Tag: Jennifer Welwood poem

"Transformative Fire"

by L. Valdez Karl
(photo credit: omtapas)

“There is a great fire that longs to burn you —
Don’t let fear imagine a separation.
It is only yourself, burning for the truth,
The truth burning for itself.
Knowing this, give yourself, without reservation:
In ecstacy the fire burns.”

“Having deeply opened to the annihilating aspect of the path, and having alllowed it to act on us, we may find that now and then it acts through us, cutting through ignorance and sentimentality with a voice of ruthless clarity…”

This is why I always say that yoga cooks us.

(Poem and commentary by Jennifer Paine Welwood,
Poems for the Path,
© 2001, 1999, 1998)

addthis_pub = ‘yogagal60510’;

food for thought

by L. Valdez Karl

Willing to experience aloneness, I discover connection everywhere.
Turning to face my fear, I meet the warrior who lives within.
Opening to my loss, I gain the embrace of the Universe.
Surrendering to emptiness, I find fullness without end.
Each condition I flee from pursues me.
Each condition I welcome transforms me,
and becomes itself transformed into its radiant jewel-like essence.
I bow to the one who has made it so; who has crafted this Master Game.
To play it is pure delight.
To honor its form, true devotion.

Jennifer Wellwood

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sarah Powers read this poem at the end of her yin yoga teacher training last month. A student asked Sarah who her teachers were and Jennifer Wellwood was one whom she mentioned. This poem is from Ms. Wellwood’s self-published book. I love it.

Read. Think. Embrace.