I woke up sad this morning. I gave a political contribution, sat for meditation, and went out into the garden before going upstairs to work. I’m still sad, but engaged myself in what I was doing for the full day–trying to take care of community and self and be absorbed in what I was doing so that it could be done most fully. My consciousness thus engaged elsewhere, I did not absorb time and energy with my sadness.
Although, having been raised as a Quaker and continued to practice as such in adulthood, I do not observe most of the Jewish rituals and holidays. This year I was certain that I at least wanted to bake something traditional for Rosh Hashanah, and I felt engaged with wanting some part of ritual observance.
Thus in recognition of RGB leaving this embodiment into that of a tzaddik, I have a honey-glazed, sourdough, apple challah–baked round for the cycle and fullness of the year.
Dear Friends,
It is Saturday morning of Independence Day weekend. I have sat for my morning meditation, watered the garden, pet the cats, and done a few errands around the house. In an hour or so, I will be heading up to Willow Street to teach my noon class. As I take the time to care for garden, cats, house, and prepare to teach, I have been contemplating the concept of freedom.
In the tantric shaivite tradition, we are taught that one of the key aspects of spirit is svatantriya — ultimate freedom. We are also taught that we are ourselves inseparable from spirit, just as a drop of ocean water is no less part of the ocean for being a drop. Spirit chooses, out of its freedom and play (lila) to embody itself in forms that are limited in space and time. One of our greatest sources of suffering is feeling bound, thinking that we are stuck with who and what we are in the constraints of this mortal body, with all its quirks, forgetting our own auspiciousness.
I could get grumpy about the need to do errands and to teach on a holiday weekend. I could feel constrained from my usual activities around town by the combination of single-tracking on the Metro and the influx of tourists for the activities on the Mall, the combination of which will likely add an hour’s communiting time to teach today and to do volunteer work in Georgetown tomorrow at the Lantern Bookshop. I could choose instead to be grateful that I have a house that needs caring, a garden to water, a class that gives me great joy and abiding satisfaction to share the incredible yoga principles that have so enhanced my own life, and volunteer work that I have enjoyed for over 15 years.
I am not going to be telling anyone that we are without limitation, being as we are in time and space. We are always and perfectly free, however, to choose to turn towards the auspicious, the light, the good, the uplifting, the highest or we can turn away. We can act in ways that bring us ever more in alignment with spirit , or we can act in ways that take ourselves and that in our orbit farther from the good. The more we exercise our freedom to turn towards the auspicious, the happier and healthier we will be, regardless of the fact of life in a mortal body. That choice is our true freedom and the way to our hearts.
To help you experience svatantriya, to choose freedom of heart, there’s nothing better than some free yoga. The weekend of July 15-17, Willow Street Yoga will be offering it’s summer free class weekend. I’ll be offering gentle/therapeutics at noon on July 16th in Takoma Park. Preference is giving to new students and to returning students who have brought new students with them.
For July at William Penn House, I’m offering a two-part freebie: (1) brand new students get first class free; please invite your friends and neighbors; (2) if you are an existing student who brings a new student with you, you get a free class when the new student comes back for a second class.
Have a wonderful Independence Day, however you choose to celebrate and see you soon.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I took this picture the other day when I was walking to work. I have seen TV cameras set up at this spot dozens of times to film news interviews. I have seen tourists galore photographing each other. I’ve seen a couple of photo shoots of brides and grooms dressed in their wedding clothes. I’ve seen the fountain full of ducks or gulls. I’ve seen it empty of water, with rain pelting on it to eliminate any reflection, in a blizzard, iced over, full of algae, as a play spot for dogs who like to swim, in fog, in beating down sun, with cherry blossoms floating on the water, and with waves from a strong wind. Although (or more likely because) I’ve walked past this view hundreds of times in the 25 years I have lived on Capitol Hill and the 18 I have worked for the Department of Labor, I have never taken out my camera and photographed this incredibly photogenic spot.
When I took the photograph on this day when the reflection just happened to be perfect, it led me to see the spot the way tourists see it: full of freshness and wonder, beauty, and excitement to be in this place that represents a certain mind-blowing type of power. Reflecting on the act of taking the photo from my perspective as a resident, led me to think about the Anusara alignment principle of “opening to grace.”
One of the many aspects of “opening to grace” is having a “beginner’s mind.” What does it mean to have a beginner’s mind on or off the mat? I think it means being open to new insight, to a sense of joyous discovery, to a feeling of fresh intoxication and wonder, no matter how many times we have done or seen something before. How many times have you done lunge or downward facing dog? Eaten a green bean or a potato chip? Petted a dog? Turned on a light switch? Filled a glass with potable water out of the tap? If it is the “same old, same old,” then you will lose the desire to practice and the possibility of growing. But most of what we do, especially as we get older, is a repeat of something we have done before. Grasping at new experience as a cure for boredom or jadedness will only make us unhappy. If we can see each day with newly opened eyes, then we can find fulfillment in each moment and be better able to grow. We will be open to ever deepening refinement and exploration within the space of our existence.
After over a decade of using “rose garden yoga,” I have designed and had printed (on 100% recycled card stock of course) cards for my yoga offering.
By the way, the position of the fingers might look like a peace sign (and it is), but with the fingers pointed down, into the earth, the fingers are in bhu mudra–signifying both the earth element and the earth it/her/theyself.
