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Getting Edgy in Your Practice - C'mon Up to the Campfire!

21/2/2013

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Within the flickering light and warmth of the flame, but not consumed…

Within the asana practice, there can be times of struggle and times of ease; times where we feel the need to coax just a little more out of it, and times where we realize that we are simply coasting through it. We need to be aware of those moments that take us from our intention and attention, or attraction, to the natural and innate tendencies to push too hard, or to simply drift away into the ease and mindlessness.


The edge: not the ‘edge’ where they say "if you aren’t living on the you’re taking up too much space". No, the edge of the practice, that vital space of information and transformation; any less effort and our mind wanders out of the asana practice – any more effort and we would abuse the subtlety of pranayama and lose the benefit of the practice!

So, I would liken this ‘edge’ in the practice to a campfire – come along for my story.


The campfire is warm and it represents safety; its light and warmth are a comfort and it’s a refuge from the darkness. The light keeps the critters away, it casts a protective circle - the heat keeps you warm and contained, and present. The dancing of the flames on the embers is entrancing, mesmerizing, and timeless. It’s what is happening, it’s the primary conversion of energy that we can participate in, it offers purification and possibility; and, potentially danger as well.

If we rush too quickly towards that edge, the campfire, we may stumble, or create too much momentum and not stop in time. We may choke on the smoke, we may get cinders in our eyes, and we may singe our eyebrows or even be injured in the manifestation of the fire! We lose clarity, we hurt ourselves, we gasp and recoil, and we cause stress.

If we tarry, or we hesitate, we also may suffer. We may remain cold and distant; we may be lost outside of the safety and comfort of the circle of light. We may be prey to those things in the shadows that aren’t pleasant, and without the light of the campfire, we may imagine them to be larger or more persistent than they are. We would miss the community, the reverence, the dancing lights of the embers and flames, the energetic exchange of the fire and folk.


And, what is the ‘edge detector?' How do we know that we aren’t playing with fire, or giving ourselves a cold shoulder? The breath: the breath is the detector of the edge in our practice.


Does it lose the quality of mindfulness when we don’t fully engage and bring ourselves into the asana – not the 'fullest expression' - just engaged integrity and focus? Does it become shallow and unattended and does the mind wander? If you can plan your day, you should rather commit to being present and engaging in the practice; find more sensation and engagement, come a little closer to the flame.

Likewise, do you take every offered intensification and expression, greedily rushing in, mindless of the edge and then finding yourself gasping, panting, mouth-breathing? If we rush too quickly to the heat and the transformation or purification, we can’t sustain - and contain - the healthy fire without the pranayama.


A difficult question to take into our practice – are there poses where you know you sacrifice the breath in order to ‘nail’ the pose? What is the benefit of that?? Does the expression of the asana that you seek undermine the integrity of the pranayama and turn you into a mouth-breather?? Sweet lil' blue-faced baby cow-hugging Krishna, forbid it!

That’s why I like this metaphor of the ‘edge’ and the campfire. Don’t rush in and get burned and ruin your trip; but don’t hang out in the cold woods and get bit by a big bad wolf!! Practice working gently to and fro, right at the threshold where you maximize the internal mantra of ‘I am breathing in, I am breathing out’ and let that be the whole of your mind.

Breath, linked to engaged expression in posture: Pranayama, Asana, and perhaps, Pratyahara – the intentional withdrawal from your senses and into the moment in front of you – and edgy concept, but a worthy one!

Give thanks and praise, see you ‘round the campfire!



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What We Could "Let Go Of in 2013"

15/2/2013

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Alright, try to have a sense of humor, for that is to which I aspire...

I've been thinking lately, you know, the whole 'what's not serving us' and 'what can we let go of' schema. In the midst of that, I've also just been hanging and Facebooking. Thus, in the spirit of discernment, I'd like to offer my community and anyone else who might benefit from it some advice on relinquishment, or at least, like a lenten time abstinence.


Three come to mind - to wit:

FIRST: It's ok to use FB to tell your story, even to market and build your brand... but, your face is not your brand, it's your face... uploading 4 to 6 out of 10 photos to your page that are the contrived "I hold my iphone at arm's length and smile up at it, all Hitchcocky, aren't I sassy?!" is simply vanity!!

Really, attractive or not, if your hoping to brand your yoga, rely on more than your purty face and zany looks that you wrap around your stories... just a thought.


NEXT: OM, maybe you're an AUMer, maybe an Ong Namo-kinda yogi, but OM, let's call it that. Can we let it be OM, and not have it be an 'infix'? An infix is like when you put 'fucking' in the middle of 'incredible' and make the word 'in-fucking-credible'... not a prefix, not a suffix, an infix.

So, stop just slapping OM into 'community,' 'Home,' 'Amazing,' 'Mom' or wherever you find a chance to capitalize the O and M diphthong! Really, let it be and if something is amazing, let it be amazing, for that is a fine word as well.


FINALLY: There's this poor bloke - Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī - can we give the guy a rest?? If you don't know who that is, then it's even more tragic, because he's the oft-most and most-misquoted choice of our community.

Poor Rumi, can we just let him rest in peace, and not contrive another Rumi-Hallmark-ized quote, each and everyday?? Yes, his work and his vision is beautiful and poignant, and yet so are so many others who you've never investigated, so branch out and let Rumi ruminate, and not always be your 'go-to' pontificater!


In honor of the fact I want this light-hearted and because I know I am indeed offering bittersweet food for thought, and not looking to inflame or argue, take it for what it's worth, and I'll sign off before I even go there with the Cat posting... even a blind man can tell when a cyclone is coming!!


Give thanks and praise, just keep your camera faced away, keep OM for OM, and read Rumi, don't quote him!


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If We Can Be In Love With Someone Who Is Away From Us, Can't We Be In Love With Someone Who Is Gone From Us?

14/2/2013

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A letter to his dead wife...

I've posted this before, but it's so resonant and on point for this day... I'm a bit of a sentimentalist when it comes to loving your partner, and the desire to know and experience connection unbound, unending and unseverable.

I'm not enough of a sentimentalist to think it's clouds and harps, but I'm always inspired when one of my heroes and mentors (and most rational and excellent bongo-playing man of science) gets me weepy with his words.

From the incredible Richard Feynman... here's the story. In June of 1945, Arline Feynman — high-school sweetheart and wife of the hugely influential physicist, Richard Feynman — passed away after succumbing to tuberculosis. She was 25-years-old.

16 months later, in October of 1946, Richard wrote his late wife the following love letter and sealed it in an envelope. It remained unopened until after his death in 1988.


October 17, 1946

D’Arline,

I adore you, sweetheart.

I know how much you like to hear that — but I don't only write it because you like it — I write it because it makes me warm all over inside to write it to you.

It is such a terribly long time since I last wrote to you — almost two years but I know you'll excuse me because you understand how I am, stubborn and realistic; and I thought there was no sense to writing.

But now I know my darling wife that it is right to do what I have delayed in doing, and that I have done so much in the past. I want to tell you I love you. I want to love you. I always will love you.

I find it hard to understand in my mind what it means to love you after you are dead — but I still want to comfort and take care of you — and I want you to love me and care for me. I want to have problems to discuss with you — I want to do little projects with you. I never thought until just now that we can do that. What should we do. We started to learn to make clothes together — or learn Chinese — or getting a movie projector. Can't I do something now? No. I am alone without you and you were the "idea-woman" and general instigator of all our wild adventures.

When you were sick you worried because you could not give me something that you wanted to and thought I needed. You needn’t have worried. Just as I told you then there was no real need because I loved you in so many ways so much. And now it is clearly even more true — you can give me nothing now yet I love you so that you stand in my way of loving anyone else — but I want you to stand there. You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive.

I know you will assure me that I am foolish and that you want me to have full happiness and don't want to be in my way. I'll bet you are surprised that I don't even have a girlfriend (except you, sweetheart) after two years. But you can't help it, darling, nor can I — I don't understand it, for I have met many girls and very nice ones and I don't want to remain alone — but in two or three meetings they all seem ashes. You only are left to me. You are real.

My darling wife, I do adore you.

I love my wife. My wife is dead.

Rich.

PS Please excuse my not mailing this — but I don't know your new address.

For the loved, the beloved, those here in arms and those lost to us and only held in the heart and mind. Here's to love, across the units we can measure and beyond those we can comprehend.

Give thanks and praise, and be loved, loving and beloved. Say it, it won't hurt you: mean it and it will fulfill you.

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Mindfulness - In Your Observations, Your Abstentions and Your Relationships!

11/2/2013

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Big month out there - lots of energetics in the planets, we've got the Mardi Gras and beginning of Lenten Season, and of course, the holiday where we are extolled to show our love by doing arcane actions in a mindless and pointless way - one romantic's opinion.

These times remind me that I work with a concept, personally and in my teaching - it's simple, but as all disciplines, in its simplicity is its challenge. Here is my premise, I've posted this before, but this past week I said it in context in class, and then it was quoted on FB - given the times, it's on point:

Do what you are doing while you are doing it - that's the entire, simplistic and yet most complicated point of this post. Let's break it down.

Do what you are doing - that means approach it like yoga - rather than union, think of linking. Linking yourself completely to the action or moment at hand. Not in projection or obsession on the outcome, but just in an engaged and present way. That also means leaving history in the past; don't approach it with all of the former experiences or occurrences, both good and bad at the forefront of your mind, for in doing so, you are repeating history, not crafting the present.

Let me make it a little more tangible - right now; is your singular intent reading this? Really, I'm flattered, but are you eating or drinking something? Listening to music? Have multiple windows open and actively panning for excitement, or simply just hanging out somewhere in public but checking out some blogs and then some people, then whatever?

The question is, is that how your practice goes? Are you elsewhere, making big or small plans? Checking out ideas in your head, remembering the good times, thinking about what you'll eat later? It's natural, it's the practice, to understand that tendency to disassociate and pull away into reflection, distraction, projection - anything but the experience or sensation at hand.

Can you use the breath, as the yuj - the link - the one thing that binds you to what you are doing? Can you experiment with simply trying to give your fullness to one thing alone? In the asana practice, the linking of breath and body and engagement; perhaps in your life for a selected experiment. A time without multitasking, without rampant sensory input, perhaps driving while not listening to music and making a call while texting!

Perhaps, just to be present to your loved one, to only listen to a song, to just simply read a book. To just do what you are doing while you are doing it.

Perhaps that can be working experiment for you as you transcend your practice from the safety of the laboratory and into the screaming mess we call life. Where do you most easily get distracted? What are your multitasks that are productive, but which are the ones that are distracting... when is the last time that the only thing you did was listen, or read, or think?

Give it a try, let me know what it feels like to feel what you’re doing and do what you're feeling!

Give thanks and praise.



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"A Purpose Filled Life"

5/2/2013

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You hear this one a lot. We are seekers, looking for insight, revelation, comfort, community, whatever we believe will complete us.

Many seek purpose, or the oft-called 'purpose-filled life'. What exactly does that mean to say and seek that? What is 'purpose'?

The first usage of the word purpose is cited from the 13th century, in Old French "porpos" meaning "aim, intention". The verb form, found in the prior century, "porposer" - having the meaning "to put forth." When you combine the prefix "por-" meaning "forth" ( as in Latin "pro"- "forth") with the Old French "poser" - "to put, place" or shall we simply say, to "pose"? 

The idea of "on purpose" meaning "by design" is first used in the 1580s, and it's come right down to us now, much to our befuddlement, since we're all seeking it, still.

You know, I'm fascinated by language, which is why I always seek the root of the word, to seek the original intention; that guides me. So, to have purpose is to move forth, to place your actions, to do so with the idea of aim and intention... I'd say that's a lot like the elusive word 'vinyasa' - to place in a certain order.

So, like I like to say in class, because the hardest things are often the most simple to express and therein lies the paradox, the investigation, and the union of opposition. Here is my premise, simply stated:

If you want to feel purposeful, do things on purpose...

If you want to live a purpose-filled life, fill your life with purpose...

Move with intention, be thoughtful, be mindful and imbue meaning into your actions. It really might be that simple... make things feel purposeful by doing things on purpose. In the midst of that experiential endeavor, if something so deeply resonates with you that it encourages whole-heartedness, then you may have found your 'purpose'!

Give it some consideration, and the next time something looms as tedious, boring or unpleasant, do it with a sense of purpose. Imbue it with meaning, act with intention, and fill that part of your life with purpose!

Give thanks and praise!


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Happy Imbolc - Groundhogs, Bonfires and Brigid...

2/2/2013

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Today is a special day, not because of a Groundhog, but he has some twisted role in it! Read on...

Today it Imbolc, or Imbolg! Imbolc is the name of the pagan festival celebrated on what was the first day of the Old Spring. Sometime centuries thereafter, it was appropriated and in Christian times it was transferred to Candlemas, but we'll get there later.

This is a special time of the year; in addition to the four solar events of the Equinoxes and Solstices, most of the ancient cultures had an 'eight-spoke wheel of the year'. So, it was not unique to the Celts in seeing this time as a beginning of vernal stirrings.

In the archaic Roman calendar,
February was the last month of their calendar year- the name derives from februa, which means "the means of purification or expiatory offerings." We call this 'svaha' in the yogi culture. February marked a turn of season bringing the renewal of agricultural activities after winter. This day is the center point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere.

In Ireland, Imbolc was the feis or festival marking the beginning of Spring. During this time, large gatherings and great feasts were held as is attested to in some of the earliest Old Irish literature, appearing from the 10th century onward. Imbolc was traditionally aligned with the start of the 'lactation of ewes and the beginning of lambing season'. Since the Northern Hemisphere is large and the range of Celtic culture broad, this could vary by as much as two weeks before or after the start of February. 

This holiday is a festival of the hearth and home; it stands as a celebration of the onset of the lengthening of days and the early promises of spring. That’s how it got associated with Groundhog’s day and all of the trapping, but I believe it was originally a badger…

Celebrations often involved hearth-fires or bon-fires, special foods of the dairy-variety, clairvoyance, scrying, divination or watching for omens, and the lighting of candles – hence Candlemas. These ideas of fire, of seeing and of burning all show that purification is an important part of the festival. The lighting of candles and fires represented the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months, as well as the burning away of the old – that’s a little yoga right there.

The word itself, imbolc derives from the old Gaelic, i mbolg  meaning "in the belly” referring to the lambing season and the pregnancy of ewes. Imbolc is immediately followed by Candlemas; therefore, sometimes the names are used interchangeably.

Imbolc is also call Saint Brighid’s Day, or Lá Fhéile Bríde or Là Fhèill Brìghde or Laa’l Breeshey, all festivals honoring Brigid. Since each of these represent the first promise of spring, fertiliity and life, they all are held at the place halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. One of the eight-spokes of the year.

So, celebrate - enjoy, light a candle or make a fire. Consider what should be left behind, and with intention, place that in the fire. Propitiate, make offering and give it up! Svaha! Enjoy your Imbolc!!

Give thanks and praise!




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    Chrispy - Bhagat Singh

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