love

During the month of May we celebrate Mother’s Day. It is a time when we honor our biological, adopted and surrogate mothers. It is a time when we remember the incredible and awesome nature of the “mother spirit.” Whether it is in the animal kingdom or the family of human beings, most mothers are fierce protectors of their young. They intuitively know when something is happening with their child. I was always amazed when my mother tuned right into me. This wasn’t always good news for me, but it most certainly reminded me that we were connected in an extraordinary way.

I’m a 43-year-old Romeo. Seriously. At the ripe, sweet age of 43, I’m playing the star-crossed lover in the Shakespeare classic. It was a surprise to me when the director casting this production asked me to play young Romeo. When I stop to think about it, it cracks me up. I mean, this character typically is seen as a horny, brash teenager on the brink of becoming a man and discovering true love.

Ah, true love! It’s a common enough phrase and yet I do believe it’s not actually all that common in our world.

A few weeks ago I gave a talk entitled “Leap and the Net Will Appear.” I want to begin with the fact that “something in you is always calling you to dive into your greatness.” Once you do, you will discover that you have always been amazing, talented, unique, powerful, expansive, abundant and destined to live an incredible life. On some level, we always know this. The challenge is getting to a place where we leap no matter what we are currently experiencing. Here are three things to contemplate when it comes to hoping for a better life and taking chances.

Hope is a feeling, an internal movement. If seen in its proper context, hope is part of the light of joy and love that is constantly shining through and illuminating the beauty of life — the awesome dance in which we take part. There is no need to feed it or hang on to it as a distraction or a promise. Instead, strive to see it in context with all of the present moment’s thoughts and sensations. It is but a broken branch floating in the middle of the river of the Tao that we can hang on to only momentarily; however, it must not become the totality of our reality.

In the spring of 2007, after the birth of my second beautiful daughter, I relapsed from the eating disorder and severe depression I suffered with in college.

After six months of draining the lives of so many family and friends, I decided to receive intensive therapy once and for all. I was losing my husband, alienating friends and family members and spending days and weeks inside the house. I had two little girls to take care of and I could barely take care of myself.

As I watched my girlfriend plant the asparagus roots in the freshly tilled soil this past weekend, the thought finally hit me: I might yet stand a chance.

Seeds are amazingly simple in design for what they are meant to do. Soil, water, warmth and a bit of faith creates a plant that provides food, generates more seeds and nurtures the soil, all while cleaning the air and water. It was the cultivation of a few seeds that gave me a completely new perspective on absolutely everything in my life.

by Jennifer Fugo

At the ripe ol’ age of 20, I wandered into my first yoga class at the Equinox gym on 19th and Broadway in New York City.

I was attending college nearby and two roommates convinced me to go with them. Although I can barely recall the teacher and the actual class, I do remember how my body felt the next day. I had sore muscles in places that I’d didn’t even know I had muscles! Aside from a more peaceful sense of being, I loved that I could finally connect with my physical body in a way I’d not known since being an avid swimmer in grade school.

Although some people may measure the ‘greatness’ of a yoga class by the amount of sweat pouring from their body or the number of times they can leap into a handstand, I have found the value of a class far exceeds these physical feats. The deeper ‘pearls’ of wisdom to be gained from yoga are available to all practitioners  — not just the superhuman ones!

Dear Arielle & Brian,

Since I read The Soulmate Secret, did the exercises to heal my past relationships and cut the energetic cords to past lovers, four of my old boyfriends and my former husband have called wanting to reconnect with me. What’s up with that?

Thanks for your help,

Cindy

Dear Arielle & Brian,

I have been married for 10 years. Three years ago I began a serious spiritual path to discovering the awesome abundance of possibilities in the spiritual world. I have asked my husband to join me on this journey. I have told him that I love him and I long for more romance and spontaneity. His response was very negative and he says I am forcing him into something he is not comfortable with. He surfs, windsurfs and plays guitar and he says that this is way of connecting to the Spirit. Do you think a marriage can survive if one partner embraces the spiritual journey and the other does not?

With love,

Ursula

Tina Turner sang the successful song “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” Basically, it asked, “Why have a heart when a heart can be broken?”

In a way, I understand the feeling.

A lot of us have had our hearts broken. Many of us more than once. So, now here we are in February and reminders of Valentine’s Day are everywhere. It forces us to think about our relationship status. Are we someone’s valentine? Will we be someone’s valentine? Will our relationship Karma ever change? Will love finally come to us or continue to elude us?