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 ###
Living, Dying, & Dreaming of the Mind’s Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness (the “missing” Wednesday post w/2 excerpts) July 9, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Bill Hayes, brain, Christopher Nolan, David Hume, Dr. Gerald Edelman, Dr. Oliver Sacks, dreaming, dreams, face blindness, Health, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ludwig van Beethoven, meditation, mental health, mind, Muriel Elsie Landau, proprioception, prosopagnosia, Rodolfo Llinás, Samuel Sacks, spirituality, wellness, yoga, Yoga Sutras 1.5-1.7
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those commemorating the Martyrdom of the Báb!
This is the “missing” post for Wednesday, July 9th. Some links will take you to sites outside of WordPress (and are marked accordingly). 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.
SHADOWS
“Dreams feel real while we’re in them. It’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.”
— the character “Cobb” (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) quoted from the movie Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan
Every once in a while, we begin the practice in “your body’s favorite sleeping position” and I will ask how you can know “that you’re starting a yoga practice in your body’s favorite sleeping position versus dreaming that you’re starting a yoga practice in your body’s favorite sleeping position”. Of course, each of us has ways that enable us (we believe) to tell our waking lives from our sleeping lives.
But those ways are dependent on our sense of self.
What if, however, we aren’t the one that is dreaming? What if we are living inside someone else’s dream? How would we even know?
In Christopher Nolan’s science fiction thriller Inception (which premiered July 8, 2010), characters refer to a “totem” the status or presence of which indicates a dream state versus a waking state. In real life, however, we may not have a “spinning top” or “loaded die” — we only have our mind… and our sense of self.
“If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.”
— quoted from The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
Born today (July 9th) in 1933, Dr. Oliver Sacks was a neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and best-selling author who was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for services to medicine, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours on November 26, 2008, and received a number of awards and honorary degrees from several professional associations, universities, and colleges. He was also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature); a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences; a Honorary Fellow at the Queen’s College, Oxford; and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Class IV—Humanities and Arts, Section 4—Literature.
With the exception of a four year period, from 1939-1943 — when he and his older brother (Michael) were evacuated and sent to boarding school to escape the Blitz during World War II, Oliver Sacks was born in raised in Cricklewood, a town in North London, England. He was the youngest of four children born to two Jewish doctors. His father, Samuel Sacks, a Lithuanian Jewish doctor. His mother, Muriel Elsie Landau, was one of the first female surgeons in England — and she would sometimes bring “work” home with her.
Given his childhood, it is not surprising that Dr. Sacks had an early interest in chemistry and that, in 1958, he earned a medical degree from The Queen’s College, Oxford. He migrated to the United States soon after he received his degree and, after completing an internship and residency in California, he moved to New York City where he began to make a name for himself.
Dr. Sacks published 18 books and hundreds of articles and essays consumed by scientist as well as lay people. His books included two memoirs (Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood and On the Move: A Life), as well as Everything in Its Place, a posthumously collection of essays. He became a household name when his 1973 book Awakenings — which chronicled his work with survivors of the 1920s sleeping sickness encephalitis lethargica epidemic — was turned into an Academy Award-nominated movie starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. Some of his other books were also turned into feature films, animated shorts, plays, and an opera. His work also inspired the creation of dance pieces, find art, and music.
Throughout his career, Dr. Sacks wrote about everything from music to color blindness to sign language to migraines to hallucinations to gratitude to his own experience with prosopagnosia (also known as “face blindness”) — which was also the diagnosis of “the man who mistook his wife for a hat”. Finally, he wrote about his own experience with death and dying.
Since yesterday was all about Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and her work related to death and dying and living, part of me wants to skip right to the end — because Dr. Oliver Sacks’s experience with death and dying was just as interesting as his experience with life. But, since his life was so interesting, I am resisting the urge to skip to the end!
SCIENCE (& PHILOSOPHY)
Yoga Sūtra 1.6: pramāṇa viparyaya vikalpa nidrā smṛtayaḥ
— “[The five types of mental activity] are correct knowledge, misconception, imagination, sleep [or knowledge found in deep sleep] and memory.”
While the subjects about which Oliver Sacks wrote may seem very different on the surface, what connected all of his work was the brain (and the way the brain works). These are also subjects that have fascinated me since I was a young child.
Similar to Dr. Sacks, my fascination probably started because I grew up with medicine in the household. My father has a PhD in neurology and physiology and so I grew around him teaching medical students about the brain and the nervous system. Then I started reading about psychoanalysis. Fast forward to my adulthood and, when I started practicing yoga, I (eventually) discovered that Patanjali devoted a lot of the Yoga Sūtras to how the brain/mind works and how we can work the brain/mind.
While there are some obvious differences between Western science and Patanjali’s philosophical discourse related to how afflicted/dysfunctional thought patterns lead to suffering — which can manifest physically as well as mentally, emotional, and/or energetically — it is also interesting to note the ways in which modern science dovetails with ancient science when it comes to perception, understanding, and the ways in which our mind-bodies process sensation/information (when we’re awake and when we are asleep).
“Rodolfo Llinás and his colleagues at New York University, comparing the electrophysiological properties of the brain in waking and dreaming, postulate a single fundamental mechanism for both—ceaseless inner talking between cerebral cortex and thalamus, a ceaseless interplay of image and feeling irrespective of whether there is sensory input or not. When there is sensory input, this interplay integrates it to generate waking consciousness, but in the absence of sensory input it continues to generate brain states, those brain states we call fantasy, hallucination, or dreams. Thus waking consciousness is dreaming—but dreaming constrained by external reality.”
— quoted from the commentary/notes in An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks
MUSIC, BEETHOVEN, & MEMORY
“‘Every act of perception,’ [Dr. Gerald] Edelman writes, ‘is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.’”
“Many composers, indeed, do not compose initially or entirely at an instrument but in their minds. There is no more extraordinary example of this than Beethoven, who continued to compose (and whose compositions rose to greater and greater heights) years after he had become totally deaf. It is possible that his musical imagery was even intensified by deafness…. There is an analogous phenomenon in those who lose their sight; some people who become blind may have, paradoxically, heightened visually imagery.”
— quoted from Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks
Serendipitously (because the initial impulse had nothing to do with this practice), I did a deep dive into the amygdala on Tuesday night and started learning how the cells many of us associate with fear-based reactions actually processes all sensation and pays particular attention to anything the mind/brain thinks is relevant to survival. This can be things we might (consciously) consider good/positive/safe as well as things we might (consciously) consider bad/negative/dangerous. This process also contributes to how we form and retain memories — all of which also comes up in various texts related to the Yoga Philosophy.
Research has shown that imagining yourself doing something over a period of time can actually help you do the thing better — as long as you’re imagining yourself doing the thing in the best way possible (i.e., doing things the correct way). For instance, you can benefit from imagining yourself practicing yoga… the right way.
What is the wrong way to practice (or imagining yourself practicing)? Any way that is not mindful.
Remember, movement is good for the mind-body and part of what can make yoga good movement is the repetition — which the brain/mind also appreciates.
MORE MUSIC
“There is certainly a universal and unconscious propensity to impose a rhythm even when one hears a series of identical sounds at constant intervals… We tend to hear the sound of a digital clock, for example, as ‘tick-tock, tick-tock’ – even though it is actually ‘tick tick, tick tick.’”
“There are, of course, inherent tendencies to repetition in music itself. Our poetry, our ballads, our songs are full of repetition; nursery rhymes and the little chants and songs we use to teach young children have choruses and refrains. We are attracted to repetition, even as adults; we want the stimulus and the reward again and again, and in music we get it.”
“Music is part of being human”
— quoted from Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR A POST ABOUT MUSIC & THE MIND.
Creating: Music for This Date II (the “missing” Wednesday post)
ONE MORE NOTE ABOUT DEATH & DYING & LIVING
“A MONTH ago, I felt that I was in good health, even robust health. At 81, I still swim a mile a day. But my luck has run out — a few weeks ago I learned that I have multiple metastases in the liver….
I feel grateful that I have been granted nine years of good health and productivity since the original diagnosis, but now I am face to face with dying. The cancer occupies a third of my liver, and though its advance may be slowed, this particular sort of cancer cannot be halted.
It is up to me now to choose how to live out the months that remain to me. I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can. In this I am encouraged by the words of one of my favorite philosophers, David Hume, who, upon learning that he was mortally ill at age 65, wrote a short autobiography in a single day in April of 1776. He titled it My Own Life.
‘I now reckon upon a speedy dissolution,’ he wrote. ‘I have suffered very little pain from my disorder; and what is more strange, have, notwithstanding the great decline of my person, never suffered a moment’s abatement of my spirits. I possess the same ardour as ever in study, and the same gaiety in company.’”
— quoted from the essay “My Own Life” by Oliver Sacks (published in The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2015)
For most of his life, Dr. Oliver Sacks was pretty quiet about his personal life. For most of his career, he didn’t write about being gay or about the fact that he was celibate for 35 years. However, in his 2015 autobiography On the Move: A Life, he wrote about how his friendship with Bill Hayes, a contributor to The New York Times, whom he met 2008, evolved into a long-term partnership. Their partnership lasted until Dr. Sacks died in 2015.
Just as was the case with everything else he found interesting, Dr. Sacks wrote an essay about the fact that he was dying. It was published in The New York Times a little over six months before he died. It is, in some ways, an obituary. It is also letter of gratitude and thanksgiving, for a life well lived.
Finally, it is a bit of wisdom — really, several bits of wisdom — about living.
Click here to read the entire essay (at Third Act Project)!
“I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers.
Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”
— quoted from the essay “My Own Life” by Oliver Sacks (published in The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2015)
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07092022 Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness”]
A FINAL NOTE ABOUT MOVING
“There is a direct union of oneself with a motorcycle, for it is so geared to one’s proprioception, one’s movements and postures, that it responds almost like part of one’s own body. Bike and rider become a single, indivisible entity; it is very much like riding a horse. A car cannot become part of one in quite the same way.”
— quoted from the chapter “Muscle Beach” in On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks
Click on the excerpt below for my brief Kiss My Asana post and short video about proprioception.
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).
CORRECTION: The original post contained wrong date and class times.
### We Think, Therefore We Are, Therefore We Dream (or maybe it’s the other way around) ###
Living, Dying, & Dreaming of the Mind’s Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness (mostly the music) *UPDATED w/link* July 9, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, brain, David Hume, Dr. Oliver Sacks, Health, meditation, mental health, mind, Rodolfo Llinás, spirituality, wellness
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those commemorating the Martyrdom of the Báb!
“Rodolfo Llinás and his colleagues at New York University, comparing the electrophysiological properties of the brain in waking and dreaming, postulate a single fundamental mechanism for both—ceaseless inner talking between cerebral cortex and thalamus, a ceaseless interplay of image and feeling irrespective of whether there is sensory input or not. When there is sensory input, this interplay integrates it to generate waking consciousness, but in the absence of sensory input it continues to generate brain states, those brain states we call fantasy, hallucination, or dreams. Thus waking consciousness is dreaming—but dreaming constrained by external reality.”
— quoted from the commentary/notes in An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks (b. 07/09/1933)
CLICK HERE FOR THE RELATED POST.
Please join me today (Wednesday, July 9th) 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 “07092022 Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness”]
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.)
“A MONTH ago, I felt that I was in good health, even robust health. At 81, I still swim a mile a day. But my luck has run out — a few weeks ago I learned that I have multiple metastases in the liver….
I feel grateful that I have been granted nine years of good health and productivity since the original diagnosis, but now I am face to face with dying. The cancer occupies a third of my liver, and though its advance may be slowed, this particular sort of cancer cannot be halted.
It is up to me now to choose how to live out the months that remain to me. I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can. In this I am encouraged by the words of one of my favorite philosophers, David Hume, who, upon learning that he was mortally ill at age 65, wrote a short autobiography in a single day in April of 1776. He titled it My Own Life.
‘I now reckon upon a speedy dissolution,’ he wrote. ‘I have suffered very little pain from my disorder; and what is more strange, have, notwithstanding the great decline of my person, never suffered a moment’s abatement of my spirits. I possess the same ardour as ever in study, and the same gaiety in company.’”
— quoted from the essay “My Own Life” by Oliver Sacks (published in The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2015)
CORRECTION: Original post contained wrong date and class times.
### 
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FTWMI: A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “The best thing since…” (a Monday post w/an extra excerpt) July 7, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Food, Hope, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Religion, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Alma Mahler-Werfel, asana, baking, C7H8N4O2, chocolate, dessert, Food, Gustav Mahler, Hurricane Beryl, International Chocolate Day, Ivan-Kupala, John the Baptist, Kupala, Nativity of John the Baptist, Otto Frederick Rohwedder, sliced-bread, World Chocolate Day, yoga practice
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating Ivana-Kupala, saints, and/or cultivating a heart full of peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted today in 2024. Some links, formatting, and class details have been updated. (The 2024 weather report was deleted.) The 2025 prompt question was, “If you were going to give or receive a gift, would you prefer bread, chocolate, and/or music?”
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.
“Wie ich Dich liebe, Du meine Sonne,
ich kann mit Worten Dir’s nicht sagen.
Nur meine Sehnsucht kann ich Dir klagen
und meine Liebe, meine Wonne!”
In which way I love you, my sunbeam,
I cannot tell you with words.
Only my longing, my love and my bliss
can I with anguish declare.”
— German and English lyrics of a love poem (to Alma Mahler-Werfel) associated with the final movement of “Symphony No. 5” composed (and written) by Gustav Mahler (b. 07/07/1860)
Born today in 1860, the composer Gustav Mahler expressed his love for his wife Alma with poems and music, like the Adagietto (“little Adagio”) movement in “Symphony No. 5.” In a similar situation, others might give the gift of chocolate… or bread, both of which we are celebrating today.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE (including a fun video).
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The 2024 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07072024 Bread & Chocolate (with Mahler)”]
Music Note: This playlist is a remix (of a remix) with more “Chocolat” and more Mahler.
Click on the excerpt title below for a post related to Ivana-Kupala, which some people started celebrating last night.
Quick Notes & EXCERPT: “What’s Behind Your Curtain?” (a post-practice Monday note)
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).
### Enjoy Sustainable & Ethical C7H8N4O2 ###
Biographies of People Who Have Always Been Here, PRIDE edition (the “missing” Sunday post) June 29, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, First Nations, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Mathematics, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: "Impossible" People, 2S, 44, 988, Alan Beaven, Alan Hart, Alan Turing, Alice Anderson, Amisha Padnani, Bayard Rustin, Beau Brink, Brohny Doyle, Carl Seante Mcgrier, Caster Semenya, Cee Cee Ross-Lyles, DeLesslin George-Warren, Dr. Alan Hart, Ed Patton, gender, George Orwell, Gil Scott-Heron, Gladys Bentley, Gordon Brown, Haleema Shah, history, Honor Elizabeth Wainio, Jade Novah, Jean-yves G. Ducornet, Jeanne Thornton, Jeremy Glick, Jim Wilson, Jimmy Wheeler, John Kenley, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jones, Keala Settle, Kofi A. Owusi-ofori, Lana Wachowski, Laverne Cox, lgbt, lgbtq, LGBTQIA+, Lilly Wachowski, Lily Gladstone, Linda Gronlund, Lou Nacke, Mark Bingham, Marsha P. Johnson, Melissa Etheridge, Melody McKiver, MLK, Muxe, Neverending Nina, PRIDE, queer, Rich Guadagno, Robert Allen Bamford Jr, Sally Ride, Sandra Bradshaw, Sewell Chan, sex, sexuality, Shorty Harris, Stormé DeLarverie, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Terri Rogers, The New York Times Obituaries Desk, The Wachowskis, Thomas Edward Burnett Jr., Todd Beamer, Todrick Dramaul Hall, Todrick Hall, transgender, Two Spirit, United Nations, Val Andrews, William Cashman
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone!!
This is a “missing” post for Sunday, June 29th. This post includes passing references to sex, gender, sexuality, and to incidents of terrorism and of homophobia. Also, note that at least one of the embedded links directs you to YouTube. My gratitude for your patience if you came to the Zoom practice and my apologies for not posting this earlier. 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.
“Now you cannot change this
You can’t erase this
You can’t pretend this is not the truth”
— quoted from the song “Tuesday Morning” by Melissa Etheridge (written by Melissa Etheridge and Jonathan Taylor)
Since this is the last weekend of June, some people are celebrating PRIDE (and some people who are celebrating PRIDE are also bringing awareness to men’s mental health, since June is dedicated to both). I mentioned, yesterday, that this year hits / feels different to me because the days and dates coincide exactly with the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. So, obviously, I shared bits of PRIDE’s backstory and offered a brief history of the Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall Uprising — which included gay people, lesbians, bisexual people, transgender people, queer (and questioning) people, intersex people, asexual people (ace), aromantic people (aro), demi-sexual people, non-binary people, and a whole lot of other people. My catch-all “a whole lot of other people” includes straight people; because, allies have always been part of PRIDE.
Sadly, haters — in all categories — have also always been part of the story.
And there’s the other reason this year hits hard for a lot of people: because there are people in power who want to strip people within the LGBTQIA+ community of their civil rights, their humanity, their identity, their history, their hope, and their joy. While, a lot of people get distracted (positively and negatively) by the PARTY that is PRIDE, aspects of PRIDE have always been about maintaining / retaining civil rights and humanity as well as giving people an opportunity to define themselves while also sharing history, hope, and joy.
So today, as this month’s PRIDE celebrations are coming to a close, I wanted to go a little deeper into the history and share the true stories of some people you may not know were/are in the community.
“It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn’t no damn riot!”
— Stormé DeLarverie
Just to clarify, I talk about people within the LGBTQIA+ community throughout the year. Sometimes, I mention their sexuality and/or their identity; but, sometimes I don’t — because, honestly, it’s often the least interesting thing about the people I highlight throughout the year. The same can be said about the people I am highlighting today. In most cases, their identity and/or sexuality is only notable because of the times in which the lived (and often thrived, despite the sociopolitical climate in which they lived).
So, why not highlight these people throughout the year?
Honestly, there’s just too many things and people I would like to highlight.
Some of these people I’ve struggled to figure out days when I can squeeze them all in. This year, this became the day (because of the last person I am highlighting).
“So what do we do when they say our love is forbidden
And what if I don’t wanna pray our love is forgiven
I’m willing to fight every day of life that I’m given
You’re a rule that I’m willing to break
An exception I’m willing to make
You’re a risk that I’m willing to take”
— quoted from the song “Forbidden” by Todrick Hall, featuring Jade Novah & Keala Settle (written by Carl Seante Mcgrier, Jean-yves G. Ducornet, Todrick Dramaul Hall, Kofi A. Owusi-ofori)
Most of the people on today’s list are people I have never mentioned in class (or on the blog). However, the first person I highlighted is someone I have referenced — in passing — over the years. Her name is Tam O’Shaughnessy, PhD (b. January 27, 1952). She is a science teacher and an associate professor emeritus of school psychology, who researched preventive interventions for children with reading difficulties — which I find super interesting, as someone who loves to read (and is also interested in how the brain works). She is also a former professional tennis player (who played in the U.S. National Championships, now known as the U.S. Open, in 1966, 1970, and 1972.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy is the author of 12 science books for children — 6 of which she wrote with the astronaut Sally Ride, who was her life partner for 27 years. In addition to writing together, the couple co-founded the science education company Sally Ride Science at University of California, San Diego (along with Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, and Alann Lopes).
“Gladstone calls herself ‘queer’, ‘pansexual’ and ‘straight’. ‘I can’t put a label on it,’ she says. ‘One of the big things that tipped me to my queerness is I don’t have the draw to motherhood the way a lot of women have. There was a period of my life when I thought I might be asexual because I had no sexual attraction to anybody. I had a romantic attraction to everybody but no sexual desire. Then the word “demisexual” came into play, where it’s, like, I don’t feel sexual stirring at all unless I actually care about this person, no matter who they are.’ That’s a better fit, she thinks, although she won’t say if she has a partner.”
— quoted from the April 25 2025, The Times article, entitled “Lily Gladstone: queer, pansexual or straight? I might be demisexual — The star of Killers of the Flower Moon talks about her new comedy Wedding Banquet, defining her sexuality and hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio” by Ed Potton
Lily Gladstone (born August 2, 1986) is an actress who was raised on the Blackfeet reservation. She is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage and her ancestors include a Kainai Nation chief (Red Crow) and a British Prime Minister (William Ewart Gladstone). She is the first Native American to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama and the first Native American to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
To me, what is even more interesting than their awards, is the fact that they taught an image theatre acting method where the actor/sculptor molds the actors/statues through touch. This “sculpture garden”, as they called it, was part of a violence prevention program sponsored by the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center.
And, yes, I switched pronouns on you, which might be interesting when you consider the context — and the reminder that Two Spirit people (not to mention Muxe and other indigenous people who are gender non-conforming, by our modern/Western ideas) existed on this continent long before there was a United States of America (or even a set of European colonies).
“‘And in most Native languages, most Indigenous languages, Blackfeet included, there are no gendered pronouns. There is no he/she, there’s only they,’ Gladstone adds.”
“‘So Blackfeet, we don’t have gendered pronouns, but our gender is implied in our name. But even that’s not binary,’ says Gladstone….”
“‘So, yeah, my pronoun use is partly a way of decolonizing gender for myself.’”
— Lily Gladstone, quoted from the December 31, 2023, People article, entitled “Lily Gladstone on Why She Uses She/They Pronouns: A Way of ‘Decolonizing Gender for Myself’” by Eric Andersson
The musician Melody McKiver, who is featured on the playlist, is a member of the Obishikokaan Luc Seul First Nations, who shared similar sentiments in the April 12, 2017 ICT News interview “Great Videos and Music from 8 Indigenous LGBTIA and/or Two Spirit Musicians” by DeLesslin George-Warren, stating:
“‘Fundamentally, everything in my body of work is a part of my work as a 2S musician because it’s who I am’”
We like to put people in narrow boxes, but most people are not one thing. We are multifaceted and every bit of light is part of the whole. In that way, we are like a rainbow: people may see different things about us on the outside, but what shines through is coming from the same source.
Rainbows, as a symbol, show up in the world in a lot of different ways and they showed up in my childhood in multiple ways. They are a symbol of hope in the Abrahamic religions and, throughout my childhood, they also popped up as a symbol of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds coming together to fight for equality (here in the United States and in South Africa). Finally, there was that myth about a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Growing up, that leprechaun’s gold was Romantic and symbolized success and the life of one’s dreams. To me, doing what you love, loving what you do, and being successful is like finding the gold — which means we are all “chasing rainbows”. Just like Alice Anderson.
Alice Anderson (born June 8, 1897) was the founder and owner of Miss Anderson’s Motor Service (Kew Garage), the first all-women garage in Australia. She also wrote a regular motoring column for Woman’s World and once drove the smallest car in the world across the Never Never. While anyone could use the services of Miss Anderson’s garage — services that included full auto repair, chauffeuring, interstate touring trips, driving classes, and petrol stations — Alice Anderson only hired women as mechanics and professional drivers. Like those in her employment, Miss Anderson not only worked in a male-dominated industry, she wore breeches, suits, and ties.
It’s important to remember that people’s concepts of what is gender-conforming is different in different cultures and can change (within a culture) over time. For example, there was a time when “a proper man” in some European cultures wore stockings, wigs, and painted their face (as well as their nails). Similarly, Alice Anderson lived in a time and place where the things she liked to do (and the clothes she liked to wear) were, on a certain level, acceptable. Of course, that didn’t stop her mother (who was born and bred in Ireland) from disapproving of her career and life choices.
Neither did it stop Alice from inspiring generation after generation of drivers, mechanics, and entrepreneurs.
“An LGBTQ advocacy group has taken the name Alice’s Garage, and Anderson’s tie pin, engraved with same Joan of Arc-inspired motto that was stamped on her business cards—‘Qui ne risque, rien n’a rien,’ or ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’— is on permanent display at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia.”
— quoted from “Founder of Australia’s First All-Women Garage Alice Anderson 1897–1926” by Briohny Doyle, 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
Inspiration is one of the reasons that representation matters; because it is hard to believe you can do something if you haven’t seen anyone like you do anything remotely like the thing you want to do. Without representation, certain things can feel “impossible”.
Just consider, for a moment, that there is a young ventriloquist who is very popular in this day and age. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and is sweet as a button. She looks and sounds like a southern belle, In other words, she fits some people’s stereotype of classic femininity. In interviews, she has mentioned being inspired by a particular male ventriloquist and, if you are of a certain age, maybe you can only think of a handful of male ventriloquist. However, there are some women who became famous as ventriloquist — including Terri Rogers (born May 4, 1937).
Terri Rogers and her doll, Shorty Harris, toured the world and even appeared on the HBO special Blockheads. She was also a magician — although, when it came to magic, she is remembered more for the illusions she crafted from people like David Copperfield and Paul Daniels.
Her comedy could be shocking and bawdy (the doll’s name was Cockney slang for “short arse” after all), but could also be cleaned up for shows like the ones she did at NATO headquarters. What really stood out for people, though, was the way she made you forget that she was acting and that she was also the doll. Then there was her voice. People were often struck by Terri Rogers’s her incredible vocal range. What most of those people didn’t know was that she was transgender.
“[Terri] Roger’s partner, the magician Val Andrews, once wrote that she remembered the comedian Jimmy Wheeler admonishing her audience: ‘Blimey, you don’t realize what you’ve seen and heard!’”
— quoted from “Transgender Ventriloquist and Magician Terri Rogers 1937–1999” by Jeanne Thornton, 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
Terri Rogers wasn’t the first (nor the last) to perform in clothes typically associated with a different sex or gender from the one they were assigned at birth. There is a difference, however, between someone who dresses and/or performs in drag and someone who is transgender (who might also perform in drag). Consider many (if not most) actors have appeared in drag. Similarly, many politicians have dressed in drag — which makes some of them hypocrites, but that’s another story for another day.
While drag queens get a lot of attention (just as there is a lot of focus on transgender women), there are drag kings (just as there are transgender men). But, again, there is a difference. Of course, when we look back at people in history, it can be hard to tell sometimes if someone was performing in drag, transgender, or both.
For example, Gladys Bentley (born August 12, 1907) was one of the most famous entertainers of the Harlem Renaissance. Poets like Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen sang her praises. If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, how can someone be so famous and I’ve never heard of them?” Well, she was a Black, gay/lesbian person who mostly performed sang, danced, and played the piano in a top hat and tails. She referred to herself as a woman and yet she is quoted as saying that she didn’t feel like a woman. In fact, she felt more comfortable in men’s clothes and, when necessity required it, she presented as a man.
The thing about Gladys Bentley is that she was focused on survival at a young age. She ran away from home at 16 years old — after what was essentially 16 years of rejection from most of her family members — and she got her first job as an entertainer, because she presented as a man. Later, as the government changed and laws changed, she forced herself to wear a dress to perform (and even married a man, after claiming she had married a woman). But, Gladys Bentley wasn’t as successful as an entertainer wearing dresses as she was wearing pants.
Maybe, because she wasn’t comfortable in the dresses, because she didn’t feel like herself.
“Scholars who have studied [Gladys] Bentley’s life said that the story Bentley told about being ‘cured’ in the Ebony article [‘I Am A Woman Again’, written in 1952] was likely a response to the McCarthy Era and its hostile claims that homosexuality and communism were threats to the country. [Jim] Wilson also says that Bentley, who was aging and no stranger to reinvention, was likely making deft use of the press. ‘I like to believe that Gladys Bentley had her thumb on the pulse of the time. She knew what was popular, what she could do, and what people would pay to see,’ he says.”
— quoted from the March 14, 2019 “Women Who Shaped History: A Smithsonian magazine special report” entitled “The Great Blues Singer Gladys Bentley Broke All the Rules: For the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podcast, host Haleema Shah tells the story of an unapologetically gay African-American performer in 1920s and 30s” by Haleema Shah
The next person on the list is the second person that I sometimes mention is passing: Marsha P. Johnson, one of the people who was at Stonewall on June 28-29, 1969. She was a transgender, gay rights activist who also worked as a prostitute and (occasionally) performed in drag. While she battled with mental health issues and was often homeless, she seemed tireless when working on behalf of homeless youth and/or advocating for the healthcare of people with HIV and AIDS.
Since “transgender” was not a widely used term during much of her lifetime, Marsha P. Johnson used women’s pronouns and “referred to herself as gay, as a transvestite, or simply as a queen” (according to her Overlooked obituary written by Sewell Chan). People have describe Marsha P. Johnson as fierce and fearless and people also remember her for her grace, her whimsical nature, and her joy for life. She was all that… and a bag of chips.
Or, er, peaches.
“Johnson was also part of a drag performance group, Hot Peaches, which began performing in 1972. She told anyone who asked—including, once, a judge— that her middle initial stood for ‘pay it no mind.’ The surname came from a Howard Johnson’s restaurant where she liked to hang out.”
— quoted from “Transgender Pioneer and Activist 1945–1992” by Sewell Chan, 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
Just in passing (since I’m about to quote them), I want to mention the Wachowski Sisters. Lana (born June 21, 1965) and Lilly (December 29, 1967) Wachowski are writers, directors, and producers who co-created the Matrix franchise as well as V for Vendetta (2005) and live-action Speed Racer (2008). In addition to movies and television, the siblings have also collaborated on comic books and video games. With regarded to their gender identity, they have repeatedly stated that the original Matrix (1999) movie was an allegory about how we consume information and how we form identity and understanding based on our consumption of media — and, in particular, how a person’s outward identity may or may not reflect the inward experience (and vice versa). In other words, it’s a transgender allegory that is also about waking up to reality — something a lot of people seem to have missed.
“Morpheos [to Neo]: …Remember: all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.”
— quoted from the 1999 movie The Matrix written and directed by The Wachowskis
While we are on the subject of gender identity, it’s important to remember that sex and gender (as well as gender expression) are not the same things (and not the same for everyone). Again, different countries and cultures have different expectations around sex and gender and individuals have individual experiences. Someone can be female, be a cisgender woman, and present in a very feminine (girly way) and/or in a very masculine way — simply based on what feels good and how they think they look — and they may not get the side or a double take. This is also true for other people; however, it can be more challenging for someone who is a cisgender man to present as feminine in some places.
More to the point, however, there are people who can now be identified by Western science as intersex, which is an umbrella term to describe a variety of people whose sex characteristics — including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals — “do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies”. (NOTE: The fact that Western science is constantly evolving means that there might come a day when doctors pinpoint a reason some people are transgender.)
Here, again, if you have heard of someone (on the news, on social media, or even in a book) who is intersex, there is a good chance that it was an athlete like Caster Semenya (born January 7, 1991) who, for most of her life, did not know she could be medically diagnosed as intersex. You may not, however, have heard of someone like the John Kenley (born February 20, 1906) whose atypical sex organs were identified at birth, but whose parents decided his life would be easier as a man than as a woman. Even though he was baptized in the Russian Orthodox church as a boy and served in the Merchant Marines during World War II, the American theatre producer (of Slovakian descent) never really felt comfortable as a man and reportedly spent his downtime living as a woman named Joan.
John Kenley may not have been comfortable in his own skin, but he was successful. He revolutionized summer stock by inviting celebrities (specifically television and movie stars) to star in live theatre productions. He was also the first theatre producer to desegregate a theatre in Washington, D. C.
“The ways in which trans people have been represented have suggested that we’re mentally ill, that we’re that we won’t exist. And yet here we are. And we’ve always been here.”
— Laverne Cox, quoted in the trailer for her 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
During the (live) 2025 class, I inadvertently mixed up some of the details about John Kenley with the details about Alan L. Hart (born October 4, 1890). Also known as Robert Allen Bamford Jr., Dr. Alan Hart was a physician, radiologist, tuberculosis researcher, and writer. He published over nine short stories and four novels and his revolutionary (at the time) use of X-ray photography in tuberculosis detection continues to save innumerable lives.
However, much of what he accomplished professional almost didn’t happen because he was transgender and his medical degree was issued in his birth name (with a note added to his records) — which did not match his outward appearance and effect or his name once he legally changed it.
Alan Hart was one of the first people (in the United States) to receive counseling and surgery (including a hysterectomy) with regard to his gender dysphoria. At the point (in his adulthood) that he medically transitioned, he had lived most of his life as a man and he was fortunate that his family accepted his gender identity at a very young age. He was also fortunate that, for the most part, he was able to be recognized as a boy and then a man throughout his school years. However, he did fear that his prospects were limited because how he appeared on the outside (and felt on the inside) did not match his credentials.
“Unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban. Anyone who has lived long in a foreign country will know of instances of sensational items of news — things which on their own merits would get the big headlines-being kept right out of the British press, not because the Government intervened but because of a general tacit agreement that ‘it wouldn’t do’ to mention that particular fact. So far as the daily newspapers go, this is easy to understand. The British press is extremely centralised, and most of it is owned by wealthy men who have every motive to be dishonest on certain important topics. But the same kind of veiled censorship also operates in books and periodicals, as well as in plays, films and radio. At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is ‘not done’ to say it, just as in mid-Victorian times it was ‘not done’ to mention trousers in the presence of a lady. Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in the highbrow periodicals.”
— quoted from an originally unpublished introduction to Animal Farm by George Orwell
Just as there is a difference between sex and gender, there is also a difference between someone’s sex and/or gender and their sexuality. And this is a big point of contention for some folks within the community, who feel like the community is too inclusive and/or has become like a big state whose geographic regions have completely different interests, concerns, and priorities.
And yet, the same people who want to erase transgender people from history (including from the history of Stonewall) are the same people who want to ignore the fact that Bayard Rustin (born March 17, 1912) was a gay rights activist as well as the primary organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (in 1963) and the Freedom Rides, as well as one of the organizers of Southern Christian Leadership Conference — all of which provided a platform for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The same people that made it impossible for Mr. Rustin and his partner, Walter Naegle, to get married want you to ignore the fact that the couple found a creative work around so that could legally be connected and not let their sexuality overshadow their activism.
Those same people don’t want you to know that Tam O’Shaughnessy and Walter Naegle both accepted Presidential Medal of Freedom awards that were posthumously awarded to their late partners in 2013.
Those same people also don’t want you to know that the British mathematician Alan Turing, PhD (born June 23, 1912) was persecuted for being gay — even though his computer and code breaking skills accelerated the end of World War II. Using a computer called the Bombe, Dr. Turing was one of the cryptanalysts charged with deciphering the Enigma code used by Nazi Germany. In doing so, they enabled the Allied forces to evade German submarines. His success meant that he had briefings with then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill and then-President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was also the inventor of the Turing Machine and innovations in computing that are still leading to advancements in computer technology.
Now, someone may say that his persecution was really just justice for gross indecency. However, if you look at the details of his case, you will find that Dr. Turing called the police to report a burglar. When it came out he and the other victim in the crime were in a relationship, they were both charged with breaking Section 11 of the United Kingdom’s Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 69). The law, most of which has been repealed, was intended to protect women and girls. Somehow, however, it included a provision that meant a man could be charged and convicted for having a consensual romantic relationship with another man. Note: This law applied to public and private spaces and was not (necessarily) related to sexual intercourse.
In Dr. Alan Turing’s case, his security clearances were revoked, he lost his ability to continue his work with the government, he was barred from traveling to the United States and he had to undergo “chemical castration” — which was basically hormone therapy. While it was not intended to make him sterile, the therapy did make him impotent and caused his breast tissue to grow. Additionally, the British government monitored his correspondence (which he may or may not have known) and deported someone coming to visit him before they could meet.
In 2009, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown responded to the first in a series of petitions by acknowledging the the travesty of Alan Turing’s situation and offering a formal apology to “Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was, under homophobic laws….” There was, however, no pardon. More petitions and letter writing campaigns followed, which led to several bills being presented to Parliament requesting that Alan Turing be pardoned (posthumously). Despite the fact that people in the House of Lords and the House of Commons repeatedly blocked the bills, Queen Elizabeth II signed an immediate pardon for Alan Turing on December 24, 2013 and pronounced it in August 2014. The Policing and Crime Act 2017 includes a a passage referred to as the “Alan Turing law”, which pardons men who were convicted for homosexual acts that are no longer considered criminal offenses.
“44”
— can be police radio code for “suspicious person”, “aggravated kidnapping”, etc. depending on country, region, and department
In my book, as in many people’s books, Alan Turing was a hero who saved countless lives — and you can’t change that fact. Neither can you change the fact that Mark Bingham, another hero, was gay.
You may or may not know Mark Bingham (born May 22, 1970) by name. You may or may not remember his smile. However, if I mention that he died on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 — and reference United Airlines Flight 93 — you start to get the picture.
Mr. Bingham was a 6-foot, 4 inches (193 cm) tall, 225-pound (102 kg) rugby player who was interested in filmmaking and worked as a Public Relations executive. He was the owner of the Bingham Group and, since he had just opened up a satellite office in New York, he was planning to put together a rugby team so he could play on both coasts. He was running late that ill-fated Tuesday and almost the flight that was headed to San Francisco, where one of his fraternity brothers was getting married.
Mark Bingham ended up sitting next to Thomas Edward Burnett Jr., who was originally from Bloomington, Minnesota. The PR exec and the vice-president and chief operating officer of a medical devices company weren’t that far apart in age (31 and 38, respectively) and they grew up in different parts of the country. But, they probably could have had a really great conversation during their trip — even though their lives were different in some fairly obvious ways. Mr. Burnett was married and had 4 children (included a daughter he had given up adoption when he was young). Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick, sitting a few rows back, were also married with children (3 and 1, respectively). On the flip side, Mark Bingham couldn’t legally get married.
Even though their lives were different, when it became obvious that the plane had been hijacked by terrorists and that the hijacking was part of a larger plan, the four men came together and decided to retake the plane. They were the tip of the arrow; Lou Nacke, Rich Guadagno, Alan Beaven, Honor Elizabeth Wainio, Linda Gronlund, and William Cashman, as well as flight attendants Sandra Bradshaw and Cee Cee Ross-Lyles joined in the planning and became the shaft.
The four men were not able to land the plane, but they were able to prevent the hijackers from hitting their intended target — and, in doing so, they saved hundred of lives.
“And the things you might take for granted
Your inalienable rights
Some might choose to deny him
Even though he gave his life
Can you live with yourself in the land of the free
And make him less of a hero than the other three?”
— quoted from the song “Tuesday Morning” by Melissa Etheridge (written by Melissa Etheridge and Jonathan Taylor)
Even though I tell the story of 9/11 on that date, I don’t know the individual stories of all the passengers, all the people in and around the Twin Towers, all the people at the Pentagon that day, and all the first responders. For instance, I didn’t know that one of those big burly, heroic men was gay.
But now I can’t unknow it — and neither can you.
And, if you are one of those people who only thinks in stereotypes, consider this: When Todd Beamer said, “Okay. Let’s roll.”, Mark Bingham did did not back down; he did not let go.
“So you have to, at some point, start putting aside your lack of understanding and saying, like, ‘I support human rights, period. It doesn’t matter if I understand.’ Because, look, I don’t understand your experiences as a cis-person, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to withhold my support for your civil and human rights until you can explain it to me.”
— Journalist, author, artist, parent, and activist Beau Brink, interviewed in the Conspirituality podcast episode “143: Trans Reality, Trans Possibility”
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [“06292025 PRIDE, biographies”]
NOTE: The Spotify playlist includes an extra interlude track (since this message Sunday is not part of the studio recording. The YouTube playlist includes videos, at least one of which is referenced during the practice.
“When you look at me
What do you see
Am I not breathing with the same
Respiratory”
— quoted from the song “Stop Killing Us” by Neverending Nina
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).
“But [Gil] Scott-Heron also had something else in mind—you can’t see the revolution on TV because you can’t see it at all. As he [said] in a 1990s interview:
‘The first change that takes place is in your mind. You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move. The thing that’s going to change people is something that nobody will ever be able to capture on film. It’s just something that you see and you’ll think, “Oh I’m on the wrong page,” or “I’m on I’m on the right page but the wrong note. And I’ve got to get in sync with everyone else to find out what’s happening in this country.”’
If we realize we’re out of sync with what’s really happening, we cannot find out more on television. The information is where the battles are being fought, at street level, and in the mechanisms of the legal process.”
— quoted from the Open Culture article “Gil Scott-Heron Spells Out Why ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’” by Josh Jones (posted June 2nd, 2020)
### PROTECT YOUR JOY / MAINTAIN YOUR PEACE & DIGNITY ###
EXCERPT (2): “A Thought from ‘Anne no Nikki’” June 25, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, amsterdam, Anne Frank, Anne no Nikki, avidya, Buddhism, Diary of A Young Girl, Frank H. Otto, Gerrit Bolkestein, history, Holocaust, ignorance, Larry Yang, Maha Ghosananda, Michael Nyman, Miep Gies, Mirjam Pressler, samskāras, Susan Massotty, truth, vasanas, vāsanā, world-war-2, yoga philosophy
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast during this 3rd Week after Pentecost!!!.
“Anne Frank kept a diary from June 12, 1942, to August 1, 1944. Initially, she wrote it strictly for herself. Then, one day in 1944, Gerrit Bolkestein, a member of the Dutch government in exile, announced in a radio broadcast from London that after the war he hoped to collect eyewitness accounts of the suffering of the Dutch people under the German occupation, which could be made available to the public. As an example, he specifically mentioned letters and diaries.
Impressed by this speech, Anne Frank decided that when the war was over she would publish a book based on her diary.”
“The last entry in Anne’s diary is dated August 1, 1944. On August 4, 1944, the eight people hiding in the Secret Annex were arrested. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl, the two secretaries working in the building, found Anne’s diaries strewn all over the floor. Miep Gies tucked them away in a desk drawer for safekeeping. After the war, when it became clear that Anne was dead, she gave the diaries, unread, to Anne’s father, Otto Frank.”
— quoted from the Foreword to The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank (edited by Otto H. Frank & Mirjam Pressler, translated by Susan Massotty)
Diary of a Young Girl was first published today in 1947. CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW for the philosophy-based 2020 post.
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 25th) 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 “06252022 A Young Girl’s Thoughts”]
NOTE: The opening tracks are slightly different as some music was not available on Spotify. Click on the excerpt title above for the entire “Anne No Nikki” soundtrack.
“The cheerful Anne laughs about it, gives cheeky answers, shrugs her shoulders indifferently, behaves as if she doesn’t care, but, oh dearie me, the quiet Anne’s reactions are just the opposite. If I’m to be quite honest, then I must admit that it does hurt me, that I try terribly hard to change myself, but that I’m always fighting against a more powerful enemy.
A voice sobs within me: ‘There you are, that’s what’s become of you: you’re uncharitable, you look supercilious and peevish, people dislike you and all because you won’t listen to the advice given you by your own better half.’ Oh, I would like to listen, but it doesn’t work; if I’m quiet and serious, everyone thinks it’s a new comedy and then I have to get out of it by turning it into a joke, not to mention my own family, who are sure to think I’m ill, make me swallow pills for headaches and nerves, feel my neck and my head to see whether I’m running a temperature, ask me if I’m constipated and criticize me for being in a bad mood. I can’t keep that up: if I’m watched to that extent, I start by getting snappy, then unhappy, and finally I twist my heart around again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and what I could be, if there weren’t any people living in the world.”
— quoted from the last entry by Anne Frank, written in her diary (“Kitty”) on Tuesday, August 1, 1944
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.
### HONOR YOUR HEART >> THOUGHTS >> WORD >> DEEDS ###
Tuesday music (just the music & salutations) June 24, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, Peace, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: 988, Henry Ward Beecher, Ivan-Kupala, Ivana-Kupala, Saint John's Day
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Happy Pride!
Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating Saint John’s Day, Ivana-Kupala, and/or observing the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast during this 3rd Week after Pentecost!!!
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 24th) 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. [“06242020 Midsummer & Saint John”]
NOTE: If you have a free Spotify account, you may hear extra music that is not part of the original playlist.
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.)
### 🎶 ###
Sunday music (just the music & salutations) June 22, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Yoga.Tags: 988, Galileo Galilei
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Happy Pride!
Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to any observing the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast during this 2nd Week after Pentecost!!!
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, June 22nd) 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. [“06222021 Staying Centered & Grounded”]
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.)
### 🎶 ###
Note & EXCERPT: “Another Hard Working Day” June 21, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, asana, Atheist Solidarity Day, hatha yoga, International Yoga Day, Ivan Zupa, Ivan Župa, Jack Lang, Joel Cohen, Maurice Fleuret, Mike Smith, Solstice, T. K. V. Desikachar, viniyoga, World Handshake Day, World Humanist Day, World Music Day, yoga, yoga philosophy
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Happy… [insert everything that’s being celebrated today, including Pride and the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast during this 2nd Week after Pentecost]!
“My son, place your hand here in the sea and you are united with the whole world.”
— Ivan Župa, founder of World Handshake Day, remembering the advice of an old man
Thursday was Juneteenth; yesterday was the Solstice and World Refugee Day; and today…. Well, a lot is being celebrated today, which makes it “Another Hard Working Day” in my book.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE!
“Place your hand in the sea and shake hands with the whole world, feel united. By demonstrating this simple gesture of shaking our hands, we can help fulfil the vision of many nations as well as of the old wise man.
Take away the fear of those that have been so terribly affected by emergencies or natural disasters.
Let the world come and help them.”
— Ivan Župa, founder of World Handshake Day, taking the advice of an old man
Please join me today (Saturday, June 21st) 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 on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06212022 Another Hard Working Day”]
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.
### BREATHE INTO YOUR SPINE ###
Defining Moments (mostly the music) June 18, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Afterfeast of the Ascension, Battle of Waterloo, Eid al-Adha, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMontagne
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone and especially to any observing the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast during this 2nd Week after Pentecost!!!
“Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly (learn to fly, learn to fly)
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise”
— quoted from the song “Blackbird” by Paul McCartney (b. 1942) (with credit to Paul McCartney and John Lennon)
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 18th) 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 “06182024 Defining Moments (ALL)”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlists contain extra videos of featured songs. The “(ALL)” playlist can used for either practice; however, some things at the end will not synch up with the 2024 Noon recording.
“Don’t let your heart get heavy, child
Inside you, there’s a strength that lies
Don’t let your soul get lonely, child
It’s only time, it will go
Don’t look for love in faces, places
It’s in you, that’s where you’ll find
Kindness
Be-
Be here now, here now”
— quoted from the song “Be Here Now” by Ray LaMontagne (b. 1973)
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.
A Joyful Practice 