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July Greetings–Ultimate Freedom (and Some Free Yoga) (Web Version of E-Newsletter)

ByElizabeth

Dear Friends,

It is Saturday morning of Independence Day weekend.  I have sat for my morning meditation, watered the garden, pet the cats, and done a few errands around the house.  In an hour or so, I will be heading up to Willow Street to teach my noon class.  As I take the time to care for garden, cats, house, and prepare to teach, I have been contemplating the concept of freedom.

In the tantric shaivite tradition, we are taught that one of the key aspects of spirit is svatantriya — ultimate freedom.  We are also taught that we are ourselves inseparable from spirit, just as a drop of ocean water is no less part of the ocean for being a drop.  Spirit chooses, out of its freedom and play (lila) to embody itself in forms that are limited in space and time.  One of our greatest sources of suffering is feeling bound, thinking that we are stuck with who and what we are in the constraints of this mortal body, with all its quirks, forgetting our own auspiciousness.

I could get grumpy about the need to do errands and to teach on a holiday weekend.  I could feel constrained from my usual activities around town by the combination of single-tracking on the Metro and the influx of tourists for the activities on the Mall, the combination of which will likely add an hour’s communiting time to teach today and to do volunteer work in Georgetown tomorrow at the Lantern Bookshop.  I could choose instead to be grateful that I have a house that needs caring, a garden to water, a class that gives me great joy and abiding satisfaction to share the incredible yoga principles that have so enhanced my own life, and volunteer work that I have enjoyed for over 15 years.

I am not going to be telling anyone that we are without limitation, being as we are in time and space.  We are always and perfectly free, however, to choose to turn towards the auspicious, the light, the good, the uplifting, the highest or we can turn away.  We can act in ways that bring us ever more in alignment with spirit , or we can act in ways that take ourselves and that in our orbit farther from the good.  The more we exercise our freedom to turn towards the auspicious, the happier and healthier we will be, regardless of the fact of life in a mortal body.  That choice is our true freedom and the way to our hearts.

To help you experience svatantriya, to choose freedom of heart, there’s nothing better than some free yoga.  The weekend of July 15-17, Willow Street Yoga will be offering it’s summer free class weekend. I’ll be offering gentle/therapeutics at noon on July 16th in Takoma Park.  Preference is giving to new students and to returning students who have brought new students with them.

For July at William Penn House, I’m offering a two-part freebie:  (1) brand new students get first class free; please invite your friends and neighbors; (2) if you are an existing student who brings a new student with you, you get a free class when the new student comes back for a second class.

Have a wonderful Independence Day, however you choose to celebrate and see you soon.
Peace and light,

Elizabeth

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    “The Kings of Pastry” (and Reflections on Anusara Certification)

    ByElizabeth

    “It will make you both laugh and cry,” said Josh, who is a long-time neighbor and the proprietor of the newly re-opened West End Cinema, which is currently showing The Kings of Pastry.   “I don’t think I will be crying just because a sugar sculpture breaks,” I responded with some skepticism.  “Let me know afterward,” he said, and there the conversation ended.  I needed to get seated, and he needed to help the next movie-goer.

    What I found loveliest about the film — besides getting to surrender to the delicious sensation of being completely awed by the extraordinary technique exhibited — was that there was no competition in the sense of there being “winners” or “losers.”  All of the finalists — I don’t think that this is a spoiler — could achieve the designation of “master” if they demonstrate their virtuosity as pastry chefs within a short period of time under intense scrutiny.

    The movie, in revealing a little of what it can mean to have the talent, passion, and single-mindedness to seek to be a master of a craft, a livelihood, an art, invited me to reflect on when I have been tested and when I have wanted a certain achievement marked by an outer designation.  Undergraduate and law school were highly competitive; by being ranked, excellence seemed to be prized not as much for how it would enable the students ultimately to be better able to serve society and themselves upon having developed a certain required level of mastery, but more for creating a ranking within that segment of society.  The dance world, for me, also felt strongly competitive.  With injuries early on and having developed the “wrong” body, I could not rise to the competition.

    The support, encouragement, and mentoring of the pastry chefs in The Kings of Pastry — although clearly only a select few were finalists — highlighted for me what it can mean to strive for excellence without having it be structured by win-lose/pass-fail competition; it only makes the world of pastry better if more of the pastry chefs are true masters.  In this regard, watching the movie led me to think about what it was like to work for Anusara yoga teacher certification in contrast to my earlier education.  When I was working for my Anusara certification, the standards for achievement of the “goal” were still very high, but it was not about winning/losing or achieving/failing.  It was a period of intense study, practice, learning, and humbling experiences.  On being certified, I knew that the efforts to be certified were just the beginning.  Part of the reason for being so deeply challenged to be certified, to meet the level of initiation (in Sanskrit diksha), was to see if we would continue studying and practicing at that rate out of love and deep commitment.  It took going through the process and addressing all the old emotions and patterns of reaction and response that came up in the context of being tested to help me to start fully appreciating the difference between being in a competition and seeking the best we can be for ourselves and for others in our work and study.  When I started to have a lived appreciation for the distinction it carried through to all aspects of my relationships in life.

    Without answering them, The Kings of Pastry opened for our own contemplation the questions of what does striving for excellence or mastery mean for the one on the path and for those on the path with him or her?  How does coming face to face with an obstacle when being tested or finding out that one has or has not received the public recognition impact the rest of one’s life, one’s sense of self-worth, and one’s relationships with family and friends?  It was an sweet act of film-making to bring these questions to the viewer’s awareness in a way that is completely engaging and endearing.

    Yes, Josh, I got a little teary-eyed towards the end.

  • |

    Letter from Move-On About Iraq

    ByElizabeth

    On the remote chance that you (dear reader) did not already receive it directly below is a letter from Move-On about President Obama’s statement that all troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by year’s end.  My post on FB was as follows:

    “I wish my reaction wasn’t ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ immediately followed by, ‘and what about Afghanistan?”  Still, it is hopeful news.”

    Dear MoveOn member,

    Today, President Obama formally announced the end of the war in Iraq, as the remaining 48,000 American troops in Iraq will be brought home by year’s end.1

    After almost nine years, the loss of more than 4,400 American troops and countless Iraqi civilian lives, and a cost of $800 billion that was badly needed at home, a war that should have never begun is finally coming to an end.2 It’s bittersweet relief from an ongoing tragedy—and for MoveOn members who lost loved ones, a very personal tragedy.

    While it’s long overdue, it’s important to remember that even up until today, conservatives and military advisers have been pressing to keep tens of thousands of troops in Iraq indefinitely.3

    So there is no doubt that we would not be here without the dedicated work of millions of Americans nationwide who struggled tirelessly to bring this war to an end and our troops home. From small vigils to massive marches, from phone calls to our leaders to letters to the media, you and many others helped make this day possible.

    Yet, it’s also true that the struggle to bring our troops home continues, as long as tens of thousands of troops remain in Afghanistan. The future of Iraq will now be left to the Iraqi people, and it’s long past time to leave the future of Afghanistan to its people as well.

    And though the war is ending, tens of thousands of troops will continue to struggle with the physical and psychological wounds from their service in Iraq. We encourage you to visit the Wounded Warrior Project to learn more and to donate to support those who served: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

    We can’t rest until all troops are safely out of harm’s way—and our veterans and families are given the support and care they deserve.

    Thanks for all you did to fight for this day and for all you do to fight for a safer, more peaceful world.

    –Justin, Carrie, Elena, Sarah, and the rest of the team
    P.S. You can see photos from years of MoveOn member work to prevent and end the war here: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90208&id=32202-1983776-lxe54Jx&t=2

    Sources:

    1. “Obama announces full withdrawal from Iraq,” USA Today, October 21, 2011
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=265907&id=32202-1983776-lxe54Jx&t=3

    2. “After Nearly Nine Years of War and Occupation, America to Withdraw All Troops from Iraq,” The Nation, October 19, 2011
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=265893&id=32202-1983776-lxe54Jx&t=4

    3. Ibid.

    “Conservatives launch pre-emptive strike against Obama’s Iraq plan,” Foreign Policy, September 15, 2011
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=265896&id=32202-1983776-lxe54Jx&t=5

    “A troop drawdown that would fail Iraq,” The Washington Post, September 16, 2011
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=265897&id=32202-1983776-lxe54Jx&t=6

    Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

    PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. This email was sent to Elizabeth Goodman on October 21, 2011. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

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