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Tempo por vi Brili! “Time for you to Shine!” (just the music) December 15, 2020

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“Estas la 5a tago kaj 6a nokto de ukanuko – kaj mi deziras al vi pacon en Esperanto.”

“It’s the 5th day and 6th night of Chanukah – and I’m wishing you peace in Esperanto.” Because it’s also L. L. Zamenhof’s birthday (b. 1859).

Please join me today (Tuesday, December 15th) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where we will see how the practice “evolves.” Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

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.)

### pacon / peace ###

Send Light December 14, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
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[“Happy Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May your lights shine bright!]

“I wanna listen to the song that made me breathe
Gonna listen to the music that I need”

 

– quoted from “Music That I Need” by Hothouse Flowers

On more than one occasion, I have been told that music is not part of yoga or meditation. Such conversations can easily devolve (or evolve, depending on your perspective) into a conversation about culture, politics, and dogma. I’ve even been on the wrong side of these conversations. One thing I keep in mind, however is that the yoga-related conversations almost always start as conversations about āsana and involve people who may be unfamiliar with mantra, bhakti yoga, kirtan, and/or nāda yoga.

Mantras are sacred sounds, words, and/or phrases repeated to achieve a particular effect. In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali specifically refers to the use of mantra as one “tool” to achieve a clear mind. Repeating (and repeating) the mantra transforms the sounds into a chant or song – I would say, “without the music,” but the words actually become their own music. While mantras are associated with Indian philosophy and religion, there are hymns, prayers, and words from cultures all over the world that also count as mantras – and they are used in the same way. Bhakti is a Sanskrit word for “attachment” or devotional love and it is one of the forms of worship mentioned in sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gītā (“The Song of the Lord”). Kirtan is the Sanskrit word for “telling” a story and combines mantra with music to form a type of bhakti (or devotional) union. Finally, nāda yoga is literally union through sound and is a system of practice that utilizes vibrations in order to unblock and/or balance the energy inside and all around one.

Given that music (and the messages within the music) has been part of the fabric of my existence since my childhood, no one should be surprised when music informs my practice – even practices without a playlist playing in the background. Take today, for instance. On the surface, it is a simple practice incorporating lojong (Tibetan Buddhist “mind training” techniques) aphorisms or statements. The very first (of 59) aphorisms states, “First, train in the preliminaries.” In the commentary, Pema Chödrön explains that the four (4) preliminaries are reminders: to “maintain an awareness of the preciousness of human life; be aware of the reality that life ends…; recall that whatever you do, whether virtuous or not has a result…; and contemplate that as long as you are too focused on self-importance and too caught up in thinking about how you are good or bad, you will suffer.” This is a foundation on which one builds the rest of the practice.

“(10) Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.”

 

(16) Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join in meditation.”

 

(49) Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment”

 

– from Always Maintain A Joyful Mind: And Other Lojong Teachings on Awaking Compassion and Fearlessness by Pema Chödrön

Just as the āsanas (“seats” or poses) prepare one for more breath awareness and, in turn, a deep, seated mediation; practicing lojong prepares one for tonglen (“giving and taking” or “sending and receiving”) meditation. Since today is the fourth day of Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, it also makes sense to incorporate a little light work into the practice.

Simple, right? Sounds like the quintessential yoga practice hosted by a Buddhist meditation center. Picking up on yesterday’s reference to alignment (and the fact that B. K. S. Iyengar was born today in 1918), it also makes sense that the practice will be classic… and simple. I can even explain that one of the first ways I learned tonglen it involved the visualization of darkness being vanquished by the light. However, no matter how true all of that is, it leaves out a step. It leaves out the music.

There are a lot of songs that pop up on my light-related playlists this time of year – and several of them invoke the image of being a light in the world and (physically) inspiring others to shine. However, I recently came across two songs that very specifically speak to the idea of actively shining in order to alleviate the suffering of others. The first song is one I’m saving for a little later. (I know, I know, 2020 has been a cautionary tale about holding things back, but I don’t think the end of the video is appropriate for Chanukah.) On the flip side, the second song was sent to me this weekend by the dearest of people (LM) and the more I listened, the more I recognized it as a “tonglen song” – in that it is a giving and receiving song, a song of compassion and empathy.

“I am sending you Light, To heal you, To hold you
I am sending you Light, To hold you in Love”

 

– quoted from “Sending You Light” by Melanie DeMore

Please join me on the virtual mat today (Monday, December 14th) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom.

This is a 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice that, in the spirit of generosity (dana), is freely given and freely received. 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.

If you are able to support the center and its teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” my other practices, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

There is no playlist for the Common Ground practices, BUT….

 

… here is Melanie DeMore “Sending You Light”

### THANK YOU IN ADVANCE (FOR SENDING LIGHT) ###

Double the Light (the very late “missing” post) December 14, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Bhakti, Books, Changing Perspectives, Chanukah, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Men, Mysticism, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.
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[“Happy  Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May your lights shine bright!]


[This extremely delayed posting is from Sunday the 13th. You can request an audio recording of Sunday’s practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at 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.)]

Yoga Sutra 1.36: viśokā vā jyotişmatī

– “Or [fixing the mind] on the inner state free of sorrow and infused with light, anchors the mind in stability and tranquility.”

How does one keep the faith? This is a question we can ask at any time, but it becomes a particularly significant question when we are faced with doubt or fear. Or darkness. We all have moments of doubt, of fear, of darkness. Those moments can come from the inside and also from the outside, from things that are going on all around us. Those are the times, I think, when it is good to remember the words of Yoga Sūtra 1:36 which instructs us to focus on our inner light. However, even if you are not familiar with this thread, every culture and every spiritual (and religious) tradition has a story that serves as a similar reminder – and, during the darkest times of the year – people in the Northern Hemisphere bring out these stories, re-tell them, and celebrate them.

There are some aspects of light celebration in Samhain, the pagan holiday marking summer’s end. But, in truth, this year’s celebrations of light started with Diwali, the 5-day Indian festival of lights. Next up is Chanukah, which started at sunset on Thursday (the 25th of Kislev). This year, the 8-day festival of light in the Jewish tradition overlaps the (Western Christian) Feast Day of Saint Lucia (also known as Saint Lucy’s Day) on December 13th – so we get double the light.

“And God said, ‘Light will be,’ and light was.”

– Transliteration of the Hebrew from Bereishit – Genesis (1:3), most commonly translated as “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

“Chanukah” means “dedication” and the holiday is a commemoration of Maccabees restoring the temple in Jerusalem after centuries of religious persecution (and a battle that was in and of itself a miracle). Before the battle, however, the Maccabees spent about a year hiding in caves and studying Torah. They would have been very clear on the importance of lighting the candles on the menorah in order to establish the sanctity of the temple. After all, it is commanded in the Bible. The only problem was that the temple had been desecrated and almost every vial of olive oil previously sealed by the high priest had been contaminated. I say “almost every vial,” because (miraculously) there was one still sealed vial of oil. Not enough, they thought, to last all the days and nights (8 in total) required to make and to bless more oil – but just enough to show their faith and their intention, to show where (and how) they stood in the world.

When people celebrate Chanukah, they light 8 candles in honor of the 8 days and 8 nights during which there was, miraculously, light when people were expecting darkness. Except in extenuating circumstances, when it is not safe to do so, people are instructed to place their hanukia (a special menorah for the occasion) in a window that can be seen from the street – so that anyone walking past will be reminded of the miracle that started with faith.

“The world that we live in, so much cold and strife
One little light to warm another life
Fill the darkest night with the brightest light
Cause it’s time for you to shine
A little dedication, a small illumination
Just one person to change a whole nation
Let me see the light”

– quoted from “Shine” by the Maccabeats

Saint Lucy’s Day is also a day centered around faith, persecution, and the miracles that come from someone doing what they can in the midst of so much “can’t.” It is mostly celebrated in Scandinavian countries and Italy, as well as places like the Twin Cities where there is a large Scandinavian population, as well as a strong Catholic, Lutheran, and/or Anglican presence. The day honors a 4th century virgin-martyr who would bring food and drink to Christians hiding from religious persecution. Lucy herself was persecuted, and that part of the story is a little gory – although, notably, full of miracles. However, being chosen to wear her symbols and to represent Saint Lucy or her court (including the “star boys”) is an honor not because of what was done to her, but because of her faith led her to alleviate the suffering of others.

In 4th century Syracuse (Roman Empire), the best places to hide were in the Roman catacombs, the very epitome of darkness on every level. So that her hands were free to carry the food and drink, Lucy (whose Latin name, Lucia, shares a root with the Latin word for “light”) would wear a wreath of candles around her head. Being the source of her own light, while carrying a feast, required her to stand and move very carefully, very deliberately, and very intentionally – almost as if she was in Tādāsana (“Mountain Pose”).

When we practice āsanas (“seats” or poses), a significant amount of energy and awareness goes into how we sit (or stand). This deliberation and intention allows us to pay attention to our breath (which is a symbol of our spirit and life force) and also to extend and direct our breath (and therefore our spirit and life force). In a sense, we are careful about how we stand specifically so that we can be intentional about how we use our energy. Another way to think of this is that how we move and hold our body, as well as how we breathe and pay attention to our breath, allows us to very intentionally, deliberately, and mindfully start to focus on our inner light. When we focus-concentrate-meditate on our inner light, it appears to get brighter. In fact, over time, our inner light begins to shine out into the world – but, first we have to be able to see it.

“O St Lucy, preserve the light of my eyes so that I may see the beauties of creation, the glow of the sun, the colour of the flowers and the smile of children.

Preserve also the eyes of my soul, the faith, through which I can know my God, understand His teachings, recognize His love for me and never miss the road that leads me to where you, St Lucy, can be found in the company of the angels and saints.”

– quoted from A Novena Prayer to St Lucy, Protector of the Eyes

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

“‘Remember, dear friend, that I am subtly inherent in everything, everything in the universe! I am the all-illuminating light of the sun, the light in the moon, the brilliance in the fire – all light is Mine. I am even the consciousness of light, and indeed, I am the consciousness of the entire cosmos.’”

– The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners (15:12) by Jack Hawley

### 2x MORE LIGHT, 4x LESS DARKNESS ###

Double the Light (just the music) December 13, 2020

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Please join me today (Sunday, December 13th) at 2:30 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where we will see how the practice “evolves.” Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

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.)

### More Light, Less Darkness ###

Transcendental December 12, 2020

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[“Happy  Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May your lights shine bright!]

 

“‘I’m absolutely removed from the world at such times,’ he said. ‘The hours go by without my knowing it. Sitting there I’m wandering in countries I can see every detail of – I’m playing a role in the story I’m reading. I actually feel I’m the characters – I live and breathe with them.’

‘I know!’ she said. ‘I feel the same!’

‘Have you ever had the experience,’ Léon went on, ‘of running across in a book some vague idea you’ve had, some image that you realize has been lurking all the time in the back of your mind and now seems to express absolutely your most subtle feelings?’

‘Indeed I have,’ she answered.”

 

– quoted from Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners by Gustave Flaubert (b. 12/12/1821)

We’ve all been there, yes, so absorbed into something (or someone) that it seems everything outside of you and it (or them) ceases to exist. There is no outside, nor inside, time. There is no need or desire to eat or drink or sleep – there doesn’t even seem to be a need to breathe. Then we “wake up” from the moment to find our body a little stiff (from holding the same position for such a long time), our bladder is full, and our stomach is empty. We may find ourselves yawning and stretching, just as we would after (or before) a long sleep. However, we may (depending on the object of our focus) find ourselves oddly refreshed – even ready to dive back in. It only depends on where we put our energy and whether that point of focus feeds us or depletes us.

If you can remember one such moment – a positive moment – and how you felt during that moment, do you remember the feeling of breathing? Do you remember the quality of breath? Do you remember your awareness of your breath?

Odds are that unless you think of a moment when you were engaged in mediation and/or some form of prāņāyāma, you might not specifically remember your breath or your breath awareness. Therefore, it may not occur to you that your breath was almost suspended, almost transcended… that there may have been moments where the individual parts of the breath merged into one long continuous experience.

Yoga Sūtra 2.49: tasminsati śvāsapraśvāsayorgativicchedah prāņāyāmahah

 

– “Prāņāyāma, which is expanding the life force by controlling the movement of the inhalation and exhalation, can be practiced after completely mastering [the seat or pose].”

 

Yoga Sūtra 2.50: bāhyābhyantarastambhavŗttirdeśakālasasamkhyābhih paridŗşţo dīrghasūkşmah

 

– “The breath may be stopped externally, internally, or checked in mid-motion, and regulated according to place, time and a fixed number of moments, so that the [pause] is either protracted or brief.”

One of the classic metaphors for breathing and the experience of bringing awareness to the breath is to image being on the edge of the shore: the tide washes over you as you inhale and again as you exhale. In this example, you are aware of the movement of the tide and also aware of the small moments of transition between the flow in and the ebb out.

But, let’s say you are like one of shells or sticks or bits of sand that is being moved by the water. You may or may not be aware that you are moving out to sea. You can, however, still feel the movement of the tide; it’s mesmerizing, hypnotic. You ride the waves.

Now, let’s say you can safely drift down to the floor of the ocean. Beneath the waves, even at the bottom of a pool, there is a moment – whether you are holding your breath for a bit, snorkeling, or deep sea diving – when you are so completely absorbed by the movement you can no longer distinguish the ebb from the flow from the slight pauses in between. Everything is suspended. Everything is transcended.

Since today is the second day of Chanukah, we can consider this same experience with light waves. If you are in a completely dark room – or in a boat out to sea in the middle of the night – you can see the source of light. You can step into it or out it and notice the edges of light and darkness. If you are on the boat, you can observe the lighthouse lamp shining on you and then beside you and you can mark the time between the light and the darkness. However, if you are brightly lit room, somehow void of darkness (or somehow safely sitting inside of the lighthouse lamp), you cannot see the source of the light and you have no way to distinguish it anything – including, possibly, yourself.

You become the light. The light becomes you. Everything is transcended.

Yoga Sūtra 2.51: bāhyābhyantaravişayākşepī caturthah

 

– The fourth [prāņāyāma] goes beyond, or transcends, the internal and external objects.

Today’s yoga sūtra points to this same transcendental experience happening with the breath. It is an experience that can happen naturally and there are also prāņāyāma practices to help cultivate the experience. It is not, however, an experience that can be forced. In fact, trying to force the experience not only defeats the purpose of the practice it can be detrimental to the health of the person practicing.

As I have mentioned in passing before, different styles and traditions may use the same name for a slightly (or sometimes completely) different practice. One example of that with regard to prāņāyāma is the fourth of the seven previously posted practices: Nadi shodhana prāņāyāma.

Alternate energy channel or alternate nasal breathing is a practice that involves controlling and switching breath between nostrils. There are different ways to achieve this switch. Sometimes it can be done with a turn of the head. Most times, however, when someone is practicing nadi shodhana prāņāyāma they are placing their hands in a particular mudra in order to open and close each nostril.

Please note that the information below is not intended to teach or guide someone through the practice. This is merely an introduction into how different traditions practice this type of prāņāyāma, which should initially be practiced with a teacher.

I was original taught nadi shodhana prāņāyāma in the same way it appears in Light On Yoga by B. K. S. Iyengar – which is that after a preliminary breathing practice, one exhales out of the right nostril and inhales through the same (right) nostril before switching to the left and repeating on the other side. The second exhale on the right marks the end of the first cycle and the beginning of the second cycle. It is typically practiced for 8 – 12 cycles and I was initially taught that this was one of the practices that should be done separate from the practice of āsana (“seat” or pose).

Later, I was instructed in a short variation that could be done at the beginning of the practice and also variations where (a) the index and middle fingers of the manipulating hand were placed up (touching the third eye) instead of bent down into the palm and (b) there was a different amount of pressure applied to the nostrils. Years and years after my first practices, I would learn of traditions whereby the first exhale is on the left, and while the first inhale is on the right, the second exhale is (again) on the left. This sequence is repeated three times in order to complete one cycle. Then, after three normal breaths (through both nostrils), the sequence is repeated on the opposite sides.

Again, the details above are intended to be informational, not instructional.

“… success in chaturtha pranayama depends on our ability to become aware of our breath and the subtle force of prana that propels it. Those with a body free of toxins and a mind free of roaming tendencies will find it easy to become aware of the flow of prana shakti in their body;. But most of us commit ourselves to yoga sadhana only after we have disrupted the natural ecology of our body and thrown our mind into turmoil. A sluggish body and a dense mind are not fit to practice yoga. And yet this is where most of us begin. Thus even though chaturtha pranayama is not dependent on what we gain from the three pranayamas described in the previous sutra, they have an important role to play in preparing many of us for practicing it.”

 

– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.51 from The Practice of the Yoga Sūtra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, December 12th) at 12:00 PM. As I mentioned last week, this practice will be āsana-light (and there won’t be a lot of the story until tomorrow).

You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of Saturday’s practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at 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.)

Today’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Chanukah (Day 2) 2020”]

 

 

### 4 7 8 (just another one) ##

What’s On the Inside III: The Lady Wore Blue… Navy Blue (a post for a lady pirate, or admiral) December 10, 2020

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[My apologies for the delayed posting. You can request an audio recording of Wednesday’s practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at 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.)]

“I like to think of mathematicians as forming a nation of our own without distinctions of geographical origin, race, creed, sex, age or even time… all dedicated to the most beautiful of the arts and sciences.”

– Julia Hall Bowman Robinson, PhD (b. 12/08/1919)

Before I went to bed late Monday night (also known as early Tuesday morning to the rest of the people in my time zone), I read about Dr. Julia Hall Bowman Robinson for the first time. Even though she had to miss school at an early age (after contracting scarlet) and received a “below average” score on an IQ test, she started college at the age of 16 and then (despite having some interruptions in her schooling due to her father’s suicide) went on to receive her PhD in mathematics. Born on December 8, 1919, she was known for her work in computability theory and computational complexity, especially as it relates to decision problems. While researching game theory at the RAND Corporation in the late 1940’s, she coined the phrase “traveling salesman problem” and once attributed her success to stubbornness – a trait she said was common among mathematicians. For a half of a nanosecond I thought about changing my December 8th class plans so I could celebrate two extraordinary female mathematicians in a row. (An idea she might have preferred I not do.) The only problem was that, since I hadn’t known about Dr. Bowman Robinson before, I didn’t have the time to “translate” all the mathematics relevant to her into standard American English.

There may be a lot of things that stick out for you in the paragraph above. But let’s focus on the fact that there’s at least one more amazing female mathematician who celebrated a birthday this week and that because of that woman I (just barely) know a thing or two about nanoseconds and can explain the little bit I know in pretty basic English.

Born today in 1906, United States Navy Rear Admiral Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was known as “Amazing Grace,” “the Queen of Code,” “the Queen of Software,” and “Grandma COBOL;” all because of her work in mathematics and computer programming. As a child, she was so curious about how things worked that she started taking apart all the clocks in the house (until her mother stopped her). Her application to Vassar College was rejected when she was 16 years old, but she reapplied and was admitted at 17. She would complete her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics before heading to Yale University, where she earned her master’s and PhD, and then returning to Vassar as a professor.

“[Grace Hopper] said, ‘The most important thing I’ve accomplished, other than building the compiler, is training young people. They come to me, you know, and say, “Do you think we can do this?” I say, “Try it.” And I back ’em up. They need that. I keep track of them as they get older and I stir ’em up at intervals so they don’t forget to take chances.’”

– quoted from “Grace Hopper: The Admiral in Command of Knowledge” by Jan Adkins, published in  30 People Who Changed the World: Fascinating bite-sized essays from award winning writers – Intriguing People Through the Ages: From Imhotep to Malala Yousafzai (Got a Minute?), Edited by Jean Haddon

Then World War II broke out and Grace Hopper wanted to follow in the footsteps of her great-grandfather, United States Navy Admiral Alexander Wilson Russell, who had served during the Civil War. This was a dream she would not have been able to pursue were it not for the war; however, there was a problem – three problems, actually. According to the Navy, she was too old (34); her height-to-weight ratio was too low (by 15 lbs); and, additionally, she was told that her position as a mathematician and mathematics professor was already considered service. Not to be defeated, she took a leave of absence from Vassar; received an exemption for her low weight; and joined the United States Navy Reserves as a member of the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES). She graduated at the top of her Naval Reserve Midshipman’s School training class and started working on the IBM’s Mark I computer programming staff at Harvard University, under the leadership of Howard Aiken (the conceptual designer of the Mark I).

Working on the Mark I was the first time Grace Hopper worked with (or on) computers. She was commanded to write the computer’s operating manual almost as soon as she walked in the door.

At the end of the war, she asked to be transferred to the regular Navy, but was again denied because of her age (38). Undaunted, the then Lieutenant Hopper stayed on at Harvard (as part of the Navy contract) despite being offered a full professorship at Vassar. In 1949, she started working at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, where she started promoting the idea of a computer programming language using English words. People gave her all kinds of reasons as to why her idea was bad, one being that “computers didn’t understand English;” another being that “anyone will be able to write programs!” Everyone’s “no” became a reason to persist. Her perseverance resulted in the development of Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL), which is still used mainframe applications used by business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments.

“Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’ I try to fight that. That’s why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise.”

– quoted from “The Wit and Wisdom of Grace Hopper” by Philip Schieber (published in The OCLC Newsletter, March/April 1987, No. 167)

Always a curious teacher, Grace Hopper spent her life figuring out how things worked; why they didn’t work; and how to explain multilayered mathematical and computer concepts to students, business people, and military personnel (often generals and admirals) without mathematical and computer knowledge. When she worked on the Mark I, she instructed the team to literally cut and paste (or “patch”) sections of tape containing code they had previously used to solve problems onto new programs. Once, when working on the Mark II, her team discovered that a moth stuck in the relay was preventing the computer from running. They taped the moth to their log book, which you can see at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Even though engineers had used the term “bug” for many years, it (and the term “debugging”) became mostly associated with computers and programming after the Mark II incident.

She emphasized the importance of having language to describe every aspect of a process – including the problem – and said, “We must state relationships, not procedures.” To explain why satellite communication took so long, Admiral Hopper used 11.8-inch (30-cm) pieces of wire to visually illustrate “the maximum distance electricity could travel in a billionth of a second” – in other words the distance light travels in a “nanosecond.” Then she would explain that that timing was the maximum speed in a vacuum, but that the telecommunication signals would travel slower in the actual wire. (Think about a Tesla moving from 0-60 on a short entrance ramp versus the amount of time it takes a Dodge Ram Truck, or a Model T Ford, to travel the same distance or reach the same speed.) She also used the wires to explain why smaller computers worked faster than big mainframes, and would contrast the “nanoseconds” with a 984-foot (300-meter) coil that symbolized a microsecond and small packet of black pepper in which the individual grains of pepper represented picoseconds.

“Manipulating symbols was fine for mathematicians but it was no good for data processors who were not symbol manipulators…. It’s much easier for most people to write an English statement than it is to use symbols. So I decided data processors ought to be able to write their programs in English, and the computers would translate them into machine code.”

– Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

When practicing (and teaching) yoga, I am often faced with a similar language situation. How do we process and translate the sensation, which is information, being communicated by our mind-body? How do we gain conscious awareness of proprioception – how our mind finds our body in space so we can, for instance, move around without constantly bumping into stuff? Also, how do we correctly process interoception – internal sensation related to our nervous system – so we know, for instance, the difference between our mind’s perception of external danger, the threat of embarrassment, excited anticipation, and/or sexual attraction? How do we know when it is time to stop doing something? When do we know we need more? Learning to understand the way our mind-body communicates is like learning a second (or third) language and it requires practice; but, it also requires someone who can translate or, at the very least, put things into context. Grace Hopper spent her whole life, putting things into context.

“I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he looked at it and looked at me and said, ‘What are you?’”

– Rear Admiral Grace Hopper on being the oldest active-duty officer in the U.S. military, in an interview on 60 Minutes

If I’m counting correctly, Admiral Grace Hopper retired three times – at the age of 60, then returning at 61; again around age 65, returning at 66; and, finally, at almost 80 years old. In fact, when she finally, finally retired at the age of 79 (plus 8 months, and five days) she was the oldest active-duty commissioned officer – and her retirement ceremony was on board “Old Ironsides,” the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned ship (at the time, 188 years, nine months and 23 days). Even after she retired, she kept teaching, kept consulting, kept serving… and kept wearing her full dress uniform – even though it was against U. S. Department of Defense policy, because Admiral Grace Hopper was OG all the way! And she knew that what she said and how she said it was as important as how she looked saying it, and what she represented.

“Sometimes there are people who appear to be all ‘Navy’ but when you reach inside, you find a ‘Pirate’ dying to be released. One such person was Grace Hopper….

Meeting her was a very special treat for me: She was one of my heroes…. When I met her, she was at first very polite and nothing more. When I brought up the subject of software, she got this twinkle in her eye. I realized I was talking to a very bright and creative person….

It was a great reminder that in searching for talent, you mustn’t be put off by first impressions but must probe to find the real person, sometimes discovering a pirate where you least expected.”

– quoted from The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation by Jay Elliott, Former Senior Vice President of Apple, with William L. Simon

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify

“60 Minutes Rewind”

“There’s something you learn in your first boot-camp, or training camp: If they put you down somewhere with nothing to do, go to sleep — you don’t know when you’ll get any more.”

– Rear Admiral Grace Hopper on Late Night with David Letterman (1986)

### HELLO, WORLD! ###

What’s On the Inside III (but it’s just the music for a lady pirate…or admiral) December 9, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
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Please join me today (Wednesday, December 9th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. 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

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.)

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Music for This Date (“the post that almost wasn’t”) December 9, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Bhakti, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Life, Love, Music, Religion, Wisdom, Yoga.
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[I wasn’t 100% sure if I was even going to post this, but…here it is, for your pleasure and consideration. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.

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.)]

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who do not believe, no proof is possible.”

– Stuart Chase

Take a moment to notice how you feel – maybe even do that 90-second thing.

I mention all the time that what is happening in this moment, including how we feel, is the culmination of all the moments that have come before and that this moment is the beginning of everything that comes next – including how we feel in the next moment. But, take a moment to consider how what you think and believe about what’s happening (and what you’re feeling) directly impact this moment… and therefore all the other moments. What we think and what we believe impact not only what we are feeling, but also what we are doing and how we do it. So, go a little deeper into what you believe.

There was a time, when people within the Roman Catholic tradition referred to today as the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today in 1854, however, Pope Pius IX issued a dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception – declaring her “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin” – and making today the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Today is one of almost 20 Marian feast days on the Roman Catholic Calendar – not to mention the many local and regional days devoted to this holy mother. Eastern Orthodox Christian churches have a different calendar, as well as a different definition of Immaculate Conception, and celebrate tomorrow, December 9th, as the Feast of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos or the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary.

“…what had been lost in the first Adam would be gloriously restored in the Second Adam. From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so love her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.”

– quoted from Ineffabilis Deus by Pope Pius IX (“Given at St. Peter’s in Rome, in the eighth day of December, 1854, in the either year of our pontificate.”)

Pope Pius IX was pope from June of 1846 until February 1878 – and, for most of that time, he was also the (last) Sovereign Ruler of the Papal States, making him simultaneously “King” and “Pope.” Meaning, he was the last pope to serve as both a secular and spiritual ruler and therefore he was officially concerned with both secular and spiritual issues. Sometimes, there were obvious conflicts. At one point during his reign he was seen as liberal enough to appoint an enlightened minister; release religious political prisoners; and nullify the requirement for Jewish people to attend Mass. However, he also upheld the Church’s right to remove a child from their Jewish parents simply because the Church recognized the child as Catholic (it’s a long and sketchy story). Some people’s opinion of him changed after he released a very dogmatic encyclical, today in 1864, condemning what he defined as 80 errors or heresies of the modern age (including liberalism, modernism, and secularization, just to name a few).

If you are Catholic, or even some version of Christian, certain aspects of today’s practice may feel extra connected to the story and symbolism of the Virgin Mary. If you are not Catholic, or even Christian, you may not even notice those elements – except when they feel good to you or not so good to you. This is true of every one of my practices. There is always a physical-mental element, as well as the emotional-energetic elements and psychic-symbolic. Sometimes I break down the meanings and the whys and wherefores of a practice. Every once in a while, however, I just put it out there – and then each element is significant to you based on what you feel, think, and believe. This happens not only with the sequence and the stories I choose to tell, but also with the music. Noticing how you feel about any and all of that (i.e., self-study) is a key element of the practice.

Yoga Sūtra 2.44: svādhyāyādişţadevatāsamprayogah

– “From self-study comes the opportunity to be in the company of bright beings [of our choice].”

Today’s playlist features a few of the many really amazing musicians who were born on this date (and one really amazing musician who was killed on this date). Notice how your prior connection to the music and/or the musicians changes your experience of the practice. Notice, also, the times when you don’t have a prior experience and yet you are still able to get something out of the moment.

“‘If I don’t work out, my back and legs start to ache. So for me to keep working, I have to work out. But it doesn’t have to be a Dorian Gray kind of thing; simply exercising and eating healthy really is the fountain of youth. And it helps with how I look – which, as a performer, is definitely a part of my job.’”

– Phil Collen, quoted about his cardio, lifting, and Muy Thai kickboxing exercise regime and vegan diet in “Work-Life Balance: Get Fit, Lose Weight: What Happened When I Tried Def Leppard Guitarist Phil Collen’s Fitness Program” by Jeff Haden, published on Inc.com (June 1, 2017)

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

“Music for the Date” features Sir James Galway (b. 1939), Sinead O’Connor (b. 1966), Sammy Davis Jr. (b. 1925), Jim Morrison (b. 1943), Gregg Allman (b. 1947), Phil Collen (b. 1957), John Lennon (d. 1980) – with references Nicki Minaj (b. 1982) and Sam Hunt (b. 1984). If I remix the playlist it will also include part of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, which premiered today 1813.

“During the later war years, he had composed the Seventh Symphony in the Bohemian town of Teplitz in 1811 – 1812 and Wellington’s Victory, both of which were premiered in Vienna on December 8, 1813 at a charity concert for wounded soldiers. Beethoven conducted the concert himself and addressed the audience before the presentation, saying, ‘We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us.’”

– quoted from Double Emperor: The Life and Times of Francis of Austria by Chip Wagar

### OM AUM ###

Music for This Date (just the music) December 8, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
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Please join me today (Tuesday, December 8th) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where we will see how the practice “evolves.” Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

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 Date We Remember December 7, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Confessions, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Loss, Love, Men, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Vipassana, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
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[The 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice, in the spirit of generosity (“dana”), is freely given and freely received. 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 Monday’s practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

If you are able to support the center and its teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” my other practices, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.]

“We have to do something in our bodies; it not just a switch in the central nervous system that shuts them off. We have to actually dampen the spaces, the sensory spaces, in our system where the emotions are experienced. You’re doing something – with your breathing mechanism – which by definition affects your posture. It affects your relationship to gravity, when you’re walking around in this state of suppressed breath. Suppressed breath is by definition suppressed emotions, and vice versa…. and can contribute to the pain.”

– quoted from Q&A about “Emotions – Back Pain – Yoga: What do they have in common?” from Yoga Anatomy to Life Online by Leslie Kaminoff

Samasthiti (“Equal-Standing”), which is also Tādāsana (“Mountain” Pose), is something I often equate with standing at attention; like a soldier, you are ready for what comes next. When standing at attention properly, the spine is long, the core is engage, the kneecaps are lifted – but not locked – and the soldier can breathe deeply in, and breathe deeply out. There’s another way of “standing at attention” from martial arts that is a little looser in the limbs, but no less erect in the spine. I mention all of this in part, because it is the exact opposite bearing of someone who has experienced trauma and especially someone who has been attacked by surprise. The trauma, and the surprise of the attack, can leave a person hunched over and either panting, shallow breathing, and/or holding their breath – especially if they are still under attack. They are no longer ready, even if they are braced for what comes next.

I was thinking about the way we stand and move today, as I was re-reading a Los Angeles Times article about Lauren Bruner and Ed McGrath. Long story, short, Mr. McGrath wrote a book about U. S. Navy Fire Control Chief Petty Officer Lauren Bruner, who was the “Second to the Last to Leave” the USS Arizona today in 1941, when the USS Arizona was sunk during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. When he passed last September, he was the “last to return” – as the other three survivors (Don Stratton, who passed earlier this year; Lou Contor; and Ken Potts all intended to be interred with their families.)

The Imperial Japanese Navy ordered 353 bombers, fighter plans, and torpedo planes to attack 8 U. S. Navy ships in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. The 2,400-plus men and women who died in the attack were the US’s first military casualties of World War II – even though the country wasn’t then involved in the war. Almost half of those casualties (1,700 sailors and Marines) were on the USS Arizona.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy –“

– quoted from the December 8, 1941 speech to the Joint Session of the U. S. Congress by President Franklin D. Roosevelt

The attack, the first of its kind on American soil, drew the United States into the war; which led to the retaliation strikes in Japan – including the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (which killed between 129,000 – 226,000). The United States engagement in World War II, including the atomic bombings, led to the end of the war and, most importantly, the end of the Holocaust (thereby saving millions of lives). But the article wasn’t really about the attack so much as it was about the friendship that formed between two men and how that friendship led to healing.

What I originally remembered about the Los Angeles Times article by David Montero was how Mr. McGrath contacted a dozen survivors of the attack because he wanted to make a documentary – and that retired Fire Control Chief Petty Officer Bruner was the only person who responded. I remembered that the latter hadn’t talked about his experiences for multiple decades and that he didn’t initially talk about them to Mr. McGrath. I vaguely remembered that the Sailor was supposed to meet a beautiful woman for a first date, that never happened, and the dual images he recalled of two Sailors that he thought were OK, but clearly were not.

Oddly, I also remembered that he outlived four wives and/or significant girlfriends. Finally, I remembered being struck by how the lives of the two men changed as they continued to have conversations, conversations about life… and then, eventually, about the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941. I remember thinking about finding Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona: Memoir of a Sailor – The Lauren F. Bruner Story by Ed McGrath and reading more. There were a couple of things, however, very significant things, that I did not remember.

“My name is Lou Conter and like Lauren Bruner I was a crew member on the USS Arizona and today I am one of its last survivors. Lauren is my friend. I have this book from cover to cover, and I know how difficult some of its chapters were for him to write. I want to assure anyone who is considering to read Second to the Last to Leave, that Lauren’s story is exactly how it was, and a Hell on Earth for every crew member.”

– Lou Conter, QM3/c (Quartermaster, USS Arizona crew member and survivor)  

I did not remember how badly Chief Petty Officer Bruner was injured. How after being shot, suffering burns over two-thirds of his body – including his hands – he “spent several months recovering in a hospital before ultimately taking an assignment as a gun captain on a destroyer in the Pacific theater in 1942.” Today I was struck by how that was even possible. It was a miracle that he and four other badly burned Sailors managed to escape the sinking battleship, but that he would return to battle. Then I learned that two of the three other survivors, still living at the time of the article, had also returned to service – despite their severe attack-related injuries! How would that look – how would that feel – to return to a profession where you are required to be “at the ready” after experiencing so much? How could you stand at a attention after enduring so much?

Yes, yes, I know that not every job in the military requires one to stand at attention for long periods of time. That wasn’t the point of my question. What I really want to know is how do you breathe and how does that affect your life (and your capacity to heal).

“‘Being able to tell him what happened lifted a great weight from my shoulders,’ Bruner says now….

‘I told Ed the books so I wouldn’t have to talk about it again.’”

– quoted from the Los Angeles Times article “A Pearl Harbor survivor spent decades trying to forget it. Then one man got him talking.” By David Montero

Chief Petty Officer Lauren Bruner said that the more he talked about his life, in general, the fewer nightmares he had. I imagine that “great weight” coming off of him – a weight he didn’t realize he was physically carrying – made it easier to breathe. His friendship with Ed McGrath was like a crane that helped lift that weight. It was something neither of them saw coming… and I think healing often begins like that.

A lot of stories come to mind when I think of healing beginning in unlikely places, especially as it relates to World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor. One of those stories is the story of the blackened canteen ceremony, which started in Shizuoka, Japan in 1945.

According to the stories, during the raids over Shizuoka (which killed over 2,000 Japanese), two B-29’s crashed in mid-air. A Buddhist man, Fukumatsu Ito (who later became a monk), buried anyone killed during the raids – including all 23 members of the American aircrew. Mr. Ito found a blackened and crushed canteen as he was recovering the bodies from the crash and every year, on the June 20th anniversary of their deaths, he would pour whiskey from the canteen on a cross he had erected in their honor.

In 1972, Mr. Ito invited Americans from Yokota Air Base to the ceremony and, as he was aging, decided to pass the torch…er, canteen to a younger man, Dr. Hiroya Sugano. Dr. Sugano, who was 12 during the 1945 raids, was inspired by his grandfather (also a doctor) to honor all who had served during the conflict – regardless of their nationality. In 1992, the ritual of pouring whiskey from the canteen and sprinkling flowers petals into the water became a ritual during Pearl Harbor commemorations.

I could not confirm if, or how, the Blackened Canteen Ceremony was offered publicly this year. However, today I think of it, Fukumatsu Ito, Dr. Hiroya Sugano, and the friendship between U. S. Navy Fire Control Chief Petty Officer Lauren Bruner and Ed McGrath. I think of the healing that came from those friendships and from the simplest of gestures – being present with someone and their memories.

“‘The Blackened Canteen ceremony is more than appropriate,’ says [Richard] Rovesk. “Our two countries need to be role models during these difficult times in this turbulent and even dangerous world.”

– quoted from the People Magazine article “Long-Ago Secret Ceremony of the Crushed Canteen Now a Staple at Pearl Harbor” by Susan Keating (published 12/07/2018)

There is no playlist for the Common Ground practices.

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