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    Blossoms Around Town 

    ByElizabeth

    I spent much of my day divided between errands and home repairs and checking the latest news. Before beginning my day, I got deeply immersed in Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, which I cannot recommend highly enough for more perspective on the current state of our society.

    It was sticky walking about the neighborhood, and things are lush. Easy to pretend everything is ok and for now, it is for me. From that privilege, what can I give? Amidst sharing that I am again reviewing what time and resources more I can offer, sometimes I want to connect through offering beauty.

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    Web Version of E-Newsletter (Yes, I’m Still Teaching)

    ByElizabeth

    Dear Friends,

    My apologies for being so long in sending a proper newsletter.  2014 was a challenging year for me.  I started the year sick, ended the year sick, and was limited by injuries for several months out of the year.  Work was intensely challenging on just about every level, day after day, week after week, and it continues to be so.  And then there’s concern about the state of society and the planet and trying to figure out what I, honoring my capacity and limits, can do to do more good and less harm (I’ll never get this sent if I get side-tracked in that direction).

    I also had some great adventures, including a major home renovation and an extraordinary trip to Cuba, but then was working too hard in between to appreciate and integrate fully my experiences (which is a yoga lesson in itself–addressing whether we need more stimulation when we haven’t had time to address/process previous experiences whether delights or challenges to mind, body, emotions, creativity).

    Yes, I’m still teaching, even though working as much as I am these days.  You can find me leading an all levels group practice with a wonderful group of people on Tuesday nights from 6:30pm -7:45pm at William Penn House in Capitol Hill.  100% of the proceeds (pay what you can; suggested donation $12-15) support the work camp program at William Penn House.  There’s also a weekly group practice for more advanced students on Wednesday nights.  Email if you are interested in the Wednesday night practice.  More info on classes on my rose garden yoga website.

    Yes, for those of you who don’t subscribe,  I’m still blogging.  With the help of wonderful web designer, friend, neighbor, and fellow yogi, Jess C, I just updated the look of the website.  I hope to find time to blog about the many layers of meaning that went into the new design, which has the colors of Kali (goddess of sequencing); the murtis are  Dakshinamurti (Siva as teacher) and Saraswati (goddess of learning, the arts, etc.); the books are a small, but important to me as yogini, portion of my library.

    If you’re in town, join me for practice one of these weeks or perhaps we’ll run into each other another class or workshop.  Please let me know how you are.  Best way to be in regular touch are to subscribe to the blog.  When there isn’t an interval between working and living and loving, and all the rest, to share more detailed written contemplations about living yoga,I’ll share the signs and exhortations I see around town and remind myself and anyone else who wants the reminder that no matter what is going on, there’s always a moment to appreciate a little beauty–perhaps to notice a heart-shaped cloud in the sky.

    Feel free also to friend me or like “Rose Garden Yoga” on Facebook.  Instagram possibly coming soon in my copious free time.  Ha.

    Peace, love, and light,

    Elizabeth

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    It’s Easy When the Weather is Beautiful (and Ananda)

    ByElizabeth

    The light woke me early on this summer solstice. The sky is bright blue, the air clear and pleasantly temperate, the mountains lushly green, and friends surround me. The practice yesterday was lustrous, and the next two days promise to be equally delightful.

    The delight from being surrounded by beauty and good friends can give us a taste of the possibilities of experiencing true bliss. As the surface enjoyment of being on vacation (albeit an extraordinarily good one), though, it has a shadow side, just as the picture below of a smiling ganesha at the base of a tree in the middle of a heart is flanked by a fire hydrant and a pile of trash bags.

    It is really easy to imagine ananda — divine bliss, under these circumstances. It is important for all of us to find moments within our means when it is easy to experience the spark of spontaneous happiness. When it is challenging to find it, when grief or hardship confront us, it is ever more important to be able to tap into a space of bliss so that we can bring the most light to our challenges. Having the sweet times helps us find it in the bitter.

    Ananda, John reminded us at the afternoon philosophy lecture yesterday, is the joy that has no opposite. It is a deep contentment with what is–hearts and trees and fire hydrants and trash bags and all–that fully accepts the play of opposites.

    Those of us who do not know and live ananda spontaneously and naturally all of the time have the yoga. We challenge ourselves on the mat, knowing the exhilaration of heart opening and the challenge of stiffness; we sit for meditation on good days and bad, finding sometimes the pulsing, vibration of the fullness of consciousness and other times our to do list; we practice pranayama to open our energy channels; we chant to remind ourselves of why we practice: to open our hearts and discover the best in ourselves and in all beings.

    Happy solstice to all and hope see you soon for the yoga.

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

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