Looked at from one perspective, the yoga teachings say that outer peace will come from the cultivation of inner peace. I do think that it is hard to wage peace on a global level if one does not truly cultivate inner love and peace. Where I differ from some is that I do not believe it is sufficient to take care of your own inner peace without a care for how one fits into the global web.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Today I numbly and rather inefficiently worked. It was rather pleasant weather when I went out at lunchtime. I remembered to notice, despite contemplating the innumerable consequences of the election and about how I can and should best participate going forward.
Having called the contractor and put a tarp over the place water was coming in, now I can just practice acceptance that it might get worse before it gets repaired.
Sometimes people put on a costume to invoke energy or otherwise engage in ritual. Do you have ritual outfits or objects to wear?
The cherry trees are starting to flower–two weeks earlier than an average spring and likely to set a record.
In my own yard, the greens that over-wintered and are newly coming up are suffering from lack of rain and May/June temperatures. Though it is still technically winter, the lowest lows are in the high 40s F in the 15-day forecast. It is still risky to take out the tropicals, though if the 15-day forecast looks the same in mid-April, I will go for it, even though historical last frost is in May.
What cannot wait is planting cool weather vegetables such as snow peas. They still might not thrive if the unseasonable warmth and lack of rain do not level off. But Spring is so early that now is the chance to catch the growing season.
As I can go to the grocery store and the farmers’ market, I could just let the season pass me by, ignoring the realities of the season we are getting.
Much of the reason I garden is to heighten consciousness and connection to nature. If I do not make sudden adjustments the way a farmer would to, then I am missing out on a great opportunity. That meeting the unexpected time constraints imposed by abnormal weather patterns is not in sync with my schedule just highlights the importance of us needing to shift ourselves to be aligned with the great flows of energy.
Enjoy your gardens (strawberries will be early too–i already have some plants starting to form fruit).
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Yesterday the mysterious beeping was beeping again in Studio 1B. I have all sorts of approaches to teaching with the beeping. One of them is to switch the attention of the ears to music. We flowed to Now by Bhagavan Das (because it was already in the CD player and I like it well enough) and listened to selections from Love Reigns by Diana Rogers during final relaxation. Monty asked me after class to give a list of some good music for home practice. Here are some of my favorite “yoga” cds in no particular order:
Krishna Das — Live on Earth; Faith of the Heart
Wah! — Hidden in the Name; Jai, Jai, Jai
Jai Uttal — Kirtan (this double CD also has a useful spoken background piece on what is kirtan)
Deva Premal — Love is Space; The Embrace
Ragani — Best of Both Worlds
Dave Stringer — Mala; Japa; Divas and Devis
Shantala — Sri; The Love Window
Many of these are available at the Willow Street Yoga Center shops. Most should be available on-line directly from the artists. Dave Stringer also has other music available for download. The rest can be obtained from Amazon. Also great listening is Invocation, which was put together by Ty Burhow. It is a collection of different artists offering versions of the Anusara invocation. Willow Street work studies are raving about MC Yogi’s Elephant Power, which is rap music telling the stories of various deities — funny and delightful.
Mostly, I prefer to teach and practice without music, but I was a dancer and find music helps to lead me into heart and body simultaneously. I find bringing music into a practice session especially helpful when I am having trouble getting settled on my mat. I do not just play “yoga” music, but play whatever gets me into the spirit of play or relaxation and contemplation as I am moved. My bias is towards chamber music (especially Bach) and Indian classical music for a late evening quiet practice and for an upbeat daytime practice anything that would go with being outside on a grassy field on a bright sunny day with frisbee players around. Alice Coltrane is also wonderful if you haven’t discovered yet her discography.
Play what enhances rather than what distracts. Also, check out the artists when they come to town: Wah!, Dave Stringer, and Shantala (Heather and Benji Wertheimer) all come to town. Enjoy!
