I saw these tools on the sidewalk in the afternoon. They were still there in the evening when I was walking home from teaching at William Penn House.
I wondered how or why someone might abandon, forget, or lose such well-made tools.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Krishna Das reminding his listeners the reasons he practices and offers kirtan scrolled across my Facebook feed last week with this quote:
“My path is to be in the living Presence; We have to find a way inside us, we have to find a way to open our hearts, to quiet our minds, to let go our fears and our selfishness, our guilt and our anger and jealousy; Everything is already present in our own hearts; By repeating these Names over and over, we are moving ourselves into that place in us; the Heart in us is deeper than any emotion or psychological issues; I don’t know if there is God, I know there is Love – Unconditional Love and I know I like to be in that love, and that maybe God; all you have to do is look, and chanting remembers us to look.”
I am in a space right now where chanting is serving me to help remember the good, despite all that is going on that doesn’t feel particularly good or hopeful. I don’t believe in “God” as an actual being (though I can no more disprove the actuality than anyone has been able to prove it), and history certainly proves the power of the idea of such a mystical being.
Regardless of whether the very real ideas of God(s) represents an actual being, it has been my beautiful experience–studying with Krishna Das and others over the years–that engaging in practices that turn our hearts towards love and universality helps us be sweet living in relationship to ourselves, to others, and to the ecological fabric of the whole of embodied existence. I chant because calling out the names in their universal multiplicity is a recognition, not dissimilar to what I have found offered in the silent collective worship of Quakers, that everyone has their own individual access to and ideas of the sublime, of the divine, of what brings them to feel a fullness of love.
Happy new year to all! I hope 2010 is off to a good start for you. My days are full with work and practice and teaching and photographing and cooking and indoor gardening and telling stories (aka blogging) and connecting with friends and the general miscellany of life.
My intention for the year to approach each day with a sense of fullness and wonder, whatever comes. A key element of feeling things are deliciously full rather than overly busy is appreciating how things are and can be ordered in space and time. This winter, in classes and workshops, we will be exploring the mysteries and techniques of sequencing on and off the mat. Come join me.
The Willow Street session started this week, with my first classes this Saturday, January 16th (Level 2 @ 8:30 and Gentle/Therapeutics @ noon on Saturdays in the Takoma Park studio). It’s not too late to register. It’s great to come every week to get all a session has to offer, but feel free to drop in any time. Register on-line at www.willowstreetyoga.com or in person.
William Penn House all-level classes continue on Tuesday nights @ 6:30, with the special reduced rate of $12 for not-for-profit workers, students, and seniors. This month’s Wednesday night intermediate/advanced group practice proceeds are going to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Feeling a bit tight from the cold? Join me from 3pm-5pm this Saturday, January 16th at Capitol Hill Yoga for the first “Serenity Saturday” restorative workshop of the year. There will be a special focus on opening up muscles tightened from the cold, including self-massage techniques. To register, please visit www.capitolhillyoga.com.
Dreaming of Springtime in the garden? Put it on your calendars: I’ll be offering “Yoga for Gardeners” again on Saturday March13th, just in time for the season to get started. More details at www.rosegardenyoga.com.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Embrace the grief, honor the rage, and act out of joy and conviction that justice must manifest to maximize opportunities for healing, nurture, and joy.
