I’m still on Cloud 9 from our recent Yoga Women’s Retreat & Slumber party. What a joy to be surrounded by friends – soul friends! They are 
the people, whether known a long time or briefly, that have shaped and supported you into being who you are today, and who you’re growing into.
The Celtic tradition calls one’s soul-friend the Anam Cara. John O’Donohue explains “With the anam cara, you could share your innermost self, your mind, and your heart. This friendship is an act of recognition and belonging that did not set limitations of space or time on the soul. It cuts across all convention, morality and category. In it, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension.”
A Friendship Blessing by John O’Donohue
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.
Please tell us about your anam cara by sharing under comments.
ing to Christine Page, MD. She says that gaining an understanding of the chakras’ spiritual qualities and how they influence our daily lives, makes a real difference to our personal health. With this knowledge to awaken & embody the feminine chakras, we can begin to appreciate how we relate to the world as well our soul’s potential, allowing us to live life with optimal meaning and purpose. In addition, she says we no longer need to be limited by the idea that there are just seven chakras, primarily associated with the body, but need to return to the ancient teaching to include two other chakras, the earth-child beneath our feet and the star-child chakras above our heads. To augment this understanding, there are sound yoga practices that enable us to embody this awareness quickly and deeply.
