FTWMI: The McGuffin’s MacGuffin, redux & reprised August 13, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Movies, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, abhiniveśaḥ, Ahimsa, Alfred Hitchcock, Angus MacPhail, antiracism, Ashtavakra Gita, Berlin Wall, Bhagavad Gita, Charles Gounod, Charlotte Chandler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Epictetus, fear, fearless, fearless play, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, hinduism, Ibram X. Kendi, Jack Hawley, James Allardic, Jeff Alexander, klishtaklishta, klişţāklişţāh, Krishna, Leland Poague, MacGuffin, nervous system, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Paul Tillich, Potsdam Conference, Richard Freeman, Seneca, Shantipat, spirituality, Stanley Wilson, Swami J, Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Leitch, Todd McGowan, trauma, Upanishads, Wookiefoot, yama, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 2.9
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Many blessings to everyone, everywhere, and especially to anyone observing the Dormition Fast and/or cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024. Class details and links have been added.
“Upanishad is the subtler, mystical or yogic teachings of the philosophy and practices leading to the direct experience of the center of consciousness, the absolute reality. ‘Upa’ means ‘near;’ ‘ni’ means ‘down;’ ‘shad’ means ‘to sit.’ Thus, Upanishad is to sit down near the teacher to discuss, learn, practice and experience the means and goals of Yoga sadhana or practices. The Upanishads are also known as Vedanta, which means the end or culmination of the Vedas.”
— quoted from the “Upanishad” page by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati (“Swami J”)
Often translated as “sitting near devotedly,” “Upanishad” is the Sanskrit word assigned to a collection of sacred texts, the earliest of which were compiled (starting) in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE. The stories within the Upanishads were originally part of an oral tradition and they explain and explore the Vedas (which are more sacred texts). Scholars believe there were originally over 200 Upanishads, with some overlapping material; however, some have been lost. Of the 108 studied and practiced today, ten to twelve (depending on the tradition) are consider “major” and complete. Each one begins and ends with an invocation known as a Shantipat: a path of peace.
We start each practice with the “Teaching Shantipat” and I often bring awareness to the end: “Shanti Shanti Shanthi Om” / “Peace [within us], Peace [all around us], Peace [to and from everything and every one we encounter] With our conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind and on every plane of existence.” The last “Shanthi” is emphatic, drawn out, and sometimes explained as “Peace [because I said so]” or “Peace [because I demand it].”
While the endings are the same, the beginnings of each of the shantipats are different. They are situational. So, today, I bring your awareness to the beginning of the “Teaching Shantipat.”
“May all of us together be protected….”
— quoted from the beginning of the “Teaching Shantipat,” chanted in Sanskrit by Richard Freeman (when we are in the studio)
The beginning of the “Teaching Shantipat.” is interesting (to me), because it is very similar to the beginning of the metta meditation: “May I be safe and protected.”
I find it very interesting that this invocation begins with a desire, a wish, a prayer for safety and protection. You could even think of it as a commitment — similar to ahiṃsā (“non-harming” or “non-violence”), which is the very first yama (external “restraint” or universal commandment) at the beginning of the Yoga Philosophy. The underlying implication to all of this is that there is something — or someone — from which we need to be protected; that there is some danger of which we must be mindful. In other words, it is almost a warning that there is something to fear.
Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. It doesn’t matter if what we perceive turns out not to be a threat; because, the emotion is real. The emotional reaction causes a physiological response: it activates the sympathetic nervous system, which causes a chemical change in the brain and a change in organ function. These changes are designed to protect and ensure survival, causing us to fight or flee or freeze (which is a form of collapse). This can all take place in a blink of an eye and in a heartbeat — even, again, when the perceived threat turns out to not be a threat and/or not a threat to survival. Although the initial reaction can occur in an instant, it takes a while to come down off of the adrenaline high and, depending on the reality and nature of the threat, the effects of the trauma can be life-long.
“It is not that you must be free from fear. The moment you try to free yourself from fear, you create resistance against fear. Resistance in any form does not end fear. What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it, not how to escape from it, not how to resist it.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
Yoga Sūtras 2.3 and 2.9 describe ābhiniveśāḥ (“resistance to loss, fear of death of identity, desire for continuity, clinging to the life of”) as the fifth and final afflicted/dysfunctional thought pattern that leads to suffering. This is consistent with the Ashtavakra Gita, which states “All sorrow comes from fear. / From nothing else. // When you know this, / You become free of it, / And desire melts away.” (AG 11.5) According to the Eastern philosophies, like Yoga and Buddhism, the remedy to fear is wisdom, which is considered to be the opposite of fear.
Wisdom is the ability, knowledge, and skill to respond to a given situation with awareness. Without wisdom, we react as if everything and everyone is a threat to our life, our livelihood, and those we love. We become like a “timid man” who flees because he perceives everything picked up by our senses as a tiger. (AG 18.45) We see this fear-based behavior each and every day, even when we don’t recognize that that is what we are seeing/experiencing. Wisdom, in this case, can also be defined as vidyā (“correct knowledge”) about ourselves and the nature of everything. It gives us the ability to pause, take a breath, and possibly discover that “Just as a coil of rope / Is mistaken for a snake, / So you are mistaken for the world” (AG 1.10) and that “a man without desires is a lion.” (AG 18.46)
“‘Work hard in the world, Arjuna, but for work‘s sake only. You have every right to work but you should not crave the fruits of it. Although no one may deny you the outcomes of your efforts, you can, through determination, refuse to be attached to or affected by the results, whether favorable or unfavorable.
“‘The central points of issue, Arjuna, are desire and lack of inner peace. Desire for the fruits of one‘s actions brings worry about possible failure — the quivering mind I mentioned. When you are preoccupied with end results you pull yourself from the present into an imagined, usually fearful future. Then your anxiety robs your energy and, making matters worse, you lapse into inaction and laziness.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (2.47) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face…. You must do what you think you cannot do.”
— quoted from You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life by Eleanor Roosevelt
This tricky thing about fear is that the mind-intellect can perceive and process things in the past, present, and/or future; which means we may find ourselves having a fear-based reaction to something in the past or something that has not (and may never) happen. This is why fear can prevent us from achieving our goals and desires. It can also cause us to build walls — emotionally, energetically, symbolically, and physically. In fact, construction of the Berlin Wall, which began today on Sunday, August 13, 1961, was at the intersection of a lot of fear.
Remember, during the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II, the Allies decided to split Berlin and the rest of Germany into four different regions controlled by four different nations. The Soviet-controlled areas became the German Democratic Republic (GDR or DDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik), also known as East Germany. The areas controlled by United States, the United Kingdom, and France became the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), sometimes called Bonn Republic (German: Bonner Republik), and known as West Germany. East and West Berlin, as well as East and West Germany, ended up with vastly different socioeconomic and political cultures. Right off the bat, people on the East side would travel to East Berlin in order to crossover to West Berlin and then, from there, gained access to the rest of the “Free World.” In fact, prior to the wall being constructed approximately 3.5 million people defected from East Berlin — at a rate of about one thousand a day.
The wall did not go up all at once. It started off as a little over 100 miles of barbed wire and fencing put up in the wee hours of that Sunday morning in 1961: 156 km (97 mi) between the western regions and the eastern regions and another 43 km (27 mi) of wire dividing the cities of Berlin. Then a 6-foot tall wall of blocks was constructed, with bunkers. Within nine years, that 6-foot wall of blocks had become a 3.6-meter (11.8-foot) tall wall, with the barbed wire (and guards in the towers). The final wall included 155 km (96 miles) of wall around West Berlin and another 111.9 km (69.5 miles) of barrier between West Berlin and East Germany.
The wall decreased the number of defections; however, it did not completely prevent them. Between 1961 and 1989, when the Berlin Wall “fell,” about 100,000 people attempted to defect and approximately five thousand succeeded. An estimated 136 — 200 people died attempting to escape. Many of the deaths were in and around a gap created between two concrete walls which formed the 27 miles of barrier dividing Berlin. Known as the “death strip,” the gap was full of anti-vehicle trenches, guard dog runs, floodlights, and trip-wire machine guns. It was also overseen by guards in watchtowers who were ordered to shoot on sight.
Remember, although decades had passed, the construction of the Berlin Wall happened in the wake of World War II. People were still processing the trauma caused by the violence of the war and of the Holocaust, which were themselves the source and result of fear.
“However, if the process of non-violence is to be effective in counteracting violence, we must first describe and outline it clearly and methodically. Because violent thoughts always precede a violent act, an act of non-violence will be effective only if it is preceded by non-violent thoughts. Violence is an active phenomenon, whereas non-violence is mistakenly thought to be passive – simply the absence of violence. But passive non-violence has no power to extinguish the fire if violence. Non-violence must be as active as violence itself.”
— commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.33 from The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
“The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist.’ What’s the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an anti-racist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist.’”
— quoted from How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, PhD
When I first heard about Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, who was born in Jamaica, New York City on August 13, 1982, I thought the term “antiracist” was something new. In reality, however, Dr. Kendi recommends and teaches an idea that goes back to the beginning of the yoga philosophy. (NOTE: I’m not saying he’s teaching “yoga,” even though he is working to bring people together. I’m saying that he is teaching ancient wisdom.)
This wisdom is not simply bringing awareness to a situation and neither is it not doing something overtly harmful. It is bringing awareness to what is happening beneath the surface and actively, skillfully, moving in the opposite direction. Again, the premise behind “cultivating the opposites” is that, over time, we neutralize the force of past actions and, as a result, our habits and thoughts change. When our habits and thoughts change, the world changes. Doing this work can be scary — in fact, you may already feel yourself tightening up just at the thought. But, we must remember that being fearless is not the absence of fear, it is how we show up when we experience fear.
“Courage is the strength to do what is right in the face of fear, as the anonymous philosopher tells us. I gain insight into what’s right from antiracist ideas. I gain strength from fear. While many people are fearful of what could happen if they resist, I am fearful of what could happen if I don’t resist, I am fearful of cowardice. Cowardice is the inability to amass the strength to do what is right in the face of fear. And racist power has been terrorizing cowardice into us for generations.”
— quoted from How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, PhD
None of this is about being reckless and putting ourselves (or others) in danger. Neither is it about ignoring reality. Instead, the philosophers and leaders quoted throughout this post encourage us to face our fears. Again, this is not new advice. As noted above, it is the same advice found in ancient texts from India and (as noted below) it is the same advice found in the teachings of the Stoics. In fact, I imagine that if you research all the indigenous and modern cultures in the world, you will find lessons on fear and advice on cultivating fearlessness that is very, very similar.
Furthermore, we have plenty of opportunities to practice studying, observing, learning about, and understanding our fears. We can do it on the mat or the cushion; we can do it as we move through our days; and we can do it when some form of entertainment push our buttons.
“[Spoken: Alfred Hitchcock]
Thus far, this album has provided musical accompaniment to make your passing pleasant
Our next number is designed to drown out the sound of shovels
Music to be buried by
[Music begins]
Of course, your assassin may have made burial unnecessary
So, if you are completely encased in cement
And are teetering on the edge of a pier
Please try not to pay attention to this next number
It is not meant for you
As for the others, if you spend your evenings watching murder instead of doing it yourself
You may recognize this”
— quoted from Track 5, “Alfred Hitchcock Television Theme” on the album Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By by Alfred Hitchcock and Jeff Alexander (narration written by James Allardice; “Funeral March Of A Marionette” by Charles Gounod adapted by Jeff Alexander and Stanley Wilson)
Born today in London, today in 1899, Sir Alfred Hitchcock KBE liked to play with fear(s) and push people’s fear buttons. He directed and produced movies like The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927); Blackmail (1929), was the first British “talkie;” The 39 Steps (1935); The Lady Vanishes (1938); Rebecca (1940); Shadow of a Doubt (1943); Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder and Rear Window (both released in 1954); Psycho (1960); To Catch a Thief and The Trouble with Harry (both released in 1955); Vertigo (1958); North by Northwest (1959), and The Birds (1963). He was also the producer and host of the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65) and often made cameo appearances in his own movies. Like so many directors and producers, he liked to work with certain people, including Cary Grant and James Stewart (who were each in four movies) and Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly (who were each in three movies).
In addition to having nine of his films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry (as of 2021), Alfred Hitchcock received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Fellowship in 1971, the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award in 1979, and was knighted in December of that 1979, just a few months before he died on April 29, 1980. His work also earned him six Academy Awards and an additional 40 Academy Award nominations — including five in the Best Director category.
Despite never winning the Academy Award for Best Director, the “Master of Suspense” did such a good job at manipulating emotional responses that even hearing the music (often composed by Bernard Herrmann), seeing a murder of crows or a rear window, and/or being in the shower can start tightening up the body. His name, voice, and infamous silhouette became so synonymous with his work that they can also activate the fear response. Another common Hitchcockian element was a simple plot device that existed long before he was born. It became more popular and more well-known by a name coined by the screenwriter Angus MacPhail1: MacGuffin (or McGuffin).
“Hitchcock explained how the MacGuffin got its name:
‘Two men are traveling on a train to Scotland. One of them is carrying an odd parcel. The other man says, “What have you there?” and the other answers, “A MacGuffin.”
‘“What’s a MacGuffin?”
‘“It’s a special device designed to trap wild lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
‘“But there aren’t any lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
‘“Then, there is no MacGuffin.”
‘The MacGuffin, you see, is only important if you think it’s important, and that’s my job as a director, to make you think it’s important.’”
— quoted from “II. British Films: Cub Director” in It’s Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock: A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler2
A McGuffin (or MacGuffin) can be anything — or anyone — that people in the movie are seeking. It could be a briefcase (or something inside a suitcase). It could be a jewel-encrusted statuette. It could be $40,000 or, as some people see it, a place in the snow where $920,000 was buried. It could be state secrets. It could be A Girl. While the MacGuffin (or McGuffin) motivates the characters and keeps the plot moving, it is the exact opposite of Checkov’s gun because it is ultimately inconsequential. The characters seem to forget about it or just put it aside. In fact, sometimes it is as if it was never in the story. Other times it is just never revealed to the audience.
A McGuffin (or MacGuffin) should not be confused with a “red herring,” because it is not intended to confuse or misdirect the audience. However, to be clear, Sir Alfred’s movies also include red herrings — sometimes in the form of suspenseful music or shadows that keep the audience primed for something to happen. In other words, the MacGuffin (or McGuffin) motivates the characters and puts them in their situations, while the red herring conditions the audience to fear on command.
“Hitchcock’s example of the MacGuffin emphasizes its impossible status: not only is the object that one [never has], but one cannot even isolate it as an idea. It remains necessarily empty, and yet functions as an engine for the Hitchcockian narrative. The emptiness of the MacGuffin as an object permits spectators to locate their satisfaction in the striving that it unleashes rather than identifying satisfaction with the discovery of its secret.”
— quoted from “The Empty Object” in “27. Hitchcock’s Ethics of Suspense: Psychoanalysis and the Devaluation of the Object” by Todd McGowan (as published in A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Thomas Leitch and Leland Poague)
Take a moment to bring your awareness to what happens when you experience fear.
Are you someone who runs away from it… or towards it? Are you someone who likes to be fearless and play? Are you someone who tears down walls and barriers? Or, are you someone who builds walls?
“This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
“Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.”
— quoted from the March 4, 1933, Inaugural Speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“What conflicts with the courage of wisdom is desires and fears. The Stoics developed a profound doctrine of anxiety which also reminds us of recent analyses. They discovered that the object of fear is fear itself. ‘Nothing,’ says Seneca, ‘is terrible in things except fear itself.’ And Epictetus says, ‘For it is not death or hardship that is a fearful thing, but the fear of death and hardship.’ Our anxiety puts frightening masks over all men and things. If we strip them of these masks their own countenance appears and the fear they produce disappears. This is true even of death. Since every day a little of our life is taken from us–since we are dying every day–the final hour when we cease to exist does not itself bring death; merely completes the death process. The horrors connected with it are a matter of imagination. They vanish when the mask is taken from the image of death.”
— quoted from “Chapter 1. Being and Courage – Courage and Wisdom: The Stoics” in The Courage To Be (pub. 1952) by Paul Tillich
Please join me today (Wednesday, August 13th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 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.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08132022 The McGuffin’s MacGuffin”]
NOTES:
1 Angus MacPhail worked with Sir Alfred Hitchcock on Aventure Malgache (1944, uncredited writer); Bon Voyage (1944, writer); Spellbound (1945, writer for adaptation); The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956, uncredited contributing writer); and The Wrong Man (1956, screenwriter). He very briefly worked on the script development for Vertigo, which may be why the movie opens with San Francisco detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (as played by James Stewart) involved in a rooftop chase.2 Alfred Hitchcock used variations of this MacGuffin story on more than one occasion, including during a lecture at Columbia University in New York City (in 1939) and in a series of interviews. In some versions the conclusion was that there were no lions in the Scottish Highlands because the device in the parcel worked.
“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, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.”
— quoted from Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh
Extreme heat (and traumatic events) can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, they can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
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.
### BE Fearless & PLAY. BE WISE.###
A Quick Note & Excerpts RE: Reflecting & Remembering + Cause & Effect (*revised) August 6, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Meditation, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Abraham Lincoln, Alan Watts, Bockscar, breath, breathing, Civil War, COVID-19, Death, emancipation, Enola Gray, George Floyd, Hiroshima, John Hersey, Kaushik Patowary, Lyndon B. Johnson, meditation, memory, Nagasaki, Nobus Tetsutani, OM, pandemic, pranayama, Reiki, Sadako Sasaki, Shinichi Tetsutani, slavery, svadyaya, Tatsuharu Kodama, Voting Rights Act, yoga philosophy, yoga practice
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
“Your thoughts are happening, just like the sounds going on outside and everything is simply a happening and all you’re doing is watching it.”
— quoted from “2.5.4 Meditation” by Alan Watts
There is a story for everything that happens. Every story and every practice involves cause and effect. Every story and every practice can be an opportunity to reflect and remember and/or to practice a little svādhyāya (“self-study”) . On some days, all of that is just beneath the surface. Other days, like today, it is all front and center.
Today, I will tell you some stories. Some of the stories are directly connected; some of the stories are indirectly connected. Some are obviously horrific and tragic. In the end, it all comes to a “peak” with the story of an “impossible” girl and her wish.
Click on the excerpt title below for a little more about the practice and (some of) the stories.
FTWMI/EXCERPTS: Reflecting & Remembering + Cause & Effect (a compilation post)
“I have heard there are at least 8 Japanese words that translate into the English word ‘dedication’. Some of those words also translate into English as devotion, offering, gift, and consecration. At the beginning of the practice, there are two dedications. The second one is most definitely an offering, a gift, and a consecration — especially on the anniversary of a tragic event.”
— quoted from my blog post for August 9, 2020
Please join me today (Wednesday, August 6th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 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.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08062022 Cause + Effect”]
NOTE: A practice video is coming soon! Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to be the first to practice with me!
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
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.
### WILL YOU WISH & WORK FOR PEACE ###
FTWMI: Saying Yes to Life and to the “Impossible” & EXCERPT: “The Powerful Possibilities That Come From ‘A Brother’s Love’” (w/practice video) August 2, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, James Baldwin, Life, Loss, Love, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wisdom, Writing, Yin Yoga, Yoga.Tags: 988, Aimee Lehto, Allan Warren, America, Beau Lotto, being present, Boyd Croyner, Civil Rights, courage, Emily Dickinson, Health, inspiration, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, meditation, Mindfulness, PRIDE, Richard Avedon, samskāras, truth, vasanas, wellness, yoga
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside). Stay hydrated, y’all!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024 as the invitation to First Friday Night Special #46. You can check out that practice in the video below. Class details, music links, the video, and a picture (visible to those on WordPress) have been added/updated.
“The light that’s in your eyes / reminds me of the skies / that shine above us every day—so wrote a contemporary lover, out of God knows what agony, what hope, and what despair. But he saw the light in the eyes, which is the only light there is in the world, and honored it and trusted it; and will always be able to find it; since it is always there, waiting to be found. One discovers the light in darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives depends on how we bear the light. It is necessary, while in darkness, to know that there is a light somewhere, to know that in oneself, waiting to be found, there is a light. What the light reveals is danger, and what it demands is faith.”
“What a journey this life is! dependent, entirely, on things unseen.”
— quoted from the essay “Nothing Personal” by James Baldwin (b. 1924), original published as part of a collaboration with Richard Avedon
Born today in Harlem, New York, in 1924, the author James Baldwin was — by his own words (see excerpt below) — an impossible person. He was someone who said yes to life and yes to the light inside of himself. He was someone, as Maya Angelou pointed out, who lived with his whole heart and encouraged others to do the same.
To live with one’s whole heart is the original meaning of “courage,” a word James Baldwin put in the same category as words like “artist,” “integrity,” “nobility,” “peace,” and “integration.” Words that, he said (in the speech “The Artist’s Struggle for Integrity”), “[depend] on choices one has got to make, for ever and ever and ever, every day.”
Of course, to make those choices wisely, we need to have some semblance of balance — especially as it relates to the heart.
Click on the excerpt title below for more.
FTWMI: The Powerful Possibilities That Come From “A Brother’s Love”
“I have slept on rooftops and in basements and subways, have been cold and hungry all my life; have felt that no fire would ever warm me, and no arms would ever hold me. I have been, as the song says, ‘buked and scorned and I know that I always will be. But, my God, in that darkness, which was the lot of my ancestors and my own state, what a mighty fire burned! In that darkness of rape and degradation, that fine flying froth and mist of blood, through all that terror and in all that helplessness, a living soul moved and refused to die. We really emptied oceans with a home-made spoon and tore down mountains with our hands. And if love was in Hong Kong, we learned how to swim.
It is a mighty heritage, it is the human heritage, and it is all there is to trust. And I learned this through descending, as it were, into the eyes of my father and my mother. I wondered, when I was little, how they bore it—for I knew that they had much to bear. It had not yet occurred to me that I also would have much to bear; but they knew it, and the unimaginable rigors of their journey helped them to prepare me for mine. This is why one must say Yes to life and embrace it wherever it is found—and it is found in terrible places; nevertheless, there it is; and if the father can say, Yes. Lord, the child can learn that most difficult of words, Amen.”
— quoted from the essay “Nothing Personal” by James Baldwin (b. 1924), original published as part of a collaboration with Richard Avedon
Please join me today (Saturday, August 2nd) 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 “Langston’s Theme for Jimmy 2022”]
Can I interest you in James Baldwin & a little Yin Yoga!
The Yin Yoga playlist is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08022024 A Brother’s Love”]
NOTE: The tracks on the Yin Yoga playlist are slightly different in length and duration, depending on the platform. Start with track 1, 8, or 10.
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.
### MORE LOVE ###
FTWMI: A Quick Note & Excerpts About Using the Hook… July 20, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Fitness, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Love, Mantra, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Pema Chodron, Philosophy, Poetry, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Carlos Santana, Emily Perl Kingsley, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Four R's, Neal Schon, Pema Chodron, Rosemary Kennedy, Sahasrara, Santana, shenpa, Shenpa & The Practice of Getting Unhooked, Special Olympics
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone putting together the pieces for peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024. Class details and some links have been updated.
“Today
Is all I really need to find the answers
I’ll find the constant flow
Of all the harmony”
— quoted from the song “All the Love of the Universe” by Carlos Santana (b. 07/20/1947), written by Carlos Santana / Neal Schon
This present moment is the culmination of all our previous moments and — whether we recognize it or not — it is informed by our previous moments So, right here, right now, we all come into this present moment with stuff. Without judging or categorizing the stuff, just recognize that it is a lot of stuff and because we bring this stuff into the moment — and into the practice — each moment and each practice is unique. Even when we repeat a sequence and/or a theme, there is something that is new and different.
Yes, the fact that different people show up at different times means that some things will be different. Plus, I often tweak the sequence, how I cue it, and/or which parts of the theme to share. I may even remix the music or use a different playlist. All of that is part of “the stuff.” So too is how our bodies change as we practice and as we age. So too is whatever is going on in our lives and in the world. All of that (plus how we feel about all of that and how we process all of that) is “the stuff” that makes this present moment different from all the other moments.
All of the aforementioned stuff is the energetic and symbolic purview of the Sahasrara (“thousand-petalled”) chakra. Also known as the crown chakra, the seventh chakra is associated with the top of the head; thought, consciousness, and self-knowledge. Some teachers also associate it with our connection to the Divine/Source (whatever that means to you at this moment). Finally, it is associated with this present moment and one’s ability to be present in (any given) moment.
Of course, our ability to truly be present and to truly comprehend the present moment — as well as understand how this present moment is informed by previous moments and will inform future moments — can be hampered when we get “hooked” because something or someone pushed our buttons. Throughout this last week, as we practiced with Pema Chödrön’s teachings related to the the R’s, I have mostly referenced “the hook” in a negative way. However….
Click on the excerpt titles below to learn about a different kind of hook and how past experiences that hook you can also motivate you to create change in the world.
Using the “hook” to get unhooked (the “missing” Tuesday post)
“Like diabetes, deafness, polio or any other misfortune, [intellectual disabilities] can happen in any family. It has happened in the families of the poor and the rich, of governors, senators, Nobel prizewinners, doctors, lawyers, writers, men of genius, presidents of corporations – the President of the United States.”
— quoted from a September 22, 1962 article by Eunice Kennedy Shriver printed in The Saturday Evening Post
“But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.”
— quoted from “Welcome to Holland” by Emily Perl Kingsley ©1987
“Everybody needs a helpin’ hand
Everybody needs a helpin’ hand”
— quoted from the song “All the Love of the Universe” by Carlos Santana (b. 07/20/1947), written by Carlos Santana / Neal Schon
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, July 20th) at 2:30 PM. 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.
Sunday’s playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07202021 Using the Hook”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist has an extra track in the before/after section.
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.)
### BIG HUGS ###
[Yet & Still] Hooked by the Classics (mostly the music & blessings) July 16, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Pain, Pema Chodron, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Four R's, shenpa, Tony Kushner
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone creating peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
“The work of artists is to find what’s humanly possible — possibility’s furthest reaches. But perhaps the work of citizens is to find what’s immediately possible. I can’t tell you how your work as artists contributes directly to your work as citizens, if in fact art does contribute directly, if in fact certitude and directness are not as inimical to art as despair is to politics. I’ve been writing plays for nearly two decades and I only know, or at least I think I know, that only in activism — organizing, arguing, fundraising, electioneering — can one exercise with some small degree of certainty one’s agency as an actor in politics, on the historical stage. Politics, as they say, is the art of the possible.”
— quoted from the School of Visual Arts commencement speech (in New York City, May 14, 2010) by Tony Kushner (b. 1956)
Please join me today (Wednesday, July 16th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 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.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07162023 Hooked by the Classics”]
“If you have value as an artist it’s probably going to be in your capacity to let things inside you get past things that are placed there to keep you from telling the truth. The more you see things as clearly and coldly as you can, the more value you’re going to have.”
— Anthony Robert “Tony” Kushner
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.
### 
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FTWMI: A Quick Note & Excerpts About Practicing the R’s July 14, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Meditation, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Pema Chodron, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Anushka Fernandopulle, attachment, Buddhism, compassion, compassionate abiding, Elephant Journal, loving-kindness, lovingkindness, Matt Caron, meditation, Metta, Mindfulness, non-attachment, Pema Chodron, shenpa, Shenpa & The Practice of Getting Unhooked, spirituality, yoga philosophy
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone practicing peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted today in 2024. The 2025 prompt question was, “Who (or what) pushes your buttons, gets your goat, and gets you fired up like nobody’s business??”
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.
“Somebody says a mean word to you and then something in you tightens — that’s the shenpa. Then it starts to spiral into low self-esteem, or blaming them, or anger at them, denigrating yourself. And maybe if you have strong addictions, you just go right for your addiction to cover over the bad feeling that arose when that person said that mean word to you. This is a mean word that gets you, hooks you. Another mean word may not affect you but we’re talking about where it touches that sore place — that’s a shenpa. Someone criticizes you — they criticize your work, they criticize your appearance, they criticize your child — and, shenpa: almost co-arising.”
— Pema Chödrön
For the record, I am not going to say, practice, teach (or preach) anything I haven’t been teaching, practicing, and saying (or preaching) for years. Maybe I will tweak the phrasing. Maybe you will hear/see/understand things in a special way — thereby gaining new insight. Either way, regardless of all that is happening in the world, it still comes back to this: Sometimes the only thing you can do is not make it worse.
Yes, sometimes we can do things that make our life and the lives around us better. Sometimes we can write legislation, vote for legislation, and/or vote for people who write and/or vote for legislation that creates more opportunity for peace, freedom, prosperity, and wisdom. Sometimes we can create organizations or work, volunteer, and/or donate to organizations that cultivate peace, freedom, prosperity, and wisdom. There are, however, times when we are too poor — in spirit, heart/courage, skills, and/or material resources — to do anything other than send “thoughts and prayers.”
All that being, I am of the mindset that we can not know what we are able to do and/or what is the best way to respond — rather than react — until we sit down, get still, get quiet, and get honest about our intentions. Once we are grounded and centered, then we can act accordingly. In other words, practice the four R’s:
-
RECOGNIZE (that your buttons have gotten pushed and you have the urge/impulse to react).
-
REFRAIN (from doing anything, especially that knee jerk reaction).
-
RELAX (maybe breathe peace in and breath peace out, or do use a centering prayer).
-
RESOLVE (to move forward with mindfulness and intention).
This is the practice taught by the American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön, who was born today in 1936. I often add another R (or two):
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REMEMBER (your intention and why you are doing the thing you are doing).
-
RECOGNIZE (again, that sometimes the only thing you can do is not make it worse).
You may be thinking, I don’t have time for all that “navel gazing” and introspection. And, yes, there are definitely times that require a quick response. At the same time, if you make this practice a habit, it only takes a split second to engage when you really need it.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE!
“By trying this, we learn exactly where we are open and where we are closed. We learn quickly where we would do well to just practice abiding compassionately with our own confused feelings, before we try to work with other people, because right now our efforts would probably make a bigger mess. I know many people who want to be teachers, or feed the homeless, or start clinics, or try in some way to truly help others. Despite their generous intentions, they don’t always realize that if they plan to work closely with people they may be in for a lot of difficulty—a lot of feeling hooked. The people they hope to help will not always see them as saviors. In fact, they will probably criticize them and give them a hard time. Teachers and helpers of all kinds will be of limited use if they are doing their work to build up their own egos.”
— quoted from “Unlimited Friendliness: Three steps to genuine compassion” (Winter 2009 issue of Tricycle) by Pema Chödrön
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The playlist used in previous years is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07142020 Compassion & Peace for Pema”]
“Prince Guatama, who had become Buddha, saw one of his followers meditating under a tree at the edge of the Ganges River. Upon inquiring why he was meditating, his follower stated he was attempting to become so enlightened he could cross the river unaided. Buddha gave him a few pennies and said: “Why don’t you seek passage with that boatman. It is much easier.”
— quoted from Matt Caron and from Elephant Journal
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).
### OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI OM ###
FTWMI: What (and How) Do You Recollect? / A Strenuous, Deliberate Life Photo (w/excerpt) July 12, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Books, Eastman Kodak, Florence McAnaney, George Eastman, HBCUs, Henry David Thoreau, In Search of Lost Time, Life in the Woods, Marcel Proust, Nature, Philosophy, Remembrance of Things Past, Sinners, Swann's Way, The Captive, thoreau, Walden, yoga philosophy
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those completing the the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast during this 5th Week after Pentecost and/or beginning the month of Kalimát (“Words”)!
For Those Who Missed It: The following compilation post containing was originally posted in 2023. Class details and some formatting have been revised. Links and a little extra note have been added for context, and one link was converted into an excerpt.
“When from a long distance past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, still, alone, more fragile, but with more vitality, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us, waiting and hoping for their moment, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unfaltering, in the tiny, and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.”
— quoted from “Overture” in Swann’s Way, Volume 1 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust
You’re probably familiar with that old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but what’s the value of a thousand words that paint a picture? For that matter, what of a million? As I mentioned a few days ago, Marcel Proust wrote over a million words about memories and reflections — and, also, about how we recollect. He wrote about the very human thing we all do: look back over our days.
Sometimes we do it intentionally, deliberately — like the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who would end each day by reviewing what he had done between rising and retiring. The stoic emperor’s practice is a good reflection meditation, which can help us be more productive and (sometimes) can help us to sleep better. It’s a way to literally put to bed unresolved issues that might otherwise keep us awake. Unfortunately, sometimes, we find ourselves in bed regurgitating memories that no longer serve us.
“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”
— quoted from The Captive, Volume 5 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust
Memories can also pop up, unexpectedly. We can be eating a madeleine or a biscuit, sitting by a moonlit lake, reading a book, listening to music, sitting down to take off or put on our shoes, or practicing on our mat and suddenly — out of nowhere it seems — we are bombarded with a very visceral memory. It seems as if it comes from nowhere, but it actually comes from inside of us. It is visceral because we not only feel it all the way to our bones, it comes out of our bones, out of our tissues, out of our minds and bodies.
So, how do you show up, in the present, when your mind-body can — at any given moment — transport you into the past? How do you make remembering useful? How do you very deliberately, very intentionally, harness the power of your memories and your ability to reflect?
What I’m really asking is: How do you remember with the intention of Thoreau and the eye of Eastman? (And, if you have that “eye of Eastman” how do you use it without (metaphorically) losing focus of the present moment?)
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
— quoted from a journal entry dated August 5, 1851, as printed in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Walden Edition by Henry David Thoreau, compiled and edited by Franklin Benjamin Sanborn and Bradford Torrey
Born today in 1817, in Concord Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau was a teacher and a writer, who is remembered as a writer and naturalist. He is also remembered as being very close to his brother John. I have heard that the brothers were close despite having different temperaments. Henry David was introverted and all about the books; John was out-going, extroverted, and fun-loving. Additionally, John supported Henry David’s every endeavor — helping him pay for tuition at Harvard and even started a new school when Henry David was fired for objecting to corporal punishment. They shared a lot of memories.
When John died, unexpectedly, in his brother’s arms, Henry David floundered. He lived with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s family for a period of time and served as a teacher to the Emerson children. Along with Edward Hoar, he accidentally burned down several hundred acres of Walden Woods. Not long after the fire, Emerson allowed Thoreau to retreat to a cabin located on 14 acres of land, about 1.5 miles from Emerson House.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
— quoted from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau lived in the cabin, on the banks of Walden Pond, for two years, two months, and two days. He spent that time writing his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, which he self-published on May 30, 1849. The book was a memorial for his brother and it related the story of a trip the brothers took in 1839. He also wrote the work most people associate with the name Thoreau: a collection of essays entitled Walden, or Life in the Woods.
Both of Thoreau’s books are full of words that painted pictures. He was, after all, a “mental picture” taker. After his brother died unexpectedly, Henry David Thoreau was undoubtedly comforted by the images formed by his words, but think of how he might have felt (or might have written) had he and John been born decades after George Eastman.
“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.”
— quoted from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau
George Eastman, born today in 1854, in Waterville, New York, was an entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist who founded the Eastman Kodak Company. He and two older sisters (Ellen Maria and Katie) were initially raised on a 10-acre farm his parents purchased shortly before George was born. Unfortunately, their father — a successful entrepreneur himself — died of a brain disorder when Eastman was almost 8 years old. By then, the Eastman family was living in Rochester, NY and life on the farm was but a memory.
George, who had been self-taught until his father’s death, was sent to private school and his mother took in boarders in order to survive. By the time he was 15, the youngest of his sisters (Katie) had died of polio. Soon after her death, George left school and started a photography business. By the time he was 30 years old, he had patented the first practical “roll of film”. Before the age of 35, he had developed the Kodak Black camera, designed to use roll film. Eventually, his company became the first, and the leading company, to supply film stock. Along the way, George Eastman changed the way people remembered — and he incorporated what would become a billion dollar company (all with a made up name).
“What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are.”
— George Eastman
While some of details of their lives are very different, Henry David Thoreau and George Eastman were both very private men, who lived very solitary lives, and who believed in community. They also believed in serving the community — albeit in slightly different ways.
Henry David Thoreau was a transcendentalist and an abolitionist who read the Bhagavad Gītā and believed in civil disobedience. He was criticized for a number of things throughout his lifetime, including the decision to live alone with those regulated to the fringes of society (which some viewed as “unmanly”). His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led a student revolt at Harvard in 1766 (the first recorded in the United States) and Henry David spent a (very) short period of time in jail for “tax evasion” — which was not the first time he had refused to pay something he thought he should not have to pay. It is possible (and probable) that he also helped others escape tax liens.
“Some have asked what I got to eat; if I did not feel lonesome; if I was not afraid; and the like. Others have been curious to learn what portion of my income I devoted to charitable purposes; and some, who have large families, how many poor children I maintained…. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience.”
— quoted from “Economy” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau
George Eastman also lived a solitary life (in that he never married or had children). He was considered a progressive in the social and political sense. He fought the labor union movement by offering worker benefit programs, which included employee profit-sharing for all employees. He also promoted Florence McAnaney to the top position in the personnel department — establishing her as one of the first women to hold an executive position in a major U. S. company. He also founded “an independent non-partisan agency for keeping citizens informed” in Rochester, which continues to this day.
“If a man has wealth, he has to make a choice, because there is the money heaping up. He can keep it together in a bunch, and then leave it for others to administer after he is dead. Or he can get it into action and have fun, while he is still alive. I prefer getting it into action and adapting it to human needs, and making the plan work.”
— George Eastman
Henry David Thoreau was not a financially wealthy man. However his contributions to the world are priceless. His philosophy and viewpoints regarding “unjust laws” (like the Fugitive Slave Law, which he frequently attacked in lectures), influenced Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. His legacy to the modern world includes over 20 volumes worth of articles, essays, journals, and poetry.
On the flip side, George Eastman was a philanthropist, who donated (often anonymously, as “Mr. Smith”) millions of dollars to a variety of organizations including the University of Rochester (which was also the beneficiary of his estate); the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT); and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He established the Eastman School of Music and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester, as well as the Eastman Dental Hospital in London, England. Low-income residents of London and other European cities also benefited from Eastman’s generosity as he provided funds for multiple clinics across the pond. Additionally, donated millions to Tuskegee University and Hampton University — historically Black universities.
“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth….”
— George Eastman
Please join me today (Saturday, July 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 (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07122020 Strenuous, Deliberate Life Photo”]
If you’re interested in another look at how things “develop,” click on the excerpt title below.
A Strenuous, Deliberate “Photo” of You (the “missing” Monday post)
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.)
### YS: 1.36 VIŚOKĀ VĀ JYOTIŞMATĪ ###
A Little Note & FTWMI: Contemplating Death, Dying, and All the Living in Between July 8, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Women, Writing.Tags: 988, Death, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, grief, Ken Ross, Life, Loss, meditation, mental health, On Death and Dying, On Grief and Grieving, Philosophy, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh, yoga
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Peace and blessings to all!
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
“Strange though it may seem to you, one of the most productive avenues for growth is found through the study and experience of death. Perhaps death reminds us that our time is limited and that we’d better accomplish our purpose here on earth before our time runs out. Whatever the reason….Those who have been immersed in the tragedy of massive death during wartime, and who have faced it squarely, never allowing their senses and feelings to become numbed and indifferent, have emerged from their experiences with growth and humanness greater than that achieved through almost any other means.”
— quoted from Death: The Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
There are places in the world where people have almost always had to grapple with life and death and dying on a daily basis. However, for many in the world, the last few years have included more struggles with life and death and dying.
These are hard things to contemplate, but they are also important things to contemplate; because, death and dying (and the feelings associated with them) are all part of life.
My condolences to people who are dealing with death and dying, especially when it is an unexpected loss, a tragic loss, and/or the loss of those who were so very young.
May their memories bring you comfort.
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted today in 2020 & 2023. Class details and some formatting have been updated. I have also moved some quotes around.
“I cannot leave out the problem of life and death. Many young people and others have come out to serve others and to labor for peace, through their love for all who are suffering. They are always mindful of the fact that the most important question is the question of life and death, but often not realizing that life and death are but two faces of one reality. Once we realize that we will have the courage to encounter both of them….
Now I see that if one doesn’t know how to die, one can hardly know how to live—because death is a part of life.”
— quoted from The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thích Nhất Hạnh
Today’s post and class will be tricky for some. Today’s theme is always tricky for some. Although, I would assert that it shouldn’t be. After all, death is part of life. That can come off glib and easy to say — specifically because it is a little glib, or shallow, because it belies the fact that loss is hard and that most of us haven’t/don’t really face the concept of death until we (or someone we love) is dying. The statement “death is part of life” is also shallow because it belies the fact that, even if we meditate on and prepare for death, loss is still hard. Yes, death and dying are something that we all have to deal with, but to just leave it at that is what makes the subject tricky. We have to, as Thích Nhất Hạnh instructs in The Miracle of Mindfulness, go deeper.
“The five stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one[s] we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. But they are not stops on some linear timeline in grief. Not everyone goes through all of them or goes in a prescribed order.”
— quoted from On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Grief by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler
Born in Zürich, Switzerland today in 1926, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was the oldest triplet in a family of Protestant Christians. Despite her father’s wishes, she grew up to be a psychiatrist known for her work on death and dying, life and death, and the five stages of grief. Her ultimate work was in part inspired by her work with refugees in Zürich during World War II. After the war, she participated in relief efforts in Poland and, at some point, visited the Maidanek concentration camp in Poland. As a young woman, standing in a place of destruction, she was struck by the compassion and human resilience that would inspire someone to carve hundreds of butterflies into the walls of the death camp.
Dr. Kübler-Ross originally planned on being a pediatrician. However, she married a fellow medical student (in New York in 1958) and became pregnant. The pregnancy resulted in the loss of her pediatrics residency, so she switched to psychiatry. Unfortunately, she also suffered two miscarriages before giving birth to two children. The loss of her residency and her miscarriages were not her first (or last) experiences with loss. Her marriage ended in divorce and, when she attempted to build a Virginia hospice for infants and children with HIV/AIDS, someone set fire to her home (in 1994). The house and all of the belongings inside were lost to arson.
When she started her psychiatry residency, Dr. Kübler-Ross was struck by the way hospitals in the United States treated patients who were dying. She began to host lectures where medical students were forced to meet and listen to dying people outside of a clinical setting. Her intention was to get medical students to “[react] like human beings instead of scientists…and be able to treat [terminal patients] with compassion the same compassion that you would want for yourself.” As she moved through her career, she continued hosting the series of seminars which used interviews with terminally ill patients. Her work was met with both praise and criticism — most of the latter was because she was so obviously questioning the traditional practices of psychiatry. In 1969, she released her seminal book On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families, which provided a grief model for people who were dying and for those they were leaving behind.
“Those who have the strength and the love to sit with a dying patient in the silence that goes beyond words will know that this moment is neither frightening nor painful, but a peaceful cessation of the functioning of the body.”
— quoted from On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Dr. Kübler-Ross explained from the beginning that her outline was not intended to be linear and yet, people wanted to be able to step through the stages with grace and ease. The problem with that mindset is… life is messy and so is grieving. A perfect example of the messiness of life and death can be found in Dr. Kübler-Ross’s own life… and death. In 1995, after a series of strokes which left her partially paralyzed on her left side, she found herself confronted with the reality of her own death. Added to her grief was the closing of Shanti Nilaya (“Final Home of Peace”), a healing and growth center which she had established in the later 1970’s (shortly before her divorce) after convincing her husband to buy 40-acres of land in Escondido, California.
Despite a 2002 interview with The Arizona Republic, where she stated that she was ready to die, Dr. Kübler-Ross struggled with the fact that she could not choose her own time of death. He son Ken, Founder and President of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation, served as her caregiver for the last decade of her life. In a 2019 interview with the hosts of ABC Radio’s Life Matters, Ken said, “A few weeks before she passed she said to me, ‘Kenneth, I don’t want to die.’”
“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.”
— quoted from Death: The Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Ken Ross admitted that he was taken aback by his mother’s statement that she did not want to die. It turned out, Dr. Kübler-Ross was not only physically paralyzed; she was also stuck in the anger stage of her own grief model. She caught flak in the media — as if she were somehow above being human simply because she had studied, taught, and spoken so openly and so frequently on the subject of death and dying. She did not stay there (in the anger stage), however, as her family and friends encouraged her to keep living and to keep processing the experience of dying. Her son even literally pushed her out of her comfort zone by assisting her in wheelchair marathons and in visiting her sisters in Europe.
“[She] let herself be loved and taken care of, then that was her final lesson — and then she was allowed to graduate. For years I thought about this and what I realized was that’s exactly what she teaches. [When] you learn your lessons you’re allowed to graduate.”
— Ken Ross in a 2019 “Life Matters” interview on ABC Radio National
“In Switzerland I was educated in line with the basic premise: work, work, work. You are only a valuable human being if you work. This is utterly wrong. Half working, half dancing – that is the right mixture. I myself have danced and played too little.”
— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. in an interview
Please join me today (Tuesday, July 8th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 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.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07082020 On Death & Dying”]
“If we could raise one generation with unconditional love, there would be no Hitlers. We need to teach the next generation of children from Day One that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.”
— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.
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.)
Revised 07/08/2023 & 2025.
### “People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” EKR ###
First Friday Night Special #57 — Invitation for “A Little More Rest for Those Riding/Working for Freedom” (the “missing” invitation, w/excerpts) July 4, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Abigail Adams, America, Belle of the Ranch, Caesar Rodney, Declaration of Independence, Douglass descendants, Fourth of July, Frederick Douglass, freedom, history, Impartial Points, independence, independence-day, John Adams, John Dunlap, July 4th, liberation, politics, Restorative Yoga, The Roads with Belle, Thomas Paine, truth, yoga philosophy, yoga practice, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 2.3-2.9
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Happy 4th, for those who are celebrating! Many blessings to all!!
This is the “missing” invitation for the “First Friday Night Special” on July 4th. It includes excerpts, embedded links to related posts, and videos which are not on either playlist.
You can request an audio recording of this Restorative Yoga 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.
“I arrived in Congress (tho detained by thunder and rain) time enough to give my voice in the matter of independence… We have now got through the whole of the declaration and ordered it to be printed so that you will soon have the pleasure of seeing it.”
— quoted from Caesar Rodney’s letter to his younger brother Thomas, dated July 4, 1776
When we start talking about Independence, Liberty, Freedom, we have to talk about the effort it takes to declare it, secure it, and preserve it. It takes a lot of effort, A LOT of work! This week seems like a great time to remember not only the ideals, but also the effort/work that it took — and continues to take — to declare independence (even when we’re united), secure freedom (from tyranny), and preserve freedom (for all). When we look at all the effort/work, we will find people with one role as well as people like Caesar Rodney, a Delaware delegate of the American Continental Congress and Brigadier General of Delaware Militia (just to name a few of his many, many roles).
On July 1, 1776, in the middle of everything else he was doing — for freedom, liberty, and independence — Caesar Rodney started a two day journey, from Delaware to Pennsylvania, just to cast his vote on July 2, 1776.
And then, just for a moment, he rested.
As did many of the other Framer’s of the United States of America.
John Dunlap, an Irish printer, was not resting however. He was printing the first copies of the United States Declaration of Independence.
“WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.”
— quoted from the (first) John Dunlap version of the United States Declaration of Independence, printed on the evening of July 4, 1776
Click on the excerpt titles below to discover what else happened on the 4th of July — in 1776 and in other years.
NOTE: If you click on the embedded links above or the excerpt titles below, you will notice other ways the fight for freedom continued beyond 1776.
Wait…what exactly are we celebrating? (blink and you’ll miss it)
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
— quoted from a letter John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams, with the heading “Philadelphia July 3d, 1776”
This (encore) Restorative Yoga practice is accessible and open to all.
(NOTE: There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.)
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
NOTE: At the beginning of the practice, you will be prompted to pause and select a track. [Start with Track #1 or, for a less dynamic option, start with Track #9, 10, or 11.] The playlist tracks are slightly different in length and duration; however, the overall content is the same. I have added two (2) tracks related to the Declaration of Independence (in the before/after class music).
A playlist inspired by the 4th of July is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “4th of July 2020”]
NOTE: The playlists are slightly different, but mostly with regard to the before/after class music. The biggest difference is that there are some contextual videos that do not appear on Spotify.
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice). Having a wall, chair, sofa, or coffee table will also be handy.
“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”
— quoted from the “Introduction” to Common Sense, signed by the “Author” (Thomas Paine, known as “The Father of the American Revolution”) and dated “Philadelphia, February 14, 1776
When was the last time you read (or had someone read to you) the Declaration of Independence?
The version I recently added to the playlists is read by Orson Welles.
The first video (below) is just a reading. The second video includes a little historical context. The third video features some commentary you may find interesting (after watching one of the other videos).
“…. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn….”
— from the “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech by Frederick Douglass (July 5, 1852)
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).
A Joyful Practice 
EXCERPT: “Impossible x3” (PLUS, a music note & video) August 3, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Amisha Padnani, commentary, Gabriel Popkin, genocide, Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Regina Jonas, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Religion, The New York Times Obituaries Desk, The Ninth of Av, Tish’a B’Av
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“If I am to confess what drove me, as a woman, to become a rabbi, two things come to mind. My belief in God’s calling and my love of my fellow man. God has bestowed on each one of us special skills and vocations without stopping to ask about our gender. This means each one of us, whether man or woman, has a duty to create and work in accordance with those God-given skills.”
— quoted from the doctoral thesis entitled “May a woman hold rabbinic office?” by Rabbi Regina Jonas
“She told Berna, a Swiss women’s newspaper: ‘For me it was never about being the first. I wish I had been the hundred thousandth!’”
— quoted “First Officially Ordained Woman Rabbi Regina Jonas 1902–1944” by Gabriel Popkin, published in Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani and the [New York Times] Obituaries Desk
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, August 3rd) at 2:30 PM. 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.
The 2022 playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08032022 Always Answering the Impossible Call”]
The 2021 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. Look for “08032021 Answering the Impossible Call”]
Check out the practice video!
“Nothing can hold you back—not your childhood, not the history of a lifetime, not even the very last moment before now. In a moment you can abandon your past. And once abandoned, you can redefine it.
If the past was a ring of futility, let it become a wheel of yearning that drives you forward. If the past was a brick wall, let it become a dam to unleash your power.
The very first step of change is so powerful, the boundaries of time fall aside. In one bittersweet moment, the sting of the past is dissolved and its honey salvaged.”
— quoted from the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.
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 Is No Call Waiting ###