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- Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Dance/Contact Improvisation | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Miscellaneous (blog matters, etc)
“Seriously”
A friend from the DC Sunday contact improv jam (one of my favorite places to play) sent this link showing a clip from a documentary in progress about the importance of play to our health. One of the things that I love most about Anusara yoga is that John Friend has always described its practice as being “seriously playful.” I was born serious nature and have worked hard in my adulthood to learn to play spontaneously, and what is being offered here resonates for me.
This is a long clip, but well worth the time. Anusara yogis, notice how familiar some of it sounds. Enjoy!
- Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Poetry | Quaker
A Thanksgiving Gathering
A friend, who is on the board of directors, invited me to help set up and serve Thanksgiving dinner at the Latin American Youth Center. I took this afternoon off instead of tomorrow afternoon and helped out. I met several inspiring people and many kids who like cookies.
There’s a lot of art on the walls and some poetry. This reminded me of how grateful I am for what I have and where I am in life.

Ways to Ask Permission
I’ve been on staycation for the holidays. I’ve taken a few asana classes around town in studio spaces I haven’t been in before.
In two of the classes, the teachers stated at the beginning that they give physical adjustments. Both teachers asked while students were in child’s pose, so that the response was only for the teacher.
One teacher asked students to make a sign if they did NOT WANT to have adjustments. The other said to make a thumbs up if they WANTED adjustments.
I noticed a palpable difference in the degree of consent because of the emotional difference for me between having to actively say no to avoid unwanted touch as opposed to being told I would be left untouched unless I specifically gave permission. There is also a difference between simply allowing touch rather than specifically having to say I want to receive it.




