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Day of the Dead Celebration
For the past few years, my friend X has hosted a Day of the Dead celebration. This year, it had not been in his plans. Enough of asked, though, that he is hosting a small dinner. The Halloween of candy and costumes has not had a big draw for me; it was never made much of in my childhood. Taking the time, though, to sense the thinning between the worlds and to take time to honor my ancestors is of great meaning. Having been privileged to be invited into the festivities of the Day of the Dead has enhanced my consciousness of this time of year.
Today, when I practiced, I first reflected on those friends and family who have left their physical bodies in the past year–some quite significant to me. Thinking of those friends and family led me to think of others long gone in body, but not in spirit, and others who are still living, but with whom the connection remains only in memory. To all, I offered honor and recognition of their part in my being. Of all, like the taste of the sugared skulls that are part of the Day of the Dead, I am consciously thinking some, among whatever memories may arise unbidden, of what was sweet.
Needless Anxiety (and messages from the universe in my spam folder)
From a German language spammer advertising “female viagra” comes this bit of universal wisdom on a day when I found myself needlessly anxious about a mistake that was fairly easily rectified: “It sounds like you’re creating problems yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why their [sic] is a problem in the first place”
If I were one who just trusts naturally that many simple things can be fixed easily if I just ask for help, there wouldn’t have been any need to be anxious. It would have been better not to have made the mistake in the first place, but as much as I might dislike it, I will inevitably make mistakes–here, not getting my dates right for asking for sub coverage for a yoga class. With the wonderful community in which I am blessed to be a member, it only took a few phone calls to work things out.
It is one of my biggest challenges to have to ask for help. Having to ask for help because I made a mistake made it even more challenging. A big part of my yoga is learning to soften and trust in such situations. When I did just that, I not only was able to ease away from needless anxiety, I was able to allow in more love and support. Sometimes we need to be put face to face with our toughest stuff to open at another level.
- Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Gardening | Meditation
State of the Garden
I spent most of the day working in the garden. As the darkness of the eclipse encroached, I thought what it would be like if I had not known in advance that it was coming.
Would I have known enough to heed the crows?
I sat with Ganesha, in the aspect of the one who can reveal to practitioners a skillful path amidst the obstacles that necessarily arise from the churning of space and time by the 12 Kalis and which are intrinsic to the fabric of the tandava generated by Siva Nataraja.




