Meditation on Love

This morning I attended a little mini yoga retreat here in West Lafayette. It was short and sweet and absolutely wonderful. It was exactly what I needed.

The last couple weeks have been challenging for me at work; not because of anything particularly bad, but because I have unexpectedly had to take on a larger load and I have just been a bit over-extended and ultimately depleted. My job is a very peaceful and nurturing job, and although it does return some positive energy, for the most part it involves a lot of giving. By yesterday, my emotional reserves were running on fumes. I desperately needed this retreat, and it really gave me what I needed.

The yoga retreat was titled, "Living With Intention in the New Year", and it involved some Asana, some instruction and discussion, and some meditation. One of the meditations was a guided meditation which focused on Love (and I can't help wanting to write; "a subject near and dear to my heart"....). :)

When we were first guided to think about Love, I almost laughed out loud... because it is something I had written about earlier and had already been thinking about. At the beginning of the retreat, we were guided to write down what our New Year's Resolution, or our Intention for the New Year is. I wrote:

"it is a calm presence, but a forgiving one... to be my best self....whatever that is in the moment...and to LOVE
~ this is my forgiving and loving year~
Everything else will follow"

I have already been meditating on Love this year, but I was able to focus on it better today. I feel incredible peace about it now, and I feel replenished and able to give more freely again. As I said, it was just what I needed.

I believe that Love comes very naturally to me. But it isn't always easy and I have a lot of scars from it as well. Although I give my love freely; it still stings to have it rejected or seemingly used against me. I have found that there are times when I have to find a balance between loving someone and protecting myself from them, and I find that it is easier to be loving within certain boundaries. So it is safer for me to send "loving kindness" out to the world, than to have many face-to-face interactions with people. And while some people may think I am missing out by not being more social; I am learning to love myself just the way I am....and that means not berating myself for hiding in my cave or shell.

So you may not see me out and about very often (and when you do, I may look uncomfortable!). But I hope that my choices in life and work help to bring comfort and peace and love to the world. I hope that I can manage to spread love...whether it is through my hands or my words or even my thoughts. That is my Intention.