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    Some Perspective

    ByElizabeth

    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.

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    Lord Murugan and the Peacock Yoga Pants

    ByElizabeth

    A few months ago, I succumbed to the brilliant marketing at one of those yoga studio boutiques filled with enticing outfits that make one feel like part of the in crowd and bought a pair of leggings covered in an allover peacock feather print that made me think of Murugan whose temple we visited on the trip to South India and whose steed is a peacock.

    One of the stories about Murugan, who is Ganesha’s brother (Ganesha being the beloved elephant god and remover of obstacles), talks about a competition between Murugan and Ganesha for divine knowledge.  (Let’s leave aside for now the question of why a divine being would need to enter a competition to gain divine knowledge as too big a question for a blogger who has no academic or priestly expertise in the Hindu pantheon).  In the story, as I have heard it (and as described in the Wiki article that I have shamelessly linked to above, despite all the disdain one might appropriately have for one who cites to a Wiki article), Murugan loses because what he does is try to show off his prosaic prowess by tearing around the world three times.  Ganesha wins by quietly circumambulating with quiet worship Shiva and Parvati, the god and goddess, the essence of being, the pulsation of opposites.

    When we were out walking in the woods the other day, my friend ER took an incredibly insightful picture of me trying too hard to look like the yoginis who grace the magazine covers and can do the most magnificent asana.  The brilliance of the photo is its revelation of the empty ridiculousness of my posing like the  beauty I am not, and of pointedly demonstrating how neither wearing wild peacock pants, nor being able to do a tolerably deep backbend reveals anything to the self about spirit.  But perhaps it also shows, in its candid and ironic look at an all too human yogini, that like Lord Murugan, who despite of or perhaps because of his absolutely flawed nature is actively and devotedly worshipped, I in my laughable striving may still have in my human being something of the divine.  I can only hope.

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    Late Summer Newsletter–Web Version (Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and the Three A’s)

    ByElizabeth

    Dear Friends,

    After a summer of drought, we just experienced inside the Beltway the power when the earth shudders and shakes in an east coast earthquake of unusual magnitude.  Now, less than a week after the earthquake, I take appropriate precautions and follow with deep caring the unfolding predictions, photos, commentary, and human reaction on a collective and individual level to the impending traverse up the east coast of Hurricane Irene.

    Watching the hurricane reports has led me to remember what it was like when Hurricane Isabel was approaching DC in the summer of 2003.  The day before was gloriously sunny and bright–the way we want summer to be and there was no reason yet to cancel classes nor, once suitable precautions and preparations were made at home. to do anything other than enjoy the day to its fullest.  Fewer students than usual came for class; others must have been preparing or attending to other business.  The ones who came said that the impending storm made them want to practice together even more than usual.

    Though I rarely lead chants other than the Anusara Invocation in class, I was moved to lead my students in a chant to Kali–fierce goddess of destruction.  Chanting to Kali allowed us to focus our profound respect for the forces of nature and the dance of the universe throughout the whole of the practice.  Our ability to express our awe and our yearning to flow with the currents and eddies of these extraordinary forces instead of feeling powerless or angry was enhanced by sensitive and careful attention to alignment.

    Practicing the three A’s of Anusara yoga–attitude, alignment, and action–for me seems to apply profoundly to the way we want to prepare for and experience what comes with events demonstrating extreme forces of nature.  When we challenge ourselves on the mat we both honor our edge and seek to expand it.  We use the alignment principles in every aspect of a pose to express a perfect respect for the amazing concatenation of abilities and limitations that is human embodiment.  For me, taking what I have learned on the mat practicing with the three A’s has helped make it possible to shift how I am able to respond to whatever comes.  There is not much that serves as a better reminder of how much will just come, no matter how much we prepare and study than earthquakes and hurricanes.  We need to appreciate, though, that while we are not in control, we are not without power.  The power is in choosing how to respond, how we are going to put into practice off the mat, as well as on, the principles of attitude, alignment, and action.

    I believe to the very core of my being that we must have profound awe and respect for the mystery and power of the dance of the universe (put that how you will) and love for it, too.   We should be expanding and using existing knowledge of how most safely to weather a huricane or other extreme forces (I am choosing not to say “disasters”).  It is important to take care of ourselves to get into the space where we are most likely to be able to have awe triumph over fear, hopelessness, frustration, or anger because plans have been thwarted and, more important, to find the best path possible in the face of serious loss or harm.  Perhaps this is too easy for me to say, knowing that it will be mostly ok for me; my house does well in storms, and we are only on the edge.  I am more concerned for friends and family all up the east coast and especially Long Island and New York.

    In class on Saturday, with or just ahead of the first band of rain, we will be chanting to Kali.  Maybe like last time, we will all have power when the lights around us go out, but that was just a happy side effect (or coincidence, depending on how you look at it) and not the purpose.  The purpose of chanting will be to remind ourselves to prepare to the best of our abilities and then let go of outcome and hang on for the ride.

    Hope to see you in class soon.  My summer class at Willow Street goes through the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and I will be here.  Registration is open for the fall session at Willow Street.  My Saturday noon class continues, and I will also be leading the ninth annual Thanksgiving Day fundraiser for Oxfam.

    The William Penn House class is an ever-deepening weekly adventure.  Come join us.

    May all be safe and well.
    Peace and light,
    Elizabeth

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