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!
For Those Who Missed It: The following is a compilation of excerpts from 2021 and 2023. The first and final portions are based on a First Friday Night Special practice.
Date related information, some formatting, and links have been updated.
I. Reflect + Remember
“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.
Now, in this process, another thing that is happening that is very important is that you’re breathing. And as you start meditation. You allow your breath to run just as it wills. In other words, don’t do at first any breathing exercise, but just watch your breath breathing the way it wants to breathe. And the notice a curious thing about this. You say in the ordinary way, I breathe. Because you feel that breathing is something that you are doing voluntarily just in the same way as you might be walking or talking. But you will also notice that when you are not thinking about breathing, your breathing goes on just the same. So, the curious thing about breath is that it can be looked at both as a voluntary and an involuntary action. You can feel on the one hand I am doing it, and on the other hand, it is happening to me. And that is why breathing is a most important part of meditation, because it is going to show you as you become aware of your breath, that the hard and fast division that we make between what we do on the one hand and what happens to us on the other is arbitrary. So that as you watch your breathing you will become aware that both the voluntary and the involuntary aspects of your experience are all one happening.”
— quoted from “2.5.4 Meditation” by Alan Watts
Our breath is a symbol of our life, a symbol of our life-force, and a symbol of our spirit. I say something to that affect almost every day. Yet, when that first part is combined with the perspective offered by Alan Watts, it takes on a slightly different (maybe even deeper connotation): Life is happening. Life is happening to us. Life is happening all around us. Life is a happening…whether we are engaged in it or not. But, before we start rushing off to do…life (or anything else); I just want to pause for a moment and consider the three parts of the breath.
Just breathe. Do that 90-second thing. Let your breath naturally flow in and naturally ebb out. Notice where you feel the breath; where it naturally goes — where there is awareness and presence, where it’s happening. Also, notice where there is resistance — where maybe you need to cultivate awareness, where something different is happening.
One thing you may notice, if you practice, is that pretty much every type of “breathing exercise” is an exaggeration of a natural breathing pattern. There are situations when we are breathing deeply, richly. The mind-body is focused and relaxed. Other times, we may find ourselves panting, short of breath. The mind-body may still be focused, but in this second case it is also agitated. There are times when our inhale is longer than our exhale and still other times when our exhale is longer than our inhale. There are moments in life when we find we are holding our breath — retaining the inhale or the exhale — and other times when we sigh a heavy breath out. And every one of these natural breathing patterns occurs because of something that happens in/to the mind-body.
Remember: What happens to the mind happens to the body; what happens to the body happens to the mind; and both affect the breath. In turn, what happens to the breath affects the mind and the body. In our practice, we harness the power of the breath in order to harness the power of the mind and body.
To actively and mindfully harness the power of the mind-body-spirit we have to cultivate awareness. The thing is, when you take a moment to focus, concentrate, meditate — even become completely absorbed by the breath — you may start to notice that just cultivating awareness changes the way you breathe (just as cultivating awareness can change the way you sit or stand, walk or talk). Bringing awareness to how you breathe in certain situations — or even when thinking/remembering certain situations — can give you insight into what’s happening to your mind-body. That insight provides better information for decision-making. So that you can respond in the most skillful way possible, instead of just reacting.
In other words, sometimes the best thing we can do is pay attention to our breath — and figure out what we need to do to keep breathing. Because that’s what we do: We breathe.
Remember: As long as we are breathing, we are alive; as long as we are alive, we have the opportunity to live, learn, grow, love, and really thrive. So, the first question(s) to ask yourself in a stressful and challenging situation is: What’s happening with my breath and what do I need to do, in this moment, to keep breathing?
A key element to practicing svādhyāya (“self-study”) is to observe what happens to your mind, your body, and (yes) your spirit/breath when you are in certain situations. You may notice what thoughts and/or emotions come up when you hear passages from sacred text. You may notice how your body reacts to certain music/sounds. You may notice how your breathing changes in certain poses and/or sequences. You may notice how your mind-body-spirit reacts when you imagine yourself (figuratively) walking in the footsteps of a historical or fictional person. You may notice any other combination of the above. You can also practice this important niyama (internal “observation”) by bring awareness to what happens when you remember a moment in (your) history.
Maybe the memory is something that seems to randomly pop up in your mind when you’re practicing or maybe, like with Marcel Proust, when you bite into a biscuit.
II. Reflecting & Remembering + Cause & Effect
“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
Despite the yoga sütras and lojong statements (from Tibetan Buddhism) that instruct us to cultivate and practice joy, not all practice themes are joyful. Some practices are about reflecting and remembering, recognizing cause and effect, and healing. Reflecting and remembering can be healing tools. Recognizing cause and effect can help us notice patterns so that we don’t repeat the things that create suffering. Recognizing cause and effect and noticing patterns can also assist us in repeating the things that alleviate suffering.
The thing is, we cannot do any of this work without the stability/steadiness, ease/comfort/joyfulness that allows us to focus on our breath and also on a moment. We can not practice self-study without having a mind that is at ease enough (joyful enough) to appreciate the suffering of others — or even ourselves.
There are moments in history that are brutal and horrific. Today is one of those days in history when things get worse before they get better. But, they do get better. It just takes work. It takes all of us to do the work.
“As you practice today, hold a neighbor in your hearts and minds with friendship and kindness. Offer your efforts, no matter how small, as a token of that friendship and kindness. As so many people suffer due to current events, may we take a moment to remember those who are still suffering due to our shared past. Let us not forget those who are still grieving and healing from past wounds. May our efforts bring us all closer to peace, harmony, and benevolence.”
— quoted from my blog post for August 5, 2020
Warning: The “memories” below were originally posted in 2021 and reference to slavery, World War II, and the COVID pandemic.
The timeline has been updated and slightly revised.
For most people, reading through the list below will be a different experience than hearing each one in turn. Still, take your time. Also, give yourself time to not only breathe, but to notice the breath in the mind and in the body.
This is not about thinking about these situations or creating/telling the story. It’s about noticing how you feel and how that translates into a breathing pattern. Then, the practice becomes about noticing what changes through observation. Yes, you can engage the breath (by controlling it, even sighing). However, I encourage you to just let the breath naturally flow in and freely ebb out — and just watch what happens as you watch it. Don’t force anything. Go with the flow. If you find yourself holding on (to anything), your breath and awareness are the tools you use to let go before moving on to the next item.
Four years ago this week, my mother passed. Like so many other people who have experienced an unexpected loss of a loved one, the anniversary brings certain feelings, emotions, thoughts…vibrations. There is still sadness and grief — among other things/sensations that are part of life.
Take a moment, especially if you have experienced such a loss, to notice what happens when you continue to breath — i. e., to live. Consider that grief comes not because we loss someone (or something), but because we loved and were loved. Let all of that wash over you.
Four years and a few months ago, George Floyd was killed and his murder was a watershed moment in the United States and in the world. Everyone had and continues to have a different experience around what happened in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020 (just as many people had and continue to have different feelings around what happened in Central Park on the same day).
Take a moment to notice how you feel, right now, as your remember, the moments between then and now. Is there any tightness? Any resistance? What happens when you notice the tightness and/or resistance? What happens when you don’t notice tightness and/or resistance? Let any judgement wash over you.
Nearly four and a half ago years ago — almost 5 years ago for some people outside of the United States — the world started shutting down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Take a moment to notice how you feel as you think about that? What’s happening with body, your mind, your breath? How does it feel to be where you are in the ever-changing process that is life given this global health crisis (and that fact that we are all in different places/stages related to it)? What do you need to do to keep breathing? Maybe, this is a good time to sigh a breath (or two) out.
59 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law. The law came about after protests and marches — and so much violent resistance directed at those peacefully resisting. It also came about after private citizens implored President Johnson to take action and after he spoke, passionately, to Congress.
The act has been amended at least five times, to close legal loopholes and reinforce the rule of law. Yet, to this day, the Voting Rights Acts are still being challenged and still being defended.
What comes up for you when you think about all the efforts that led up to the Act and all that has transpired in the meanwhile? How are you breathing?
79 years ago today, on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM (local time), the United States Army Air Forces’ Enola Gray dropped the atomic bomb designated “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. Buildings and trees were destroyed. Approximately 80,000 people were killed on impact. Another 35,000 died over the next week and an additional 60,000 over the next year. Thousands more suffered for the rest of their lives. Three days later, at 11:01 AM (local time) on August 9th, the United States Army Air Forces’ Bockscar dropped a second atomic bomb (designated “Fat Man”) on Nagasaki and thousands more died.
You may have learned that the bombs were dropped in response to or in retaliation of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. You may have learned that the U. S.’s attack on Japan helped to end World War II and the Holocaust, thereby saving thousands of lives. Around the world, these historical events are taught in very different ways. So, you may or may not have learned that some people say the war was already ending. You may or may not have learned that Nagasaki was not initial target for the second atomic bomb and that, in fact, the flight crews on the bomber and its escorts had already started the contingency plans that involved dropping the bomb in the ocean — which would have saved thousands of lives.
What happens when you remember what you already knew? What happens when you think of something you didn’t previously know or remember? What do you need to do, in this moment, to take a deep breath in and a deeper breath out?
163 years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act of 1861, which allowed Union forces to seize Confederate property during the Civil War. This “property” included enslaved people and one of the intentions of the act was to free people who were in any way attached to the rebellion. Freeing enslaved people was also part of the intention of the Confiscation Act that Congress passed on July 17, 1862 — which allowed the federal government to free the “property” of any member of the Confederacy (military or civilian) who resided in territory occupied by the Union Army but who had not surrendered within 60 days of the Act passing. President Lincoln wasn’t sure of the legality or the ultimate effects of the Confiscations Acts of 1861 and 1862, but he signed them into law anyway; thereby laying a foundation for the legal emancipation of all enslaved people within the Union.
What do you feel and/or think when you consider these Acts of Congress and President Lincoln? Is there any difference in sensation when considering the enslaved people and/or the people of the Confederacy? Do you experience any tightness and/or resistance around this being mentioned? Is any of the tightness and/or resistance connected to thoughts that arose related to other steps taken to ensure emancipation? What are you feeling with regard to steps taken to deny emancipation?
Take a deep breath in. Sigh it out. Spend some time just breathing (through your nose) and observing the breath. You can repeat the 1:1 and 1:2 prānāyāma (using a 4-count base), which is a great practice before, during, and after stressful encounters. Finally, take another few minutes to allow the breath to naturally flow in and freely ebb out.
Obviously, there are even more “memories” related to this date. Some of them may have come up for you. Some of them may have been interwoven with the events above. In any case, take another moment to consider those “neighbors” — near and far — who are also processing past events, on and off the mat. Take a moment to consider what happens when we remember that we are all in this together.
“[Shinichi Tetsutani] did not survive that night. He was ten days short of his fourth birthday.
The next day, Shin’s father buried him in the backyard along with his friend Kimi and his beloved tricycle.
Forty years later, Shin’s father decided to move his son’s remains to the family gravesite. When his parents dug up the little bodies, Shin’s father was surprised to find the tricycle. He had completely forgotten about it. As he gently lifted Shin’s tricycle, his father thought, ‘This should never happen to children. Maybe if enough people could see Shin’s tricycle, they would remember that the world should be a peaceful place where children can play and laugh.’
The very next day, Shin’s father donated the tricycle to the Peace Museum in Hiroshima where it remains as a powerful symbol and a bitter reminder of the horrors of nuclear warfare.
Shin’s story was brought to light through a children’s book titled Shin’s Tricycle by Tatsuharu Kodama published in 1992.”
— quoted from the article “Shin’s Tricycle” by Kaushik Patowary (dated FEB 13, 2019)
Please join me today (Tuesday, August 6th) 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 “08062022 Cause + Effect”]
Extreme heat (and hard memories) 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 a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
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.
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing Eastertide, Counting the Omer, and/or working as a force of peace, freedom, and fulfillment (inside and outside).
“Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. A lady of my acquaintance said, ‘I don’t care so much for what they say as I do for what makes them say it.’”
— quoted from the essay “Social Aims” in Letters and Social Aims by Ralph Waldo Emerson (b. 1803)
Yesterday, a group of United States veterans reportedly spent part of their Memorial Day weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina with the intention of asking people at the Republican National Convention to honor the basic principles of the “republic, for which it stands” and they were (reportedly) escorted out of the area. Even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is about that and the about the idea of still serving even after one’s official service is over — and about how people react to that.
Four years ago today, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is about that and the about the importance of treating someone you perceive as being different from you with respect — and about how we seem to keep forgetting that.
Two hundred, twenty-one years ago today, Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. I often say that I am blown away by the fact that his words are still relevant to our present circumstances. And, even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is about that.
The excerpt below is from a 2021 post. Click on the title for the entire post.
Please join me today (Saturday, May 25th) 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 “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
Thank you to everyone who Kiss[ed] My Asana!
We surpassed the overall fundraiser goals & one of my personal goals!!! Whether you showed up in a (Zoom) class, used a recording, shared a post or video, liked and/or commented on a post or video, and/or made a donation — you and your efforts are appreciated! Thank you!!!
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.
Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox (tonight)! Happy New Year, to those who are getting ready for the new year! “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, Lent, Great Lent, and/or the 19-Day Fast throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“When Bob Dylan‘s self-titled debut LP hit shelves on March 19th, 1962, it didn’t sound anything like the popular music of the time. It was the height of ‘The Twist’ dance craze, and 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had the word ‘twist’ in the title, including ‘Dear Lady Twist’ by Gary U.S. Bonds, ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’ by Sam Cooke, ‘Hey, Let’s Twist’ by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, ‘Twistin’ Postman’ by the Marvelettes and ‘Alvin Twist’ by the Chipmunks.”
— quoted from the 2012 Rolling Stone article “50 Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan Released His Debut Album – Album was recorded in six hours for $402” by Andy Greene
The following is an excerpt from a 2023 post:
“[Bob Dylan’s debut studio album, Bob Dylan,] was recorded on November 20th and 22nd of 1961. In addition to the two original Dylan songs (‘Talkin’ New York’ and ‘Song to Woody’), there were eleven covers or traditional folk songs (including Negro spirituals). While Bob Dylan did arrange some of the folk songs, there’s one arrangement that he famously, uhmm… ‘borrowed’ (without permission) from folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Exactly a month after recording the album, Bob Dylan had an informal recording session in a Minneapolis, Minnesota hotel room with Bonnie Beecher and Tony Glover. Those bootleg recordings may or may not have been distributed out of someone’s trunk; but, they were the equivalent of modern-day artists streaming their music. They got people excited about Bob Dylan as a musician and may be considered a better glimpse (than the studio album) of what was to come from the artist.
The bootleg recordings did not, however, drum up enough attention to really sell Bob Dylan. The album has never been super popular (chart wise) in the US or the UK. Neither did it, initially, receive a lot of critical recognition or attention. Part of the lack of interest, at the time it was released, may have been because it sounded nothing like what was popular at the time….
In addition to ‘Peppermint Twist,’ also by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, which spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the airwaves at the time were filled with doowop artists like Gene Chandler; crooners like Ray Charles and Neil Sedaka; women like Connie Francis, Shelley Fabares, and Little Eva; Motown girl bands like The Shirelles; and boy bands like the Beach Boys and The Tokens (whose number one song at the beginning of 1962, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ is its own ‘lottery’ cautionary tale). Of course, there was folk music; however, as Andy Greene pointed out, ‘To most of America, the Kingston Trio were the embodiment of folk music…. but [Dylan] sounded nothing like the Kingston Trio.’ Then there was Elvis Presley… and some 1962 reviewers did compare Dylan — as well as his voice and his style — to Elvis Presley.
“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”
— quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan
Please join me today (Tuesday, March 19th) 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 “05242022 Bob’s Poems”]
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.)
Peace and ease to all during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons! You have to take care of yourself (before you can take care of others)!!
“Everyone deserves music, sweet music”
— quoted from the song “Everyone Deserves Music” by Michael Franti & Spearhead
Yes, everyone deserves music… and friendship. Friendship is one of the six siddhis described as “the powers and privileges unique to humans” in the Yoga and Sankhya (or Sāṁkhya). It is the power to “[cultivate] a good heart; finding friends;” i.e., the power of making connections with others. This is an ability we start learning about as soon as we are aware that there are “other” people and things. Initially, however, geography and general location plays a big part in who becomes our friends. Our proximity to someone, combined with things we have in common — like shared experiences and hobbies — strengths that bond.
For better or for worse, modern modes of travel, media, and the internet have created opportunities for people who are geographically far apart to make really intense connections. However, technology doesn’t change the ties that bind: ties like music, sports, art, and shared history.
“On October 17, 1903, [Branch] Rickey felt the ‘Black Cyclone’s’ full power when he ran their ends dizzy for 20, 25, 35 and 70 yard gains, the last being a touchdown. After that game Rickey praised Follis, calling him ‘a wonder.’ It was the power of his example, his character, and his grace that convinced Rickey, that color could not belie his greatness. The rest is history….”
— quoted from the “Background” section of the Charles Follis Foundation website
Please join me today (Saturday, February 3rd) 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 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “02032021 The Day the Music Died”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist has the Tommy Dee version of “Three Stars” during the practice and the Eddie Cochran version in the before/after music. The Spotify playlist has Cochran’s version during the practice and Charlie Gracie’s song “I’m Alright,” a tribute to Eddie Cochran, in the before/after music.
“For years, [Dr. Mike Miller], a research cardiologist, has been studying the effects of happiness — or things that make people happy — on our hearts. He began his research with laughter, and found watching funny movies and laughing at them could actually open up blood vessels, allowing blood to circulate more freely.
Miller thought, if laughter can do that, why not music? So, he tested the effects of music on the cardiovascular system. ‘Turns out music may be one of the best de-stressors — either by playing or even listening to music,’ said Miller.”
— quoted from a 2009 CNN Health segment entitled, “The power of music: It’s a real heart opener” by Val Willingham, CNN Medical Producer
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.)
May your mind-body-spirit be well, be great, and be in harmony with your thoughts, words, and deeds.
This can be considered a “missing” and “long lost” post for Monday, January 8th (with one tiny reference to January 9th).Other than the Wednesday (7:15 PM, CST) practice, there are no Zoom practices until Saturday, January 13th.You can request an audio recording of previous practices via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
“He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient…”
— quoted from “Article. II. Section. 3.” of the The Constitution of the United States
Any time we get on the mat (or the cushion) we scan our mind-body-spirit and get a sense of how things are (or are not) working and working together. In other words, we address the state of our “union.” I put that last part in quotes, because the Sanskrit word yoga translates into English as “union” — and, so, we get on the mat and spend a little time delivering our own personal State of the Union address (to ourselves).margin-top:
George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address to the joint sessions of Congress in New York City, the proposed capital of the fledgling United States of America, on January 8, 1790. His interpretation of “from time to time” was annually and other presidents followed suit. Up until Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the phrase “State of the Union,” in his 1934 address, it was called “the President’s Annual Message to Congress.” People often think presidents are required to deliver an oral speech, however, the State of the Union does not have to be spoken. In fact, Thomas Jefferson discontinued speeches in 1801, and the tradition of a U. S. president speaking in front of Congress was not re-established until Woodrow Wilson’s speech in 1913.
Some presidents, like Jimmy Carter, delivered spoken and written addresses during their time in office. For instance, former President Carter’s last State of the Union address (in 1981) was the last written address, so far. Presidents have delivered written address for various reasons. Sometimes illness or political conflicts resulted in a written speech. At other times, there was a desire to provide clarification and nuance that they may have felt would be missed if a speech was delivered. In fact, the lengthiness of the address resulted in some being written — and some being written and partially delivered or summarized. President Richard Nixon (who celebrated his birthday on January 9th) gave Congress six (6) written State of the Union address in 1973, with each message being preceded by a radio address.
Former President Nixon was not, however, the first president to utilize media and technology in order to share the State of the Union with the entire Union. Nor was he the only president to submit a written address to Congress and broadcast a summary for the populace. Warren G. Harding was the first U. S. president to speak on the radio, in 1922, but he unexpectedly died in office, in 1923. Later that year, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to deliver a State of the Union on the radio and his first words were addressed the untimely death of his predecessor.
“Since the close of the last Congress the Nation has lost President Harding. The world knew his kindness and his humanity, his greatness and his character. He has left his mark upon history. He has made justice more certain and peace more secure. The surpassing tribute paid to his memory as he was borne across the continent to rest at last at home revealed the place lie held in the hearts of the American people. But this is not the occasion for extended reference to the man or his work. In this presence, among these who knew and loved him, that is unnecessary. But we who were associated with him could not resume together the functions of our office without pausing for a moment, and in his memory reconsecrating ourselves to the service of our country. He is gone. We remain. It is our duty, under the inspiration of his example, to take up the burdens which he was permitted to lay down, and to develop and support the wise principles of government which he represented.”
— quoted from the “First Annual Message,” delivered December 06, 1923 by President Calvin Coolidge
Just as radio changed the reach and impact of the State of the Union address, so too have television, the internet, and social media. Former President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised State of the Union, in 1947, and former President Lyndon B. Johnson set the precedent of delivering a televised speech during primetime (while using a teleprompter). In 1997, the first State of the Union on the internet was delivered by former President Bill Clinton — who also has the unfortunate distinction of being the first to deliver a State of the Union during an impeachment trial.
Of course, former President Clinton was not the first or the last president to deliver a State of the Union address during a time great tragedy and/or national embarrassment. Former President Ronald Reagan postponed his 1986 address because of the Challenger disaster and, in 2019, the then-sitting president was “disinvited” by the then Speaker of the House. Such events change our perspective of current events and, therefore, place the (actual) state of the Union in a certain context. In other words, what we are going through individually and collectively allows — and/or causes — us to see things in a certain way.
“My expectations were reduced to zero at twenty-one. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free.”
— Dr. Stephen Hawking (CH CBE FRS FRSA)
When we practice on January 8th, I sometimes reference Stephen William Hawking, the theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and director of research, who was born January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. When he was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease in his early 20’s, he was forced to take a daily accounting of his mind, body, and spirit — as well as how they were (or were not) working… let alone working together. For similar reasons, the playlist includes music by Elvis Aaron Presley, who was born January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, and by David Bowie, who was born January 8, 1947, in London, England. I include the “King of Rock and Roll” and “Ziggy Stardust,” because they produced great music AND, also, because their music gives us a musical (and visual) picture of the state of society (in America and in the world) at various points in history. Additionally, moving to their music — mindfully and “in a special way” — can awaken our awareness of how our different parts are (or are not) working… let alone working together.
“If I could be you, if you could be me For just one hour If we could find a way To get inside each other’s mind, uh huh
If you could see you through my eyes Instead of your ego I believe you’d be, I believe you’d be Surprised to see That you’ve been blind, uh huh”
— quoted from the song “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” by Elvis Presley (written by Joe South)
“I’ve got scars that can’t be seen I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen Everybody knows me now”
— quoted from the song “Lazarus” by David Bowie
As established by Article II, Section 3 of the U. S. Constitution, the State of the Union address is a re-cap of and reflection on the recent past and a look forward with hope, expectation, and a plan. Since it generally happens as early as January 3rd and as late as February 12th
, it is pretty much the same thing individuals do at the beginning of the year — and, also, what we have the opportunity to do every time we step on the mat: look at what’s worked and what hasn’t worked in the past and propose on a way to move forward.
This year, my personal State of the Union finds me back in Minnesota simultaneously looking forward and back, reflecting on what worked (or didn’t work) over the last 15+ years, the last almost 4 years, and the last week. Like the presidents of yesteryear, I am not going to spend a bunch of time recounting the negative stuff, I am just going to use it to provide a little context for the good stuff.
“A tranquil and one-pointed mind is purposefully creative. With such a mind you get more done in less time, and what is more, because it is done with clarity and purpose, the work you undertake is not a burden and does not become a source of misery.
A confused mind is not fit to follow any path. It is not even in a position to tell the body and senses what is good for them and what is not. That is why we go on complying with the urges of the body and senses, even when these urges serve no useful purpose. Such a mind has no way of deciding what it should unite with or what it should separate from; this confusion is what causes a person to live a purposeless, meaningless life.”
— quoted from “Yoga: Union with What?” (a Q&A response) by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
When my “hostess with the most-est” first suggested the idea of me returning to Minnesota for a couple of weeks, she had said that she had (and I quote), That could be considered “no expectations” and, also, could be a way to describe the practice of non-attachment in the modern world: speak a plan into exist, do some work to make it happen, and be open to the way it unfolds.
I, however, had a bit of an agenda and some expectations — if only because I normally offer some special practices on New Year’s Day and on the First Friday Night of each month. I also had some hopes and desires about reconnecting — uniting, if you will — with some people I had seen in awhile. Then, too, I had the awareness that it had been a long time since most of us had practiced together (let alone together-together) and that some things about each and everyone of us are different. My desires, hopes, agendas, expectations, and even fears could all be considered forms of attachment and afflicted/dysfunctional thinking. In other words, they could all lead to suffering… and, on a certain level they did.
I had moments of frustration and disappointment. I know others also had similar moments (for different reasons). However, when everything is said and done, I am overwhelmed by gratitude. After almost four years of practicing together-while-apart, I am so very grateful that so many people were able to join in “Yoga Week” (as some of you were calling the first week of January 2024). I appreciated the presence of everyone who physically practiced in our four (4) studios — as well as to those who Zoomed in from as far away as Portland and the Middle East and those who did their best and could only make it in spirit.
I am forever grateful to my hostess for planting the seed, nourishing that seed and, doing so much to make it happen (including sharing her family and her practice). Similarly, I am grateful for the people who suggested possible spaces and the four lovely lovelies who connected me and helped me get situated in our “pop up” studios. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you to the staff members at Center for the Performing Arts, Gabrielle and the teachers at 612 Jungle, and the teachers and staff at Roosevelt High School and North Community High School. Thank you for those who offered technical support (even before I arrived) and thank you to everyone who offered me a ride (even if I didn’t take it), fed me, offered to feed me, and/or made a donation (so I can feed myself when I get back to Texas)! Thank you, in advance, for those who will make it to the Open House on Thursday and thank you to JK who is opening her heart, home, and hearth to us exactly four years (to the date) from the last time we gathered together.
Looking forward, I hope this week has reignited you and your practice. I hope it has given you some insight into what comes next for you. I hope it has allowed you to let go of some things that no longer serve you, so that you can move it the new year with a little more unencumbered purpose and determination. I hope that purpose and determination inspires you to plan… something. I hope you are safe and protected, peaceful and happy, healthy and strong, and that you have ease and well being from this day forward.
As for me: I am open to coming back… for a visit. Maybe it will be another New Year Yoga Week; maybe it will be a series of workshops and/or a retreat. Maybe it will be in another place all together, but we will be back — together — again.
“In contrast, a peaceful, one-pointed mind has a natural ability to see itself, its role, and its place in relation to both body and soul. This ability allows the mind to command the body to discharge its duty to hear and heed the voice of the soul. The practices that help us acquire a one-pointed mind are called yoga. Reaching that state is the goal of yoga.”
— quoted from “Yoga: Union with What?” (a Q&A response) by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
The 2022 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for 01082022 State of the “Union”]
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.)
It’s been a while; but, do you remember all the gear I put on to deal with winter in Minnesota? Well…
It’s Time to Gear Up for a New Year!
For a limited time only, I will be back in the Twin Cities. In-person practices (also available on Zoom) will be held at various locations Monday, January 1st until Sunday, January 7th — with an additional practice held only on Zoom on Wednesday, January 10th. Spaces are limited for the in-person practices!
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.)
May you be safe and protected — and may you enjoy your journey.
“In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.
On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.”
– quoted from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig
The following excerpt is from the 2022 version of a 2020 post:
“It’s like a road trip. The vehicle is moving but we are still inside the vehicle; the scenery is still, but appears to be moving. Everything merges and converges while we are still. Do you see where we’re going?
It’s OK if you don’t. This is kind of like that old joke where someone says, ‘I’m not lost. I know exactly where we are. We’re in the car.’ Now, consider what happens if we could get out of the box or cage we’re in and become part of the scenery. Not walking necessarily, but riding. So that the scenery is simultaneously still and moving… but so are we. And, just like with a moving meditation, there is some part of us that always stays still.”
Please join me for a “spirited” virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Wednesday, September 6th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 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.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09062020 The Art of Moving Meditation”]
“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.”
– quoted from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig
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 (non-professional) support.
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.)
### Just a little more “purposeless play” as “a way of waking up to the very life we’re living.” ~ JC ###
“Happy Riḍván!” to those celebrating “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating/observing Eastertide / the Octave of Easter!
This is a “missing” post for Saturday, April 22nd. It includes some recycled quotes and re-purposed information from earlier posts. Some embedded links will take you outside of the blog. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
– quoted from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (published 1962)
So, this week we considered the power found in waiting, waiting in community and also the power of water and light – which is akin to fire – (plus there were some references to wind). But what about Earth… and Space? And what does any of this have to do with grace, particularly shastra kripa (or, at least, one of the definitions of shastra kripa)? To get to all that we have to get grounded, dig deep, and take a little detour through another celebration related to waiting and through a yogathon.
Notice, however, that all of the references below are centered and grounded in community.
“But it seems reasonable to believe — and I do believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.”
– Rachel Carson accepting the John Burroughs Medal (April 1952) and printed in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson
In addition to being the beginning of the 10th annual Kiss My Asana yogathon, today was Earth Day. While the roots of Earth Day can be found in the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, an actual day dedicated to Earth and peace was initially proposed by John McConnell during a 1969 conferenced hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The very first Earth Day, as he proposed it, was held in San Francisco on March 21, 1970, to coincide with the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, proposed a nationwide environmental teach-in and hired a young activist named Denis Hayes to organize the first national Earth Day, which was held on April 22, 1970. More than 20 million people, including then-President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, participated in the events on April 22, 1970, making that day one of the largest protests in the United States. (The 1970 Earth Day teach-in was the largest recorded protest until the 2020 protest after the murder of George Floyd.)
“In these troubled times it is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility. There is modern truth to the ancient wisdom of the psalmist: `I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.’”
– quoted from Rachel Carson’s original submission to “Words to Live By” for This Week Magazine (1951)
“A determination to be outward looking in the process of community building had already become an established aspect of culture in many, many places; it has now blossomed, in a rising number of communities, into a sense of real responsibility for the spiritual and material progress of larger and larger groups within society, well beyond the membership of the Bahá’í community itself. The efforts of the friends to build communities, to engage in social action, and to contribute to the prevalent discourses of society have cohered into one global enterprise, bound together by a common framework for action, focused on helping humanity to establish its affairs on a foundation of spiritual principles.”
– quoted from the Riḍván 2022 message from the Universal House of Justice “To the Bahá’is of the World”
Thursday night marked the beginning of the twelve-day festival of Ridván, “the Most Great Festival” in the Baháʼí Faith. As I mentioned last month, the Baháʼí Faith is a monotheistic faith that believes in the oneness of God and religion, as well as the oneness and nobility of humanity. The community believes that, historically, there has been a “progressive revelation of religious truth” which has been shared with the world through the voices of the prophets or Divine Messengers, known as “Manifestations of God” (which include “Braham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and, in more recent times, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh”). People within the faith are taught to honor the value of different religious and philosophical traditions as well as the value of education, especially in science (which is viewed by some faiths as being contrary to religion).
The Bahá’í calendar begins around the Vernal (Spring) Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and has 19 months with 19 days – each named for one of the 19 names/manifestations/attributes of God. For example, “Splendor” and “Glory” are the English translations for Bahá and Jalál, the first two months (and days) of this solar calendar. There are also 4 or 5 intercalary days that occur just before the final month and which are considered “transcendent” in nature. The calendar is partially tied to the Gregorian calendar, in that days on each calendar always correspond with each other; however, the Bahá’í calendar is very much focused around its own historical liturgy. Hence, why 2023 is the year 180 BE (Bahá’í Era).
The twelve-day festival of Ridván, one of the holiest times within the Bahá’í community, is celebrated during the second month and begins exactly one Gregorian-month after the new year. This “Most Great Festival” in the Baháʼí Faith honors the time that the founder of the Bahá’i Faith, Bahá’u’lláh waited in the original garden of Ridván prior to being exiled to Constantinople. The Arabic word ridván means “paradise” and I indicated “the original garden,” because in addition to the garden outside of Baghdad, where the great spiritual leader (considered a manifestation of the Divine) prepared for his exile, there is a second garden with the same name in Israel, which Bahá’u’lláh visited after years of exile.
The festival is a time of a sacred time of prayer, reflection, and celebration. This year’s celebrations began two hours before sunset on Thursday – with the specific timing meant to commemorate the actual time, in 1863, when Bahá’u’lláh entered the Najíbíyyih Garden with his three sons and his secretary and began to receive the visitors who wanted to wish him well before his departure. It was during this time, in the space he called “paradise,” that Bahá’u’lláh declared himself as the most recent manifestation of God; that all religious wars were repealed; that there would not be another manifestation of the God for another 1,000 years; and that the names of God (or attributes of the divine) are manifested in all things. To honor the fact that he made these announcements, the Universal House of Justice issues an annual Ridván message. They also hold elections held during this time. The first day (yesterday), the ninth day (next Saturday), and the twelfth day are considered the most holy of days. The ninth day is auspicious because it is the day the rest of Bahá’u’lláh’s family joined him in the garden and it is also the beginning of the third month, Jamál (“Beauty”).
“Besides my involvement with the Investor’s Circle, I temporarily put aside my plan for an institute and returned to the basics – an almost exclusive focus on my yoga practice. After a couple of years, I decided that it was time to share my experience with yoga and paralysis. If nothing else, I could help others who lived with disability. I started teaching an adapted yoga class at the Courage Center, a leading rehabilitation facility in a suburb of Minneapolis.
My idea was that by teaching this class, I could give something back – an obvious means to make my experience useful. What I found was much more. I thought I was teaching these students, when, in fact, they were teaching me. Neurological deficit is a frontier of mind-body integration. Working with these students has taught me that the principles of yoga are nondiscriminating – they can travel though any body.”
– quoted from “16, Falling Gracefully” in “Part Three: Yoga, Bodies, and Baby Boys” of Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford
As I have mentioned before, my first exposure to the physical practice of yoga was also my first exposure to Yoga Philosophy and to the fact that anyone and everyone can practice yoga. Sometimes we stumble upon the practice that works for us. However, sometimes it takes an extra effort to find the practice (and the teacher) that works for our particular mind-bod-spirit. In fact, it wasn’t until I took my first yoga teacher training that I really realized how many people weren’t practicing, because they didn’t know they could practice. Even worse, some people had been told that they couldn’t practice – which is heartbreaking.
Still, I believed (and continue to believe) in the transformative, healing, and joyful experience of yoga. I also still believe there is a practice for every mind/body/spirit – every veteran, every person with disability, every survivor of sexual assault and other trauma, every elderly person, every person living with chronic pain, every person with a terminal illness, and every caregiver. I am joyfully participating in the Kiss My Asana yogathon for the 10th year in a row, because Mind Body Solutions is helping people find their practice!
The Kiss My Asana yogathon is an annual event that raises awareness and resources for Mind Body Solutions and their life-affirming work to help people living with disabilities. Best known for their Adaptive Yoga Program, which provides adapted yoga opportunities for people around the globe, MBS currently provides live, online resources to people living with disabilities, worldwide. In addition to 11 live online yoga classes a week, MBS has also created a comprehensive library of recorded adaptive yoga classes for students, instructional videos for adaptive yoga teachers, and insightful interviews between the founding teacher, Matthew Sanford, and adaptive students. In the past, MBS has also offered training and workshops for yoga teachers, healthcare professionals, and caregivers (so they can share this work in their communities, too).
All of this helps people with disabilities live more fully, where they are and how they are. Ultimately, however, Mind Body Solutions is all about everyone having better relationships with their mind-body and spreading the message that a greater connection between mind and body can help us all live with improved comfort and ease. So, we can all benefit from the practice, because we all experience trauma, loss, and disability in some way shape or form.
The yogathon started as a month-long endeavor, but switched to a 7-day yogathon in 2020. This week (April 22nd – 28th) I’m planning to practice with purpose. I’m going to “Do Yoga. Share Yoga. Help Others.” – and you can join me! The practices I lead will be full of little bits of teaching/practice I’ve picked up from Matthew Sanford and other teachers and students at Mind Body Solutions. Plus, I’ll be posting on the community page on my YouTube channel.
If you’re interested in my previous KMA offerings, check out the following (some links only take you to the beginning of a series):
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “0422020 Earth Day”]
What’s this?
Dandasana (“Staff Pose”)
Have you subscribed to my YouTube page? It’s mostly playlists, plus a few mini-practices and videos from previous yogathons. Starting later tonight, I’m also going to be posting on my community page as part of my 2023 Kiss My Asana offering. So, check it out if you want to know more about the pose pictured above (and why we’re doing it).
Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons! Happy New Year, to those who are celebrating!
For Those Who Missed It: This is an abridged (and then revised and expanded) version of a 2022 post that primarily focused on “Winning the Lottery.” Some elements of this post also overlap with the 2023 Purim post. Some embedded links connect to websites outside of my blog.
“The problem with this answering line is that the world of the blues that seems to be evoked by the idiom and form of this song is generally not a world in which one’s baby goes off to a ‘foreign land.’ African American blues singers in the tradition that Dylan is building on here may sing about their baby going off to Chicago, or New Orleans, or Natchez. But not on a trip abroad: that’s an experience that, at this particular moment, is still mostly the province of a modern, educated, Caucasian upper middle class…. Dylan goes on to claim in good rural language that he’ll ‘get lucky’ or ‘die tryin’ ’ as he rambles to reach his beloved.”
– quoted from “II. Ramblin’ Boy: ‘Protest’ and the Art of Adaptation” in Bob Dylan’s Poetics: How the Songs Work by Timothy Hampton
I recently heard a young, up-and-coming artist compare achieving a huge milestone to winning the lottery. For sure, I can see that. Especially when you consider how many people commented on the fact that this artist hit this much deserved milestone before his much lauded collaborator. (Don’t misunderstand me, I’m a big fan of both artists, but there’s something more than talent at play here.) I think having a hit song is also like that. Because while there is a lot of hard work that goes into creating a hit song, there’s also a lot of luck. It’s like that old adage: you can’t win if you don’t play. Of course, most people who play, don’t win – at least not really big – and it’s the same thing with being a big star in music.
The existence of streaming services and social media means that a lot of hustle and marketing on the part of the artist (and their community) can get an artist noticed today, in a way they couldn’t get noticed 20-plus years ago. That attention can really push a song up the charts. However, we’re still in a time time when songs are hits (in part) because they are played on the radio. And for all that hustle, many songs are played on the radio because of the way the musician looks. This is true across genres. This is even more so when it comes to music in and from certain countries and cultures. Being talented and having the “right” size, complexion, ethnicity, and (on a certain level) gender and sexuality, is like hitting the Powerball®.
“The Multi-State Lottery Association encourages all lottery players to be responsible in their amount of play.
For some people gambling can become a problem. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, there are a number of helpful resources listed below.
National Council on Problem Gambling 24 Hour Confidential National Helpline Call: 1-800-522-4700 Chat: ncpgambling.org/chat Text: 1-800-522-4700
– quoted from the “Play Responsibly” tab on the Powerball® website
While I’ve been known to play bingo in a church basement (for charity and the chance to win a homemade quilt), I’m not really one to play the lottery. My limited understanding is that there’s a lot of different ways you can win with a Powerball®. However, just like with music and other things that could make you wealthy beyond your dreams, you have to be responsible and avoid the scams. You have to balance the temptation and your desire with reality. The reality, again, being that if you don’t play, you don’t win; but most people don’t win… big.
If you’re talented and have the aforementioned equivalent of the Powerball®, you can do things other people can’t do. You can write songs that make people re-think the world. You can sing songs other people not only wouldn’t think to sing, but might be afraid to sing. You can inspire people to sing your songs… even when they don’t always understand you. To me, Bob Dylan and his eponymous first album are a great example of a musical Powerball®.
“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”
– quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s debut studio album, Bob Dylan, was released today (March 19th) in 1962. I didn’t use it for the anniversary this last year – because I thought it would distract from [the] sūtra study – but, normally I use one of the playlists that I also use on Bob Dylan’s birthday (hint, hint). It’s a playlist that combines music from the original album – which only included two original Bob Dylan songs – with Bob Dylan songs covered and/or made famous by others. It’s a good way, I think, to highlight the fact that Dylan is as inspired as he is inspirational.
Bob Dylan, the album, was recorded on November 20th and 22nd of 1961. In addition to the two original Dylan songs (“Talkin’ New York” and “Song to Woody”), there were eleven covers or traditional folk songs (including Negro spirituals). While Bob Dylan did arrange some of the folk songs, there’s one arrangement that he famously, uhmm… “borrowed” (without permission) from folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Exactly a month after recording the album, Bob Dylan had an informal recording session in a Minneapolis, Minnesota hotel room with Bonnie Beecher and Tony Glover. Those bootleg recordings may or may not have been distributed out of someone’s trunk; but, they were the equivalent of modern-day artists streaming their music. They got people excited about Bob Dylan as a musician and may be considered a better glimpse (than the studio album) of what was to come from the artist.
The bootleg recordings did not, however, drum up enough attention to really sell Bob Dylan. The album has never been super popular (chart wise) in the US or the UK. Neither did it, initially, receive a lot of critical recognition or attention. Part of the lack of interest, at the time it was released, may have been because it sounded nothing like what was popular at the time. According to a Rolling Stone article by Andy Greene, “[The album came out at] the height of ‘The Twist’ dance craze, and 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had the word ‘twist’ in the title, including “Dear Lady Twist” by Gary U.S. Bonds, “Twistin’ The Night Away’ by Sam Cooke, “Hey, Let’s Twist” by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, “Twistin’ Postman” by the Marvelettes and “Alvin Twist” by the Chipmunks.”
In addition to “Peppermint Twist,” also by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, which spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the airwaves at the time were filled with doowop artists like Gene Chandler; crooners like Ray Charles and Neil Sedaka; women like Connie Francis, Shelley Fabares, and Little Eva; Motown girl bands like The Shirelles; and boy bands like the Beach Boys and The Tokens (whose number one song at the beginning of 1962, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” is it’s own “lottery” cautionary tale). Of course, there was folk music; however, as Andy Greene pointed out, “To most of America, the Kingston Trio were the embodiment of folk music…. but [Dylan] sounded nothing like the Kingston Trio.”Then there was Elvis Presley… and some 1962 reviewers did compare Dylan – as well as his voice and his style – to Elvis Presley.
Which is weird to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Bob Dylan fan (on a lot of different levels). I even dig that first album. However, the comparison to Elvis is curious, when you really think about it. At the time, maybe they were both just seen as young, eager singers changing the “face” of music – and I get that. They were also young, white singers making popular (city) music out of traditions associated with Black, poor, and/or rural America – and I get that comparison, too. However, it’s hard for me to not view them through the lens of history.
Elvis was a singer, a performer, an actor, and a U. S. veteran; but, he was never recognized as a songwriter. Most say that he didn’t even pen the songs on which he is credited as a co-writer. Also, he didn’t have a ton of protest songs associated with the anti-war and Civil Rights movements. Finally, Elvis never won, as Bob Dylan did in 2016, a Nobel Prize in Literature. In fact, (to me) the only thing Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley had in common in 1962, especially when compared to other also talented musicians at the time, was that elusive Powerball® of talent, drive, and other people’s perceptions.
“How does it feel, how does it feel? To be without a home Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone”
– quoted from the song “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, March 19th) 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 is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05242022 ‘Bob’s Poems”]
“Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin’ that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The champion of the world”
– quoted from the song “Hurricane” by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. Ifyou 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.)
Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
“You could call someone where it’s still early.
Go out and look at the stars shining in the past
Or open the Joachim Jeremias to the densely printed page, it’s corner folded for some reason not yet remembered
before you set the clock.
You have to set the clock— for a moment that doesn’t exist yet”
– quoted from the poem “Home Remedy” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Do you remember this week, three years ago? Do you remember today?
I know, I know, some parts of the last three years are a blur; but, three years ago today, I was putting together a full-length practice video, to post on YouTube. It was a Wednesday, everything was shutting down, and I was posting the video so people could keep up their practice. I had no real plans to do anything else… other than post on the blog for two weeks and maybe post a couple of more videos. Goodness. Do you remember when…?
It’s a little surreal to realize that – not counting my videos on the Carry prenatal yoga and meditation app – my first full-length (physical) practice video, with all it’s flaws, is still my only full-length (physical) practice video. What is super surreal is to think about the hundreds of full-length audio recordings I’ve made in the meantime and, also, to realize that 2019 was the last time I taught a live class on the anniversary of the birth of Franz Wright.
“I am here to learn to bear the beams of love, what else
Bells through the leaves, I am here to endure the
bells tolling underground”
– quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Born in Vienna, today in 1953, Franz Wright spent portions of his childhood in Washington (state), California, and the Midwestern United States (in particular, Minnesota). In addition to sharing similar poetic themes, he and his father, James Wright, are the only parent and child to win a Pulitzer Prize in the same category. The elder Wright suffered from depression, bipolar disorders, and alcoholism and focused on the emotional suffering he saw around him, especially that suffering experienced by the disenfranchised in America. The younger Wright wrote about isolation, loneliness, longing, insomnia, and death intersecting with kindness, love, faith, hope, and peace. Three years ago today, I thought it oddly and serendipitously appropriate that my first virtual offering focused on Franz Wright’s work.
Three years later, I find his words still ring true and, oddly, still fit our current circumstances.
Versions of the following were original posted on March18thand20thof 2020. You can click on the dates (to the left) to view the original posts. Some links (below) will take you away from my blog.
Chicago Tribune critic Julia Keller once described one of Franz Wright’s collections as being “ultimately about joy and grace and the possibility of redemption, about coming out whole on the other side of emotional catastrophe,” while Denis Johnson supposedly compared his poems to “tiny jewels shaped by blunt, ruined fingers – miraculous gifts.” I know, that’s a lot to take in (and you might need to read that Va. Woolf-like sentence again). The thing is; I think we are (still) in the middle of a Franz Wright poem. So, brace yourself.
I first came across Franz Wright’s poem “Solution” in a 2015 blog post written by Alison McGhee, a New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-nominee, who writes and teaches up the street from where I was in March of 2020. In the post (which I strongly recommend), Professor McGhee wrote about an encounter she had with someone best described as her exterior opposite. Yet the interior movements of the heart, all of our hearts, are ultimately the same – something both Alison McGhee’s short post and Franz Wright’s poem illustrate bluntly, beautifully, and miraculously.
Both the post and the poem contain reminders we could all use right now.
“What is the meaning of kindness? Speak and listen to others, from now on, as if they had recently died. At the core the seen and unseen worlds are one.”
– “Solution” by Franz Wright
Franz Wright’s poems are full of natural spirituality and that oftentimes “heartbreaking human conflict between religion and spirit.” The final line of the poem “Solution” reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:18 where Saint Paul and Saint Timothy wrote, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” NOTE: The New Living Translation translates this passage as “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” In 2020, I suggested focusing on what is unseen (during the practice). Today, I suggest focusing on the unseen as grace (how ever that resonates for you).
“II
The long silences need to be loved, perhaps more than the words which arrive to describe them in time.”
– quoted from the poem “Home Remedy” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Franz Wright won two National Endowment for the Arts grants (1985 and 1992), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1989), a Whiting Award (1991), the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, (1996), and the aforementioned Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His first collection after winning the 2004 Pulitzer Prize was entitled God’s Silence. I haven’t read all of it (yet), but I am still fascinated by the idea of 144 pages worth of Franz Wright poetry curated around the idea of “God’s Silence.” Notice, that it’s 144 pages – not 144 poems. (Poets everywhere are now doing the math.) This is the kind of the thing that gets me oddly excited, because there is so much I want to know!
I want to know if he was referring to silence that is the response to a prayer or a request (or even a curse); the silence that precedes an answer; the silence that follows the answer (when the questioner is dumbfounded or in awe of the response); the silence when one is pondering the best way to phrase something and therefore measuring their words; the silence of shock (can we shock God?); the silence of disappointment; the silence of wonder; the silence when no one is around; the silence of sleeping children; the silence between one breath and the next; the silence of meditation; the silence of peace; the silence honoring the dead; the silence just before a newborn declares itself alive; or….The list goes on.
He could have been talking about all of the above. Or none of the above. There are so many possibilities – and they are all full of grace (whatever that means to you in this moment)!
“I
Armed Conflict
Snowy light fills the room pronouncing itself
softly. The telephone ringing
in the deserted city— ”
– the poem “Armed Conflict” quoted from God’s Silence by Franz Wright
The first section of God’s Silence is entitled “East Boston, 1996” and the first poem in that section, “Armed Conflict,” sets the stage for the other poems, including “Solitary Play: Minnesota, 1961” – which is a dark and twisted coming of age poem. The latter feels even darker and more twisted given so many current events related to children and our conflicts about the 2nd Amendment. And that’s the thing, again, about Franz Wright’s poetry: We don’t have to go through the things he went through to feel, deep inside of our own hearts, the gut-wrenching things he felt.
We don’t have to be the son of James Wright to understand what it is like to stand in the shadow and the light of a parent who struggled every day with their own darkness and light. Neither do we have to be abandoned by said parent to see the poignant irony of living (and dying) in much the same ways. Nor do we have to spend our finally days, dealing with terminal lung cancer and writing what are essentially love poems to our spouse*, to understand why a collection of memories is named Kindertotenwald (essentially, a forest of ones who will never age). We all get it, can get it; especially, if we read (or listen to) Franz Wright’s poetry.
Maybe, possibly, we can also get the grace that was his kindness, love, faith, hope, and peace.
“After all, it was only a blizzard in Minneapolis in 1959. How are you supposed to describe something like me? And when you think about it, why should you try, why should you even care?”
– quoted from the prose poem “Wintersleep” in Kindertotenwald by Franz Wright
I not only care about poetry that gets you through hard times, I love it. In part, because it makes you realize that someone has been through harder – or, as hard of a time as you. Additionally, I think one of the reasons I was/am so fascinated with the idea of God’s Silence is that part of my practice involves silence, moving into silence and stillness. The kind of silence and stillness that can make people uncomfortable, because it is so powerful. Yet, it is simultaneously the kind of silence and stillness that is the epitome of peace. When Patanjali codified the philosophy of yoga in the Yoga Sūtras, he wrote, “yogash citta vritti nirodah.” (YS 1.2) Yoga ceases the fluctuations of the mind.
Silence.
Perhaps, God’s silence.
“Like you a guest, a ghost here
Everything will be forgotten
And either I am too alone or I am not alone enough to make each moment holy
(no one bats 1,000 friend
no one
bats 500)
And I have heard God’s silence like the sun
and sought to change
Now
I’m just going to listen to the silence
till the Silence.”
– quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, March 18th) at 12:00 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07082020 On Death & Dying”]
*NOTE: Franz Wright was married to the translator Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright. In addition to writing and recording some of his poems (including the Clem Snide song “Encounter at 3AM,”) Mr. Wright recorded some of his final thoughts and conversations before he died in 2015. Last Words, is a documentary featuring those final recordings.
“All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
– The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 4:15 – 18 (NLT)
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.)
A Joyful Practice 