Smile. You may not know it, but your life just changed.
Skeptical?
Take another deep breath. Now, deepen your expression.
Whether you are new to yoga, a dedicated practitioner, or just someone trying to sort out all of the hullabaloo (and not call it “yogart” in mixed company), a joyful practice can help you find things you didn’t know you needed – and explore gifts you didn’t know you had to offer.
Still skeptical? That’s cool. It doesn’t change the fact that somewhere between that first deep breath and this next one (Inhale….Exhale.) your brain chemistry changed!
And just think, you didn’t even have to step on a mat.
Happy Pride! Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating PRIDE and/or the 2nd Week after Pentecost & the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast.
“The earliest strong match known to QI appeared in a March 1936 newspaper report in ‘The Yorkshire Post’ of West Yorkshire, England. The expression was used in a speech by an influential British statesman.
Sir Austen Chamberlain, addressing the annual meeting of Birmingham Unionist Association last night, spoke of the ‘grave injury’ to collective security by Germany’s violation of the Treaty of Locarno.
Sir Austen, who referred to himself as ‘a very old Parliamentarian,’ said:—”
“‘…. We move from one crisis to another. We suffer one disturbance and shock after another.’”
— quoted from the December 18, 2015, Quote Investigator post, “Quote Origin: May You Live In Interesting Times” (with credit to “top researcher Bonnie Taylor-Blake”)
I think we can all agree that we are “living in interesting times” and surrounded by “wild things”. All of which activates our nervous systems. To paraphrase my yoga buddy and fellow teacher Sandra Razieli, we need/want to cultivate a resilient nervous system. A yoga practice is one of the many ways we can do that.
For Those Who Missed It: The following (slightly revised) excerpt is from a 2025 post. Some links, a quote, and class details have been updated/added. Links connected to outside sites are identified accordingly.
The other day In 2025, I asked a question — “What are we doing?” — and noted that intonation (and adding a few choice words) can change the context. So, today, I am very much asking with a certain tone (and some choice words): “What in the ever-loving world are we doing?”
People might use the old adage and say we are “living in interesting times”. I’m going to say that we are in the middle of wild times and in the middle of wild things. So, the next question I want to ask you is, “What do you do when you’re in the middle of wild things”?
That last question, like my other questions, can be taken in different ways and will have different answers depending on how you react when your sympathetic nervous system is activated. Some people immediately fight (and that means different things to different people). Some people freeze up or collapse. Some people flee. While all of these very natural reactions are activated by our sympathetic nervous system, they can manifest in different ways. For instance, some people fight with joy or other positive emotional expressions (like a little bit of random fun and silliness). Some people use prayers, mediation, plus rituals and traditions to battle whatever plagues them or those they love. Bottom line: People do what they need to do to survive.
“I only have one subject. The question I am obsessed with is: How do children survive?”
— Maurice Sendak (b. 1928)
It is important to keep in mind that our sympathetic nervous systems can be activated when we are physically in the wild space (where wild things are happening), and/or when we mentally and emotionally find ourselves in the wild space, from viewing wild things on television, hearing things on the radio, or reading and/or viewing something on social media. All of our nervous systems are being activate.
And, don’t take this as me being flippant; because, I am absolutely serious when I suggest that you go a little deeper into your knee jerk response(s) and notice what you do when you find yourself “where the wild things are” — and what it takes for you to be like Max (and become the “most wild thing of all”).
“‘And now,’ cried Max, ‘let the wild rumpus start!’”
— quoted from Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Today is the anniversary of the birth of children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak (b. 1928) and the anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous (in 1935).
The excerpted post includes passing references to mental health issues and addiction.
“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again. You really don’t have a sacred space, a rescue land, until you find somewhere to be that’s not a wasteland, some field of action where there is a spring of ambrosia—a joy that comes from inside, not something external that puts joy into you—a place that lets you experience your own will and your own intention and your own wish so that, in small, the Kingdom is there. I think everybody, whether they know it or not, is in need of such a place.”
— quoted from A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell
As noted in the excerpted post, it is important to have a sacred space when battling things and people that push you off center. For some people, a sacred space is on the outside; for some it is on the inside; and for some it is both. For some it is all of that mixed in with tradition, ritual, and intention. Ultimately, to go back to the words of Joseph Campbell and Maurice Sendak, it is a place where everything falls into place — where we have good “luck”. It is a place we have to find and/or cultivate, as we do in our practice.
“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen.”
— quoted from Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 10th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class.You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06102020 Here Be The Wild Things”]
MUSIC NOTE: YouTube is the original playlist and includes the video below.
“GROSS: Well, I’m so glad you have a new book. I’m really glad we had a chance to talk.
SENDAK: I am too.
GROSS: And I wish you all good things.
SENDAK: I wish you all good things. Live your life, live your life, live your life.”
— quoted from the NPR Fresh Air interview “Maurice Sendak: On Life, Death And Children’s Lit” with Terry Gross and Maurice Sendak (originally aired September 20, 2011)
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Happy Pride! Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating PRIDE and/or the 2nd Week after Pentecost & the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast.
For Those Who Missed It: The following note and excerpt were originally posted in 2024.
“‘You can never give up because quitting is not an option,’ [Wayman] Tisdale says. ‘No matter how dark it is or how weak you get, until you take that last breath, you must fight.’”
— quoted from the Dec. 3, 2008 ESPN article “Tisdale reaches for his biggest rebound” by Anna K. Clemmons
The first question I asked in a 2020 blog post (see below) was, “Have you ever experienced trauma, loss, and disability?”
During yesterday’s practice, I mentioned how the trajectory of Robert Schumann’s life and career changed when he lost sensation in his right pinky finger. Eventually, he loss the use and dexterity of his whole right hand. The physical trauma, loss, and disability took an emotional toll that eventually landed him in sanatorium. Coincidentally, today is the anniversary of the birth of Cole Porter (b. 1891) and Wayman Tisdale (b. 1964) — two people who shared a lot in common with Robert Schumann, including music, love, and trauma, loss, and disability… again on the right side. However, they dealt with their circumstances in very different ways.
Click on the title of the excerpt below for the entire 2020 post about Cole Porter and Wayman Tisdale.
“Sad times, may follow your tracks Bad times, may bar you from Sak’s At times, when Satan in slacks Breaks down your self control
Maybe, as often it goes Your Abe-y, may tire of his rose So baby, this rule I propose Always have an ace in the hole.”
— quoted from the song “Ace in the Hole” by Cole Porter
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 9th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into in the class.You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06092020 Not So De-Lovely Circumstance(s)”]
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating PRIDE and/or observing the 1st Sunday after Pentecost, All Saints, & the Eve of Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast.
Happy Pride!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was previously posted in 2025. Class details, some links, and the excerpt have been updated/added.
Here is a third poem for the poets born today [in 1917, 1954, 1943, and 1958] because I have just a little, tiny bit more to say.
A good writer moves you and makes you feel cool, beautiful, and strong / And also warns you.
A good writer moves you and makes you feel love and anger (at strangers) and grief and more.
A good writer moves you and makes you feel gratitude for the history within every part of you… including your feet.
NOTE: The original poem is embedded in the second poem (and contains links to the poets’ poems).
Please join me today (Sunday, June 7th) at 2:30 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom.You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available onYouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06072020 Birthday of Poets”]
MUSIC NOTE: There are some slight differences in the before/after tracks and the YouTube playlist includes extra videos related to three of the four poets. The poem linked here is interactive and also includes one of those videos.)
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Happy Pride! Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating PRIDE and/or observing the Apodosis of Pentecost on the anniversary of D-Day.
Peace and blessings to those who have served, will serve, and are serving.
Please join me today (Saturday, June 6th) at 12:00 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04072021 Character of the Happy Warrior”]
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Happy Pride! Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Afterfeast of Pentecost.
This “missing” (expanded) invitation for the “First Friday Night Special” on June 5th, includes related excerpt. You can request an audio recording of this Yin Yoga practice (with a little movement and pranayama) via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
“Ironically, to Campbell the end of the hero’s journey is not the aggrandizement of the hero. ‘It is,’ he said in one of his lectures, ‘not to identify oneself with any of the figures or powers experienced. The Indian yogi, striving for release, identifies himself with the Light and never returns. But no one with a will to the service of others would permit himself such an escape. The ultimate aim of the quest must be neither release nor ecstasy for oneself, but the wisdom and the power to serve others.’ One of the many distinctions between the celebrity and the hero, he said, is that one lives only for self while the other acts to redeem society.
Joseph Campbell affirmed life as adventure.”
— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)
If you were to pause a moment and share the story of your life, there would be fine points and details that would make your story very different from mine and my story very different from someone else’s story. However, there would be common elements. There would be stages, encounters, challenges that are a part of every life, every story…and every journey.
“GEORGE LUCAS: What happens is that no matter how you do it, when you sit down to write something all other influences you’ve had in your life come into play. The things that you like, the things that you’ve seen, the things — the observations you’ve made. That’s ultimately what you work with when you’re writing. And you — you are influenced by the things that you like. Designs that you like, characters you like, moments that you remember, that you were moved by. It’s — it’s like trying to compose a — a symphony in a way.”
— George Lucas responding to a question Bill Moyers asked about the creative process, quoted from the transcript of “The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas”
Bill Moyers, who was born today in 1943, spent a good portion of his life exploring and reporting on life and the way we live life — especially here in the United States. He did this, in part, through conversations with poets like Robert Bly, Lucille Clifton, Rita Dove, Adrienne Rich, and Gary Snyder; as well as with politicians like John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; visionaries like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jane Goodall; filmmakers like George Lucas; and writers like Joseph Campbell. In fact, two of his most famous conversations occurred, eleven years apart, on Skywalker Ranch and centered around the “the power of myth” and idea of “the hero with a thousand faces”.
“[Joseph Campbell] agreed that the ‘guiding idea’ of his work was to find ‘the commonality of themes in world myths, pointing to a constant requirement in the human psyche for a centering in terms of deep principles.’
‘You’re talking about a search for the meaning of life?’ I asked.
‘No, no, no,’ he said. ‘For the experience of being alive.’”
— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)
Death is part of being alive — and, so, Bill Moyers wrote and talked about death. In the book and the series, Healing and the Mind, he explored the ways in which we experience grief, loss, and the fear of loss, as well as how there is sometimes a disconnect between what we are taught and what we experience. He also discussed the ways in which how we cope can lead to more suffering or great healing.
“When my brother died in 1966, my father began a grieving process that lasted almost twenty-five years. For all that time he suffered from chronic, debilitating headaches. I took him to some of the country’s major medical facilities, but no one could cure him of his pain. At one point during that ongoing search for a help, a doctor tried to teach him that his headaches were somehow related to his grief. But my father persisted in treating his pain exclusively as a medical problem, and the headaches continued to torment him.”
— quoted from the “Introduction” of Healing and the Mind by Bill Moyers (Editor, Betty Sue Flowers; Executive Editor, David Grubin; Art Research, Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner)
Click on the excerpt title below for the 2023 post related to Bill Moyers and discussions about life and death.
“I never met anyone who could better tell a story. Listening to him talk of primal societies, I was transported to the wide plains under the great dome of the open sky, or to the forest dense, beneath a canopy of trees, and I began to understand how the voices of the gods spoke from the wind and thunder, and the spirit of God flowed in every mountain stream, and the whole earth bloomed as a sacred place — the realm of mythic imagination. And I asked: Now that we moderns have stripped the earth of its mystery — have made, in Saul Bellow’s description, ‘a housecleaning of belief’ — how are our imaginations to be nourished? By Hollywood and made-for-TV movies?
Campbell was no pessimist. He believed there is a ‘point of wisdom beyond the conflicts of illusion and truth by which lives can be put back together again.’”
— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)
Click on the excerpt title below for the 2024 post which highlights the monomyth/Hero’s Journey (and includes some elements from the previous post).
“[Joseph Campbell] was, of course, criticized for dwelling on the psychological interpretation of myth, for seeming to confine the contemporary role of myth to either an ideological or a therapeutic function. I am not competent to enter that debate, and leave it for others to wage. He never seemed bothered by the controversy. He just kept on teaching, opening others to a new way of seeing. It was, above all, the authentic life he lived that instructs us. When he said that myths are clues to our deepest spiritual potential, able to lead us to delight, illumination, and even rapture, he spoke as one who had been to the places he was inviting others to visit.
What did draw me to him?
Wisdom, yes; he was very wise.
And learning; he did indeed ‘know the vast sweep of our panoramic past as few men have ever known it.’
But there was more. A story’s the way to tell it. He was a man with a thousand stories. This was one of his favorites. In Japan for an international conference on religion, Campbell overheard another American delegate, a social philosopher from New York, say to a Shinto priest, ‘We’ve been now to a good many ceremonies and have seen quite a few of your shrines. But I don’t get your ideology. I don’t get your theology.’ The Japanese [delegate] paused as though in deep thought and then slowly shook his head. ‘I think we don’t have ideology,’ he said. “We don’t have theology. We dance.’
And so did Joseph Campbell — to the music of the spheres.”
— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)
This Yin Yoga (with a little movement and a little pranayama) is accessible and open to all.
(NOTE: There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.)
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06052026 The Journey Continues”]
NOTE: You can select Track #1-#4 for this practice. Track #2 (the Jason Stephenson track) is different on each platform. I will probably remix this playlist, but the primary tracks will remain the same.
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice and I will suggest having a chair, sofa, coffee table or bolster (as well as a blanket) for this practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may also want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice).
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If we go a little deeper, however, we find there is only one theme: How we see (and understand) what we perceive is based on what we believe — and what we believe can sometimes prevent us from seeing / understanding / perceiving what is right in front of us.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE (including excerpts from the posts linked above).
“Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt;
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.”
— quoted from the poem “Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 3rd) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class.You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube andSpotify. [Look for “06032020 How Can We See, Dr Wiesel”]
— “The Seer is the pure power of seeing, yet its understanding is through the mind/intellect.” [Translation by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (for comparative analysis): “The sheer power of seeing is the seer. It is pure, and yet it sees only what the mind shows it.”]
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Third Day of the Holy Trinity.
“And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom, And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings, Till they rise again, as they were a new bell’s boom, ‘He hears it not now, but used to notice such things?’”
— quoted from the poem “Afterwards” by Thomas Hardy, set to music by Lon Lord
Both used their art to bring awareness to the things they noticed and one of the things they both noticed was people’s patterns and how those patterns reflect what was at the core or the heart of certain people and what motivated those people — in other words: they noticed the roots/foundations of people’s actions and how those actions cultivated the world around them.
Even if you do not consider yourself an artist, you are one of the people creating the environment in which we all live — so, your awareness is important.
Click on the title of the excerpt below for the entire 2023 post about awareness:
“‘I had a neat stock of fixed opinions, but they dropped away one by one; and the further I get the less sure I am. I doubt if I have anything more for my present rule of life than following inclinations which do me and nobody else any harm, and actually give pleasure to those I love best.’”
— quoted from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 2nd) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into in the class.You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06022023 Noticing Things II”]
NOTE: At some point I may (or may not) update it to include more of the “Enigma Variations.”
“‘There, gentlemen, since you wanted to know how I was getting on, I have told you. Much good may it do you! I cannot explain further here. I perceive there is something wrong somewhere in our social formulas: what it is can only be discovered by men or women with greater insight than mine–if, indeed, they ever discover it– at least in our time. ‘For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?–and who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?’”
— quoted from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating/observing the Day of the Holy Spirit and/or Children’s Day (in China).
For Those Who Missed It: The following post-practice for Monday, June 1st was originally posted in 2025. I have added a quote and a couple of notes at the end of this post. The 2026 prompt question was, “What’s on your heart?”
You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
— “Through the mastery of that [three-part process of samyama] comes the light of knowledge, transcendental insight, or higher consciousness.”
“When one has succeeded in making this Samyama, all powers come under his control. This is the great instrument of the Yogi. The objects of knowledge are infinite, and they are divided into the gross, grosser, grossest and the fine, finer, finest and so on. This Samyama should be first applied to gross things, and when you begin to get knowledge of this gross, slowly, by stages, it should be brought to finer things.”
— commentary on Yoga Sūtra 3.5 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
Ted Turner’s CNN (Cable News Network)1 premiered Sunday, June 1, 1980, at 5 PM EST; making it the first 24-hour news channel and the first all-news television in the United States. While other news channels made fun of the new outlet, CNN stayed focused (with the slogan “Go live, stay with it, and make it important.”) and changed the way government made and addressed policy and also the way people interacted with each other and the news.
There was no such thing as CNN back in 1921, when the Greenwood District (in Indian Territory) — also known as “Black Wall Street” — was destroyed in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.
NOTE: The post excerpted below does not reference the shooting which happened in Tulsa today in 2022.
“On Thursday morning, June 2, 1921, one of Tulsa’s many problems was that of optics. A large chunk of the city had been obliterated in a matter of hours and an embarrassingly large portion of the city’s population had a hand in the obliterating. How this was going to look to outsiders was far from an irrelevant concern for many Tulsans, especially the city’s elite for whom pride in the city’s accomplishments was keen…. Would businesses go elsewhere? Would other ‘better citizens’ from other places look down their noses?”
— quoted from The Center for Public Secrets Journal article entitled, “Mask of Atonement: The Plan to Rebuild the Homes of Greenwood” by Randy Hopkins
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
“Lessie Benningfield [Randle]2, who testified over video conference, said the effects of the massacre are still felt today in Tulsa.
‘My opportunities were taken from me and my community. Black Tulsa is still messed up today. They didn’t rebuild it. It’s empty, it’s a ghetto,’ [Randle], who is now 106, said.
[Randle] said she not only survived the massacre, but she has also now survived ‘100 years of painful memories.’
‘By the grace of God, I am still here. I have survived to tell this story,’ she said. ‘Hopefully, now you will all listen to us while we are still here.’”
— quoted from “Survivors Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Share Eyewitness Accounts” by Juana Summers (as heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, May 19, 2021)
2026 NOTES:
1Rest in Power, Ted Turner (d. 05/06/2026).
2 As of today, Lessie Benningfield Randle (also known as “Mother Randle” is the last (known) living survivor of the Tulsa Massacre. In the 2021 NPR article, her married name was incorrectly printed as “Randall”.
Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating the Pentecost — Trinity Sunday and/or coming together in peace.
For Those Who Missed It: The following is a (2025) revised version of a note and excerpts originally posted in 2023. Class information and some links have been added/updated.
“I was simmering, simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil.”
— Walt Whitman (b. 05/31/1819) as quoted in a February 1902 article by John Townsend Trowbridge, published in The Atlantic Monthly
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Walt Whitman (b. 1819) and the anniversary of the beginning of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the destruction of Black Wall Street. While I generally focus on the former on the 31st and the latter on the 1st, both bring to mind an analogy I often use in association with Whitman and with America: a pot on an open flame.
As I described in a 2020 post, “There are times when we have so much churning inside of our minds and our bodies that it can make us physically ill. It churns and churns, until it spills over. Or, another analogy is to think of all of that emotion as water inside of a pot on top of an open flame: it’s “simmering, simmering, simmering…” until it boils over. When we are children, we are taught to be mindful of the hot stove and the pot that sits on top. We watch our elders; placing various ingredients inside, stirring, churning, adjusting the flames – even tasting along the way, sometimes even letting us taste a little. We watch and learn that we can make something delicious, or potent medicine, or poison, or paint and dye. We watch and learn that if we don’t pay close attention we will make a big, unusable, inedible mess. We watch and learn that if we are not careful, we can hurt ourselves or others.”
“What is it then between us? What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
Whatever it is, it avails not—distance avails not, and place avails not,”
— quoted from the 5th stanza of the poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman
Please join me today (Sunday, May 31st) at 2:30 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05312020 Walt Whitman”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes recordings of some of the poems, as part of the before/after class mix. These tracks are not included on Spotify. Both versions have a 2022 addition.
“In Kenya, people walk out of yoga class feeling great, just like they do in New York. The one difference I loved, however, was that the children who took the classes always broke out into a spontaneous song or dance right in the middle of class. Then they would go back to the yoga postures.”
“Visiting the Kenyan [women’s] prison brought me unexpected joy. The inmates, some of whom are H.I.V.-positive, told me that yoga has become a rare source of happiness in their daily lives.”
— Robert Sturman talking about documenting the work of Africa Yoga Project (quoted from the New York Times interview “Yoga in Africa” by Karen Barrow)
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Commemoration of the Dead and/or just remembering someone who deliberately and strenuously lived a good life.
“At length, on Saturday, the last day of August, 1839, we two, brothers, and natives of Concord, weighed anchor in this river port; for Concord, too, lies under the sun, a port of entry and departure for the bodies as well as the souls of men; one shore at least exempted from all duties but such as an honest man will gladly discharge.”
— quoted from “SATURDAY” in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was a teacher and a writer, who is remembered as a writer and naturalist. He self-published his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, today (May 30th) in 1849. It was the story of a trip he took with his brother John over 10 years before.
Click on the excerpt title below for more about Thoreau, his relationship with his brother, and where he went to write and “to live deliberately….”
“Our boat, which had cost us a week’s labor in the spring, was in form like a fisherman’s dory, fifteen feet long by three and a half in breadth at the widest part, painted green below, with a border of blue, with reference to the two elements in which it was to spend its existence. It had been loaded the evening before at our door, half a mile from the river, with potatoes and melons from a patch which we had cultivated, and a few utensils, and was provided with wheels in order to be rolled around falls, as well as with two sets of oars, and several slender poles for shoving in shallow places, and also two masts, one of which served for a tent-pole at night; for a buffalo-skin was to be our bed, and a tent of cotton cloth our roof. It was strongly built, but heavy, and hardly of better model than usual.”
— quoted from “SATURDAY” in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau
Please join me today (Saturday, May 30th) at 12:00 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTubeand Spotify. [Look for “05302021 Speaking of a Strenuous, Deliberate Life”]
“Gradually the village murmur subsided, and we seemed to be embarked on the placid current of our dreams, floating from past to future as silently as one awakes to fresh morning or evening thoughts.”
— quoted from “SATURDAY” in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
A Joyful Practice 