I have been talking idly with the family at Woven History about having a yoga benefit for members of either local community or where Woven History trades who are in need. On a winter evening after closing hours, using the cushions and carpets for props. Here’s one pose I have in mind. You can also do this with bed pillows in a hotel or guest bedroom.
Viewed from the apparent safety of my office building under which the highway runs. If the accident were 300 feet farther south it would be under my building and we might be subject to evacuation. I am reminded even more powerfully of the message in my post this morning.
Some think of yoga as folding or knotting oneself into pretzel-like shapes. No one wants to feel that they are tied into a knot in life, and those who make fun of yoga may do so because it seems silly to them intentionally to make knots with the body.
But carefully learning how to stretch and fold and bend and mold oneself into the shapes of the various asanas paradoxically can free one from feeling bound up or constricted by the knottiness of existence.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
It looks like what was leading to error messages for seeing photos and inaccurate claims my mailbox was full was that I was out of memory for the website.
Overfull, it didn’t tell me what was wrong, but just blocked displaying photos and receiving messages. How often are people like that? When overwhelmed or stretched too thin, it’s possible to see stress and challenge, but not quite what is really the issue.
One of the ways a steady yoga and meditation practice can shift us is to heighten awareness. The error messages we perceive and send are better correlated to the issues at hand.
I am subbing Fusion Flow tonight up at Willow Street. Natalie, for whom – am subbing, has been teaching the yamas and niyamas this session. She asked me to cover “samtosha” tonight.
In contemplating this principle of practice again (it is high on my contemplation list), I thought of the what was drafted by the “Founding Fathers.” We are not guaranteed the right to happiness, but the right and freedom to pursue it.
That leaves open the question of what is happiness and whether and how to pursue it. It contains, I think, a hidden agreement that to keep the right open to all that happiness cannot be realized by the acquisition of external power and things that will prevent others from having the same freedom.
When I get caught up in our current societal vision of what we are supposed to have or be, a reminder that “samtosha” — contentment — doesn’t just happen, but is a practice, always regrounds me. I choose to come back to a space of gratitude, and my my whole self eases. I return to a place that serves me and enhances my own freedom to find happiness, while bringing me to a place that is aligned with that freedom growing for what and whom I touch.
One of the most wonderful ways we can find our own steadiness using asana practice is the joy of standing balancing poses. Even when our feet are not steady, a gentle turning of our mind to a focused, steady place will bring us a sense of calm and ease.
Please join me this Saturday for:
Standing Steady in the Light: A Standing Balance Workshop, Sat May 8, 2:30-5pm, Willow Street Yoga Center, Takoma Park, $35. Find a place of deeper steadiness and balance in your own light and worthiness. Learn how to use the Anusara principles to enhance your ability to stand or your own two feet or on just one foot at a time. After we playfully explore a progressively expansive array of standing poses, we’ll finish with a few upside-down restorative postures to let our legs and feet feel the bright light created by the practice. Whether you find standing poses a challenge or revel in the dance, this workshop will illuminate your practice. Everybody welcome. To register, please visit www.willowstreetyoga.com.
