A Joyful Practice

A Quick Note & Excerpts About Adventures and Music plus FTWMI: A Good Time for [More] “Craic” (a reboot) [a 2-for-1 post-practice Monday post] March 21, 2025

“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who were celebrating and/or observing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, and/or Lent!

“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating and Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox to those in the Northern Hemisphere.

Peace, ease, dialogue, and compassion to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!

Pardon me while I catch up. The following is a 2-for-1 post-practice post for Monday, March 10^th and Monday, March 17^th. It includes some new content, excerpts, and a repost (For Those Who Missed It). There is also a bonus link to a music-related post for March 21^st.

The 2025 prompt question for 3/10 was, “Who is someone to whom you can talk (about anything) and who is someone to whom you can listen?” (NOTE: It can be the same person/people.)

The 2025 prompt question for 3/17 was, “Conas a tá tu? (How are you doing?)”  

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.

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

“There are answers in the music
And there are answers in the words
And if we stopped talking in circles
We might get closer to the earth”

— quoted from the song “Be Good” by Hothouse Flowers (written by Liam Tadg O’maonlai, Fiachna Seosamh O’braonain, Peter Mary O’toole, Jeremiah Michael August Fehily, Leo Barnes)

There are some people who believe music has no place in (their) yoga practice. Others practice Nāda (“sound” or “voiced”) yoga, which involves silent, internal vibrations as well as mantra and music. Then there’s kirtan (“narrating, reciting, telling, describing”), which is a form of Bhakti yoga (“union [through] devotion or love”) that incorporates chanting with music. If we pay attention to what it says in the Bhagavad Gita (which I do), then all these paths are valid and valued.

Personally, I like to practice in a lot of different ways and often find myself somewhere in the middle of these different ways to practice. In other words, I like silence… and I like a good playlist.

When I am teaching, more often than not, I am using music. Sometimes, in fact, I will build a whole practice around music — or, more specifically, the messages/answers in the music. Sometimes, I will even be inspired by the messenger(s). When I teach practices without music — for instance, if we are outside or I am teaching the Monday night class affiliated with Common Ground Meditation Center — I have to ask an important question: Does this practice (or theme) work without the music?

If the answer is no; then, I need a different focus. When the answer is yes, as it was for the last two Mondays, we just go a little deeper.

3/10 — ADVENTURES AND MUSIC

“Some ideas may resonate,
others may not.
A few may awaken an inner knowing
you forgot you had.
Use what’s helpful.
Let go of the rest.

Each of these moments
is an invitation
to further inquiry:
looking deeper,
zooming out, or in.
Opening possibilities
for a new way of being.”

— quoted from the prelude to The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

In 2024, I wondered, “What would happen if every practice — and, really, everything we did — started with the reminder above (which comes courtesy of a person who has been meditating for almost fifty years)?”

In 2025, when the “Season for Nonviolence” principle of the day (for March 10^th) was “dialogue”, I focused on how different conversations would be if we all followed the aforementioned advice of Rick Rubin, who was born March 10, 1963.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.

More Songs for the DJ’s Adventure (a remix*)

3/17 — “CRAIC” AND MUSIC

For Those Who Missed It: “Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig. (Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.)”The following was originally posted in 2024.

Take a moment to notice how you feel on the inside, knowing that how you feel on the inside affects how you move on the outside. Of course, how you move on the outside is going to affect how you feel on the inside. This is especially true today, especially in the United States, when a lot of people celebrate feeling “Irish on the inside.” Like Valentine’s Day — and, even Saint Stephen’s Day, on a certain level — Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated more as a cultural holiday than it is celebrated as a feast day.

The way Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated is particularly interesting when you consider three coincidences about that the fifth century (or late fourth century) priest. First, when he was sent to Ireland to minister to Christians who were there and to convert those still practicing the Celtic religions, he chose to co-opt — um, I mean, incorporate — the Irish culture into Catholicism. So, he was all about the heritage… but in a problematic way. Second, Saint Patrick was never canonized — which means that one of the most famous saints was (technically speaking) a saint in name only. While he has a feast day in several traditions, including in the Roman Catholic tradition, I find it fitting that he is remembered as a Saint because people felt like was a saint.

Finally, most of what we know about Saint Patrick comes from exaggerated stories, legends, like the one about how he ran all the snakes out of Ireland — and what would Saint Patrick’s Day be without “me good yarn?” 

If you read the title of this post correctly, you know that I think Saint Patrick’s Day is a good time to have “a good time.” In keeping with the feeling, there will be music, dancing, and a story. The Irish tale I like to tell today isn’t about Saint Patrick (in fact it is most often associated with a different saint); but, it can be seen as an allegory. It is also fun to tell with the poses — because, y’all, there are a lot of bird poses in yoga!

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT THOSE BIRD POSES.

Exploring the Wren Cycle on Saint Patrick’s Day 2020

There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.

The “DJ Double R” playlist (which includes some Kirtan) is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Songs for the DJ’s Adventure”]

The Saint Patrick’s Day playlist is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03172021 The Wren Cycle”]

Click here for a short music-related post for March 21^st.

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).

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