Found Exhortation


When it gets cold and rainy, there is little I enjoy more than a good, warm restorative yoga practice. If you live in town, come join me this Saturday at Capitol Hill Yoga for this month’s Serenity Saturday workshop. I’ll be bringing out all of the blankets.
How brazenly ecstatic were this trio of cardinals in the garden let me know that the grapes were fully ripe. They are delicious, though the skins are thick and there are seeds. The squash skin appears to have been gnawed at by a squirrel, but I like butternut squash still green.


The texts on sadhana — yoga practice — say in simplified essence that mantra is the fulcrum between the unknowable universal and manifest particulars. What language we use and how we use it can either lead us towards skillfully navigating life informed by illuminated understanding or blundering through things with obscured vision (or, I add, somewhere in between, but which do you want to be your goal?). If you listen for your authentic voice, what words do you want to utter, which do you want to embody, which do you want to offer? The mantra is a tool (in the best sense of the word) to find a source for our own language (thought and spoken) that recognizes the common bond of dwelling together as neighbors (near or far) on this earth, in this universe.
New York City, June 13-14
Many thanks to all who came out, got deep into their practice, and gave support to the Seva Foundation and the Willow Street kula. Per T’s request, here’s the playlist for the workshop:
Mountain Chalisa, Krishna Das, Pilgrim Heart
Sita Ram, Jai Uttal, Kirtan
Sri Ram, Shantala, Sri
Veerapuram Dham, Hanuman Foundation, Songs in Praise of Hanuman
Shri Ram, Jai Ram, Dave Stringer, Japa
Rock on Hanuman, MC Yogi, Elephant Power
Hanuman Chalisa, Bhagavan Das, Now
Good Ole Chalisa, Krishna Das, Flow of Grace
Anjani Putra, Hanuman Foundation, Songs in Praise of Hanuman
Enjoy!
After days of self-quarantine in anticipation of a visit to the dentist for regular care, it was good to be out and about for a bit.
My temperature was 95F on the thermometer used by the receptionist. It’s usually low relative to “normal,” but still.
