Notes From the Road

Sat Nam everyone from Gilsum New Hampshire!

Jap Preet and I have been driving her Grandpa's truck to town and to the lake. We love listening to the radio. At times I can see Jap Preet dancing with her arms as she sits in the car seat. She doesn't really seem to like to be watched, so I have to kind of take sneak peaks. Grandpa has a bumper sticker that says, "I love my country, but not my leaders." He got a kick out of the fact that I would be driving his truck around. I am a passionate Democrat and have voted for every Democrat including Obama since I got the right to vote. He is a passionate Republican. We've had a few heated arguments about politics in the past that sent the dogs to hide under the table. (just kidding... kind of:) We don't really talk politics anymore. We connect in many ways. Especially with my mother in law ill, it has given us so much to share together.

The gift that stands out the most to me this past week is realizing the importance of breath. As my mother in law suffers from Parkinson's Disease I realize that there is not much that I can do. This is a strange feeling. Usually I'm ready to give some sort of advice about a diet one could do, a meditation one could practice, or a doctor one could see. This is beyond anything I have ever dealt with. At times as we sit at the dinner table there is just a silence as we have said all that we could say, and done all that we could do for the day. Small talk doesn't really work too well anymore! At first I kind of started freaking out when these moments of silence came. Then I remembered to breathe. To just be in my breath. I realized at that moment that this gift of being conscious while breathing is a gift to my whole being and existence. When I breath like that I can experience the full spectrum of a situation and see the blessings in it.

My teacher Yogi Bhajan taught that at the last moment of your life, you see your life pass before you in just a matter of seconds. In those few seconds you feel all of the sensations of your life, all of the emotions, all of the energy that you experienced and what you were left with after each experience. It is said that after having this experience your soul can either move on and merge into the Light of God, or it goes back to earth. I don't know about you, but I'm going for the merging into the Light thing! Each breath of awareness contributes to that very last moment.

So let us breathe! Let us enjoy all of the moments.... especially the silent ones!

Sat Nam,

Snatam Kaur