Signs Around Town (San Francisco style)
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Beginner’s Mind
The other day I was doing a computer search on contact improv jams in the Bay Area to see if it was possible to fit one in during my upcoming vacation in San Francisco.
The website for one of the jams said for a class that preceded the weekly jam that beginners and advanced practitioners with a beginner’s mind were welcome. I loved that statement.
The idea of beginner’s mind is one that is mentioned often in the yoga world and was taught as an integral part of the principle of “opening to grace” in the Anusara system.
What I think is meant by practicing or bringing to the mat or to the dance a beginner’s mind is approaching each practice, every step, every pose, every aspect of alignment and technique with wonder, openness, and an ever-growing willingness to learn.
When we are new to a practice or a style, discovering our own capacity to express and experience the form is exciting, as is a growing mastery of body and mind in the language of the form.
Being advanced, though, is not just about physical or intellectual prowess. It is about developing a nuanced relationship between ourselves, the practices, and our fellow practitioners. Being freshly open to new insight and learning even from beginners helps us deepen our practice and experience ever greater enjoyment (bhoga).
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Found Exhortation(s)
At the National Gallery of Art until October 8, 2012.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Found Objects Around Town
I confess that I needed to turn over to find the answer. I do not feel any call to learn the Bible for my salvation, but given the influence of religions that claim to be informed/derived from this text in this democratic form of government, it seems to be something I need to know better to be an educated citizen.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Statues Around Town
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Today’s Cucumber
Every day, it seems, another cucumber (though this shall pass soon enough). And baby carrots–first new carrots of the season. I asked friends and neighbors who were at the house this morning whether they would like a cucumber. As fellow gardeners who are also members of a CSA, they denied with almost a shudder. It is evidently a good year for cucumbers not just in my garden.
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Excellent Blog on Community Gardening in DC
I was just led to this blog entry on community gardening in DC from the DC Urban Gardeners‘ list serve’s daily digest. The blog entry was originally posted last spring, but still has helpful information, and the service provided by the blogger looks interesting too.
If you have been thinking about getting into a garden, now may be a better time to get on a waiting list than the start of the growing season. Now is the time that novices have realized that they don’t take care of their plots, and they are better off supporting the local farmers’ markets. If you cannot get into a garden, why not be the fantastic neighbor that starts a new garden?
In the interest of full disclosure, after a few years at the garden nearest to my house, I decided to restructure my tiny backyard to add three 3’X3′ beds. This gave me as much space as I had in the community garden. I would love to have both spaces or more, but since there was a long waiting list at the garden, I ceded my space. Currently most productive in my garden: cucumbers, hot peppers, and all sorts of herbs. Tomatoes aren’t doing too well, but I’ve gotten a few eggplants and my first big butternut squash. Yum!
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The Great Equalizer
I am using my lunch hour to renew my driver’s license. I have been waiting less than 30 minutes so far, and there are only 10 people ahead of me. Moving right along in this mix of young and old, well-heeled and evidently struggling, all races, and apparent levels of education. We all wait in the same line.
Is it moving smoothly (knock on wood) because I wore a necklace with an image of the elephant deity Ganesha (remover of obstacles)? Or was it because I read the website and planned my visit for a day and time that was less likely to be crowded? Perhaps it is a combination of the two.
What I do know is that coming with a good attitude and a meditational (yes, I know this is not a real word) level of patience and acceptance for the process makes it feel a whole lot easier.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
At the Feet of the Teacher?
Some of the paradigms of yoga practice do not resonate with my iconoclastic, Quaker, feminist, progressive self, one of which is the idea of prostrating oneself at the feet of the teacher. I do, nonetheless, choose to study with teachers whom I respect and love.
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Statuary Around Town
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
