​Don’t be fool by me
I may smile
I may seem to have it all together
But inside I may be falling apart
I may seem to have all figure it out
But inside I may be playing by ear
I don’t  have all the answers
I’m looking for myself
If you see me around
Please, just call my name

               -Irene M. Rodriguez

In the supreme quiet of morning
I can just be
Sitting on the deck
Surveying the landscape
Both internal and external

It's good to have land
Especially when I can walk on it
As myself
Breathing fully into
The possibilities of each day

The water neutralizes
The fire within me
And I swim freely
Refreshed and renewed
Returning to sit once again

How sweet it is to be home
My anchor, my ground
My renewal and hibernation
The wayward come and go
Filling my space with delight

My home lives and breathes
Ebbs and flows like the seasons
The common thread is
Profound gratitude for having
Learned to come home to myself.

Lord Hanuman,
Send your monkey army
To heal my broken heart.

Fly down to India's southern tip
Like you did to rescue Mama Sita
Rescue me, my sweet Baba.

As I pray to you, I wonder
Have you given me the
Answers I need all along?

The answers to heal myself?
Breath that flows through me
And a heart that only knows how to love?

Lord Hanuman,
Send your monkey army
To heal my broken heart--

You already have!

Before I even knew your name
You equipped me with my salvation
My heart breathes into the sacred union.


Photograph by Jamie Marich

In my mind, there is a very distinct difference between justice and vengeance.
Justice is a principle based in objectivity.  Vengeance is based in emotion.
Justice is an attempt to fine tune balance in the eternal.  Vengeance is an attempt to balance a ledger by any means necessary in the present tense based on the past.
 
Justice is blind.  Vengeance has 20/20 tunnel vision.
Justice is based on reason and logic.  Vengeance is based on instinct.
 
They can, and often do overlap and intertwine in various ways, which may lead to some confusion in the moment. 
They can sometimes be the same.
They can sometimes only appear the same.
They can sometimes feel the same.
They can sometimes only appear to feel the same. 
And can be everything in between.
 
They also can be something altogether separate.



- J A Meade, A brief essay inspired by a Hinduism/Taoism/Stoicism philosophical combination

Photograph by Dr. Jamie Marich featuring the Dancing Mindfulness practice of Lexie Rae

As a dancer, the process of dancing is a pleasurable, health stimulating, and physical activity.  Traditional notion on dancing is, the rhythmic movement accompanied by music and song, which provides pleasure to the participant and viewers.  Besides, dancing is also an unavoidable factor to reduce the factors which cause health problems like cholesterol, excess fat etc. It also enriches mental health also but it is not considered as a substitute for other exercises. Dancing is an art with the combination of mind and physical activity. For many reasons dancing is one of the best options for mental and physical health.  Music and dance can be interconnected. Dancing generally is performed along with music. One can see that all of can dance, and one’s attitude determines the level of perfection in the process of dancing in a mindful way. Dancing can enhance human health and fitness, but the same can be considered as added advantages because the primary aims of dancing are pleasure and flexibility. I shall describe how dancing personally helped my health, fitness, and creative expression.

Health:
            I started dancing to improve my health because it is one of the best things which keep me physically fit. It improves physical and mental health. For instance, dancing is good for many organs in our body which includes lungs, heart and bones etc; it increases the flexibility of the body. While dancing, one can make movements with the hands and legs. The extension of the movements of hands and legs depends upon the category of dance, but it improves the flexibility of our body. In addition to that, dancing provides excellent posture, it can also be an anti-aging factor to our body. All these things provide confidence to a dancer. It is noteworthy to point out that, breathing rate of a dance is equivalent to that of a swimmer or a cyclist. If one is ready to do anything for inner-peace and emotional balance, one must be ready to take relevant steps to combine mind and physique into a single whole. Practicing dance means we are saving ourselves and it is an investment in our life. It reduces the stress in our life. As we all know, people are leading busy life, and the same is applicable to all. So stress becomes the partner of our life. With the practice of dance, we can control our stress and it is possible to lead a happy life by balancing our emotional equilibrium. 

Fitness:
            You can see that dancing improves the quality of determination which hides in the depth of our mind, and our mental fitness is interconnected with physical fitness. But certain types of dances need more work out and it is very hard to learn. It takes many years to study certain forms of dances. When one is that much determined to learn a thing, the same deeply influences one’s mind in a positive way because determination leads to single minded dedication and focus. Dancing always teaches us the message of survival in any harsh condition by keeping our mind as calm as possible. So, for a better life, it is important to develop survival skill and dancing can help one attain the same to an extent.
The benefits of dancing related to fitness are abundant. Studies show that people who perform dance show progress in their mental health and mood. (www.researchgate.net/publication/320191590_The_Effectiveness_of_Dance_Movement_Therapy_DMT_on_Reducing_Symptoms_of_Mental_Illnesses_A_Systematic_Review)They can also let themselves free from depression and anxiety. Dancing will also improve social skills and the mental and physical combination will help to improve memory and brain functioning. Because, while dancing, the amount of oxygen intake increases and oxygen enters into the blood. It helps to improve the proper functioning of the human brain.  While dancing, it also helps to release endorphins. It helps to keep in control of the illnesses like depression and anxiety. In short, dancing can improve your physical fitness because it involves rhythmic movement.
Creative expression:
            I am fully aware that dancing is interconnected with creativity.  When I get involved in the process of dancing, I feel free to move according to my creativity based on the type of dance I am experiencing. In forms such as Zumba, there I have an instructor in front of me to show the steps. But in a casual dance, which I perform in a party, I have my individual freedom to create my own steps, and it develops my creativity. Besides, creativity is related to human brain and it helps to improve memory. Dancing is an excellent way to improve flexibility of our body. By performing dance, there is a need to stretch the parts of our body, especially hands and legs, and because of the same, our body normally attains flexibility. We can identify that most of the dance classes start with a stretching warm up. To be specific, voluntary movement aiming to improve flexibility can help one to improve one’s body posture because dancing requires the unusual way of movement with the body parts. Dancing helps to lubricate the  joints and it can prevent arthritis. In short, flexibility with pleasure, added with emotional balance can be considered a motto of dancing.

Author Bio
I am Cynthia Guajardo. I am a writer at custom essay writing service to provide essay writing help for the students. Blogging is my passion, interest for writing from childhood made me join this job after my studies.
 

Happy Day of The Dude!!

The Dudeist High Holy Day is March 6th because it’s the day that The Big Lebowski was bequeathed unto the world way back in the year of our Dude, 1998. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this momentous occasion.

At first, I was just a fan of the movie. But as I began to hear and read more about Dudeism, it was really falling into line with what I was already exploring for myself, with regards to spirituality. I was already beginning to adopt some practices from Buddhism, as well as Native American spirituality and Dudeism fit in nicely with those philosophies. Those ideas of being in the moment, and enjoying whatever was going on in that moment, of being accepting of other people, no matter what their background or what they were dealing with. Respect for the earth, and mother nature. The idea that all of us are in this together, and that all human beings have worth, and that no matter what other people's actions are, we are in control of our actions, and our own path in life.

Plus, when I think about the movie in relation to things that I may come across in life I can't help myself but to laugh or smile. That is what sealed the deal for me. What can be better than the ability to laugh and find joy in some of the most stressful and challenging things we deal with during the day?

-Rev. Don McCasland, LCSW
The Church of the Dude

When someone asks, "What are you?,"
As we discuss the spiritual and the sacred
I will now respond, "I am all religions."

God/Allah/Hashem teaches me love
Showing up as Jesus, Divine Mother, and through
the nourishment of prophets and saints.

Buddha teaches how breath allows this love to flow through me
A blessed gift from the universe, from my ancestors
From the fusion of Shiva and Shakti, from the dancing fae.

Mother Kali, Mother Earth, Holy Spirit
The rising tides, the frozen lake, the flowing river
Dragon's fire and dragon's flight all protect me.

I am the child of them all.
The prayers are building blocks, not scripts
And my poetry doesn't have to rhyme anymore.

The spirit within me is no longer shades of grey
On some continuum in the middle of a black and white world
Spirit is all the colors, all the reflections, all the experiences

Spirit is all the feelings, all the sensations,
Spirit empowers the transformation of tragic pain into splendid art
Spirit does not belong in a box, on a scale, or with the laws of men.

For decades the Pharisees told me not to indulge in this buffet:
That faith is not a cafeteria and
The salvation of my soul depended on eating what I was served.

I grieve those years I almost listened and I celebrate the victory within
The inner light is a rainbow prism sparkling from ruby slippers
Carving a path, guiding me home this whole time.