Practice Time #6: Fearless Play (A Kiss My Asana offering) & EXCERPT: “Shy & Fearless, Take 2” April 25, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 7-Day Challenge, Abhyasa, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Fitness, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Vairagya, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yin Yoga, Yoga.Tags: 988, Abhyasa, courage, Ella Fitzgerald, fear, fearless, fearless play, Healing Stories, KISS MY ASANA, Mark Murphy, Matthew Sanford, Mind Body Solutions, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Thich Nhat Hanh, vinyasa, Wookiefoot, yoga, yoga practice, YouTube
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“Happy Riḍván!” to those getting ready to celebrate “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating/observing Eastertide / the Octave of Easter / Bright Week!
Peace and many blessings to everyone!! Happy Poetry Month!!
“We are very afraid of being powerless. But we have the power to look deeply at our fears, and then fear cannot control us. We can transform our fear. Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive….”
— quoted from Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh
Today, I encourage you to “be fearless and play!”
Click on the excerpt title above for more about why I think of Ella Fitzgerald, who was born today in 1917, when I think of being fearless — and why I give people the option to do “Ella’s Pose” .
Check out the video below to “be fearless and play” (while doing the pose) — even (or especially) if your low back, hips, hamstrings, achilles tendons, and plantar fascia are really tight.
“Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience. I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life.”
— Ella Fitzgerald on how it felt after she sang one of her mother’s favorite songs at the Apollo
The video above is part of my 2025 offering for the 12th annual Kiss My Asana yogathon, which benefits Mind Body Solutions (MBS), has begun and I am super excited to dedicate this week (April 19th — 25th) to raising awareness and resources for MBS’ life-affirming work “to help people live better in the body they have.”
Mind Body Solutions provides live, online resources to people with disabilities worldwide. Through daily adaptive yoga classes, special programming, a comprehensive video library, and an online space exclusively for students, Mind Body Solutions is helping people make vital connections within and with others. You can help by joining me as we practice with purpose, by sharing this page, and/or by making a donation that creates opportunities for more people to practice yoga.
Each year, in addition to hosting my fundraising page and making my own personal donation, I offer a blog post and/or a YouTube post — sometimes even a whole practice. This year, I combined an idea I have had for a while with the suggestion/challenge of my yoga buddy Meghan and am offering a series of practice videos. These YouTube videos (of various lengths) underscore the fact that participating in the Kiss My Asana yogathon is just a tangible way to do what we do in every practice: set an intention and dedicate the merits of the practice to someone other than ourselves. Finally, I wanted to offer something that meets the moment and where you may be in this moment: “Swaying between joy and sorrow” (and all the other emotions).
You can click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
If you’re interested in my previous KMA offerings, check out the following (some links only take you to the beginning of a series and/or to YouTube):
- 30 Poses in 30 Days
- A Musical Preview
- 5-Minute Practices (the playlist)
- 5 Questions Answered by Yogis
- Answers to Yogis Questions
- A Poetry Practice
- A Preview of the April 1st Practice
- Some Stories
- Prāņāyāma
- The Body/Chakra offerings
- A Series of Poses (scroll down to see the first KMA Community Page post)
- The Series of Shorts Series
Remember, if you subscribe to my YouTube channel, you can be notified as soon as the videos are posted.
A Joyful Practice 
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