July 25th 2022 Monday morning……….I have some time to myself and there are so many things I enjoy doing in solitude I become scattered so I’ve decided to get focused and connect to myself and with you! I am back “home” I was away with James/Leo for 5 days in the mountains of upstate NY. It was so good to be in nature to experience such profound peace. It was amazing because we were both able to just be and experience the place. I noticed how relaxed I was able to be and how much I was able to let go and be in the moment. All the effects of a meditation practice I started years ago. It was sacred the breeze, the water I swam in, the forrest, the animals I saw and didn’t see and on and on…. all of it. I felt fulfilled by the beauty and peace. We drank spring water from the faucet and it was delicious. We made meals of local vegetables we got and they were delicious. We lucked out and were there during a heat wave so back home - only 2 hours south - was 10 degrees hotter averaging 100 most days we were gone. I found a book at the rental house and I was amazed I took to reading it. I have been into breath work but Im totally self taught going on intuition and instinct. I Once watched a 3-4 minute video on how to practice Vipassana Meditation years ago and that was all I needed to get going. But many years ago when I began a Yoga practice I would have visions once in Shivasana. I would see and feel myself dematerialize part into the ethers and part into the earth - becoming one with earth and sky and I felt free but connected to Source. Ive had many visions throughout the years some Ive written down many gone. Im glad I wrote some down since I teach a guided meditation class now Im able to use them to help people let go and feel expansive beyond the container of the body. I haven’t read a book in so many years now and I honestly dont remember the last book I finished. Probably a memoir - I think it was Moby’s book. I am drawn to Meditation and Buddhism and I can see how seeds were planted in me as a kid. My “father” although a narcissist, was into Asian culture and especially Asian women. So weather he got into Buddhism to impress the ladies or for his own self I dont know but he did have some books around about it and some cassette tapes with chanting. I was so young but impressionable. When I was 14 - 15 I moved into the neighbors house - the Osheowitz’s - they lived in The Round House, a Frank Lloyd Wright original that was made of stone and glass and circular in shape. The abuse and neglect was so bad at “home” I left. Maria took me in. Her daughter Melita and I became inseparable. Maria meditated. She did retreats at Kripalu. It was the 1980’s. She did a silent retreat and told me a few things about it. I listened. She told me about being quiet, about being mindful and present. About how many times she’d chew her food before swallowing it. Although I lived with them I was not part of them not part of the clan. I knew I was on borrowed time as a guest. And then later in life I learned something that had a big impact on me. I learned that my great grandfather Benjamin my “mothers” grandfather became a devout Buddhist while in a concentration camp. The family later received his things and it was in his journals and books. He was killed in the camp but while there did the most powerful thing a human being can do - find peace beyond the mind and circumstance by mindfully breathing. I feel even when I write this profoundly amazed and deeply moved. He is my ancestor and while all the others I know of were violent types, my “grandfather’, my “father’s” “father” was in the Jewish Mafia a dishonest violent narcissist, I have Benjamin a beacon of light I carry with me in my DNA - he lives in me and when I think of him I feel strong again. So that’s enough for today. Was great to be here tho and share some thoughts and things with you. Peace 2 All xo Lyss Fern Sequoia