Get Ready… To Pace Yourself (a compilation of notes & excerpts) September 12, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Meditation, New Year, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Rosh Hashanah, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Ariel Kendall, Battle of Marathon, Dr. Reena Kotecha, High Holidays, Jane McGuire, Lori Palatnik, meditation, Norman Fischer, Rabbi Alan Lew, Rosh Hashanah, Run like Rel, Ten Days of Atonement, Ten Days of Awe, Tom Craggs
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“L’Shana Tovah U’Metukah!” to everyone celebrating Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays. Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom.
Stay safe! Live well! Hydrate and nourish your heart, body, and mind.
“FOR TEN DAYS, THE GARES ARE OPEN AND THE WORLD is fluid. We are finally awake, if only in fits and starts, if only to toss and turn. For ten days, transformation is within our grasp. For ten days, we can imagine ourselves not as fixed and immutable beings, but rather as a limitless field upon which qualities and impulses rise up and fall away again like waves on the sea. Some of these impulses rise up with particular intensity. We may even experience them as afflictions, but they can be the keys to our transformation. Their intensity points to the disequilibrium and dysfunction in us that is in need of transformation.”
— quoted from “Chapter 7, What The Soul Does While The Gates Are Still Open: The Ten Days of Teshuvah” in This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Rabbi Alan Lew (with a forward by Norman Fischer)
Towards the end of September 2025, I had a very rich conversation with a dear friend (who was also a dear friend of my mom) and she told me about This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Rabbi Alan Lew. I immediately looked it up; but, even though I still haven’t found a copy yet, I am always struck by how people spend their time and how much time they need to get their hearts and minds in the right place for a special occasion (which, in some cases, is the rest of their lives).
For some it is 10 days, for some it is 40, for some it is 49, for some it is 9. Still others spend their whole lives getting ready. My fascination with how people get ready is why I asked people:
“How do you get ready for something big, for something momentous, for something auspicious?”
— The prompt question from Monday’s Common Ground Meditation Center practice (on 9/22/2025)
If you are getting ready for a big sporting event, there are certain things you do… days, weeks, months, even years beforehand. There’s a certain amount of training that gets you ready — physically and mentally. That training may involve changing what you eat and drink (and/or when you sleep). It may involve figuring out (and training with) the gear that helps you perform at your best. It may even involve a team. Training for something like a race or a marathon also involves pace yourself during your training and pacing yourself during the event. Finally, before you set up at the starting line, you have to qualify and/or register.
But, as I mentioned before, when I asked people about getting ready for something, it was towards the end of September 2025. So, I wasn’t thinking about getting ready for a sporting event — and neither were the people attending the practices.
Back in 2025, one of my yoga buddies talked about getting ready for a wedding and, over that weekend, another yoga buddy talked about going to a wedding anniversary party. Those were big, momentous, auspicious occasions. They required people to get ready and, also, to RSVP!
But, how do you RSVP for another year of life?
For that matter, how do you qualify for another year of life?
RSVP
— Acronym for Répondez s’il vous plaît [French for “Respond if you please”]
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW TO FIND OUT HOW YOUR RSVP FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF LIFE!.
In addition to being Rosh Hashanah (and the beginning of the High Holidays) today might be the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon (in 490 BCE).
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.
“‘Remember to enjoy it’ says [running coach Tom] Craggs, ‘sometimes take the headphones out, suck the crowd in, when you get to those last few miles dedicate each one to someone important in your life. You’ll bring it home and have a fantastic race.’”
— quoted from the Runner’s World article entitled “Last-minute pacing tips for your best half-marathon: You’ve put in all the hard work in training, but here’s how to make sure you stick to race pace.” by Jane McGuire
Please join me today (Saturday, September 12th) 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Rosh Hashanah: Pace Yourself 2026”]
Click here for the P.A.C.E. Yourself guided meditation with Dr. Reena Kotecha (video)
“Start with a dream. Chase after it. Run with it. Hold FAST to Your Dreams. (Your dream is worth chasing.)”
— A little inspiration from Run Like Rel
If you are struggling, 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 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 need 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.
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September 25 — 27, 2026
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