Yesterday I did not post to respect the #blacklivesmatter protesters.
Today, in addition to my other regular giving, I chose to support National Bailout and Movement for Black Lives.
Before work I meditated. Throughout the day, I took short asana and exercise breaks.
What did you do?
The excessive dryness and unseasonable warmth make me anxious. Sixties fahrenheit and dry may feel good in San Francisco, but here it just is out of place for the existing flora and fauna. Still, I made sure to get out and enjoy the exquisite afternoon that it was. I find the skies of drought achingly beautiful and mysterious.
It was also nice, but peculiar to go out into the backyard and pick nearly a pint of ripe grape tomatoes.
Dear Friends,
May your inner light shine brightly for yourself and others through the holiday season. I wish you all much joy and safe travels. As I get ready to take some time off and celebrate with friends and family–with a little sojourn in New York as part of the plan–I wanted to let you know the schedule to make it easier to plan.
There are no Willow Street classes for the rest of the year–though a number of my friends and colleagues are offering what look like a fantastic array of workshops at Willow Street from 12/29 to 1/2. There is William Penn House this coming Tuesday, 12/21 and also 1/4, but not on 12/28. There will be two special house practices for regular students on Thursday 12/23 and Monday 12/27. Please email me if you wish to attend.
Free class week,, which runs from 1/3 to 1/9, starts the new Willow Street session. I will be offering two classes at Willow Street Takoma Park during free class week: restoratives on Monday, January 3rd, and gentle/therapeutic on Saturnday, January 9th.
In addition to continuing the gentle/therapeutics at noon on Saturdays in the Winter Session (registering is great, but drop-ins always welcome), I will be offering the last Saturday of the month from January to March “Relaxing into Optimal Alignment with Anusara Restoratives.” After a little gentle stretching and self-massage to bring awareness to the breath and body, we will enjoy the exquisite application of Anusara’s Universal Principles of Alignment to restful and supported restorative postures to release old patterns and invite in the new to find greater ease of body and mind. The workshop is designed to be a great practice for all levels; sign up for the full 3-class series and save $15! The workshop series–or even just one–makes a great holiday gift for yourself or a friend or loved one.
Also please mark your calendars in advance for “Yoga for Gardeners,” which is for all levels of yogis and gardeners alike. It will be on Saturday, March 18th. A portion of the profits, as is my tradition, will go to benefit the Youth Garden at the National Arboretum.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
During one of the sessions at the workshop last weekend in New Jersey, John Friend made a passing reference to the difference between receiving and taking. He did not go into any detail because it was not central to the theme of the class, but it led me to contemplate on my own about the difference between taking and giving in the context of yoga practice. In so doing, I thought about the concept of prasad — which is food that has been blessed and is offered to those who have participated in worship (puja).
When offered prasad, one does not take it. Instead, the cupped palm is turned up to receive the prasad. The recipient does not get to pick through the basket and choose which sweet looks the biggest or the tastiest, but simply receives with gratitude the sweet or fruit that is infused with the intention of spirit. The active part is the showing up with openness and receptivity to the offering, the blessing, the nourishment being offered.
Coming to yoga class or doing our own practice (asana or meditation) should be, I think, like preparing to receive prasad. What is primary in the practice of Anusara yoga is being open to grace, but we can no more force openings or enlightenment (grace and insight always elude grasping), than forcing any particular physical posture or goal really yoga practice. The point of effort in yoga to improve and expand alignment and knowledge is to enable the practitioner to receive more fully all the potential gifts and grace of practice, and then in turn make fuller and more complete offerings to others.
Below: offerings at the Chelsea Farmers’ Market
My friend Reya posted a good blog entry today on pain. What John Friend says of pain is that it is nature’s way of showing that we are out of alignment. I am in full agreement with Reya that intentionally causing ourselves pain is not what brings the most gain.
We sometimes have to go into discomfort, though, to get out of pain, when we are practicing therapeutically. What I tell my students, when they are seeking to use the physical practice of yoga to heal injuries, is that they want to practice mindfully enough to notice and back away from stabbing, pinching, tearing, or cramping sensations (you might think of other words to add to the list, but you get the idea). On the other hand, intentionally embracing some level of therapeutic discomfort can be necessary to heal and grow. An obvious non-yoga example is getting an operation to remove a tumor or fix something that is broken. The operation is going to be a challenge, but it is better than not healing.
If we are not used to holding poses for a long time or balancing on one foot or on our hands, our muscles may think they would rather slouch on the couch–though slouching on the couch may be what precipitated injury or ill-health in the first place. The discomfort of working muscles more than we usually do, but to the right degree and in alignment, is radically different than the pain of forcing our body to do something beyond its current capacity that exacerbates existing injuries or causes new ones and does not sufficiently heed proper alignment.
I invite you to practice slowly and with sufficient attention to know deeply whether you are just bringing on discomfort from right effort and changing old patterns that no longer serve or whether you are making yourself suffer for no real purpose. No pose or distance or timing is worth injury, but healing and getting stronger and more flexible (as well as more courageous and expansive for what life brings to us) is most definitely worth some intentional discomfort.
For those of you who don’t know the reference or who would enjoy a listen: (with stunning new sound)
