Hanumanasana

 The mat answered the call of devotion that my body yielded to and provided solace. A rush of warm love flowing through as I lie corpse-like in savasana, a welcomed contrast to the February chill. My body signalled now was the time to sort our little problem as I moved to pigeon pose.

I had a couple of epiphanies that afternoon as my hips loosened in my first ever split that ironed out a persistent kink. The first being like the spirit the body is limitless. 

With patience, love and care we can push our bodies to do marvellous things, that will continue to surprise us. Exploring the vast and mysterious possibilities of our true nature opens us further to our limitlessness in mind body spirit. We can only begin to imagine what we are capable of once we let go and let God, things our conditioned minds can not fathom. 

The second is actively listening to the whispers of intuition. The body sends us signals telling us constantly what it needs. Some needs are rooted in hedonistic desires and the gorilla glue grip of ego, destructive and chaotic. Discernment differentiates what is spirit-led and what is not.

I yield to the universe's unfolding plan and open myself to the infinite divine possibilities. 

Safety pin

 I looked around my room trying to find objects that felt like safety, pausing by each item that caught my eye and asked 'are you a harbinger of safety?' the plants were the first to respond 'no, but we are a reminder that life wants to thrive and the right conditions everything blossoms beautifully' with this  I spotted the new greener leaves as they sprouted from between the stalks. I expressed gratitude for the lessons and continued on my quest. 

The art was next and I asked the same question 'are you a harbinger of safety?' 'no,' they responded 'we are the reminder of expression, a place where the unseen can be seen, heard, felt and touched, of release'. I expressed gratitude for the lessons and continued on my quest. 

A pile of books and notebooks was next and again I asked 'are you a harbinger of safety?' 'we provide a fraction of the knowledge out there, a reminder that you a forever a student and teacher, we are a reminder of the beauty in learning'.  I expressed gratitude for the lessons and continued on my quest. 

Next was the schedule that did not await my question and responded 'I am the structure that provides this particular viewpoint, safety wrings its vines of stability around me'.  I expressed gratitude for the lessons and continued on my quest. 

The lion's roar drew my attention to it and I asked it the same question 'are you a harbinger of safety?'  'No, I am strength, candour', the lamp flickered and said 'I dance with darkness so you do not get lost in the shadows'. I expressed gratitude to both for the lesson and continued on my quest. 

I lingered on the elephants the longest, losing myself to the detail in each one, seeing what I had missed before. The irony unmissed on me when I realised these were my safety harbingers 'a reminder of your belongingness, to something greater than you, a testament to the resilience, perseverance and love of those that came before you, we are the harbingers of safety and a sign of your interconnectedness to life and all that is and was'. I expressed gratitude and acknowledged each time I felt the safest and my proximity to a ndhlovu was close by. 

A red blanket caught my eye and I intrinsically picked it up and draped it over my shoulders, instantly I felt like dough left to raise, the warmth feeling like a shield from the cold of the world a safety that allows for divinely ordained rest. I expressed gratitude for the practical show of safety.

Is the marker of safety static?

Katapa

 Katapa is a beloved Zambian cuisine, the cassava leaves are picked pounded, cooked with or without peanuts always with customary tomato and onion because no Zambian vegetable is complete without it. 

Cassava leaves contain chemicals called cyanogenic glycosides, improperly prepared katapa can release cyanide into the body when ingested. 

Sometimes creativity takes this journey from ideation to manifestation; 

We are an accumulation of the stories we heard from our family, our friends once we began socialising outside the house, the books we read, movies we watch and the music we listen to and stories we tell ourselves.

When time to create arises we take all of these stories and filter what is unhelpful, we add myth and the customary desire for completion. 

Creativity like katapa relies on patience and intentionality. 

The mind is a garden filled with trees that bear words as fruits and barks made of ideas. Sometimes overcoming creative blocks is to intentionally go into this garden and pick what is ripe and ready and what can be cooked. 

Coming here like this yields more sentences than hoping and waiting for the block to dissipate at its own will, your openness and willingness means you can create things out of the ordinary. 

The things we like and enjoy may take a little bit more time and effort

Somethings require we exercise our choice-making powers and creation is no different. 

Fountain

 I walked with them for miles in the savannah we got lost in the shared indulgent moments of laughter and hedonistic pursuits of pleasure from time to time nothing else mattered. Many stumbled, others fell and quietly followed the trail to the fountain, lapping at the puddles that led the way. 

By the time I realised they weren't by my side, their thirst quenched and I oblivious to them.

My love for the trek meant in no time someone would join, the excitement of the new familiar yet unknown paved the way for the old patterns of laughter and pursuits to persist. They got lost and I would cut the string that connected us. 

I walked with one who never laughed; the silence intensified the heat; the savannah now arid desert land. I offered my flask and watched in disbelief as I watched her gulp and wash her feet with the last of my water that was to sustain us. 

My laughter at the absurdity winded me I fell face-first into a puddle, my curiosity led me to the fountain. I guzzled the water and wondered if this is how the others consumed something I didn't even know I harboured. 

Finding the fountain quenched the thirst I was unaware I had, I have drunk from it and become intoxicated in it by it. Still enjoy the trek albeit by my ones now.