To all that is chaotic
in you,
let there come silence.

Let there be
a calming
of the clamoring,
a stilling
of the voices that
have laid their claim
on you,
that have made their
home in you,

that go with you
even to the
holy places
but will not
let you rest,
will not let you
hear your life
with wholeness
or feel the grace
that fashioned you.

Let what distracts you
cease.
Let what divides you
cease.
Let there come an end
to what diminishes
and demeans,
and let depart
all that keeps you
in its cage.

Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find
the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.

--John O’Donohue

from To Bless the Space Between Us

Read in class recently...I love his work so much...enjoy!

“You have traveled too fast over false ground; 
Now your soul has come to take you back. 

Take refuge in your senses, open up 
To all the small miracles you rushed through. 

Become inclined to watch the way of rain 
When it falls slow and free. 

Imitate the habit of twilight, 
Taking time to open the well of color 
That fostered the brightness of day. 

Draw alongside the silence of stone 
Until its calmness can claim you.” 
― John O'Donahue

This is the piece I read at Village Yoga on Thanksgiving morning...


May the touch of your skin 
Register the beauty
Of the otherness
That surrounds you.

May your listening be attuned
To the deeper silence
Where sound is honed
To bring distance home.

May the fragrance
Of a breathing meadow
Refresh your heart
And remind you you are
A child of the earth.

And when you partake
Of food and drink,
May your taste quicken 
To the gift and sweetness
That flows from the earth.

May your inner eye
See through the surfaces
And glean the real presence
Of everything that meets you.

May your soul beautify
The desire of your eyes 
That you might glimpse
The infinity that hides
In the simple sights 
That seem worn
To your usual eyes.

~ John O'Donohue

from To Bless the Space Between Us