5-13-12 To Mothers Everywhere!

5-3-69 - 5-3-12 Matt's Birthday

Today Matt would have been 43.

I know he and my dad are together in the mystery.

I love and miss you both.

3-21-12 Matt's Life

                 More of Matt

It's not second chakra, but it's my life.

3-11-12 Ooo La La!

Need I say more?

Pure Second Chakra

Enjoy!

3-7-12 S & O

           Sensual and Orange
      it's gotta be Second Chakra!

This photo is from the cover of a book:  The Witch of Portabello by Paulo Coelho.

3-6-12 ORANGE

A bowl of ORANGE to you this morning.  I'm thinking of you all and wishing you the pleasures of Second Chakra.

March 1, 2012 Second Chakra

I'm sorry not to be writing -- not to be keeping up with all of you who come to this sight looking for inspiration and information about the chakras.  I'm still deep in grief about the loss of my son, Matt, but I will try to post as I am able.

Today, is an image for Second Chakra:  Water and Orange.

2-13-12 To An Athlete Dying Young

My beautiful son, Matthew Bruce Sanborn, left this world on January 31, 2012.  He was forty-two years old.  He died doing what he loved -- mountain biking, on a trail in Montecito, California.  My husband and I, Matt's beloved, Stacy, and my whole family are buoyed by your love and prayers.
Here is the eulogy I gave at his memorial service on February 4:

My husband, David, and I walked down to the beach this morning -- to be close to Matt -- to feel him -- 

I wanted to write something about him -- to acknowledge what I, his mother, knew of him. 

I had his hat from Jackson Hole shielding my eyes from the sun.  I put my feet in the water and heard him say, oh you sissy, it’s not cold.  The sound of the waves, the sparkling water, the smell of the beach, are calming and healing to me right now.

So, I’d like to ask you all to take a moment and close your eyes.

Picture Matt in your mind’s eye.

Okay.  Open.

I bet he was smiling, right?

I hope you always hold that image of him in your heart -- that expression of happiness, joy, sense of adventure, humor -- the willingness to take a risk, to dare -- THAT WAS MATT.

He embodied the qualities we hold up as the best of being human:  HEART, COURAGE, COMPASSION.  What the Buddhists call LOVING KINDNESS.

He was also the best boyfriend in the world.  I got that straight from Stacy -- she told me so herself!  He was brave enough to be vulnerable -- strong enough to be protective.

I believe if a man loves his mother, he has the capacity to love a woman and treat her well.  

Matt loved me so much!  And I him.

When he spoke at mine and David’s wedding three years ago, he said I was his best friend.  I never could have believed I would be speaking at a memorial service for him.

Matt loved his family and was never happier than when we were all together -- especially when his brother, Eric, and Kendre’s children, Andrew, Emily, and Claira, were around -- then he could really let loose and play!

He loved Bump and Nan -- was heartbroken when Bump left this world -- and I know that Bump was the first to welcome him home.

Matt loved Stacy.  And she loved him.  Those two beautiful people had plans and we are all at a loss not to see them live it out.

And Matt loved the outdoors: skiing, biking, ice hockey, roller blading -- and he had such grace and allignment with himself doing it.  He loved deep sea diving, the beach and the mountains, the Bruins, the Red Sox, the Celtics -- he loved people and connection and conversation.  He loved LIFE!

His name, Matthew, meant Gift of God -- and he was.  I was so proud to be his mother.  I watched him face his life, the triumphs and the suffering -- and despite the dazzling smile, he bore deep suffering.  C.G. Jung said that suffering carves out the soul -- and Matt’s soul was very large.  

From his birth, May 3, 1969 in Massachusetts, to his final thrilling ride, January 31, 2012 at Cold Spring Trail in his beloved Santa Barbara, California, he had a great one!

He told me once that the mountains were a cathredral to him -- that in nature he was close to God.  

I know, without a doubt, that he left this physical world in a moment of pure perfection -- he was in love -- he knew his was loved -- five minutes from the trail head, joy endorphins were coursing through his blood.  He had a sense of accomplishment from finessing his way down the mountain’s rocky trial so he could get home to his love, Stacy, who was waiting.

We don’t know another’s Soul’s Path, their contract with God.  I would have wanted him longer, but it wasn’t my decision.  I accept and honor his decision to leave, how and when he did, and say, Go Matt Go!

TO AN ATHLETE DYING YOUNG by A. E. Housman (1859-1936).

  

"The time you won your town the race /We chaired you through the market-place; /Man and boy stood cheering by, /And home we brought you shoulder-high... Smart lad, to slip betimes away /From fields where glory does not stay /And early though the laurel grows /It withers quicker than the rose... 

Now you will not swell the rout /Of lads that wore their honours out, /Runners whom renown outran /And the name died before the man... 

And round that early-laurelled head /Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, /And find unwithered on its curls /The garland briefer than a girl's." 

"Now take back the soul of Matthew Bruce Sanborn whom You have shared with us. He brought us joy...we loved him well. 

He was not ours. 

He was not mine." 

1-25-12 And Speaking of the Body...

           ...Feed it 
           Right!












First Chakra is a perfect time to go on a cleanse and I found a wonderful one at:  wholeliving.com/challenge-stretches.  There are some great recipes for cleansing juices like, carrot/orange/ginger, or, beet/apple/mint; soups; salads; and light, delicious dinners.

The meditation for the week is to think about your relationship with food.  Separating physical nourishment from emotional comfort helps you eat better.

For exercise focus on stimulating your elimination organs (first chakra) -- sets for the bowels, frog pose, spinal twist, and cobra.

Our foods are tied in with our comfort, feelings of safety, security, habits -  all first chakra issues.  Challenge yourself by looking at this area of your life.
Cleanse!

1-19-2012 More about the Body

In doing healing work in the First Chakra, it's important to have a relationship with your body -- what's your connection to your body, the ground beneath you, the environment around you?  The body makes a statement in how it walks, talks, moves, breathes, sits, and how it looks out from behind the eyes -- it speaks of underlying patterns.

Draw your body -- photograph your body -- have a body dialogue -- let various parts of your body speak.  The goal is to develop a relationship through communication and acknowledgement -- a relationship that can lead to action and change.

1-15-2012 The Blessed Body

I just finished a walk with my husband.  We hit it pretty solid for an hour -- heart rate up, body heated, breath pumping.  It felt so good.  So good to feel in touch with my body in that way, strong and vital, and just plain old capable.  I can ask my body for that type of walk and have it respond.

This is one delightful area of First Chakra -- the body.  Inhabiting it.  Being at one with it, in breath and spirt.  Feeling the feet strike the earth.  Every step is a grounding exercise.  The earth feels our footfalls.  I'm one with nature and the strong rhythm of my own body.

Take yourself for a walk.  Feel your muscles working -- feel the absolute pleasure in that.  Feel your gratefulness.

1-11-12 Get Thy Feet Into the Dirt

Doesn't that just look delightful?  Especially now, where in this part of the world, the ground is frozen and dotted with snow (and unfortunately mud!).

First Chakra.  Earth.  Ground.  Fertile. Fecund.  Home.
Promise yourself that in the spring you're going to get your feet into some dirt -- rich and loamy, wormy even.  Feel your feet, your skin, on the ground.  Appreciate the stability, the security, the groundedness it brings.
Remember your childhood, your family, your roots.  Write about them, write to them!

Do squats.  Balancing postures, like Tree.  Sit firm.  Stay.  Welcome each breath.

1-6-2012 Home Sweet Home

One aspect of the First Chakra is that of Home -- whatever that means to you.  We generally think about the idea of home as being a safe place -- where we're comfortable, secure, snug as a bug.  That's not always the case, of course, but it's the ideal -- the dream.

During these days while we're exploring First Chakra, it's a good time to explore your own feelings about what HOME means to you.  Write in your journal about homes you've lived in, or the one you still long for.

1-5-2012 Chakra 1 Here we go again...

There is only one journey.  Going inside yourself.
                            Rainer Maria Rilke

I hope that you are ready to embark on a deep journey.  The opportunity is here and now.  A cycle through the chakras, the wheels of life, are like going on a journey...perhaps even the journey of a lifetime.

How does it feel to hear that?
What does going on a journey mean to you?

The great Korean teacher, Ilchi Lee, says, What interest would any of us have if this were just some esoteric spiritual concept?
The chakra system is about happiness.  


Immerse yourself in this amazing system and you'll discover all sorts of things.  It might mean unearthing the dark places, the unknown,
but come,
dare,
enter,
offer yourself up to discovery
and commitment
and hard work
and great reward
and happiness.

In the days ahead I'll be writing about the First Chakra.  Muladhara.  The ground of us.  Our foundation and stability.  The building can't rise without the base.
But to begin with for today, for our beginning, commit to something -- something that's a little out of your comfort range.

Make an altar -- use a red cloth or a red flower, the color of the First Chakra.  Have pictures of your mother, your family, Ganesh, elephants.
Have you ever done a forty day meditation?  A thousand days?  Start with something.  A week!  If you know a meditation you'd like to try, do it.  Or just sit and follow the gift of the breath as  you inhale and exhale.
The one I'll be doing is to sit every day for at least eleven minutes and breathe and feel the ground under me and my absolute right to be here and to have -- the "rights" of the First Chakra.
Do spinal flex, squats, body drops.

Plant a seed, a bulb, an intention...