The question every yoga teacher is asking when offering the teachings to students.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I saw this beautiful roll of chicken wire in the Enid Haupt garden when I was walking back to the office after a quick visit to see the Gods of Angkor exhibit at the Sackler Gallery (sorry about the absence of links; blogging from the BB).
I was first introduced to the idea of “found poetry” in junior high school and have developed a life-long habit of photographing words to change, enhance, and/or question their meaning and hidden beauty by the act of extracting them from their original place and presenting them as a photograph. Marcel Duchamp and others did what poets and photographers were doing with words with ordinary objects by presenting them as sculpture.
Here, where I have photographed the chicken wire roll, is the art a sculpture (because I could treat it as such) of which I have taken a photograph–the photograph being mere documentation? Is the art the photograph of what I have seen to the extent I am offering it as a vision and a dialogue generated by what I saw? Or is the photograph merely a snapshot taken with a hand-held computer device documenting an object that happened to be sitting there–not art at all? If it were not for artists such as Duchamp, could I or would I even be able to ask this question?
I think that analogous types of questions have been and can be asked about the variety of religious and mystical experience. Is there a particular way they must be experienced? Do such experiences have to fit within a prescribed framework to be valid? When are such experiences madness or delusion and when are they the voice of the spirit? Who gets to decide? Does it depend on the era and the culture in which the experiencer lives? Does the answer to any of these questions matter if the experiences lead one to a more loving, compassionate, and beauty-filled life?
I walked in early to work this morning because I had a dentist appointment and wanted to speak with a colleague before rather than after. I’d planned to get in an hour of work and then take the metro to my appointment. There was a fire that caused a temporary closure, so I head out early and walked. The morning was pleasant, and I had a nice chat on the way with some union workers from metro.
I am pleased and excited to announce my first public, in person practice since the inception of the pandemic. Is it any surprise that this yoga offering is an invitation to the garden, which is a place dedicated to creating and sharing joy, learning, and nourishment throughout the community for over 50 years?
Come get out into beauty and into your own body and into the dirt on Tuesday, June 6th, from 9 am to 12 pm: at the Washington Youth Garden, on the grounds of the National Arboretum. After the welcoming yoga practice, we will all join the staff and the regular volunteers (I’m one of them), in the garden. Throughout the time, I will be available to respond to individual questions about yoga and about optimizing physical alignment/orientation to make it more sustainable to work in the garden, especially for older bodies. Here’s the link to get more details and to register: Yoga and Volunteering at the Washington Youth Garden
Think this sounds great, but you’re hoping for a different time or location, please feel free to reach out.
There is no escape from this time and place.
How will you be in it?
Do you have a calling?
