DON’T BE GREEDY; BE GRATEFUL (Thanksgiving Schedule & News) November 24, 2015
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Fitness, Food, Gratitude, Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, Peace, Philosophy, Texas, Twin Cities, Yoga.add a comment
We are born knowing what we like
– “The Foundation” by Thievery Corporation
“Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?”
– Rosalind as Ganymede as Rosalind in William Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Act I, Scene 4)
At this point in our lives, we’re pretty clear about what we like – and what we don’t like. We build our days, as much as we can, around our preferences – enabling us to indulge in what we like and avoid the things we don’t like. We often equate this to indulging in happiness and avoiding suffering. But, there’s a loophole. It’s not the things that make us happy or not happy. And, our little, seemingly innocuous, preferences can lead to big suffering.
Buddhism teaches that attachment leads to suffering. And yoga – like Buddhism – teaches that true freedom comes from the practice of non-attachment. But, it’s so hard! I mean, when you find something (or someone) you like, appreciate, and value, it’s human to want more…and more….and more. And, as long as it feels good and serves us in the present moment, there is very little incentive to give up our attachment. Unless, of course, we’re practicing – or forced/encouraged to practice – non-attachment.
Within hours of arriving in Houston, I was hip-deep in a discussion about yoga preferences. (This always sounds like an oxymoron or the beginning of a bad joke, but it’s just life.) My friends and I made plans to attend a class led by a teacher one of them liked. The studio was packed; there was amazing live music; I was between two very dear friends; and just before we started one of them placed her hands on me, looked deep in my eyes, and whispered, “Sorry, this isn’t going to be what you’re used to.”
Got it; time to practice my new mantra!
The class was great. So great, that two of us made plans to take another class from the same teacher the following night. Only our timing didn’t work out – and so we quickly made plans to take from another teacher. My friend apologized for the change and asked how I felt about taking a class from a teacher neither of us had tried. Only my answer didn’t matter, because this unknown teacher had a sub. Who was super nervous and (it seemed) relatively new as a teacher.
I marveled at how quickly we become attached…and then I focused on practicing my new mantra.
My annual Thanksgiving trip to Texas is definitely part of my practice. It’s a break from my current routines, which is actually a break from my old routines. And as I reacquaint myself with my old routines, everything becomes new. I get a chance to soak up all the people and things I love and appreciate about being home, while also giving me the time and space to reflect on all the people and things I love and appreciate about being in Minnesota. I also get to notice what’s different, what’s changed. And this year I came with a mantra in hand:
Don’t be greedy; be grateful.
It’s simple really. When you find yourself “liking” something, take a moment to remember that all of life is not Facebook (or Instagram). Step back, take a breath, and appreciate – express a little gratitude by being specific about why you like something. Then, when you find yourself wanting more (which is the next step in that whole attachment thing) repeat the process. Step back, take a breath, and appreciate again. This works when you’re contemplating a piece of homemade peach cobbler (thanks Helen) or a great yoga class with friends and live music (thanks Lee, Mimi, Kelly, and Ganesh Express).
It also works when your regular yoga class has a sub.
I am super grateful for all the very talented teachers who are covering my classes – as well as for all the people who show up for those classes. Thank you to everyone who has shared their practice and their thoughts about the practice over the years. There is a leaf on my gratitude tree for each of you – and for every one of those practices (on and off the mat)!
The Nokomis Yoga schedule will be as follows:
- Tuesday, Nov. 24th @ 12:00 PM (60 minutes with ERIKA)
- Tuesday, Nov. 24th @ 7:15 PM (75 minutes with ELIZABETH)
- Wednesday, Nov. 25th @ 4:30 PM (60 minutes – CANCELLED)
Erika Peterson and Elizabeth Carls both teach regular classes at Nokomis Yoga. For more on their teaching, check out their bios.
The Wednesday night Slow Flow at Flourish will be cancelled on November 25th. Please join me on December 2nd.
For information on my incredible YMCA subs, please check the online schedules. (Also, please note that the Downtown Minneapolis will run an alternate schedule 11/26 – 11/27.)
Finally, an extra special thank you to Shelby (at Blaisdell) for covering my 6:30 PM class on Sunday, December 6th!
~~ HAVE A PEACEFUL, GRACEFUL, GRATEFUL, & JOYFUL HOLIDAY SEASON ~~
Q: What’s better than dinner & a movie? September 8, 2015
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Bhakti, Changing Perspectives, Fitness, Food, Gratitude, Health, Hope, Kirtan, Mantra, Meditation, Men, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Movies, Music, Peace, Sukkot, Twin Cities, Women, Yoga.add a comment
A: Something that feeds your mind, body, and spirit!
A friend mentioned today that she’s not sure she feels as fulfilled as she does when she’s in our yoga class. She expressed a desire to feel that full (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually) during more parts of her life. (Naturally, she’s coming on our retreat to fill up some more!) But, in our conversation, we both recognized how hard it is to set aside the time to fill up a little bit – let alone enough to carry that awareness into the other parts of our lives.
This conversation is one I hear again and again. Especially this year, as many people consider how they can join us on our first yoga retreat. For some, it seems hard to join us for the whole weekend because the beginning of fall is already full of so many commitments or because the summer was relatively busy. Still, the desire lingers….
And as that desire lingers at the back of your mind or heart, you may spend these next few weeks eating meals with people you love, attending yoga classes as you can, and wishing for more – like the opportunity to put it all together and feel more.
Even though we are out of beds (and working on more), you can still join us for part or all of the festivities on Saturday, October 3rd. You could also select the Saturday Night Special, which includes an evening yoga class, dinner, and live kirtan!
Meghan has been busy testing recipes (with farm fresh ingredients). Sandra and I have been fleshing out our gratitude arc. Kirtan Path has agreed to provide live kirtan on Saturday night. And, we’ve run out of beds! For all this, we are grateful.
You could, of course, give us one more reason to be grateful.
Music, Music, Music (A 2015 KISS MY ASANA Prequel Sequel) March 2, 2015
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 31-Day Challenge, Books, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Hope, Karma Yoga, Mantra, Meditation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Movies, Music, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Texas, Twin Cities, Vipassana, Writing, Yoga.Tags: adaptive yoga, KISS MY ASANA, Mind Body Solutions, music
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So if you’re feelin’ down and out, got no place to go now
Just sing along to the music y’all, let it fill your soul now
Because everyone deserves music, sweet music
– “Everyone Deserves Music” by Michael Franti & Spearhead
My best friend in college always said life has a soundtrack. I know, everybody says that now – there’s even an app for that – but this was back in the 80’s/90’s and it wasn’t a thing, it just was. And what it was to me was true, in part, because I had been hearing a super eclectic soundtrack all my life.
I heard all the sounds of the country, mixed with all the sounds of the city. I heard vinyl and 8-track tapes before cassettes. I spent a good portion of my younger days thinking my Beatles-crazed friends were fans of Wes Montgomery. I was in a girl band that sang songs like “Lettuce Entertain You.” And I once got a speeding ticket for flying down an open highway to Mahalia Jackson (with my maternal great-grandmother and grandmother in the car).
My maternal great-grandfather owned a super club on the Chitlin’ Circuit; my dad played first chair trumpet in high school – even though he was tone deaf; my immediate family took road trips where most of the stations along the way played old school country; one of my maternal great-uncles had a basement full of classical; one of my first cassettes was dubbed “Hollering Oats” by my family; my mother took me to my first live rock concert; and at some point along the way my friend J. Ben taught me it was OK to play rhythm & blues, country, and heavy metal on the same mixed tape – you just had to have a theme…or not.
There are answers in the music
And there are answers in the words
– “Be Good” by Hothouse Flowers
Fast forward to now. After years of working in the performing arts, I started teaching yoga. I’m quick to tell people that I didn’t take the teacher training to teach – I took it so I could answer questions. What I had no way of knowing when I started this little adventure was that some of the questions I would end up answering would be about the music I play during class.
Rewind to my first yoga classes. There was no prerecorded soundtrack. In fact, I think I practiced for a couple of years before I took a class with music, and another couple of years before I practiced with a teacher who played non-classical/instrumental music.
Rie Congelio introduced me to musicians that (at the time) weren’t being played on the radio (in the U. S.) and taught me how much fun it could be to flow to your breath, while simultaneously dancing to the music. Down the road I would be spend a year practicing to Steve Ross’s eclectic soundtrack on Oxygen’s Inhale; look into the physiological, neurological, and emotional effects of music; and eventually practice in studios where people just basically played a bunch of random stuff because it had the “right” tempo and it was something they liked to hear.
What hasn’t ever left me; however, was what preceded my musical conversation with Rie. I was in Savasana trying to figure out why the very quiet song seemed so familiar to me, and why my body seemed to be so tuned into it. When I spoke to Rie after class, she said she picked the song because it was soothing and it was in Gaelic; and therefore, unlikely to be a distraction (seeing as we were in Southeast Texas). Little did she know I was studying Gaelic at the time or, that in that moment, I would start really thinking about how much music could enhance or undermine the practice of yoga as meditation.
And every cry is a song
And every song is a prayer
And our prayer must be heard
Fill the air
– “Isn’t It Amazing” by Hothouse Flowers
Music can serve as white noise (or maybe it’s brown noise). It can serve as an extra wall, filtering out distraction from outside the practice space. It can serve as a controlled distraction, a known quantity, to hone our focus/concentration. It can also, unfortunately, just be a distraction. And yet, I know people who never “hear” the music – even when I play Ozzy Osbourne – and I know people who will practice to a song for years before they listen to it. Other people will go so deep into the song, they get beyond it.
In Yoga Sutra 1.2 Patanjali writes “yogash citta vritti nirodhah” (“Yoga ceases the fluctuation of the mind.”) Inherent in this statement is that fact that the mind fluctuates. Left to its own devices, the mind will, at some point, start looking for a distraction. So I give the mind music for several reasons. First, in some meditation traditions people are told to think the word “thinking” when their mind starts wandering. It’s a reminder to get back to the meditation. When I pick a theme for my classes, I also start picking music that supports the theme by serving as a reminder when the mind wanders. Second, Patanjali (in YS 1.17) outlines four (4) levels of attention/concentration/meditation: (1) gross, (2) subtle, (3) bliss, (4) and absorption. In their commentary on YS 1.17, Geshe Michael Roach and Christy McNally compare the levels to (1) being aware that music is playing; (2) examining the words and melody (maybe humming or singing along); (3) enjoying the song, being overcome by its beauty; and (4) being so absorbed that nothing else matters, everything else disappears. Finally, research has shown that when people hear a song they haven’t heard in a long time, their blood pressure changes. Breathing and breath awareness can also change because of the tempo, volume, and musical key.
This is a song that nobody knows
I couldn’t begin to describe how it goes
But it makes me cry or laugh right out loud
It’s a song that I sing when there’s no one around
– “When There’s No One Around” by Garth Brooks
Last April, I posted 30 Poses in 30 Days for the KISS MY ASANA Yogathon. I am doing the yogathon again this April to raise money and awareness for the adaptive yoga programs at Mind Body Solutions. This year, however, we are gearing up early. So, in an effort to get people excited about practicing yoga (or practicing more yoga), I’m posting 30 Songs in 30 Days during March. I know, I know, some of you are already thinking, “Hold up, Myra, March has 31 days.” Yes, it’s true, and since this post has at least a baker’s dozen linked song references, plus two (2) unlinked song references, AND one song contains at least ten (10) musical Easter eggs, consider each one a little musical lagniappe (a little something extra, freely given with a purchase).
~ Thanks for spending a little time with me. NAMASTE ~
(Check out Freegal at the Hennepin Public Library.)
Remembering Things To Come – Getting Ready for 2015: A New Year of Possibilities January 3, 2015
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 108 Sun Salutations, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Fitness, Health, Hope, Japa, Japa-Ajapa, Karma, Mala, Mantra, Meditation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, New Year, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Surya Namaskar, Twin Cities, Writing, Yoga.Tags: D. J. Shadow, Sun Salutations
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“It is happening again. It is happening again. [Deep breath in. Deep chuckle out.”
– from D. J. Shadow’s “What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 – Blue Sky Revisit)” / “Transmission 3” on Endtroducing…
If your computer, iPod, Cd player, or other music maker is on repeat – and you’re listening to D. J. Shadow’s debut album – the end is the beginning, and the last words are prophetic. Sometimes when I play this song in class, everything syncs up and we are starting the second side of a challenging sequence: so, we are at the beginning, the end, and the middle – and the words are highly prophetic. Last year, as I prepared to lead 108 Sun Salutations for New Year’s Day, I realized everything was syncing up: we were at the end of one year, the beginning of a new year, and in the middle of a week – and I was getting ready to do 108 Sun Salutations three (count them, 3!!!) times. Suddenly, D. J. Shadow’s chuckle was highly prophetic.
But, the fact that I counted out 324 Sun Salutations – and that several people (myself included) spent part of New Year’s Day thinking D. J. Shadow’s highly prophetic words with utter disbelief – isn’t what started me thinking this song should be one of our 2014 theme songs. No, my reasoning was a little deeper than that.
“Why would we want to go back to where we were so many years ago?” (D. J. Shadow)
We just can’t seem to help ourselves. On the mat, we find our thoughts involuntarily wandering to situations and people seemingly out of context. Try as hard as we might to stay focused on the here and now – as opposed to that arbitrary thing that happened in 1979, with that person who shall remain nameless – our mind seems to have, well, a mind of its own. It goes back again, and again, and again, like a random paragraph from Swann’s Way.
Somatically speaking, such thoughts may not be as random as they appear. Yoga teaches us that we hold our experiences in our bodies. So, it stands to reason, when we’re working the body we are also working though our years. The physical practice sometimes becomes a practice of systematic reflection. Pose-wise, we often move from Child’s Pose (Balasana) or Corpse Pose (Savasana); through the approximation of learning to stand and walk – think Table Pose to Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) to Forward Fold (Uttanasana) to Equal Standing/Mountain Pose (Samasthiti/Tadasana) (video); then we explore and play; until we slow down, move into Corpse Pose (Savasana), and ultimately roll over to start all over again. Energy-wise, we typically move from our childhood (first chakra/wheel), through our developmental stages (second and third chakras/wheels), into our “maturity” stages (fourth and fifth chakras/wheels), and then to the unknown that lies beyond (sixth and seventh chakras/wheels).
But, even people who don’t practice yoga spend a fair amount of time reflecting on their lives. At the beginning and end of a year, right around our birthdays, whenever we experience one of life’s big milestones, and/or when the seasons change, we think about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Making resolutions (or just good old-fashioned planning) seems like a natural part of this reflection process, because as long as we are are actually living there is some part of us wanting to learn and grow. Yet, a good portion of us will get stuck thinking about the past, and approximately 80% of us will set goals we won’t achieve – which, at some point will have us lamenting the past. Perhaps equally significant is the fact that regardless of when we celebrate a new year or a birthday – or even observe the changing of the seasons – we will almost always find ourselves in situations we’ve dealt with in the past.
“And why should we want to live a life that’s past and never more?” (D. J. Shadow)
The wise old wives tell us we’ll repeat the same situations until we learn the lessons. And, let’s be honest, sometimes we’re that kid who keeps failing the class. What the wise old wives don’t tell us is that we can move on to the next grade, but we’re still going to be struggling with the same material. We can blame our (master) teachers, we can blame life, we can even blame the wise old wives; however, at some point we need to cowboy (or cowgirl) up and take responsibility for being where you are.
Karma is a word we throw around, sometimes without really thinking about what it literally means. We focus on the idea of destiny, fate, or retribution and reward. However, karma is the Sanskrit word for work, action, deed. It is everything we think, say, and do. Obviously, one way to think about karma is in the context of reincarnation. But, what if you don’t believe in reincarnation or the idea that you will keep living lives until you live (or get it) “right” – whatever that means? Have you considered what happens if you just look at this life you’re living and the ramifications of the work/karma you’re doing? Have you considered the fact that everything you think, say, do in this moment leads to another thought, word, and deed in the next moment? Look back at that last link where Don Juan speaks to Carlos Castaneda in Journey to Ixtlan.
So, in that interest, have you assumed responsibility for being here?
“This is not a dream….We are unable to transmit due to conscious neural interference….You are receiving this broadcast in order to alter the events you are….” (D. J. Shadow)
At some point, on or off the mat, we all want to skip to the end and reap our rewards. We want to ignore the seemingly random thoughts and sensations so we can get to the good stuff. We want, not only a passing grade, but all the accolades which come with it. We want, not only what we’ve earned, but also what we desire. And, at some point, on and off the mat, we are confronted with….what we’ve already done.
I started this post on January 3rd (2014). It was intended as a “sample” of themes and motifs for the year (2014). But, the year got away from me – and this post sat over in the draft column…waiting to see if I’d dust it off and update it. Or, if I’d just trash it. I’d like to say it was waiting patiently. But, that’s not how my mind works. So, sometimes, it was taunting me. Other times it was encouraging me. Finally, it was speaking to me.
Not surprisingly, a year later (to the date) it sounds a lot like D. J. Shadow….
Things that are happening again:
108 Sun Salutations – New Year’s Day 2015
7 Saturdays – Journey On and Off the Mat (Dates TBA)
Exploring the Wren Cycle – March 17, 2015
Kiss My Asana Yogathon – April 2015
New Things: ?????
~ May your new year be happy and free ~
A Joyful Practice 