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Alignment Instruction?

Whether reaching on or off the mat, we want to keep the upper arm bone integrated into the shoulder socket.

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

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    A Conversation (and Maitri)

    This morning, after my morning beach walk, as usual, one of the men at the storefront for an adventure business that’s on the corner before the house I’m staying at called out his usual “hey beautiful lady” thing. I responded to him in Spanish, and we ended up talking for a while.

    He asked about my Spanish, as most visitors here (even those who’ve bought condos) don’t seem to have much of the language. I said I’d started studying last year; I was spurred by the current political climate to become competent in Spanish to open opportunities for me to be of service.

    In response, he told me that he’d lived in California for over 25 years; his three children were born in the United States. They are still in the US, but he, last year, was sent back to Mexico pursuant to the present administration’s policies.

    Later in the day, when I was walking out with my yoga teacher and friends, he greeted us with friendliness, not just the typical marketing greeting.

    When I get more capable, I hope to find a way to be of greater service, but expanding the opportunities for friendliness seems a decent start.

    Below is a picture of what I’m pretty sure is a curlew (birding experts, please comment and advise) eating an immature crab that I watched in the morning.

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    Yes, There Will Be Class Tonight at William Penn House

    For those students who live within a few blocks, have power, and are not needed for such emergency assistance that can be provided before the trains are running and the roads reopened, what better than to come out and practice yoga as usual?  (Or if the storm has made it impossible to get out, it’s a great time for your home practice).

    The yoga practices are such a healthy way to channel the energy from having been cooped up by the storm and to revive and enhance one’s flexibility, adaptability, balance, and strength.  It has been my experience that steady practice invites us to be ever more capable to address what confronts and engages us on our path (whether we like it or not).  Sending loving energy to all who have been challenged hard by Sandy’s path or otherwise.

     

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    Making Your Practice an Offering to Yourself

    This morning, when I was walking to work, a young mother stood on the sidewalk talking with a friend. Her daughter, who was perhaps a little over a year and new to walking, lit up with a huge smile when I came within range. She dropped her mother’s hand and ran over to me, holding out a flower petal. That her hand was slightly grubby and the petal crumpled only made it more adorable.

    Nearly eleven hours later, as I get ready to leave the office and head up to Takoma to teach a restorative yoga class, I find myself recalling the offering, with such innocence and joy, of the flower petal.

    What we want to do with our practice and teaching is to have it be, at least on one level, such a spontaneous, delighted, and innocent offering that any perceived obstructions or interference with a sense of grace (such as a long hard work-day and attendant fatigue) dissolve. We can melt into the knowledge that practicing and making offering is just the right thing to bring us back to our own fullness (purna).

    What we choose as the particulars of the practice, of course, will be tempered by our physical and mental condition.

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

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