Discussion of physical aspects of yoga (on and off the mat)
including the yogis or perhaps especially the yogis, Patanjali’s urging to avoid getting caught up in the pair of opposites, pleasure and pain not withstanding,
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Have you done your practice (in Sanskrit–sadhana) today, whatever your practice may be?
If you don’t yet have a regular practice, what do you think it would take? I recommend starting small–allow it to be short and what you like to practice, rather than failing because you think it must be challenging or for a longer period of time than fits readily into your schedule.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
One of my yoga teacher trainers used to say that though he loved all of his students, that did not necessarily mean that he liked all of them or everything about them.
Recognizing and honoring universal worthiness and connection — which I think is essential to our getting along in this crowded world of ours –does not mean that we will not have preferences both innate and trained.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
To understand anything fully, we must know both the why and the how, to explore the meaning and the experience. Though I was taught this in connection with meditation, it applies to most anything wants both to feel fully and to be able to repeat and to communicate.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I took a very enjoyable class this morning with Sue Elkind at Dig Yoga. It was a very full class, so the mats were several inches apart–far enough not to feel too crowded, but close enough to be able to do standing poses supporting each other.
We did tree pose holding or pressing into the arms/hands of the people on either side of us. Sue invited is to close our eyes and lean/hold more heavily on each other to stay balanced. (It is a lot harder to balance when we close our eyes; try it if it has been a while or you’ve never tried it.)
One of the people next to me got off balance and fell out of the pose. The instinct to keep from taking anyone else off balance was to withdraw from contact. But leaning farther into me would have increased the possibility of the other yogi regaining the pose and would have kept needed support in place for me.
A good lesson for these stressful times that continuing to lean in for support instead of withdrawing can enhance the whole support network.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
The grapes are not nearly as bountiful as last year. The first 90F week was too early and sudden, which blasted dozens of newly formed grapes. And then it was too wet and cool. The few figs dried before ripening. But it was a great spring for kale and chard, and the cherry tomatoes are pretty happy. That the weather makes some things happier and some less happy is a tangible reminder why mono-cultures are so risky a venture. One of the greatest gifts I get from the “failures” in my edible garden is gratitude. I am reminded of how fortunate I am that the only repercussions of something not growing or producing well is that I have to buy more produce at the farm market or the grocery store.
The rains and now the heat are wondrous lovely for the mosquitoes. Here’s me dressing for a morning’s work in the garden. You might laugh, but I only got two bites in over three hours in the garden, which included watering. It likely would have been at least a dozen in loose trousers or shorts and a t-shirt. This is also the outfit of choice when hiking in the woods filled with deer and mice and lyme-disease bearing ticks.
I picked the marigolds yesterday to put on the altar. The puja card of the day was “balance” or “samtulana.” It was a perfect concept to meditate on for the day because little brings me back into balance better than spending a few hours gardening, and I’ve been feeling off-kilter.
Uma, of course, was there to lend moral support.
The “before” picture gives some idea of how simultaneously overgrown from the rains and heat-blasted from the past week everything was.
The “after” picture doesn’t reflect as much as I would like how much of a difference three and a half hours of weeding, deadheading, clipping, rearranging, harvesting, feeding, and watering made. When I got hungry, I just picked sun-warmed, just ripened grapes and then got back to work. Lunch, of course, emphasized contributions from the garden.
I went out into the garden right after I sat for meditation this morning. Even at 7 a.m., the air was hot summer thick. I harvested cherry tomatoes, a handful of green beans, a cucumber, a red onion, and some garlic greens, basil, and a jalapeno pepper. Then I went back inside and practiced some asana and cleaned house in anticipation of a guest arriving for lunch. I weeded a little, but did not fully plunge into all that could be done.
I have lots of epazote. Anybody need some for planting or for cooking? I let only a little go to seed many years ago, and it comes back in force every year. I let it grow wild between the bricks of my patio, but keep it out of beds and containers. It could be a real challenge in a more open garden, but in my constricted, urban setting, inviting the useful, invasive plants to grow where nothing else will grow is a good use of space.
