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International Peace Day

ByElizabeth

It is hard to imagine even one day in a single year when we could lay down our country’s weapons.  I am hoping that the upside of the rancorous budget battles will be an end to the United States’ current engagement in war (because in the worst of things, there is always cause for hope).  Today is International Peace Day.  What are your plans?  Might you make it a theme for your practice or, if you teach, your classes?  If you have the money, make a donation to an organization that works for peace?  Call or write your elected officials or write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper on an issue important to you that impacts world peace (this would include budget issues, education, environment, infrastructure, disaster relief, and family planning, and not just involvement in war itself)?

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    Signs Around Town

    ByElizabeth

    A sweet offering, but not one that many noticed or accepted based on the color of the cuttings.

    Would more have accepted a sprig if passers-by knew that rosemary is said to improve memory and to symbolize remembrance and loyalty? What if they knew that it has been said that Aphrodite was draped in rosemary when she first rose from the sea?

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

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    The Capitoline Venus (and Sruti)

    ByElizabeth

    The Capitoline Venus arrived in DC last week from Rome–the first time this circa 200 CE sculpture has been out of Rome in nearly 200 years. What makes it especially beautiful is the apparent softness of flesh of the cool, carved marble, the seeming etherealness of the ancient solid stone.

    Looking at the Venus made me think about how carving in stone can help us understand the concept of sruti. The hindu scriptures generally are classified as either sruti (revealed) or smriti (remembered) and until recent centuries were passed on through oral tradition. Those scriptures that are sruti are said to have been revealed by a divine source to the original listener. They were already there as part of the wholeness of the universe and then manifested to a particular enlightened being in a way that could be witnessed and passed on. The essence of the text was always already present, but not tangible, until it was revealed in the mind of a listener, who then passed it on.

    Carving in marble takes both the emergence of idea and form in the mind/imagination of the artist and the revealing of that idea from the original stone by the craft of the artist. The sculptor has studied and practiced art and is always open to the emerging into consciousness of a particular image or idea, just as the great yogis continuously meditated and studied, open to what might be revealed.

    As the sculptor may find the block of marble first or have the idea and then go looking for the right stone to express the idea, the yogi pulses between experiencing spirit and enhancing the experience through practice. It is not just an act of imagination that builds and creates something out of nothing. To some extent, the form of the final sculpture is already there in the stone. The work of the artist is to remove that part of the stone that is obscuring the witnessing and expression of the exquisite shape revealed from within by the educated and painstaking act of making art.

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

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    Web Version of Holiday E-Newsletter

    ByElizabeth

    Dear Friends,

    May your inner light shine brightly for yourself and others through the holiday season.  I wish you all much joy and safe travels.  As I get ready to take some time off and celebrate with friends and family–with a little sojourn in New York as part of the plan–I wanted to let you know the schedule to make it easier to plan.

    There are no Willow Street classes for the rest of the year–though a number of my friends and colleagues are offering what look like a fantastic array of workshops at Willow Street from 12/29 to 1/2.  There is William Penn House this coming Tuesday, 12/21 and also 1/4, but not on 12/28.  There will be two special house practices for regular students on Thursday 12/23 and Monday 12/27.  Please email me if you wish to attend.

    Free class week,, which runs from 1/3 to 1/9, starts the new Willow Street session.  I will be offering two classes at Willow Street Takoma Park during free class week:  restoratives on Monday, January 3rd, and gentle/therapeutic on Saturnday, January 9th.

    In addition to continuing the gentle/therapeutics at noon on Saturdays in the Winter Session (registering is great, but drop-ins always welcome), I will be offering the last Saturday of the month from January to March “Relaxing into Optimal Alignment with Anusara Restoratives.”  After a little gentle stretching and self-massage to bring awareness to the breath and body, we will enjoy the exquisite application of Anusara’s Universal Principles of Alignment to restful and supported restorative postures to release old patterns and invite in the new to find greater ease of body and mind. The workshop is designed to be a great practice for all levels; sign up for the full 3-class series and save $15!  The workshop series–or even just one–makes a great holiday gift for yourself or a friend or loved one.

    Also please mark your calendars in advance for “Yoga for Gardeners,” which is for all levels of yogis and gardeners alike.  It will be on Saturday, March 18th. A portion of the profits, as is my tradition, will go to benefit the Youth Garden at the National Arboretum.

    Peace and light,

    Elizabeth

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