Found Exhortation?
Filed Under Art and Culture, Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice, Community and Family, Food for the Body, Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc), Meditation, Photos | Leave a Comment
Honor your ancestors–both of blood and of teaching lineage (parampara). Yes, it is a critical element of the yoga practice, regardless of whether one practices in the guru tradition (I do not–more on that in coming weeks, I think).
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Too Busy Gardening
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To write about gardening. I spent most of the weekend in the garden and there is still more to be done to get ready for the fullest experience of summer. I did get to the Sunday contact improv jam for a while (these azaleas are in the church yard outside of where we dance). Now I am off to an evening meeting–yearning to get back into the garden, but intending to enjoy connecting with my community.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Unexpected Treat
Filed Under Art and Culture, Community and Family, Food for the Body | 1 Comment
As I was leaving my massage therapists house, his wife said, “it’s open,” walk up 15th Street and check it out.” I turned from my usual track and headed up 15th Street Between C and D Streets, SE, a young guy was standing in a freshly painted doorway calling out to see if anyone wanted free samples. Having already been given a thumbs up, I stopped and joined two others who were enjoying the offer.
I was handed a freshly baked Philadelphia style pretzel and a squeeze container of mustard. The pretzel had been baked within the half hour, there was just the right amount of salt, and it was definitely a treat after a Saturday afternoon massage.
“It’s a simple concept–just the pretzels, and I am still working out hours and prices. Have to work around having a two-year old at home.”
The neighbors, who definitely were enjoying their pretzels and the neighborhood setting, said they would be happy to be in a picture for my blog.
The pretzels will certainly appeal after the Little League games across the street, but it’s a treat for those in post massage bliss and people taking a casual walk around the neighborhood, too.
I am happy to support this new venture. What changes and integrates our neighborhood includes the willingness to open a small business off the beaten track (340 15th St., SE) that will appeal to a broad section of the community.
To find out information on prices (he does special orders for parties) and hours of operation, check out “The Pretzel Bakery”s Facebook page.
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Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go?
Filed Under Art and Culture, Community and Family, Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc), Quaker | Leave a Comment
For me, an important part of living yoga off the mat is knowing how I fit into the flow of energies (and money is a big flow of energy and power) in community and what I do to try and shift things where and when I can. One big step in being empowered is not to accept powerlessness, but to act even if yours is only one small voice.
Click here to see the analysis prepared by the Friends Committee on National Legislation to show where your tax dollars go, along with some suggestions for individual action. Participating (at a minimum by being educated about the issues, registering to vote, and actually voting) is important for all of us.
Blue on Blue
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A friend and neighbor when dividing her garden for better growth gave me these bulbs several years ago. They have bloomed every subsequent spring, bringing a shot of color and beauty to a spot that technically is not mine, but is on the edge of the woefully neglected yard of my next door neighbor.
As I walk around the neighborhood admiring one bloom after another in this exuberant season I think about how much the front gardens are not just for ourselves, but an offering for each other–friends and passers-by alike. Sharing the beauty is such a wonderful way to connect.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Peace, love, etc
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Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Found Exhortation
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How to think of this as an exhortation is a grammatical puzzle.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
More Blossoms Blossoming
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These extraordinary trees are in the parking lot at the Grounds for Sculpture just outside of Trenton, NJ.
Greetings from NJ
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Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Spring Greetings–Embracing Change (web version of e-newsletter)
Filed Under Art and Culture, Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice, Community and Family, Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc), Gardening, Meditation, Miscellaneous (blog matters, etc) | Leave a Comment
Dear Friends ,
Greetings to all in this strange, but glorious Spring. As I sit down to write, I cannot help but recall that in my new year’s letter, I wrote of the practice in some Indian temples of cracking open a coconut to symbolically break open the head to get out of old living patterns that do not serve us. I blithely wrote how blessed I was that in having taken myself to India, I was intentionally choosing to be challenged, while recognizing that we don’t always get to pick when challenges will come. Less than two weeks after I returned, my family gathered to visit my father who was in the hospital for a hip replacement (he’s healing well). Only a couple of weeks after that, the Anusara yoga community was turned topsy turvy,. When I wrote of choosing to break myself open to discover new paradigms and possibilities, little did I know what was going to happen to the yoga community that has been and continues to be such an important part of my life.
Even Spring is not behaving according to settled expectations. It burst forth especially early–the cherry blossoms are already gone and azaleas and roses are blooming almost a month early. Records were set around the country for the warmest March on record, and we are approaching drought conditions (again) in the Washington metropolitan area.
Not surprisingl for one who likes things to be settled and secure, while admiring the wild blooming around me, I have been thinking about how disconcerting change can be. For someone who prefers warmer weather to winter, getting Spring early is delightful, but I cannot help but recognize that it has come with disastrous storms and high risks for farmers and our food sources, evidence of the fraying relationship between our populous society and the earth. What is a gardener, a yogi, and a member of society to do?
As a gardener, it is necessary to remember old teachings and methods (for example, just because it was prematurely warm does not mean that the danger of last frost is earlier than in other, colder years), but it was also necessary to plant and tend the garden earlier to make sure that cool weather plants, such as greens and snow and sugar snap peas, actually have an opportunity to grow. The erratic weather is also serving as a reminder to try and shift to be more in alignment with the forces of nature and to contribute less to global climate change. In a word, a true gardener, like the dedicated yogi (on and off the mat) will rely on the lineage of teachings and experience, continue to be fully engaged without giving up, be adaptable to the vagaries of season–both serendipity and calamity, and seek to live in a way that fosters the good in oneself and all beings.
It is going with the flow, but in an active and intelligent way. In this time of uncertainty, I believe that an ever deeper and more open study and practice of yoga is a great gift. Yoga when practiced sincerely and in community provides us opportunities to connect more deeply and techniques to turn unsought changes into opportunities for growth and transformation. In that light, in my own yoga offerings to you, there is both stability and change:
The big change in my yoga classes is moving my long-running gentle/therapeutics class at Willow Street to Friday nights. I am very excited about this shift. On a personal level, it gives me free weekends for the first time in six years, which will give me more time and space to study, practice and explore. For you, I intend that the class will now be a perfect transition from the work week to the weekend, fostering and enhancing the ability to heal and celebrate. Those who like things to be steady can still expect the same full hour and a half of nurturing, alignment-based, therapeutic poses and restorative practices. Registration for the full session is preferred, but drop-ins are always welcome. New to the class and want to know what it is about? Please come join me on Friday, April 13th, as part of free class week.
The Tuesday night all levels group practice at William Penn House continues. As always, a portion of the proceeds support the work of William Penn House, and if you cannot pay the suggested donation ($12-15), do not let that keep you away. We want to make the yoga available to those who truly seek it.
I hope to see many of you soon. Please feel free to be in touch by email or Facebook message when you cannot make it to class. For in-between newsletter information, please “like” my “Rose Garden Yoga” page on Facebook, and there are always new photographs and musings about yoga on and off the mat on the blog.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
