A Joyful Practice

A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “How Do You Respond…?” September 14, 2025

Happy Church New Year, to those who are celebrating. Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone responding with friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom.

Stay safe! Hydrate and nourish your heart, body, and mind.

“If a certain stimulus has lost its influence, it can recover the latter only after a long resting that has to last several hours.

The lost action, however, can also be restored with certainty at any time by special measures.”

— quoted from the Dec. 12, 1904 Nobel Lecture “Physiology of Digestion” by Dr. Ivan Pavlov, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

A “Habit Loop” — the connection between a trigger, behavior, and reward — can also be considered “the Pavlovian response”, which was named after Dr. Ivan Pavlov (b. 1849).

Click on the excerpt title below to discover why Dr. Pavlov might have been in the habit of celebrating his birthday today (rather than on September 26^th).

FTWMI: How Do You Respond [in 2024]?

The post excerpted above includes a link to my video series about cultivating habits!

“abhyāsa vairāgyābhyāṁ tat nirodhaḥ” (YS 1.12)

abhyāsa        Practice over a long period/without interruption

vairāgyābhyāṁ  Non-attachment, without attraction or aversion

tat               Those (referring to the “fluctuations of the mind” as described in previous sutras)

nirodhaḥ           Ceases, controls, quiets, stills, regulates, masters

Please join me today (Sunday, September 14^th) at 2:30 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.

Sunday’s playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09042021 Experiencing the Mind”]

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.

### How Do You Respond In 2025? ###