A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “Fourth Step: Once More, With Feeling” October 27, 2024

Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom.

May everyone be healthy and strong; may everyone be peaceful and happy; and may everyone recognize their whole self.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light”

— quoted from the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas (b. 1914)

There are a lot of noteworthy things related to this date in history — including the fact that Laura Inter founded Brújula Intersexual (Intersex Compass), “a Mexican organization that works with intersex people, activists, and communities in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain”, today in 2013. All of the things, even the ones not mentioned in the practice and/or the excerpt below, are related to how we live our lives (i.e., how we spend our time) and how we interact with each other during the limited time that we have together.

The hope is that we can respect each other, be kind, and hold space for what each of us experiences on any given day.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELORE FOR MORE.

Fourth Step: Once More, With Feeling

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”

or

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”

— quoted from two different editions of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (b. 1932)

Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, October 27^th) at 2:30 PM. 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.

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10272021 Another Appointment”]

NOTE: Over the last few years, we have used four (4) different playlists on this date.  

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 a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

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.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

“You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I’d like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There’s only an up or down: [up] man’s old –  old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.”

— quoted from the 1964 “A Time for Choosing” speech by Ronald Reagan

### CONTINUE TO BREATHE ###