Windows That Open
When I first got to my room on the fourth floor of the hotel, the airconditioner was straining noisily, and the room was very stuffy. To My great delight — the windows not only open, but have screen and look… (READ MORE)
Twisting, Opening to a New Perspective (and radical affirmation)
This week I have been working on twists both in my own practice and in my classes. In so doing, I have been thinking about the difference between turning around or doing an about-face and staying steady and true to… (READ MORE)
“Bob Dylan is a strange one,”
says the man next to me with a slightly interrogative inflection, while we are both looking at a photo of Dylan taken by Alan Ginsberg at the show of Ginsberg’s photos at the Nat’l Gallery. He is a beefy guy… (READ MORE)
I hate [insert name of pose or class of poses] (and the kleshas)
One of the aims of yoga, according to Patanjali’s classic eight-limbed path of yoga, is to be free from being torn between the pairs of opposites — pleasure and pain. We cannot be free if we are always grasping at… (READ MORE)
“You Seem Pretty Mellow,”
said the guy who is doing the exterior painting and repairs to me this morning, after we were talking about what needed to be done with the stairs, and we talked a little to the downstairs resident who was on… (READ MORE)
The Four Gates of Speech
One of the offerings in John Friend’s Anusara Teacher Training Manual, is the “four gates of speech,” which I believe comes from Buddhist practice. The four gates are: 1. Is it truthful? 2. Is it necessary to say? 3. Is… (READ MORE)
Great Swan
I found a used copy of Lex Hixon’s Great Swan–Meetings with Ramakrishna, last week that I am reading with delight. Lex Hixon has rendered the teachings from the seminal and extraordinary voice of Ramakrishna very accessible. It also provides in… (READ MORE)
The Virtues of Romaine Lettuce (and embracing our place in the web of being)
This year, along with a mesclun mix, arugula, mache, and the tender green and red leaf lettuces, I planted several heads of romaine. It is not my favorite lettuce for salad; I have become spoiled by having baby arugula, spinach,… (READ MORE)
Happy May Day (and radical affirmation)
It feels wonderfully auspicious to me that my Spring classes at Willow Street are starting on May Day. It is Beltane–the true end of winter and the beginning of the effulgence of the time of growth and light. It is… (READ MORE)
The Four Agreements
Several years ago, I was introduced to Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements in a yoga book group. I come back to them periodically. I am not usually one for self-help books, but I think the agreements are a wonderful… (READ MORE)