Puja Update

Being curious, I’ve found (assuming I’m safe), helps me relate in a constructive way to challenges of embodiment. That’s a large part of why I like to practice asana slowly.

A view from inside of volunteer begonias in the rain.

I got caught up in something in the middle of the day today. By the time I could reasonably take a break (I did eat my lunch from home), it was too late to be able to get a real break. I then worked fairly late. By the end of the day, I really noticed the difference between a day when I have taken a walk, met a friend, sat at the Botanical Garden or the museum for even 15-20 minutes and this day, when I let myself get so tangled in the demands of work that I did not take a break.
I work better in the afternoon when I have taken a break, just as my work, my body, my digestion, my sleep, and my relationships are healthier when I practice consistently. I no longer need a reminder how important it is both to take a good break each day and to find time for practice. I am looking at this day, though, as a teaching lesson, an extra reminder of the importance of finding some delicious time to bring into the rest of the day.
Do you take a break to eat quietly or take a walk in the middle of your day? Can you notice the difference the days you do and the days you don’t? What about the weeks you practice and the weeks you do not? Does this not fire you up with resolve to be steadier in your practice and kinder to yourself?
when I have too many different things to do that sitting for meditation and doing a little asana is most important. We always have 25-45 minutes. It is just a matter of understanding where they are and how we want to use them.
Having sat sweetly for 25 minutes, I am calm and relaxed as I get ready for work, take care of the garden (if only it would rain), wait for a meeting with a contractor, etcetera, etcetera.
I do not believe in using the benefits of practice to enable multitasking, but on the days when everything coalesces in a less than optimal way, I am grateful for the calm center it provides.
Asteya in Sanskrit means non-stealing and is the third yama of the yamas and niyamas set forth in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as a critical part of the path of yoga. White people giving themselves a holiday created by Black people for themselves without both taking action against current injustice and inequity is a classic example of what would be stealing.
Could you give extra support to a Black business today? Donate to a Black-run organization working to fight for civil rights or voting rights or equal access to health care, education, and support services or against police brutality? Give mutual aid? Write to your elected officials about said issues?
We don’t have to do everything every day, but it is not ok to do nothing.
