Art and Culture

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    Some Perspective

    ByElizabeth

    Thanks to my friend Dan Harper for sharing this quote from Alice Walker, along with his own cogent thoughts  This morning, when I was thinking about how to address some of my current challenges, I decided it was important for me to remember that one of the reasons I keep my job is to be able to cultivate generosity.  I went on-line and became a monthly, rather than an occasional donor, to “So Others Might Eat.”  I stayed with the emotion of how it feels as a small, middle-aged woman to walk, as I do a few times a week, past a homeless shelter on the way out of the office towards home.  I thought about what it would be like to be homeless and food insecure, especially in the unseasonable months.  I thought about how hard it is to be so many humans so crowded together.

    I thought about how helpful the yoga and meditation practices have been for me to be present in the tangle of society.   Though after tonight’s class at Willow Street Yoga,  I will be teaching only one public class (the William Penn House class on Tuesday nights), I will be writing and practicing and studying and exploring.  One of the many intertwined threads leading me to limit my public teaching is to give me more time and space to pursue other creative outlets, even as I continue to deepen my explorations of the yoga and other practices and teachings.

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    This Evening on the Catio

    ByElizabeth

    The snow pea shoots were
    Especially exquisite.
    And the kale flowers.

    Hydroponic tomato from one of the farmers at the Penn Quarter Thursday market and organic avocado, tossed in tahini and then sprinkled with fine balsamic vinager, supplement sprouts grown on the counter and an assortment of tender garden greens.

    Cool infusion of peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, and licorice mint.

    The season has turned.

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

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    Slow Cooker Granola (and Intentions)

    ByElizabeth

    It is my intention to write a newsletter talking about the shift in my life that is leading me, effective this week, to take a partial sabbatical from teaching yoga.  I will still have my Tuesday night class at William Penn House and hope to see many on at least an occasional basis.  I will also be available for single and group privates and expect to teach a workshop or two in the Fall.  But after eight years, I will no longer be  traveling up to Takoma Park every weekend, currently on Friday nights and before that Saturdays, to teach. In this shifting, I have much to say about Kali–goddess of sequencing–and moving within the limits of time and space and some other things beside.

    In the meantime, while I am wrestling with how to say what I believe are among the things I want to express and as I deal with a bout of being very busy at work and spending far too much time at the computer to want to spend more time writing in the evening, I just want to mention that it is indeed possible to make decent granola in the slow cooker.  I experimented with that today, in between conference calls and emails and document reviews (slow cooking, after all, takes very little consistent attention).  The cooking reached its conclusion while students and I gathered for Wednesday night practice.   More important than requiring little attention after the initial preparation stage, the slow cooker doesn’t heat up the kitchen, and I refuse to turn on the oven if it is going to be 80F or above.  Slow cooker granola is an excellent compromise between no homemade granola in the hot months and turning on the oven.

    When I’ve experimented some more, perhaps I’ll create a recipe, adding to the many dozens on the internet.  My first attempt was relatively low fat and no refined sugar.  Yum.  And if you’re a local, do come join me this Friday for a sweetly nostalgic and celebratory evening of restoratives.  5:45pm-7:15pm, Willow Street Takoma Park.  Drop-ins and make-ups welcome.

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    Found Exhortation

    ByElizabeth

    I prefer the exhortations: be careful, be mindful, pay attention. It is good to heed what is around us, being open to the optimal next step on the unfolding path.

    But if we get too wary or fearful, if we spend too much time watching out for and guarding against danger, then we may well miss opportunities to enhance our lives and those around us.

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

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    Signs Around Town (and the Yoga Siddhi of Bi-Location)

    ByElizabeth

    The “shelter in place” signs in my building demarcate suites where designated groups of employees are supposed to gather in the event of a threat to human safety where it would be safer to hunker down in the building than to go out.

    While I was sitting through a seemingly interminable, pointless, but only somewhat acrimonious meeting this morning, I was thinking how important it is to have a space within our own consciousness where it feels safe and peaceful even when we are in a situation where staying physically put is the most realistic alternative. This got me thinking about one of the powers (siddhis) that allegedly may arise from a steady, devoted, and long-term practice. That power is the ability to bi-locate–the power to be in two or more places at once.

    I’ve long practiced with part of my goal being to cultivate the space of meditation as a way of making bearable the unavoidably painful, such as when confined to bed because of severe illness. In such a situation, though my experience is thankfully limited, going into meditation is a going to another space of consciousness, but does not require staying mentally engaged and present.

    When in an unpleasant meeting or stuck in traffic or similar situations, the problem is that one needs to stay mentally and physically alert and present and cannot just go off into bliss.

    Then, I think the power of bi-locating is what would serve best. It would enable being simultaneously present and functioning while also being in the blissful and peaceful state of meditation. The space we go to in meditation would indeed then be a “shelter in place.”

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

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    Found Exhortation

    ByElizabeth

    My aim, with the awareness cultivated through meditation and yoga practice, is to delight in a way that does not impinge on the delight and health of those with whom and that with which I am in relationship.

    What would delight you today and how would you share your delight?

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