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Web Version of November Newsletter

ByElizabeth

Dear ,

I think this is one of the most spectacular years for fall foliage that I can remember.  The world seems to be pulsating with an ecstasy of color.  I am beside myself with joy just walking around (especially when I have my camera with me).  I hope you are getting the opportunity to be outside; the work commute is definitely a great time to be able to look around (especially if some of it is walking).

Expand the inherent joy in witnessing and experiencing the transformation between summer and fall, partaking in the abundant harvest, and accepting the sweetness of a more introspective climate by practicing forward bends with twists, restoratives, and inversions.

To deepen the revelry and to find respite when needed, come join me and pretty wonderful group of people on Tuesdays at William Penn House or Saturdays at Willow Street Yoga (level 2 at 8:30 and Gentle/Therapeutics at 12 noon) on a drop-in basis.

This month’s Serenity Saturday at Capitol Hill Yoga, which is on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, will be a special treat.  Whether you are preparing to travel or to host guests or to have a quiet weekend to yourself, a long, sweet, easeful restorative practice is just right.  Feel free to bring early, out of town guests and family. To register, please go to the workshops page at www.capitolhillyoga.com.

If you’ll be in town for Thanksgiving, I hope to see you, along with friends, family, and guests of all age and yoga ability, at my 7th Annual Thanksgiving Day Fundraiser to benefit Oxfam.  It’s from 10-11:30 on Thanksgiving Day in the beautiful and spacious Willow Street, Takoma Park Studio.  As has been my practice, I will be matching all donations over the suggested donation of $20.

For more information about the classes and workshops and to catch up on the blog, please visit the website at www.rosegardenyoga.com.

Peace and light,

Elizabeth

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    There’s lots of arugula in the garden.  Some still new enough to save for salad, some that has bolted in the heat.  The cilantro is just about gone with the dry heat.  The basil and parsley have gone to flower.  As I thought about how best to enjoy all of what was there while simultaneously best tending the garden for optimal growth (much like yoga practice), I remembered that I had seen a farmer with arugula pesto at the Dupont Circle Fresh Farm Market last week.  I bought something else from the farmer to honor the idea, fully conscious of my own garden full of arugula calling out to me.

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    Do you have to be some type of theist to have a “spiritual practice” or to self-identify or belong to a particular religious group?

    Here are some types of theists: atheist, nontheist, monotheist, polytheist, pantheist, post-theist, modern theist (I just made that one up), theist ? (agnostic), none of the above.

    What type are you? Does it matter to you what you are? Do you think it matters to others what type of theist you think you are? Which comes first: the spiritual or religious practice/group or the type of theistic belief/identification?

    Do you think that a world where where this sort of identification and question did not exist would be freer from strife?

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

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    We are composed of nothing different than earth, water, fire, air, and space, and much of yoga practice  (as are related practices such as ayurveda) is designed to recognize and align our elemental identity.  It is human nature to manufacture, just as it is the nature of a beaver to make a dam or a termite to make a mound of mud that displaces what was in its path.  Why then is it so common to  think of man-made as completely separate from “nature” rather than to recognize the wild and extraordinary creations of humans as an integral part of the complex fabric of being on this planet?

    Photos taken on a Thanksgiving trip shared with friends and family:  DC to NJ, Cape Cod, and back to NJ before heading home. Without the time on highway and train, I could not have seen so much “nature” in so short a time.  Nor, might I add, would I have appreciated being out exposed to the wind and water without the shelter and protection of manufactured goods (including houses, cars, and clothing, etc).  This does not mean, of course, that to live better, we should not seek to balance and diminish our consumption of resources for our protection and comfort.

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    I woke up woozy and sore this morning and went back to sleep for about 45 minutes after I was done with my morning practice. Although it is atypical for me to need more sleep after I have practiced, I knew that I was not sick. I was just experiencing side effects from the flu shot.

    I have only gotten the flu shot once before. The side effects felt like I had the flu (albeit a mild case), and I got the flu any way that year. As I haven’t gotten the flu in the past several years, I have not gotten the shot in subsequent years. (Note: The vaccine has been very effective 17 of the past 25 years, and not particularly effective for three of the other years. It was suggested to me that I should not continue basing my decision on having, by coincidence, only gotten the shot during one of the ineffective years–2003-2005).

    I was strongly advised to get the flu shot this year as a precaution for the trip to India. The plane travel, regardless of how much healthy living I do otherwise, will both tax my immune system and put me in contact with a host of viruses, etc. Also, and perhaps more important, I know I will be visiting loved ones in the hospital this flu season. Going through a little discomfort now is worth it to minimize the risk to those I will be visiting.

    Have you gotten your flu shot?

    Below: Workers line up to get the flu shot at the Health Unit.

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

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