes are by donation..
please bring your deep pockets and generous hearts!

may 2019 bring forth
mighty compassion,
great wisdom, 
vital health,
deep peace, 
hallowed harmony, 
unfettered joy 
& kindness, kindness, kindness…

$ 1719

thanksgiving givers..

thank you!

we sent off $1719

to yoga behind bars ~

the small man

builds cages for everyone

he knows.

while the sage,

who has to duck his head

when the moon is low 

keeps dropping keys all night long

for the

beautiful

rowdy

prisoners.

               ~ hafiz

dwane, an inmate, who

is has been a yoga teacher 

for 3 years now,

says :

i am in prison but i am not a prisoner.

the function of freedom is to free someone else.

                ~ toni morrison

THANKS - GIVING

if the only prayer you ever say
in your entire life is thank you,
it will be enough.
               ~ meister eckhart

THANKS GIVING DAY BENEFIT CLASS
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22   9AM-10:30 AM
CRESCENT MOON YOGA STUDIO 
606 MORRIS STREET
LACONNER

please join susan schanen and me
as we offer up a yoga practice
of thanks and giving -
the class is by donation..
empty your spare change,
bring your gold nuggets
and pieces of eight
to gift to yoga behind bars
yogabehindbars.org
CMY is on the map
gratitude in motion !

in wholeheartedness of presence,
the buddha is realized,
the dharma is lived
and the sangha is shared.
                  ~ dainin katagiri

dia de los muertos II - NOVEMBER 1st

okie-doke!

this just in..
crescent moon yoga
will be in her new location
on november 1..
our 9AM yoga class and 
the day of the dead meditation
@ 11AM will be the maiden voyage!

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN
TO OCTOBER 5 POST
TO GET THE PARTICULARS
IF YOU INTEND TO ATTEND..
all are welcome!


the address is:
606 morris street
east of the current location by 1/2 block
on the south side of the street -
the parking lot between the la conner library
and C M Y is the studios!!!
enter the studio through the lobby -
located up the stairs off morris st.

 (  Open House
Saturday, 
Nov 10th, 
Art's Alive Weekend, 
11 am -3 pm )


don't go outside your house to see flowers.
my friend, don't bother with that excursion.
inside your body there are flowers.
one flower has a thousand petals.
that will do for a place to sit.
sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty
inside the body and out of it,
before gardens and after gardens.
                ~ kabir

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

look inward & vote!

too many still look outward, 

some believing in the illusion

of victory and of victorious power, 

others in treaties and laws, 

and others in the overthrow of the existing order. 

but too few look inward, to their own selves, 

and fewer still ask themselves 

whether the ends of human society 

might not best be served if each man 

tried to abolish the old order in himself, 

and to practice in his own person 

and in his own inward state those precepts, 

those victories which he preaches on every street corner, 

instead of always expecting these things of his fellow men.

every individual needs revolution, inner division, 

overthrow of the existing order, and renewal, 

but not by forcing them upon his neighbors 

under the hypocritical cloak of christian love 

or the sense of social responsibility 

or any other beautiful euphemism 

for unconscious urges to personal power.

individual self-reflection, 

return of the individual to the ground of human nature, 

to his deepest being with its individual and social destiny - 

here is the beginning of a cure for that blindness 

which reigns at the present hour.

                       ~ carl jung  1918

please and thanks!

imagine this!

raise your words, not voice..
it is rain that grows flowers, 
not thunder.
                ~rumi

imagine this!
it has been 11 years since this blog began..
peace is healthy..
skipped 2 years..hummmm?
2009 and 2010
wonder about those missing 24 months..

to me,
writing is my way
of being
most fully alive.
              ~ ursula le quin

imagine this!
you can subscribe to this blog
by scrolling down to the last post
and simply signing up..
of course, it is somehow more complicated
than that, i have heard..
yet if you keep on keeping on..
you will be set..

the world of letters
is the true world
of bliss.
           ~ abraham abulaya

imagine this!
if you reply to the post that you receive
in your e-mail, i will not receive it..
don't ask me why,
no clue ~
( i have missed many an epistle
because of this!)
SO ~
you are invited to leave a comment
on the actual blog itself
or send a fresh e-mail
directly to my address..
peaceishealthy@gmail.com

i could
make prayers
or poems
on and on.
          ~ vassar miller

imagine this!
i have recently been asked
if i receive any sort of recompense for my writing...
most certainly !
by you reading it..
thank you ~

writing is the only way
i know how to pray.
                  ~ h.m. viramontes

for those of you who have wanted
to drop a donation in the mendicant bowl
for the missives that nourish you -
the account @ paypal is still active..
paypal.me/dlingwood
i will happily receive and gratefully accept
all and any offerings to underwrite my writings ~

making language is making prayer.
our utterances,
whether silent or voiced,
written or thought,
distinct or vague,
repeated or fleeting,
are always essentially prayer,
even though we seldom realize it.
to speak, to intone,
to form words with our mouth and heart and spirit,
is to reach out and reach in.
what we're always reaching out and into,
even when we don't know that we are,
is the boundless unknowable,
the unnamable.
in the end
prayer is not some specialized religious exercise;
it is just what comes out of our mouths
if we truly pay attention.
debased as it so often is,
language at its core always springs forth
from what is fundamental in the human heart.
                              ~ norman fischer

imagine this!

dia de los muertos ~ sitting with our ancestors

mark your calendars !
ALL ARE WELCOME!
thursday, november 1..
11 AM 
in the new CMY studio
kitty-corner from present studio
~ 521  morris street  ~
(will get NEW address soon!)

looks like we'll be christening
the new crescent moon shala
with our 9AM thursday morning yoga class..
hurrah! hurray!

thereafter ~
we will have an opportunity
to sit in stillness with our ancestors..

those who wish to stay will ready the altar
w/ pictures of our loved ones
dead yet alive with presence..
any other altaring holy moly objects..
(bring your sitting accoutrements)
those who wish to leave after class
 will have time to slip away..

we will begin sitting @ 11AM

those not attending class, yet planning to sit..
please arrive a bit early
to take your seat and place your altar offerings..
chairs are available for those who prefer them..
we will have 2 sits.. about 20-25 minutes -
with a walking meditation betwixt
 ~ this is a freeeeeee offering  ~

HIGH NOON-ish  ~  COWGIRL TIME-ish
will be our finish-ish time

bring anything that you'd like to offer to
the silence,
the ancestors,
each other
~ for the altar ~
bring your bright love,
your great care,
your empty vessel,
your letting go,
your opening up,
your easy-breezy..
your devotion,
your crazy wisdom,
your inconceivable nature..

with this tradition of dia de los muertos
we have a splendid opportunity
to honor the dead and awaken remembrance...

in the words of clarissa pinkola estes ~
las almas valientes,  dear brave souls, 
this is our time of dia de los muertos.

this we deeply understand as 'the day of our ancestors' 
whom we love and who love us
and who guide us by example 
and intuitions and sudden insights, 
and often by other means.
who we continue to pray for,  as well as for the living -- 
and to nourish this relationship between two worlds, 
with our familiares, relatives, and ourselves.
this way of life...

far away and yet so near to you, 
we old women 
who still carry the root stock,
our old women who know how to
pray paint off walls, 
who grow and bring 
the fresh flowers, 
the yerba buena
who know how to bless 
the living and dead,
who know how to bless 
and light the sumerio, 
who know how to bring 
the smoke of blessed copal, 
who stand and kneel 
in many conditions, 
who offer and consume
the old foods of the ancestors 
with the heaven of los angelitos
in their hearts 
no matter where they live...

we pray for you, m'hijos y m'hijas,
we pray for you the living,
our sons and our daughters 
that you have tender memories 
of the good of your own ancestors
who have walked onward 
making their transition, 
who have left without ever leaving ...

many of us old women say -
the ancestors visit through 
the fragrance of the copal,  
in the scent of the golden flowers, 
in the earth smell,
of the autumn of dried leaves,
in the swirling sacred smoke,
for those with eyes to see, 
ears to hear
or a heart that longs --

may you all be watched over
by the gentle,  smart,  protective
and perfected souls of your antepasados, 
your own people who have walked onward
and are in many good ways, still here
with you, and for you....

this comes with love for you to find a fragrance 
or a flower or a little bowl of water 
or food of your ancestors, 
an item from your farback people, 
a piece of sweet bread and a fruit like orange, 
and to just sit gently and ask for goodness, 
and then listen through your many senses... 
say what you wish to say, 
ask what you wish to ask, 
bless all.
simple is often most direct.