What Do You See When You Change Your Focus?
From the small picture to the large, the large to the small, from the perspective of another?

From the small picture to the large, the large to the small, from the perspective of another?



I am delighted to be going on a short trip to a warm place (Tucson) to do nothing but yoga and visit with friends and acquaintances.
My work life is such for the next several months that I cannot take a long vacation. I can find a few days here and there, though, and it is critical to my working well. I find if I work with too much effort or for too many hours or days in a row, I lose my sense of humor and my creativity. These are truly essential components of doing a good job.
If you cannot get away for a day or two or five, take five minutes to just breathe without following your thoughts. It is not a vacation. It is meditation. It will not serve in the way of a vacation, but it will provide a needed break from attachment (perhaps to the point of misalignment) with the mindstuff (citta) and will enable you to continue with your efforts more at peace with both the efforts and yourself.
I’ve been on staycation for the holidays. I’ve taken a few asana classes around town in studio spaces I haven’t been in before.
In two of the classes, the teachers stated at the beginning that they give physical adjustments. Both teachers asked while students were in child’s pose, so that the response was only for the teacher.
One teacher asked students to make a sign if they did NOT WANT to have adjustments. The other said to make a thumbs up if they WANTED adjustments.
I noticed a palpable difference in the degree of consent because of the emotional difference for me between having to actively say no to avoid unwanted touch as opposed to being told I would be left untouched unless I specifically gave permission. There is also a difference between simply allowing touch rather than specifically having to say I want to receive it.

The phone pictures do not begin to show how magical the sliver of oversized crescent moon in line with the approaching conjunction.
PS Details to post soon for Zoom practice Thanksgiving morning. I hope you will join me wherever you will be (10-11:30am EST).

1. Still dark, too early to get up; oh right, daylight savings time.
2. Wait; wake up call is Sri Rudrum; here’s the part I’ve learned by heart to help invoke auspiciousness, wisdom, compassion, light, interconnectedness, steadiness, fierce will, etc; good reminder; don’t sleep through it.
3. Nuclear reactors in Japan; wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Libya; aftermath of BP oil spill, Katrina, and 9-11; budget talks prioritize war and business as usual; no senators or Congress person for DC; mountaintop coal mining; tar sands; diabetes/obesity epidemic.
4. Time to nurture cats and plants and sit for meditation; I am indeed blessed.
5. How do I bring “2” and “4” to my response to “3”?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.