Joy for No Reason

I am filled with quiet
joy for no reason save
the fact that I'm alive.
The message I receive
is clear - there's no time
to lose from loving, no
place but here to offer
kindness, no day but this
to be my true, unfettered
self and pass the flame
from heart to heart. This
is the only moment that
exists - so simple, so
exquisite, and so real.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 62

The Operative Conjunction

Every day, a choice to be
made, a thousand decisions
between the dim and fearful
view (I can't do this. I've
bitten off far more than I
can chew) and the other
side (somehow this will
all work out).

The mind insists on
choosing sides, pitting
pessimism against optimism,
not content to let life be
exactly as it is. I imagine
the best or worst, and react
to mere possibility, not
present fact. But the desire
to control and judge, to pick
one experience over another -
is that just what humans do?

Every ingredient is welcome
at life's banquet. There's
nothing wrong with this stew
I'm cooking up. Whatever's
here; the bland or spicy mix
of shadow and light, the
grasping and the pushing back -
it's all equally sacred in the
eyes of the creator. The only
operative conjunction is "and"
not "but". How much
can I let in - both sides
and the middle, front and back,
the water and the wine glass
each are full. The feast of
life is laid out for the tasting.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 55-56

I Am Already

One flow of
energy and breath
connects the full
depth and breadth
of consciousness.
There is nowhere to
go but here, no time
but now, no why or
how or maybe - just
the knowing, simple
and complete, that I
am already what I
thought I had to seek.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 52

You Know Me

We are intimately acquainted, you and me.

I am the Creator and Sustainer, the life force
that animates the trees, the faith that transforms
belief into something deeper.

I am as eloquent in death as birth, the always
and forever essence of emptiness and breath.

Speak any of ten thousand names and I am there
before the words leave your lips.

It is I who lift the heavens up, bind water into ice
or send it flowing toward the ocean.

You know me in every moment, yet you can't own,
define, or even make me line up with what your mind
would posit as reality.

My presence doesn't leave when your awareness
shifts from prayer to serving tea. The mind will
often need to focus elsewhere, but that doesn't
change the truth of me.

There are countless ways I can present myself to you,
but what is it that I truly wish to say?

It's this: Don't miss me in the rush to get things done.
I'm here right now, the pinnacle and root of love.

You don't have to stop doing what is yours to do,
retire to a cave, close the curtains tight, or meditate
from dusk to daylight.

I'm here right now. You are so much a part of me
that you tend to miss the forest in the trees.

Choose to behold me. Choose to know me. Choose
to acknowledge the communion occurring even as
you read these words.

Choice is all that is required for the spark of me
within you to catch fire.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 48-49

Swallowed Whole

When I let go of what I
know, what's left? If I
set off without a compass,
will I be led? An inner urge
too strong to overlook insists
that I go forward. I stumble,
fall, get up and start again.
Longing lights the path like
a lantern. The mountaintop
looks so far away that I
stop to rest, and in the quiet
I realize that practice isn't
about getting anywhere
changing anything, making
something happen or slowing
what's in motion. Union
can't be forced, won't be won
by fighting. It alights like a
moth on a dandelion or swallows
me whole like Jonah's whale.
All it takes is receiving what
is here right now, being intimate
with all that is, and knowing that
the act of offering what I really
am will never be refused.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 45

Center of the Stream

Soften. Soften. Sink into
the still center and receive
the body's wisdom. Drink
it in. Feel everything. (Can
I really risk embodiment?)


Breathe until sensations rise
in a wave. The feelings I've 
always pushed away now
take center stage. (Am I 
strong enough to witness this?) 


Relax. A deep, connected
breath sends the message,
"All is well," even as
sensations swell. (Can I drop
the masks and feel the armor
start to crack?)


A parade of stories, needs
and dreams move past. (Can
I watch them all and not react?)


This moment is unfolding,
whole, unique, felt and seen.
(Dare I allow myself to be
carried to the center of the
stream where the water is
too deep to stand, and
there are no handholds?)

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 44

Precisely Where You Are

There is no turning back, you
know. Once the soul is awake,
and the voice of spirit beckons,
there is only one direction. Of
course, the route may look a
bit circuitous. Yes, it may
look as if you move every which
way but forward until you see
the broader view, the one that
shows you with arms thrown
wide, embracing absolutely
everything, your long stride
carrying you to the exact spot
on which you stand.

The path to truth moves through
some quite peculiar landscapes,
and there are times you'll swear
you're going nowhere.
But if you tried to iron out
the twists and turns and make it
all into a perfect, straight and
narrow walk to the finish line -
think how boring and predictable
that would be! Where you need
to be right now is here, just here,
precisely where you are.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 43

Light Pours Into Light

I sit on the cushion,
using will, applying
firm determination to
stay still. It is an ordinary
morning, thoughts
and stories flitting through
the mind like Spring
birds at the feeder -
going, coming, singing,
fighting. My mind is
anything but quiet. And
then there is a shift.

Light pours into light,
and the small being
that was me expands.
There is open space
and energy, as if the
cosmos chose to birth
itself within my breast.

Light pours into light,

and then I'm back in

ordinary time and thought,

birds begging me for

more seed in the feeder.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 41

Love Laughs

Listen. Love laughs
at fear. Can you hear it?
And fear fades in the face
of laughter. Let nothing
distract you from the fact
that fear will grow if you
feed it, and shrink when 
you pay it no heed. There.
See? Fear disappears, and
leaves love laughing.

One Soul: More poems from the heart of yoga, Danna Faulds, pg 35