Similar Posts

  • Balasana (child’s pose)

    ByElizabeth

    Whenever I am studying with John Friend, and we are invited to move into balasana I recall as story he told of seeing Gurumayi move into the pose.  He told us of the reverence with which she did the pranam — the bowing forward to touch the earth as she went into the pose.  I like to start my asana practice with balasana because it reminds me to honor the teachings, the history of the practice, my teachers, and myself for coming to the mat.  I think of the name of the pose, and I am reminded of the wonder (abhuta) of being embodied.  I think of how children marvel and delight at everything they encounter.  It is all new for them, but we can cultivate the sense of everything being new and wonderful.  When we cultivate a sense of wonder, it brings us to the other meaning of bala, which is strength.  For our lives will be stronger and fuller, if we can approach each pose on the mat, and each moment on and off the mat, with wonder and interest.

    Balasana is also a good way to start the practice because it is a sweet, gentle way to open up the hips, groins, low back, and shoulders.  It is a good way to shift from more active poses towards savasana because, as a forward bend, it is inward-going and quieting.

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    They’re Almost Here (Way Too Soon)

    ByElizabeth

    The cherry trees are starting to flower–two weeks earlier than an average spring and likely to set a record.

    In my own yard, the greens that over-wintered and are newly coming up are suffering from lack of rain and May/June temperatures. Though it is still technically winter, the lowest lows are in the high 40s F in the 15-day forecast. It is still risky to take out the tropicals, though if the 15-day forecast looks the same in mid-April, I will go for it, even though historical last frost is in May.

    What cannot wait is planting cool weather vegetables such as snow peas. They still might not thrive if the unseasonable warmth and lack of rain do not level off. But Spring is so early that now is the chance to catch the growing season.

    As I can go to the grocery store and the farmers’ market, I could just let the season pass me by, ignoring the realities of the season we are getting.

    Much of the reason I garden is to heighten consciousness and connection to nature. If I do not make sudden adjustments the way a farmer would to, then I am missing out on a great opportunity. That meeting the unexpected time constraints imposed by abnormal weather patterns is not in sync with my schedule just highlights the importance of us needing to shift ourselves to be aligned with the great flows of energy.

    Enjoy your gardens (strawberries will be early too–i already have some plants starting to form fruit).

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

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    Choices, A Cardinal in the Grapes, and Viveka

    ByElizabeth

    This morning while I was out in the garden, I heard a chirping right above my head.  Within arm’s reach was a bright red male cardinal perched among the grapes effusively talking.  (I planted a tiny red, concord grape vine about six years ago, and it has flourished beyond my wildest dreams).

    There were enough ripe grapes for me to pick a handful for myself.  I have bird netting, but I have not put it over the grapes.  They did not do so well this year, many turning brown prematurely because, I think, of the drought-ridden winter followed by the extra wet and cool spring.  I am grateful that I will not be dependent on these grapes as food for myself to survive through next winter (I’m pretty sure; if not, I have bigger things to worry about).

    For the joy of having the birds come visit so fearlessly and delightedly, and because the grapes are not fantastic to eat, I leave all, but those I get by the small handful a couple of mornings a week for a few weeks, to the birds.  Maybe next year I will net the grapes, but then I’ll have to have a canning party to make jam.  In the meantime, I’ll marvel that every bird in DC seems to know when my grapes ripen.

    We make decisions like this all the time.  With how we shop, what we eat, what work we choose, how we travel, we are making decisions about habitat and environment for ourselves and hosts of other beings.

    In yoga, the process of ever refining our understanding so that we can be more in touch with how we act impacts our life force and our relationship with all around us, is viveka, or discrimination.   Just as the more we practice on the mat, the more we develop awareness of what leads us to feel more in tune and more celebratory of life, so too, we want to use that yoga refinement and discrimination to inform our acts off the mat.

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