When we know how much of what we perceive is a trick of the light of our own perception, we are that much closer to witnessing from a more spacious, and thus more compassionate, consciousness.
If you are a true renunciate yogi, then the horsemen of the apocolypse don’t phase you. The ultimate bliss is leaving your body anyway. For those of us who are engaged in the world, care about what we eat, care where we live, care about the well-being of family and friends, then learning, understanding, and acting — knowing of course that we can control that and how we act, but not the outcome — is a critical part of a tantric yoga life.
It’s great to know how to place one’s hands for optimal alignment in downward-facing dog, but do you know how your tax dollars are spent? Here’s a little overview worth sharing widely. And perhaps it will make all that noise in Washington about the budget and the debt ceiling seem a little more important. Check out the “People’s Budget,” which enhances domestic programs, increases participation in paying for our society by the rich, and decreases defense spending and military action.
And then I highly recommend standing on your head or balancing on your hands or otherwise going upside-down, getting twisted, and knowing that the practice will help you stay sane and steady and able to act.
When I was out gathering vegetables and herbs and doing basic tending for the day, I realized a cardinal, who is a regular visitor, had let me get closer than ever before. Then I saw that he was about to try and swallow a praying mantis. I got almost face to face before he let go.
At first the praying mantis was turned upside down, and I wasn’t sure if it was ok. Then I realized it was holding on to a bee.
For the past week, I have been meditating on, practicing with, and teaching the water element in classes. Our health and the health of the planet depend on the water element being balanced. When our water element is in balance, we are fluid, open, well-nourished, malleable, and life-supporting. Too much or too little water is immediately a problem. Dehydration and drought wither life; flooding overwhelms.
Yesterday, I developed the symptoms of a rather watery head cold that is going around. Did it come from invoking the water element? Doubtful; probably just a virus. I treat the watery symptoms of not merely with more water (as in plenty of liquids), but more truly with fire: hot soup, hot tea, steam to clear the head, a hot water bottle under the covers. The heat balances the excess of water and the missing fire that comes from a cold in winter.
