We all have stars in our eyes…all beings on this planet have had the opportunity to look at the same stars in the night sky ever since we’ve walked the earth.
I was inspired last weekend when we spent an evening in Borrego Springs at a star gazing party (Borrego Springs is east of Palm Springs and a designated “dark sky” area). As I sat on our blanket with the dogs snuggled against my legs, I listened to astronomer, Dr. Jim, talk about the thousands of celestial bodies populating the dome of my vision. We watched Orion and his belt rise over the eastern horizon and located it’s nebulae. We looked with our naked eyes and them through high powered telescopes for a completely different image.
As you sit in the night’s darkness, you can actually see the stars twinkle. The same stars and planets that have been seen by Gandhi, Magellan, Cleopatra, Pythagoras and Galileo. The same sun and moon that can be seen by my friends in the Southern hemisphere within the same 24-hour period.
How many things can people in two different hemispheres see in the same day simply by standing outside and without the use of technology?
Starry nights, speckled with planets give us a different perspective of how much time we have in this embodiment. We are born, travel the journey of our existence and then transition out of this physical body, but the stars, moon and sun are eternal.
We honor these natural phenomena in yoga to keep in perspective how we are connected to something not only bigger than us, but within all of us. We salute both the sun and moon in an embodied physical prayer of asana as a way of bowing down to their magnificence.
When we connect to that amazingly divine and perfect energy of the sun, stars, moon and planets something deep within our hearts is ignited. Not only can I experience a sense of awe as I look into the dark night sky, but I can sense the same thing within my own being.
Step into the sunshine. Feel the warmth penetrate not only into your skin, but deeper into your spirit. Gaze into the night sky and recognize that the light that is within us also completely surrounds us.
