A Joyful Practice

EXCERPTS: “Rigid Bodies I & II” July 5, 2025

Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone planting seeds for peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).

“For from the positions and distances of things from any body consider’d as immoveable, we define all places: and then with respect to such places, we estimate all motions…”

“And so instead of absolute places and motions, we use relative ones; and that without any inconvenience in common affairs: but in Philosophical disquisitions, we ought to abstract from our senses, and consider things themselves, distinct from what are only sensible measures… For it may be that there is no body really at rest, to which the places and motions of others may be referr’d.”

— quoted from Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton was just a 43-year old “natural philosopher” when he published the first edition of his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) today in 1687.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.

FTWMI: Rigid Bodies I & II (the “missing” post(s) & First Friday Night Special #45 Invitation)

Please join me today (Saturday, July 5^th) at 12:00 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. 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 or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra   (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10202020 Pratyahara”]

EXTRA MUSIC & NOTES:

The playlist for Friday, July 5, 2024, is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07052024 Seats for a ‘Rigid Body’”] This playlist includes before/after music by musicians celebrating birthdays today!

Click here if you are interested in a philosophical take on fear and liberation related to the 2022 practice.

The playlist for Tuesday, July 5, 2022, is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05262020 Fearless Play with Miles & Sally”]

“In the publication of this work, Edmond Halley, a man of the greatest intelligence and of universal learning, was of tremendous assistance, not only did he correct the typographical errors and see to the making of the woodcuts, but it was he who started me off on the road to this publication. For when he had obtained my demonstration of the shape of the celestial orbits, he never stopped asking me to communicate it to the Royal Society, whose subsequent encouragement and kind patronage made me begin to think about publishing it.”

— quoted from “Author’s Preface to the Reader” in The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Isaac Newton, translated from the 3rd edition of the Latin original by I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman, assisted by Julia Budenz (University of California Press. 2014.)

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 an 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.)

Updated with extra quote.

### Feel Free… To Move ###