“Right below the surface of life is an ocean of spirit”.

Rolf Gates

It is naturally very easy to connect to what is around us. All of our senses at work connecting with the external world. Think for a moment where you have been, the past few days or the week that has just come and gone. The people in your life, the things that own. Take a few seconds to see where you are going, all of your duties, responsibilities, what comes next? Now, draw your attention a little nearer. Feel into the areas of the body connected to the earth, resist the urge to straighten your posture, simply observe... Your feet... Legs... Belly and low back... Heart center... Shoulders and arms... Each side of your neck and into your jaw... Skin around the eyes... Crown of the head... Let’s go more subtle still. After you read this sentence, close your eyes and imagine, feel into, experience, the ocean of spirit that exists under the surface of all the externals, can you sense a presence that holds you up that is beyond, skin, tissue, muscles and bones?

It can be profound to feel the pulse of all of life that is within us. What you may have noticed is that you felt bigger in a sense, lighter, more vibrant, as if, you were no longer the doer and something was breathing you.

Maybe you felt nothing at all? Don’t worry about that, this is the work of our meditation and yoga practice. Each and every time we step on the mat or sit on the meditation cushion we are giving space for this presence to expand and move to the forefront of our life. We sit committing to stillness and eventually our smaller mind gives way to our higher mind, the ocean of spirit within us connects with the vast ocean of the Universe. On the mat we move the body, sometimes holding postures for several minutes, sometimes moving slow and steady, other days we chose to be more rigorous about our practice, it doesn’t matter, the idea is the same. We use the body to connect to what lies beyond the body. To allow this presence, which lies right below the surface of this physical realm, to have a more profound effect in our everyday life.

Over time we become familiar with this presence and our attention shifts. Where once we were solely influenced by what is around us, by our physical condition, our scattered chaotic mind. Now we are guided by our intuition, spirit, our Intelligence. Moved by the vast ocean of spirit that is who we are under the surface of it all.

“In the heart of every person burns the spark of luminous goodness; in no heart is there total darkness”

Edward Hays

Once we understand and begin to trust in the knowing that, as Gates said; “under the surface of life there is an ocean of spirit”. Then we begin to believe in our worthiness. We begin to believe that we are deserving. We believe that we are loved; just as we are. There are no preconditions to be met, there are no tests to take or rules to follow in order to become more. We become more, we evolve, when we trust in what underlies the surface and we surrender to that. We come to know that WHO WE ALREADY ARE is perfect.

It is from this place that we may resolve to eat less sugar, to move our bodies more, to pick up a hobby, take a class to exercise the mind, meditate, speak kinder, form more boundaries, work more or work less, organize our life. When we tap into this ocean of spirit our future is bright. We see into the limitless potential of who we can become. But, is no longer from a place of needing to be fixed or different in any way. We are no longer trying to improve ourselves or say that we can be better than we are right now. Instead, we see our worthiness, our wholeness, we know that we are supported and loved and we begin to meet the Universe halfway. We say, I’m ready! And we show up every day, committed to simply becoming who we already are... A spark of the divine.