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Devotion (Bhakti)
Much is said about devotion in yoga, and there is a great privileging by many of the path of devotion — bhakti. With no clear answers, I contemplate often what it means to practice bhakti, to be devoted in a religious or spiritual sense. Witnessing those on pilgrimage when I was in India (it was “pilgrimage season”), I was flooded with memories and ideas for contemplation about what it means to be devoted and how people express devotion.
Among the thoughts and memories were having observed the operaphiles in their expensive clothes swoon and gasp and applaud at the Vienna Opera House on the opera level where I had paid a dollar for standing room; having been literally swept off of my feet in the press of the crowds heading to the tube at Wembley Stadium after seeing the Rolling Stones in concert; watching the people do the standing wave thing at ball games while hollering for their team as if their whole view of the world was dependent on who wins; having taken, standing room only, the third class train from Florence to Rome during Easter week (a different pilgrimage season), on asking who is that woman on the billboards, discovering that India, too, has a habit of electing movie stars to political office.
Sunset
Lucky to have a place to stand and see the sky while still being at home. With icy sidewalks and the pandemic raging, it seems a beautiful time to go inward.
Flu Shot
I woke up woozy and sore this morning and went back to sleep for about 45 minutes after I was done with my morning practice. Although it is atypical for me to need more sleep after I have practiced, I knew that I was not sick. I was just experiencing side effects from the flu shot.
I have only gotten the flu shot once before. The side effects felt like I had the flu (albeit a mild case), and I got the flu any way that year. As I haven’t gotten the flu in the past several years, I have not gotten the shot in subsequent years. (Note: The vaccine has been very effective 17 of the past 25 years, and not particularly effective for three of the other years. It was suggested to me that I should not continue basing my decision on having, by coincidence, only gotten the shot during one of the ineffective years–2003-2005).
I was strongly advised to get the flu shot this year as a precaution for the trip to India. The plane travel, regardless of how much healthy living I do otherwise, will both tax my immune system and put me in contact with a host of viruses, etc. Also, and perhaps more important, I know I will be visiting loved ones in the hospital this flu season. Going through a little discomfort now is worth it to minimize the risk to those I will be visiting.
Have you gotten your flu shot?
Below: Workers line up to get the flu shot at the Health Unit.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
