May you find that for which you are truly and effortlessly grateful.
As regular readers may have noticed, last Sunday I was inspired to blog about Arjuna’s dilemma on the battlefield in connection with local events. Later that day, I was reminded that this coming Sunday, January 16th, will be the first meeting of the new book club at Willow Street Yoga Center (Takoma Park studio). The book for the first meeting is Ram Dass’s Paths to God, Living the Bhagavad Gita. Perhaps I was thinking about the Gita because in the back of my mind, I knew that the reading was on my to do list. Perhaps, the book club reading was just energetically connected to where my thoughts were already going. Perhaps it was just a coincidence (though I do not much believe in coincidence).
Although the date had crept up on me unawares, I did already have Paths to God on my shelf and began reading it upon getting the reminder about the book club. The book, which is taken from a series of lectures at the then newly opened Naropa University, is rich with stories about Ram Dass’s own spiritual journey, recommendations for a wide range of practices for discovery of our own spirit, and has lots of juicy thought about taking the study of the Bhagavad Gita and other spiritual texts out of our heads and into how we live our lives and embrace the world.
I hope to see many of my local yogi friends at the book club meeting, not just to expand ourselves by reading and discussing this beautiful text, but to deepen our yoga community and practice by being together. I am sure you are welcome, too, to bring your needlework. If you cannot join us this time, do think about adding the book to your list of yoga books to read. Ram Dass is always thought-provoking, inspiring, and delightful to read.
There is a google group for the book club if you want to get updates. I trust that you will be added to the group if you email: willowstreetbookclub@googlegroups.com
Fridays 1/4-3/7 all levels practice.
RSVP’s very helpful to make sure there’s room for you and that we listen for your arrival (door stays locked).
Doors will open at 6 for visiting and connecting (including those who may be on the challenges of embodiment list and want the yoga vibe, but are not sure about participating in group practice).
Please show up by 6:30 to make sure we hear you knocking; structured practice will start no later than 6:45 and run until 7:45.
Expect centering (meditation, breath work); slow alignment-based flow (with alternatives for whatever shape you’ve arrived in), balance work, functional movement practices, dance and playful movement incorporated for lightness and perspective when it suits, with savanna and closing.
After a full work day and a Board meeting at William Penn House, I joined those at the Supreme Court affirming their engagement, crying out their resolve, their outrage, their grief, their hope.
United States Supreme Court, July 9, 2018 (chanting, “hey, hey, ho, ho, the patriarchy has got to go…”
