Signs Around Town
Green Festival is coming to DC again on October 23-24. If you’ve never been (and are in town), it is always enjoyable, if only for the snacks and the comaraderie (odds are high you will bump into people you know). What I find is that I either learn something new about how to live in a more ecologically sustainable way or I get the affirmation that I’m already making a decent effort. Join in the fun if you can.
White House, October 28
Last weekend I devoted most of my time to live-streaming the “Accessible Yoga Conference.” This conference, consistent with other workshops on this and related topics involved listening to many personal stories and careful examination of language—what language perpetuates harm and which fosters inclusion, recognition, nonjudgment, etc.
The fact that “accessible yoga” is a thing was observed to be evidence that for all that the yoga philosophy invites recognition and honor of the spirit in all, what is considered “yoga” in the “West”is another microcosm of cis, het, racist, patriarchal, colonialist capitalism.
Thanks to my friend Dan Harper for sharing this quote from Alice Walker, along with his own cogent thoughts This morning, when I was thinking about how to address some of my current challenges, I decided it was important for me to remember that one of the reasons I keep my job is to be able to cultivate generosity. I went on-line and became a monthly, rather than an occasional donor, to “So Others Might Eat.” I stayed with the emotion of how it feels as a small, middle-aged woman to walk, as I do a few times a week, past a homeless shelter on the way out of the office towards home. I thought about what it would be like to be homeless and food insecure, especially in the unseasonable months. I thought about how hard it is to be so many humans so crowded together.
I thought about how helpful the yoga and meditation practices have been for me to be present in the tangle of society. Though after tonight’s class at Willow Street Yoga, I will be teaching only one public class (the William Penn House class on Tuesday nights), I will be writing and practicing and studying and exploring. One of the many intertwined threads leading me to limit my public teaching is to give me more time and space to pursue other creative outlets, even as I continue to deepen my explorations of the yoga and other practices and teachings.
