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Summer Greetings–Make[a]Shift (Web Version of E-Newsletter)

ByElizabeth

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, summer officially arrived with the Solstice, bringing with it blistering heat.  Friend and student Jessica said at practice last night that it was as if Mother Nature–always in the know– looked at her wrist watch, said “hey, it’s summer” and then turned up the dial on the thermostat.  The cats who are ever in tune with what will make their bodies happiest under the circumstances, this morning declined to go out on the catio or curl up on upholstered furniture, preferring instead to lie stretched out on the floor in a dark corner or under the furniture where it is coolest.   In the heat of DC summers, I walk first thing in the morning after meditating and at the end of the work day, which both avoids the hottest part of the day and takes advantage of how long the day is light.  It is for weather like this that the gods created the siesta.  I walk a lot more slowly than I do when it is below freezing, but as long as I remember this inevitable seasonal change in pace, I arrive on time without getting overheated.  I feel blessed to live in a society in which I can go out in sandals and a sun dress (and a big cotton hat–portable shade) and not transgress societal notions of respectability.

Adapting to the seasonal shifts in climate, diet, and dress may seem seamless at this point, but I know that it has come from decades of mindful practice and study (of cooking, gardening, nutrition, amateur meteorology, yoga and related practices, and techniques for nurturing  and supporting my mind-body generally) and there is always more I can learn to be better attuned.

In this regard, the following quote from Sally Schneider’s The Improvisational Cook, which I had picked up the last time I worked a volunteer shift at The Lantern, made me think about how much the yoga (especially asana practice) has taught me about the balance of recognizing limitations and making the best of what is:

“Makeshift is a wonderfully expressive term for ‘making a shift,’ shifting your thinking to come up with a creative solution that accomplishes the task at hand in an unexpected way.  There’s only one rule:  whatever works.”

In my own improvisational cooking style, I am inclined to emphasize different ingredients and methods than Schneider, but I like what she teaches about how to be a cook.  I really appreciated her use of “makeshift” rather than “make do” in this context.  “Makeshift” indeed gives room for thinking of limitations as an opportunity to shift potential outcomes, including our own feelings of empowerment and enjoyment (bhoga).  In Schneider’s case, she gave as an example using a fork instead of a citrus reamer to juice a lemon, but I think that the principle of making a shift to maximize and celebrate what is at hand rather than getting tangled up in or stymied by what one does not have applies to any learning to enhance our efforts and experiences through technique.  One of the greatest gifts of yoga is how it teaches and invites us to deepen the understanding and recognition of how we are in the world so that we can make a shift rather than just making do or being disappointed by our challenges and limits.  Ever increasing sensitivity to ourselves in the world as an essential part of our practice enables us to take this tool that is our body-mind and live the most creative and enspirited expression possible of being an embodied participant in this community of the earth.

Most of you are likely to have your schedule constrained by summer travel plans and work and visitors coming, but including yoga will only make this energetic season better.  You might not be able to take class every week on the same night, but making the time for yoga by choosing to register for a class or planning regular drop ins will make it easier to stay committed to your practice and reap its benefits.

Registration has opened for the summer session at Willow Street.  The Gentle/Therapeutics class Friday nights from 5:30-7 in Takoma Park continues, and as part of free class weekend, I will be offering a free class on Friday July 13th to introduce the offering to those new to Willow Street or the class.  Willow Street is running some great deals for registered students and has a fantastic and flexible make-up policy.  Check it out and register.

Join us any or every week this summer for the all levels/all are welcome class at William Penn House on Tuesday nights from 6:30-7:45.  Please don’t let means keep you away; if the suggested sliding scale does not work for you, bring what you can.  If you’re working with a challenge of embodiment or seeking to advance your practice in a particular way, I always offer suggestions and variations for each student.  As always, extend the invitation to participate to friends and family.  More experienced yogis should email me separately about joining the house practice.

FYI, I will be on travel the week of 4th of July to visit with friends and to study yoga philosophy with Professor Douglas Brooks.  This means no Capitol Hill neighborhood classes July 3rd or 4th, but I will be bringing home lots of new thinking to share the following week and those to come.

If you haven’t already, feel free to join me on Facebook or subscribe to the blog to get in-between newsletter updates and offerings.

I look forward to seeing you and sharing the best of summer.
Peace and light,

Elizabeth

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    When I was eight or nine, a teacher asked everyone in my class to say what they wanted to be when they grew up.  The other children named the various jobs or professions that appealed to them at the time.  I responded that I wanted to be independently wealthy.  At that age, I was expressing something I already knew from family issues.  Though I did not have the words for it or a clear understanding, what I was saying was not just false precocity.  I knew at a basic level what is taught in yoga:  I would need enough material support (ardha) to follow my heart in love (kama) and work (dharma); then my life could be free (moksha).

    When I was 22 and visiting my friend Dan, he asked me what I really wanted to do with my life.  We had just graduated from college.  Dan was working for a sculptor who was a professor in the art department; I had just moved back to New York, had just gotten over a failed attempt to serve as an office manager for an off-off Broadway theater, was in a place of deep emotional and financial struggle, and was trying to determine what work and corresponding further education I wanted.  “I want to be content,” I said.  “That’s too passive,” he replied.  “No, that’s not what I mean,” I tried to explain.  “For me being content being satisfied and engaged with my work and life, but still working hard and having goals.  It’s not just hanging out.”  I had all sorts of things that I found interesting and possibilities for a life path, but I didn’t have one specific career or life plan that I was certain would be more fulfilling than any of the others.  They just would have satisfied me in different ways.  Because of the dilemma of too many choices, I wanted to be able happy with whatever choice I made, even if it seemed like a compromise.  I was conscious that once I picked, because of the inherent limitations of time and space, that I would either have to be content with my choice or be unhappy.  I have since learned to think of contentment (samtosha), which is one of the niyamas of the path of yoga expounded by Patanjali, as a practice rather than a goal (and it is a very important and continuing practice for me).  Contentment is not an end, as I had thought when I was 22; it is just one part of the path to a goal of living liberated (jivanmukti), experiencing self as spirit in all that one does.

    On a recent telephone seminar, Paul Muller-Ortega, my meditation and philosophy teacher, in the midst of a broad dialogue regarding various studies and practices, spoke a little of ecstatic serenity.  Memories of the discussions I had had long ago about what I wanted welled up in the forefront of my thoughts.  In thinking about what is my intention now, especially with regard to my practice (sadhana), I witnessed my previously stated intentions as just stages on the path to this discovery.  As soon as I heard Paul say the phrase, I thought, “that’s what I want; I want to be ecstatically serene.”   I seek to be always in some part of my conscious being still and peaceful, while simultaneously being passionately engaged in what life brings to me and I bring to life.

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    Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Other Vegetables (and the Goddess of Sequencing)

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    Cooking is not only an exquisite opportunity to notice and appreciate the various characteristics of the elements of our meal and how they react to heat and fat and cooking times and methods, but a wonderful way to appreciate how everything is ordered in time and space and to honor Kali — the Goddess of Sequencing.

    Brussels sprouts seem to be fashionable this year.  I’ve always liked them.  My preferred method is to braise them:  saute lightly in olive oil and/or butter in a heavy pot with a lid, splash some dry sherry, wine, or vermouth into the cooking pot and stir until the liquid is absorbed, add some broth or water (not quite to cover) plus salt and herbs of your choice, simmer until the brussel sprouts are tender and the liquid is absorbed.

    My friends are gushing about roasted brussels sprouts.  I think the tenderizing, fat-adding delight of roasting has made the much maligned brussels sprout more accessible:  toss with olive oil, salt, garlic, and herbs such as rosemary and thyme.  Roast at 400F until tender and browned (15-20 minutes).  Use peanut oil, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce or Braggs amino liquids for an Asian meal.  Try safflower oil, turmeric, ground ginger, garlic, and ground coriander seeds to serve with Indian food.  Use just butter (or if vegan a light, relatively flavorless oil such as safflower or canola), salt, paprika, and pepper for an Eastern European flavor.

    Whenever I roast vegetables, I toss in an extra head of garlic (separated into cloves), and serve some with the vegetables and reserve some for cooking something else with roasted garlic.  Include a variety of vegetables.  Just remember that different vegetables need different cooking times.  To recognize the mysteries of the Goddess of Sequencing in time and space — you have two choices in roasting vegetables.  You can cut the vegetables into different sizes (so you would leave brussels sprouts whole, cut winter squash or turnips into cubes a little smaller than the brussels sprouts, and potatoes into wedges or rectangles that are narrower than the brussels sprouts for them all to be golden and tender, but not overcooked at the same time.  As an alternative (as we do with sauteing or stir-frying), you can add different vegetables at different times.  You might need a combination of both techniques.  If you wanted to add mushrooms to the mix, since those would need to be larger than brussels sprouts, you would want to add the mushrooms later lest they get withered — how much later depends on the size of the mushrooms relative to the other vegetables.

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    Om Mani Pedme Hung

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    On my way home from work, I heard the sounds of a crowd at the Capitol.  I joined in to listen (Elizabeth Warren spoke shortly after I arrived) and chanted with my fellow citizens–the chant not “om mani pedme hung” nor “om mane padme hum,” but on this particular night, with this particular crowd, addressing this particular issue, “one more vote.”

    Being out here over and over again regardless of hope of the immediate outcome being effectively influenced is a variation on tapas, on sadhana, on seva, on faith put into practice.

    It seems that this monk and I are being drawn to the same places this week, though I am guessing our days are pretty different.

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