As I walk from my airbnb to the location of a weekend yoga teacher intensive, I am given reminder that “spiritual practice” is a luxury that comes only when we have adequate nourishment and shelter.
To make space at William Penn House for a full group of college students visiting DC to take advocacy training and to do service projects, Tuesday Night Yoga practice was cancelled. The regulars decided to go out for dinner instead–a most pleasant way to spend my birthday eve.
I was asked what I wanted from this year. Hard to know what I want, I said, with all the chaos and tragedy and upheaval. I think I want to find more ways to share my resources–talents, time, and finances–and maintain equanimity and joy, while deepening friendships and connections to community. If this year brings that, I will indeed be among the very fortunate.
One of the most profound and essential teachings of the great yogis is to “watch the gap.” We are given the practice of watching the gap, the space, the pause, the turning point between the in breath and the out breath, the out breath and the in breath. In the gap, we are able to witness perfect fullness (purna) and perfect emptiness (sunyata). In minding the gap, we can experience perfect stillness and serenity. It is an extraordinary practice in its simplicity and in its gift of peace and repose.
Whether you have never heard of this practice, learned it at some point but have mostly forgotten about it, or just did it with your own practice, I invite you to take a few minutes on reading this: make your seat steady and as comfortable as possible, close your eyes, invite an intention of finding a still spaciousness in your heart. Draw your attention to the breath and start to notice the space (maybe almost instantaneous and unobservable, maybe a real pause) between the in and out breaths.
If you are moved, comment on your experience to share with each other. There is no one right reaction nor a wrong one. If it was challenging to sit still and focus, just be gentle and soften to how enjoyable it can be to do nothing other than watch the breath, like the sweet and easy restfulness of watching the movement of waves at the beach.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Dear Friends,
My apologies for any potential confusion. William Penn House IS able to accommodate Tuesday night yoga classes in June and the conference people. Please disregard previous notice, or, in the immortal words of Gilda Radnor, “never mind.”
Hope to see many of you soon.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
ps While you are on YouTube, check out some of the other great videos of Gilda Radnor. She was an extraordinary spirit.
The indoor plants have been multiplying. When the pandemic is no longer keeping me home most of the time, I might find there are more than I can care for well.
As if–like chanting–you are saying the names of the divine. For if there is anything such as divinity, it is the spark in each and every one.
