A Joyful Practice

A Quick Note & Excerpts RE: The Power of Being Grounded (the “missing” Tuesday post) February 11, 2025

Many blessings to everyone, and especially those celebrating Carnival, Maha Kumbh Mela, and the Spring Festival (and getting ready for the Lantern Festival).

Peace, ease, and contemplation throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!!!

This is the “missing” post for Tuesday, February 11^th. It contains a quick note and excerpts. 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).

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“When you are grounded you are completely present, your mind is still, and you are totally focused. It is from this place of being grounded that you can operate most effectively….”

— quoted from the “Reflection” section of the “Day 12 ~ February 11 ~ Groundedness” page for the “Season for Nonviolence,” provided by the Mahatma Gandhi Canadian Foundation for World Peace

While Patanjali said very little about asana (“seat” or pose) in the Yoga Sūtras, his initial instruction is literally (and figuratively) the beginning of every practice: “sthirasukham āsanam — cultivate a steady (or stable), easy (comfortable or joyful) seat (or pose).” (YS 2.46) There is a little bit more in the next few sūtras, which can help us deepen the experience, but everything else comes from that very first part: sthira — which is ultimately a sense of groundedness.

Being grounded allows us to relax, to release, to get a little bit more comfortable and breathe. Being grounded allows us to notice the different parts of your breath and to play with the breath. Being grounded allows us to move the body in certain ways; to notice how it feels to move and breathe; and, also to notice what we notice. We can extend and expand, contract and release, and even find our rhythm because we are supported, grounded.

There are different ways to be grounded and “groundedness”, the “Season for Nonviolence” principle for Tuesday, February 11^th, is just as important off the mat as it is on the mat. For instance, if you were getting ready for the Lantern Festival (as many people were on the 14^th day of the Lunar New Year), you would want a stable place to work. Similarly, if you were someone working with electricity and inventing something that allowed people to (more safely) see the light — like Thomas Alva Edison, who was born on February 11, 1847 — you would want be grounded. If you were someone bringing your country out of darkness and oppression, like Nelson Mandela — who was freed from prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years in prison — you would want to be grounded in your values, heritage, and culture. You would also need to be grounded in your values and purpose if changing/making history required you to soar — as Ruth Carol Taylor did on this same date in 1958.

Of course, none of the stories referenced on Tuesday (or Wednesday) were all sunshine and light. They are, however, reminders that being grounded will help us get through challenging times.

“‘I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have, fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes.’”

— Thomas Edison, as quoted in “A Photographic Talk with Edison” by Theodore Dreiser (printed in Success Magazine, Feb. 1898)

Click on the excerpt below for more about Thomas Alva Edison.

FTWMI: Getting the Light On

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”

— Nelson Mandela

Click on the excerpts below for more about Nelson Mandela (including a note about Umqombothi a special beer).

Compassion and Peace (with reference to a “separated” time)

More Than 46664 (the “missing” Sunday post, with a reference to Monday’s practice)

“…[Ruth Carol Taylor] didn’t take the job because she thought being a flight attendant would be so great. She says she did it to fight discrimination.

‘It wasn’t something that I had wanted to do all my life,’ she tells JET about being a flight attendant. ‘I knew better than to think it was all that glamourous. But it irked me that people were not allowing people of color to apply… Anything like that sets my teeth to grinding.’”

— quoted from the JET Magazine article entitled, “First Black Flight Attendant Is Still Fighting Racism” (printed in the “Labor” section of the May 12, 1997 issue)

Click on the excerpt below for more about some historic flights, including Ruth Carol Taylor’s 1958 flight.

En L’Air (a special Black History 2.5-for-1 note)

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “02112023 Breath, Light, Freedom”]

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).

###FOUNDATION IS KEY ###