Manipura: actions that evolve

on the blessing of missing morning practice

I think of Manipura as the home of our permission. Without it we limit how we feel, how we express, what we allow ourselves to do or not do. Manipura is the manager of our power. And it relates to the adrenal glands, our cortisol levels, the constancy of our energy, our response, our state.

For the first time in years I had to cancel live class online this morning. I had tried to rest yesterday, but it didn’t do the trick. The tank was still empty and my head / throat felt raw.

I opened the zoom room for S. to share the word that I wouldn’t be there. As 8am neared, I could hear them in the other room on my laptop, greeting each other, saying good morning, hearing the news that class was canceled.

Then they gathered their intention, grew quiet, and sent me a long, steady communal OM.

In my bed, tears sliding down my cheeks, I soak them in.

Every person who reached out later used some version of “I am proud of you for choosing to rest, for trusting us to meet and use a replay, or use the morning as we chose. Thank you for setting an example of dedication to showing up, and taking care of yourself.”

Manipura, the home of our action - and our non-action.

1/

Monday I read from Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Naht Hahn on the action of the meditator:

Action should be based on the foundation of being. If you don’t have enough peace, understanding, and tolerance, or if you’re burdened by anger and anxiety, your action will have little value. So, the quality of action depends on the quality of being. […]

It’s not that we have to take action. If we’re awakened, action will naturally take us.

Manipura is this action of choice. Right now we need it more than ever - not necessarily more action, but more of a quality of choosing. There are multiple magical ways we could spend our time at any given moment. Lately, I’m finding that “abundance” of options to be too much. Endless digital actions. Right now, I am keen to keep it so so simple, tactile; to walk, to cook, to read books, to write with my fountain pens, to sit by the river. To meet with incredible communities with intention, and then switch off, step away.

2/

Here is the reading I had ready for today, the action of the artist. So fitting:

In each one of us there is also an artist. The artist is very important. The artist can bring freshness, joy, and meaning to life. You need to allow the artist in you to be creative so you can always feel and enjoy the nourishment in your practice of mindfulness. Many of us can’t stand monotony. If we have too much of something, we want to change it, even if we know it’s good. This is only natural.

You may ask, ‘How can we keep going on a path we want to go on, and keep going to the end?’ Of course, you need patience. But you also need something else: the path should be joyful, nourishing, and healing. So , we have to find a way to create that joy every day.

We have to organize our daily life so it’s not repetitive and so each moment can be a new moment. We must find creative ways to keep our bodhicitta, our beginner’s mind, alive and nourished.

Whether you are eating in mindfulness, driving in mindfulness, or practicing walking meditation or sitting meditation, you have to invent new ways of doing it, so that the breathing, walking, and sitting always brings you delight, solidity, and peace. On the outside, it may look the same, but you’re walking as a new person, you’re sitting very differently; you are evolving. I can tell you I never get bored of walking in mindfulness. When I walk, every step is a delight, and not because I am diligent or disciplined but because I allow the artist in me to operate and to make my practice new, interesting, nourishing, and healing.

What perfect instruction for kriya in kundalini. That ability to stay in a gesture for 1 minute or 3 minutes or 5 minutes and find something new every time. And to know that as you do you are evolving, exiting as a new person.

3/

Just now I opened an email from C. regarding this morning:

“I repeated Day 8 and it was so beautiful and powerful; I cherished the opportunity to go deeper and explore what it offered me the 2nd time around.”

This is the artist we must keep alive through our 40 days, through our seasons, through the year. Always open to what is new, what is fresh, what is right now.

Thank you for the care. Thank you for the years of community.

…

4/

I will be teaching in Mexico for the summer solstice. June 20-25 on the pacific coast I will follow the threads of the yogic koshas through 5 different types of yoga nidras.

Fall 2025 for purely personal purposes I worked with Ally B on techniques to “Weather the Storm,” somatic and breath approaches for when we are stuck, numb, spinning, or in hyperdrive. As she would say, “tools for when we have abandoned our present moment.”

January - March of 2026 I studied Restoration with Abbie Galvin of The Studio in NYC. There is a structure, an architecture, and a dedication that can serve to restore us rather than just relaxation. “Relaxation is mushy,” says Abbie in her fabulous New Yorker accent. But restoration is a reconstitution of what is required; we can make shapes that hold us so the narrative we’ve carried can fall away.

My aim is to bring it all to the beach - to find that barefoot experience of sun and wind at summer solstice that reminds us of the power of light. Restoration, rest, read, write, return. Whatever it is that calls, come step out of your shoes and your ordinary life work. Let a new perspective surface. Give it time. I would love to have you. Details here.

Inner Sun. Solstice in Mexico, with Martha McAlpine June 20-25, Xinalani resort.

If you are interested but stuck on the fence, email me and I’d love to set a time to chat about the details. marthamcalpine@yahoo.com