A Sunday Journey (the “missing” Sunday compilation) October 11, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, 9-Day Challenge, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Mantra, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: 988, Black Girl Day Off, Durga, International Day of the Girl Child, Jean O’Leary, Joseph Campbell, Lal Dĕd, Lalla, Lalleshwari, National Coming Out Day, Navaratri, Parvati, Pastor Appreciation Day, Ranjit Hoskote, Robert Eichberg, Shailaputri, Sharada Navaratri, The Associated Press, The New York Times, United Nations
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“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Sharada Navaratri!” Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone nourishing their heart, body, and mind on Black Girl Day Off, Pastor Appreciation Day, National Coming Out Day, & International Day of the Girl Child.
Stay safe! Live well! Hydrate!
This “missing” compilation post for Sunday, October 11th, includes new content and an (expanded) excerpt. 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.
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.
“Forget the outside, get to the inside of things.”
— quoted from poem 95 in I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd by Lal Dĕd (Translated from the Kashmiri with an Introduction and Notes by Ranjit Hoskote)
This may seem like a regular, ordinary beginning. And it is. However, if you stick with me, we’re going to go on a journey.
You might be think that every time we get on the mat (or the cushion), we’re going on a journey, and that is true. Every time we get on the cushion (or the mat), we’re going on a journey; that is true. It is also true that every journey starts just like this: in this ordinary, regular world.
Maybe it’s a time for you that is really wonderful or maybe it’s not so great. Maybe this is an extraordinarily challenging time for you or maybe things are going relatively well. Either way, this is what passes for normal. (Every time we inhale, every time we exhale.) And this is where we start, where every journey starts.
This particular journey starts with an ordinary person. In this case, the ordinary person is an ordinary girl. Maybe you recognize her as a girl child, as October 11th is International Day of the Girl Child. Maybe, since it is also National Coming Out Day, you initially see her as something other than a girl… or, you don’t recognize how being extra ordinary is actually special. How ever you see her, she is just a regular, ordinary person — even if she is the daughter of a king (and even if she has already lived an extraordinary life).
This regular, ordinary girl is our hero (our heroine, if you will). She is where we start, because every single one of us has a little bit her inside of us. Every single one of us is on a journey of transformation.
Or we can be… if you stick with me… and go a little deeper.
“I, Lalla, took that teaching to heart.”
— quoted from poem 95 in I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd by Lal Dĕd (Translated from the Kashmiri with an Introduction and Notes by Ranjit Hoskote)
In addition to being International Day of the Girl Child and National Coming Out Day, today was also the beginning of Navaratri.
This initial description of Navaratri is a slightly revised/expanded excerpt.
Navaratri (which means “nine nights”, in Sanskrit) occurs four times on the Hindu calendar and is a celebration of divine feminine energy — specifically of Durga, the divine mother, in various manifestations. Some people (read, mostly men) think of these manifestations as different women. Others (read, mostly women) recognize these manifestations as the same woman at different points in her life. The latter understanding is underscored by the fact that each day is dedicated to a different manifestation of Durga/Parvati and each manifestation marks a different point in Her journey.
Navaratri always begins by celebrating Durga as Shailaputri (“Daughter of Mountain”). Shailaputri is the daughter of Himavat, the Mountain King or Guardian God of Himalayan Mountains, and is recognized as a divine manifestation of Mahadevi and a reincarnation of Sati (the wife of Shiva), who then reincarnates as Parvati. In art, she holds a trishula or trident in her right hand and a lotus in her left hand, all while riding Shiva’s bull Nandi, whose name means “happy, joy, and satisfaction”. She is sometimes associated with the color orange and sometimes with the color yellow.
The fall (Sharada) Navaratri celebration, which started today (Sunday), is the biggest and most celebrated of the four celebrations. Rituals and traditions vary from one region to the other and, during this festival, celebrations in some regions may include other manifestations of the Divine. For example, some celebrations on the ninth day of Navaratri will also be Ayudha Puja (“worship of tools”) — when people celebrate peace and knowledge and give thanks for the tools of their occupation. So, some will give thanks for musical instruments, while others will give thanks for their farming machinery. At the same time, some will make their puja (“offering”) to Saraswati — who is associated with knowledge, the arts, and culture, etc. — and others will direct their attention to Lakshmi — who is associated with prosperity, wealth, and fertility, etc. These fall celebrations also include a tenth day, Dussehra or Vijayadashami, which commemorates Lord Rama’s victory over a 10-headed demon.
Click here (and scroll down) to discover posts that reference the other Divine manifestations celebrated during Navaratri.
Spoiler alert, the stories related to Navaratri are the stories about a girl or young woman who grows up to be a wife and a fierce mother goddess. Her physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual growth and maturity are part of her journey. She gains knowledge and skills along the way. She is celebrated for who she is at every point in her journey. Even if you see the nine manifestations as different women, significant transformation occurs over the nine days/nights.
On the flip side, many girls around the world are not afforded the time and space to grow up and reach their full potential. They lose their agency and bodily autonomy before they even have a chance to recognize that there are such things. To raise awareness about issues facing girls internationally — especially with regard to education, nutrition, forced child marriage, legal rights, and medical rights — the United Nations designated October 11th as International Day of the Girl Child back in December 2011. Also known as the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl, it was first observed today in 2012.
The 2026 theme for International Day of the Girl Child is “End child marriage and invest in girls’ rights!”. If you live in the United States, you may think of child marriage as a problem in other countries. However. marriage involving a child (defined as someone under the age of 18) is legal in 32 states (and at least one territory). Many of these marriages involve minors who are under the age of consent (16 to 18, depending on the state or territory) and most (~86%) involve a minor girl and an adult man. In some states, these children are not able to file for divorce — even when they experience spousal abuse — specifically because they are minors!
According to the United Nations:
- Each year, more than 12 million girls – roughly one every three seconds – are married before reaching adulthood….133 million girls are not attending school [this year].
- Adolescent girls aged 15-19 are more likely to not be in education, employment or training than their male peers.
- Nearly 1 in 4 ever-married or partnered adolescent girls aged 15-19 have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetimes.
- More than one third of adolescent girls and boys aged 15-19 consider a husband to be justified in hitting his wife under certain circumstances.
- The percentage of underweight adolescent girls aged 10-19 has only declined slightly in the last three decades, from 10 per cent to 8 per cent.
“It is true that Lal Dĕd was constructed differently by each community, but she was simultaneously Lalleśvarī or Lalla Yogini to the Hindus and Lal-‘ārifa to the Muslims; today, unfortunately, these descriptions are increasing being promoted at the expense of one another. In honour of the plural sensibilities that Kashmir has long nurtured, I will refer to this mystic-poet by her most celebrated and nonsectarian appellation, ‘“Lal Dĕd”’. In the colloquial, this means ‘“Grandmother Lal”’; more literally, it means ‘“Lal the Womb”’, a designation that connects her to the mother goddessess….”
— quoted from “1. Lal Dĕd: Life, Poetry and Historical Context” by Ranjit Hoskotein, as printed in I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd by Lal Dĕd (Translated from the Kashmiri with an Introduction and Notes by Ranjit Hoskote)
I was not thinking of Lal Dĕd when I started today’s practice and post. But, she fits. She fits every aspect of these overlapping stories.
Also known Lalleshwari (“Mother Lal” or “Mother Lalla”) and several other related variations, Lalla was a Kashmiri poet, mystic, spiritual teacher (or pastor, if you will), and saint. She married at the age of 12 (as was the custom in her region during the 14th century) and escaped an abusive marriage in order to pursue her spiritual calling. Her name was changed to Padmāvati when she married, but she wrote that she always thought of herself as Lalla. While she is revered in Muslim and Hindu communities, some people (in each community) do not acknowledge that she was both. The do not recognize all that she was.
When Lalla wrote about following the instructions of her guru (in poem 95), she concluded with a metaphor that indicated she was free, joyful, and living/celebrating life without the expectations of the outside world (i.e., those who would see her in one dimension):
“From that day, I’ve danced naked.”
— quoted from poem 95 in I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd by Lal Dĕd (Translated from the Kashmiri with an Introduction and Notes by Ranjit Hoskote)
As I mentioned before, some people who celebrate Navaratri view the different manifestations of Durga/Pavarti in isolation — just as some people view Lalla as a person with single, flattened identity. However, recognizing the Divine manifestations as the same woman at different points along her journey, highlights the symbolism of Her adventure and creates an opportunity for us to embody our own journey: meeting our own challenges head-on, vanquishing our own demons, letting go of what no longer serves us, and returning to (our) whatever passes for normal with a “boon” — something that benefits us and those around us. Of course, the ultimate boon is the ability to overcome our fears, live freely, and achieve our goals.
Overcoming fears and living freely requires ending ignorance. Sometimes that ignorance is inside us; it is also all around us. National Coming Out Day (NCOD) was established in 1988, as a day of awareness. It is also a day of support for people who are “coming out of the closet”. Co-founders Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary selected October 11th as this day of awareness and celebration, because it is the anniversary of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987.
Approximately 750,000 people took part in the 1987 march, which garnered the first national coverage of ACT UP and AIDS activists. The day after the march, thousands participated in civil disobedience actions at the United States Supreme Court Building. While drag queens, drag kings, and transgender people participated in the Gay Rights movement from the very beginning, Jean O’Leary eventually expressed remorse for the fact that the march and other events she organized were not as inclusive as they could have been and that she made disparaging remarks about people who became known for, quite literally, kicking the closet door open.
“In an interview in 1993, Dr. Eichberg said: ‘Most people think they don’t know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact, everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes.’”
— quoted from The New York Times obituary “Robert Eichberg, 50, Gay Rights Leader” by The Associated Press (dated August 15, 1995)
As I mentioned in passing (during the practice), today was also Black Girl Day Off (which is directly related to the fact that yesterday was World Mental Health Day) and, also, Pastor Appreciation Day.
If you are up for the journey/adventure, pick a goal, a desire, a destination (if you will). Of course, you have to acknowledge where you are in your journey.
So, that’s the first step: identify where you are and where you want to go. The second step (Monday’s step) will be doing what we need to do to get ready.
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”
— quoted from A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
If you are struggling, thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
### He Ma Durga (honoring the Divine Mother) ###
Music & blessings for “A Sunday Journey” (revised) **UPDATED w/EXCERPT** October 11, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: 988, Black Girl Day Off, International Day of the Girl Child, National Coming Out Day, Navaratri, Pastor Appreciation Day, Shailaputri, Sharada Navaratri
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“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Sharada Navaratri!” Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone nourishing their heart, body, and mind on Black Girl Day Off, Pastor Appreciation Day, National Coming Out Day, & International Day of the Girl Child.
Stay safe! Live well! Hydrate!
Click on the excerpt title below for more.
Please join me today (Sunday, October 11th) at 2:30 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.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
If you are struggling, thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
REVISED: Font color changed for the theme and additional observation/celebrations add. (10/11/2026)
### 🎶 ###
[FTWMI] A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “I Can’t Say That… Can I?” August 30, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Life, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, environment, journalism, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Molly Ivins, Moscow-Washington Direct Communication Link, politics, SCOTUS, Second Battle of Bull Run, Second Battle of Manassas, Supreme Court, Technology, Thurgood Marshall, Washington-Moscow Direct Communication Link
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May you be safe, peaceful, healthy, and hydrated.
For Those Who Missed It: The following was previously posted. Class details, links, and some formatting has been updated/added.
“‘You are in the wrong,’ replied the fiend; ‘and instead of threatening, I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all…? Shall I respect man when he condemns me? Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness, and instead of injury I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude at his acceptance. But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union. Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery. I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy…’”
— quoted from Chapter 17 of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (b. 1797)
I stand by the statements I made in the post excerpted below and yet… and yet. While I do not ever choose the monster’s path, I do recognize that any of us could be the monster. I recognize that it is a choice and that recognition can make all the difference in the world.
Part of this practice is noticing our choices and, also, noticing cause-and-effect — as well as our samskara (a “mental impression”) and vasana (a literal “dwelling” place of our habits). Part of this practice is noticing the conditioning and habitual patterns that make us, in a moment, forget that we have a choice. It is natural to run, hide, and/or come out swinging when backed into a corner by someone that means us harm. However, take note of what happens when the danger is passed. Are you still running, hiding, or swinging?
Now, take note of the times when you back yourself into a corner.
Are you still running, hiding, or swinging?
And, if you are not swinging, what are you doing?
“Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and fear.”
— quoted from Chapter 9 of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Click on the excerpt title below for the short post related to this date.
“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”
— quoted from the movie based on Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Please join me today (Sunday, August 30th) at 2:30 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.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10202020 Pratyahara”]
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 researched, but which may be helpful if you need (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
LIMITED SPACE FOR HOTEL DISCOUNTS!
### THE LIGHT IS STILL ON & THE LINE IS STILL OPEN!! ###
roj vay’ potlh ngIq (“Peace is an important part of the process”) [the “missing” Wednesday post] August 19, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Love, Movies, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Science, TV, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Alexander Courage, American Sign Language, ASL, BSL British Sign Language, Dorothy Miles, Dot Miles, Gene Roddenberry, Google Doodle, Howie Seago, Jonathan Frakes, klesha, Klingon, klishtaklishta, klişţāklişţāh, Leo Damian, Marnie Mosiman, music, Passion/Warrior, peace, Philo T. Farnsworth, Riva, Scholar/Dreamer/Artist, Science Fiction, sign language, sign languages, Star Trek, Television, Thomas Oglesby, universal translator, William T. Riker, Woman/That Which Binds Them, Writing, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutras 1.30-1.32, Yoga Sutras 2.2-2.11, Youmee Lee
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Second “Feast of the Saviour” (in August) and/or exploring friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
Pardon me, while I catch up!
This “missing” (and backdated) compilation post for Wednesday, August 19th, includes new and re-purposed content, an extra poem, a previously posted video, and a series of excerpts. 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.
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.
“RIKER: So none of the background which we have provided would be helpful in understanding why they continue to fight?
SCHOLAR: The portfolio will indicate that the conflict is over a piece of land, or wealth, or some other tangible asset. But we both know that is not the case.
RIKER: They’ve been at war for so long, it has become personal.
SCHOLAR: Exactly. The basis for peace must also be personal….”
— quoted from Star Trek Deep: Next Generation, “Loud as a Whisper” – (season 2, episode 5, aired January 9, 1989), conversation between First Officer William T. Riker (played by Jonathan Frakes), Riva (played by Howie Seago), and the Chorus (played by Thomas Oglesby as Scholar/Dreamer/Artist, Marnie Mosiman as Woman/That Which Binds Them, and Leo Damian as Passion/Warrior)
Understatement of the Day: There is a lot of conflict in the world.
Most of the conflict in the world is not new. We may point to something that happened yesterday or two weeks ago or two years ago or six (or ten or twenty) years ago as being the beginning of the conflict. However, more often than not, the roots of the conflict go much deeper than whatever we can point to at this moment. I think this is true about global conflicts, as well as about individual conflicts — and this idea is highlighted in the Yoga Sūtras.
According to the Yoga Sūtras (1.5; 1.30-1.32; 2.2-2.11), everything we think — and, therefore, everything we say and do — is a seed that can be described as klişțāklişțāh (“afflicting/dysfunctional or non-afflicting/functional”). (That which is klesha (an “affliction”) grows into suffering. Every seed (regardless of how it is colored) can be dormant, attenuated/weakened, intercepted, or fully activated/rooted through our actions. Part of the practice is about being very mindful of what we “plant” in the world and very deliberate and intentional about what we uproot versus what we nurture. One of the ways we do this is by practicing peace.
“Shanti Shanti Shanthi Om”
“Peace [within us], Peace [all around us], Peace [to and from everything and every one we encounter] With our conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind and on every plane of existence.”
— Sanskrit and English, quoted from the end of the shantipats
There are, without a doubt, a lot of pithy, poignant, and even meaningful quotes about peace. However, again and again, I come back to a reminder found at the end of every shantipat. The importance of peace is emphasized by the fact that the word shanti (“peace”) is repeated three times.
That final “peace” is drawn out and can be translated as an emphatic “Peace, because I said so!” or “Peace, because I demand it!” However, more often than not, I translate the three repetitions as, “Peace within us, peace all around us, peace to and from everything and everyone we encounter.” Then, I tack on a little reminder: “Peace, like [insert quality of the day] begins within.”
In other words, peace is personal and [finding your personal] “roj vay’ potlh ngIq (peace is an important part of the process).”
Since our experiences are different, the details of our conflicts are difference. So, if we want peace, we have figure out “qaStaH nuq jay (What the bleep is happening?)” and the best way to communicate with ourselves and others [i.e., “Holchaj yIjatlh. (Speak in their language).”]
August 19th is the anniversary of the birth of three people who changed how we consume media and what media we consume.
Click on the excerpt titles below for the 2020 post and the 2023 note related to Philo T. Farnsworth (b. 1906) and Gene Roddenberry (1921), and the related 2025 post that connects their television innovations to the work of Dorothy “Dot” Miles (b. 1931).
“…people meet and part.
The word becomes the action in this language of the heart.”
— quoted from the English translation of the poem “Language for the Eye” by Dorothy Miles
“I gave a lot of thought this year to my own Christmas list
I think these should be given to all, and no-one should be missed;
The first and most important is that we should learn to Love…
Ourselves — and then each other as we will in ‘heaven above’.
And after that Intelligence., growing like a seed;
And then a little Discipline, a scolding when we need!
And last of all, when all these are working as they should.
The right amount of Humour to make life good.”
— quoted from the English translation of the poem “Christmas List” by Dorothy Miles
Wednesday’s “Courage filled” playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08192020 To Boldly Go with Courage”]
Playlist Note: The YouTube playlist includes an interview with Gene Roddenberry and the Dorothy Miles poem “Language for the Eye” (which is also below).
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
### roj ###
A Snippet/Note & EXCERPT: “Exploring & Having Our Say” August 18, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Philosophy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 19th Amendment, 988, asana, Corps of Discovery, exploration, Febb Burn, Harry Burn, Mardy Murie, Margaret Murie, Meriwether Lewis, Sacagawea, Suffragists, yoga, York
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Dormition (Theotokos) Fast, and/or exploring friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
“If we allow ourselves to be discouraged, we lose our power and momentum. That’s what I would say to you of these difficult times. If you are going to that place of intent to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or the wild lands in Utah, you have to know how to dance.”
— quoted from Two In the Far North by Margaret “Mardy” Murie
We all have stories to tell. The more we travel, the more we explore, the more stories we will discover.
Click on the excerpt title below to explore a story about how (some) women were able to tell their stories and for the stories of explorers born on August 18th: Captain Meriwether Lewis (b. 1774) and Margaret “Mardy” Murie (b. 1902).
“Dear Son,
Don’t forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the RAT in ratification.”
— quoted from the letter Mrs. Phoebe “Febb” Ensminger Burn wrote to her son Tennessee Representative Harry Burn in 1920
Please join me today (Tuesday, August 18th) at 12:00 Noon 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 me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08182020 Exploring & Having Our Say”]
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
### Tell Me One of Your Stories ###
First Friday Night Special #70: “Rest Stops, Pit Stops, & Detours” August 7, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, California, Changing Perspectives, Meditation, One Hoop, Philosophy, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: 988, Alice Huyler Ramsey, Hermine Jahns, kurma, Margaret Atwood, Maxwell-Briscoe Company, meditation, Nettie Powell
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone travelling the road(s) with friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
“… my husband bought me a Maxwell roadster. There were scarcely half a dozen persons we knew driving motor cars, but nothing daunted, I took a couple of lessons and was ready to go. The still-young motor industry proved itself by indulging in what were known as ‘endurance runs,’ in two of which we participated. ‘We’ does not include my husband, for I had elected to spend my married life with a non-mechanical and non-travel-loving man, who ventured far from home only for fishing or hunting! His dread of the new contraption was clear when, with each new car we owned he look just one ride, and always asked, ‘How do you stop this thing?’
However, he was always magnanimous in his point of view toward me. When it came about, late in 1908, that a motor trip to the Pacific Coast was suggested by Carl Kelsey, then Sales Manager of the Maxwell-Briscoe Company, the proposal had considerable lure as we discussed it among the feminine members of the family. The journey had been made—though by men only—why not by us?”
— quoted from the article “Veil, Duster, and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey, ’07 (excerpted from the book of the same name and printed in Vassar Quarterly, Volume XLVII, Number 5, 1 June 1962)
Even if you’ve never taken a road trip quite like the one 22-year old Alice Huyler Ramsey finished today in 1909, you probably know the importance of rest stops and pit stops (and keeping your destination in mind when faced with detours). Mrs. Ramsey was the first woman to complete a cross country automobile trip in the United States. She was accompanied by her two older sister-in-laws (Annette “Nettie” Ramsey Powell [Lewis] and Margaret “Maggie” Ramsey Atwood) and her teenage friend Hermine Jahns1 in a publicity stunt for the automobile manufacturer Maxwell-Briscoe, but none of the other women knew how to drive.
This was during a time when less than 5% of the roads they traveled were paved; there were no service stations, gas stations, or charging stations at regular intervals. In fact, the fuel they needed wasn’t general used as fuel… at least, not by women. The group traveled for 59-days, from New York City to San Francisco, in a dark green, four-cylinder, 30-horsepower Maxwell DA, and they were met with great fanfare — even though they arrived 3 weeks later than they planned.
Like any road trip, the journey was full of rest stops to stretch their legs, pit stops to either fill up the tank or fix things on the vehicle, and detours… so many adventures disguised as detours. However, even the rest stops and pit stops were adventures that required them to stay centered and grounded.
“Now as I think back 53 years I honestly believe the really brave ones were the husband who trusted in my ability, after only a year’s experience at the wheel, and the three companions who put themselves in my hands to cross that long and little-known stretch of miles. It was not a comedy enacted, and there were many episodes to try our courage, but the challenge of each new day and the determination to drive every inch of the way, in spite of some advices to the contrary, finally brought us triumphantly to our goal in San Francisco.”
— quoted from the article “Veil, Duster, and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey, ’07 (excerpted from the book of the same name and printed in Vassar Quarterly, Volume XLVII, Number 5, 1 June 1962)
Please join me (TONIGHT) Friday, August 7, 2026, 7:15 PM – 8:20 PM (CST) for “Rest Stops, Pit Stops, & Detours”.
This Restorative Yoga practice is accessible and open to all.
(NOTE: There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.)
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09012023 Trusting, Listening… Deeply”]
NOTE: You can start with Track #1, #2, or #5.
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice and I will suggest using a wall, chair, or table during the practice. You can practice without props or use “studio” props and/or “householder” props. Example of Commercial props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of Householder props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice). Having a wall, chair, sofa, or coffee table may be handy throughout this practice.
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
NOTES & REVISIONS: 1There are some discrepancies about Hermine Jahns’s age in 1909. Most of the sources I checked indicated that she was 19 years old. However, the Smithsonian magazine and a fictionalized account of the 1909 trip describe her as 16 years old.
(8/0/2026. Revised for clarity.)
### Do You Know Where You Are? ###
**A Practice Video** & FTWMI: A Quick Note & Excerpts RE: The Cornerstones of Friendship, Liberty, & Justice August 5, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, Books, Emma Lazarus, friendship, Gertrude Rush, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, peace, Poetry, Statue of Liberty, Writing
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
Stay hydrated, y’all!
For Those Who Missed It: The following note and excerpts were originally posted in 2025. A practice video, class details, plus some formatting, links, and excerpt content have been updated/added.
“I submit it, then, to those best acquainted with the man personally, whether the following is not Nathaniel Hawthorne,–to to himself, whether something involved in it does not express the temper of this mind,–that lasting temper of all true, candid men–a seeker, not a finder yet:–
A man now entered, in neglected attire, with the aspect of a thinker, but somewhat too rough-hewn and brawny for a scholar. His face was full of sturdy vigor, with some finer and keener attribute beneath; though harsh at first, it was tempered with the glow of a large, warm heart, which had force enough to heat his powerful intellect through and through. He advanced to the Intelligencer, and looked at him with a glance of such stern sincerity, that perhaps few secrets were beyond its scope.”
— quoted from “Hawthorne and His Mosses” [a review of the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story collection, Mosses from an Old Manse] by Herman Melville, published pseudonymously by “a Virginian Spending July in Vermont” (as printed in The Literary World on August 17 and 24, 1850)
Every edifice (or physical structure) has a cornerstone. As I mentioned in one of the excerpted posts below, it is the reference point for everything that is built. In other words, it makes the building possible.
What is true about a physical structure is also true about everything else we build — including friendships, communities, and nations. The cornerstones and foundations of all of those make them possible.
A Possible Friendship
Herman Melville and Nathaniel Nathaniel Hawthorne met today in 1850.
Click on the excerpt title below for more.
A Note, Links, & Excerpt On The Cornerstones of Friendship & Liberty (a post-practice Monday post)
“Impossible” Ladies
While the foundations of some friendships are easily set, setting other cornerstone can seem impossible.
The cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was placed on a rainy Bedloe’s Island on August 5, 1884. Mrs. Gertrude E. Rush was born in Texas today in 1880.
Click on the excerpt title above to discover why Lady Liberty and a Lady of Justice are today’s “Impossible People.”
“Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.”
— quoted from the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
Please join me today (Wednesday, August 5th) 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06172020 The Lady’s Power”]
Check out this vinyasa practice inspired by liberty, justice, friendship, & 2 “impossible” ladies!
NOTE: The practice video is set to the same playlist as the Zoom practices!
“In 1919 Mrs. Gertrude Rush, a prominent black lawyer and [WC] delegate from a Baptist church in Des Moines, Iowa, posited that the vote would enable women to fight for better working conditions, higher wages, and greater opportunities in business. Through suffrage, Rush maintained, women could better regulate moral and sanitary conditions, end discrimination and lynch law, obtain better educational opportunities, and secure greater legal justice.”
— quoted from “Religion, Politics, and Gender: The Leadership of Nannie Helen Burroughs” by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (Chapter 8 of This Far By Faith: Readings in African-American Women’s Religious Biography, edited by Judith Weisenfeld & Richard Newman)
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
### MAKE PEACE YOUR CORNERSTONE ###
FTWMI: [An] Invitation for “‘..what was previously unattainable’ with an ‘Impossible’ Woman & a Sea-Loving Man” (a compilation w/excerpts & videos) August 1, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Life, Meditation, Men, One Hoop, Philosophy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: "Impossible" People, 988, Aimee Lehto, astronomy, Books, Boyd Croyner, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Hannah Mather Crocker, Herman Melville, I-35 bridge, James Baldwin, literature, Maria Mitchell, Moby-Dick, Muhammad Ali, Religion, Science, yoga philosophy, yoga practice, Yoga Sutra 2.55, Yoga Sutra 4.1, Yoga Sutras 1.2 - 1.4, Yoga Sutras 1.30-1.32
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Many blessings to everyone, everywhere. Stay hydrated!
For Those Who Missed It: The following compilation post (with excerpts, an embedded link to a related post, and a couple of videos) was originally posted in 2025 as a “First Friday Night Special” invitation.
Class details, some formatting, and some links have been updated/added.
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.”
— quoted from a 2004 Adidas ad campaign written by Aimee Lehto (with final tag line credited to Boyd Croyner), often attributed to Muhammad Ali
In “Part I: The Practice of Yoga — 1. Yoga: Concept and Meaning” of The Heart of Yoga: Developing A Personal Practice, T. K. V. Desikachar offered several English definitions of the Sanskrit word “yoga”, including “‘to come together’” and “‘to attain what was previously unattainable.’”
There are many reasons why something may not have been done or may not have been done by us (specifically). In Yoga Sūtras 1.30 – 1.31, Patanjali highlighted nine obstacles/distractions and four accompanying conditions that we can expect when we practice. The nine obstacles/distractions are disease, mental inertia/dullness, doubt, carelessness/negligence, sloth/laziness, cravings (and the inability to withdraw from them), clinging to misperceptions, frustration (related to failure), and instability (or failure to maintain a certain level of practice). Co-arising and/or resulting directly from the obstacles/distractions are pain, mental agitation (which can come in the form of sadness and frustration), unsteadiness or trembling in the body, and irregular breath. You may notice that these are things people experience even if they have never practiced yoga (physically and/or philosophically). However, Patanjali offers a solution to these obstacles/distractions and their accompanying ailments: yoga and the practice of single-pointed focus. (YS 1.2 and YS 1.32)
In other words, “yoga” — and single-pointed focus — can be the path to doing what some might consider “impossible”.
A portion of the following is excerpted from a 2020 post.
“There can be no doubt, that, in most cases, their judgment may be equal with the other sex; perhaps even on the subject of law, politics or religion, they may form good judgment, but it would be improper, and physically very incorrect, for the female character to claim the statesman’s birth or ascend the rostrum to gain the loud applause of men, although their powers of mind may be equal to the task.”
— quoted from “II: Becoming an Advocate” in Observations on the Real Rights of Women , with Their Appropriate Duties, Reminiscences and Traditions of Boston, Agreeable to Scripture, Reason and Common Sense by Hannah Mather Crocker (published 1818)
Believe it or not, Hannah Crocker was advocating for women’s rights when the wrote the above, in 1818, and stated that “It is woman’s peculiar right to keep calm and serene under every circumstance in life, as it is undoubtedly her appropriate duty, to soothe and alleviate the anxious cares of men, and her friendly and sympathetic breast should be found the best solace for him, as she has an equal right to partake with him the cares, as well as the pleasures of life.” Taken out of context, and viewed with a modern mind, it is easy to think that Crocker would have disapproved of Maria Mitchell, who was born August 1, 1818 (on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts).
Miss Mitchell, as the king of Denmark would refer to her, was the first acknowledged female astronomer. Her Quaker parents believed in equal education for the 10 offspring, regardless of gender, and her father shared his love of astronomy with all of his children. Miss Mitchell, however, was the only one really interested in going deeper into the math and science of what they viewed as “a hymn of praise to God.” She was assisting her father by the age of 12; opened and taught at a school for girls by the age of 17; and starting working as the librarian at the Nantucket Atheneum in her twenties. On October 1, 1848, she observed what she initially thought was a distant star, but quickly suspected was actually a comet. Further observation proved her correct and, after her father wrote to the Harvard Observatory, her conclusion was reported to the King of Denmark who awarded her a gold medal and named the newly sighted object “Miss Mitchell’s Comet”.1
Maria Mitchell would go on to be the first woman appointed to the American Association of the Advancement of Science (also in 1848); the first woman to earn an advanced degree (1853); the first woman appointed to the faculty of Vassar Female College (as their astronomy professor and head of their observatory, in 1865); and, therefore, the first woman in American history to earn a position as an astronomy professor. She is what I refer to this week as an impossible woman and Hannah Crocker may or may not have approved.
Take a moment to notice that Miss Mitchell was raised in a household where her interests and endeavors were supported. Despite the fact that she was born in a time and place where some believed her sex and gender should dictate/limit her vocation and occupation, she was able to focus on her goal, in part, because of her family “‘coming together’” to support her.
“First, no woman should say, ‘I am but a woman!’ But a woman! What more can you ask to be? Born a woman — born with the average brain of humanity — born with more than the average heart — if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you have? No matter where you are nor what you are, you are power.”
— quoted from Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals by Maria Mitchell
We all have some power(s) and part of the yoga philosophy is about (re)gaining access to our power(s). (YS 1.3, 2.55, 4.1) We have all witnessed (and/or directly experienced) how that power is magnified when people “unite”. This is true even when people are together and yet doing their own thing. For instance, individuals are often able to do things in a group setting (i.e., practicing in a yoga class) that they may not be able to do — with the same ease or at all — when they are alone.
Part of the group experience is the energetic power of being together and part of it may be about having an “accountability buddy”, even if that buddy is a stranger with whom you never directly interact. You could also tap into that same energy dynamic when writing in a café or — or, as Herman Melville did, while living in close proximity with another writer.
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off – then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”
— quoted from Moby-Dick, or the Whale by Herman Melville
Born in New York City on August 1, 1819, exactly a year to the day after Maria Mitchell, Herman Melville shared a love of the sea (and certain other experiences) with Nathanial Hawthorne. During Melville and Hawthorne’s brief friendship, they were both their most prolific. They also published what would become their most popular works, including Melville’s Moby-Dick and Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Both wrote about people who obsessively purposed their goals (something that is encouraged in yoga), but their characters did not always temper their determination with devoted surrender and non-attachment (which is something that is also encouraged in yoga). Lest you think it was only Hawthorne who focused on commandments, read on.
“Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.”
— quoted from Moby-Dick, or the Whale by Herman Melville
You can click on the first excerpt below for the original (2020) post about Maria Mitchell and Herman Melville (which has a different yoga philosophy focus) or the second excerpt title for more about Herman Melville.
“When Herman Melville was writing Moby Dick, he wasn’t writing about a man looking for a whale. He was writing about a man trying to find his higher self. He said these words, ‘… for as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all of the horrors of the half-lived life.’
In every moment of your life, as you leave here today, you have this choice, you can either be a host to God, or a hostage to your ego.”
— Dr. Wayne Dyer
Please join me today (Saturday, August 1st) 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 me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08012021 Mitchell & Melville”]
The 2025 practice was a Yin Yoga practice. You can click here to learn more about why we did that practice (and why there is a Yin Yoga element in this Saturday practice).
The 2025 Friday playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06042021 Having Our Say / Let’s Get Loud” – I recommend Track 1 or Track 2.]
(NOTE: The YouTube playlist has videos not available on Spotify and the Spotify app may add extra tracks.)
Check out this vinyasa practice dedicated to Maria Mitchell and Herman Melville!
Check out this Yin Yoga practice dedicated to my next “impossible” person!
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
1NOTE: “Miss Mitchell’s Comet” is formally designated as C/1847 T1.
As this is the anniversary of the 1-35 bridge collapse, please hold a neighbor in your hearts and minds today. So many people are suffering with current events, but let us not forget that some people are still grieving and healing from past events. To quote my dad, “Sounds like we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
###” CALL ME ISHMAEL, GOD LISTENS” ###
FTWMI: A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “The Stories Behind the Music (or The Vibration Behind the Vibration)” July 21, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Men, One Hoop, Philosophy, Science, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Books, Bret Anthony Johnston, Buchi Emecheta, Ernest Hemingway, fiction, reading, Rebecca Gross, samskāras, Toni Morrison, Writing, writing-tips
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Many blessings to everyone, everywhere.
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2025 (with the prompt question was, “If you were going to write a story, what would be the subject of your story?”)
Class details, some links, and some formatting have been updated/added.
“I may be wrong about this, but it seems as though so much fiction, particularly that by younger people, is very much about themselves. Love and death and stuff, but my love, my death, my this, my that. Everybody else is a light character in that play.
When I taught creative writing at Princeton, [my students] had been told all of their lives to write what they knew. I always began the course by saying, ‘Don’t pay any attention to that.’ First, because you don’t know anything and second, because I don’t want to hear about your true love and your mama and your papa and your friends. Think of somebody you don’t know. What about a Mexican waitress in the Rio Grande who can barely speak English? Or what about a Grande Madame in Paris? Things way outside their camp. Imagine it, create it. Don’t record and editorialize on some event that you’ve already lived through. I was always amazed at how effective that was. They were always out of the box when they were given license to imagine something wholly outside their existence. I thought it was a good training for them. Even if they ended up just writing an autobiography, at least they could relate to themselves as strangers.”
— Toni Morrison, quoted from the American Theatre interview “Write, Erase, Do It Over: On Failure, Risk and Writing Outside Yourself — Learning how to fail well is as crucial a part of a writer’s craft as putting words on a page. With other kinds of failure, you have less control.” by Rebecca Gross (dated March 10, 2015)
Writers are often taught, “Write what you know.” Some authors and creative writing teachers think that is the best advice ever. Others, as noted above* and below, think this old standard it is not so great advice. But, have you ever considered that (on a certain level) writers have no choice? Have you ever considered that every writer writes from their own experience — even when they are writing about the experience of others and even when they are writing about places that are not their home?
Storytelling is part of being human. Before we are born, our brains start processing all the sensations/information around us and communicating a story about the present moment. (YS 2.18-20) From an early age, we tell stories about how our day went and how we wish our day had gone. We make up stuff, embellish stuff, and tell lies. Or, we tell stories about things that randomly pop up in our head. Sometimes, those stories can be pretty fantastical. But, every time we tell a story, we are telling the story based on our understanding of the world, which is based on our past experiences and our samskara (“mental impression”).
In other words, we write what we know (and what we understand).
Now, take a moment to consider that much of what we read is available for us to read (and interests us) because of our previous experiences and, also, the experiences and identity of the writer — no matter their subject matter. This is why two writers can tell very different stories even when they are writing about the same things and the same places.
This is also why you may hear about one great author and not another.
Click on the excerpt title below for the very different stories of two writers born on July 21st.
The Stories Behind the Music (or The Vibration Behind the Vibration)
“Every Wednesday, I teach an introductory fiction workshop at Harvard University, and on the first day of class I pass out a bullet-pointed list of things the students should try hard to avoid…. The last point is: Don’t Write What You Know.”
“The idea panics them for two reasons. First, like all writers, the students have been encouraged, explicitly or implicitly, for as long as they can remember, to write what they know, so the prospect of abandoning that approach now is disorienting. Second, they know an awful lot. In recent workshops, my students have included Iraq War veterans, professional athletes, a minister, a circus clown, a woman with a pet miniature elephant, and gobs of certified geniuses. They are endlessly interesting people, their lives brimming with uniquely compelling experiences, and too often they believe those experiences are what equip them to be writers. Encouraging them not to write what they know sounds as wrongheaded as a football coach telling a quarterback with a bazooka of a right arm to ride the bench. For them, the advice is confusing and heartbreaking, maybe even insulting. For me, it’s the difference between fiction that matters only to those who know the author and fiction that, well, matters.”
— quoted from The Atlantic (Fiction 2011 Issue) essay, “Don’t Write What You Know: Why fiction’s narrative and emotional integrity will always transcend the literal truth” by Bret Anthony Johnston
Please join me today (Tuesday, July 21st) at 12:00 Noon 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 me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07212020 A Tale of Two Writers”]
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 researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
*NOTE: The Toni Morrison quote (above) is from a section of the interview titled, “Failures In Contemporary American Literature”
[FTWMI] EXCERPT: “Impossible x3” (PLUS, a music note & video) the post-practice Monday post August 3, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Amisha Padnani, commentary, Gabriel Popkin, genocide, Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Regina Jonas, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, Religion, The New York Times Obituaries Desk
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Many blessings to everyone and especially for anyone praying, wishing, hoping, and working for peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside). Stay hydrated, y’all!
“If I am to confess what drove me, as a woman, to become a rabbi, two things come to mind. My belief in God’s calling and my love of my fellow man. God has bestowed on each one of us special skills and vocations without stopping to ask about our gender. This means each one of us, whether man or woman, has a duty to create and work in accordance with those God-given skills.”
— quoted from the doctoral thesis entitled “May a woman hold rabbinic office?” by Rabbi Regina Jonas
“She told Berna, a Swiss women’s newspaper: ‘For me it was never about being the first. I wish I had been the hundred thousandth!’”
— quoted “First Officially Ordained Woman Rabbi Regina Jonas 1902–1944” by Gabriel Popkin, published in Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani and the [New York Times] Obituaries Desk
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The 2022 playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08032022 Always Answering the Impossible Call”]
The 2021 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. Look for “08032021 Answering the Impossible Call”]
Check out the practice video!
“Nothing can hold you back—not your childhood, not the history of a lifetime, not even the very last moment before now. In a moment you can abandon your past. And once abandoned, you can redefine it.
If the past was a ring of futility, let it become a wheel of yearning that drives you forward. If the past was a brick wall, let it become a dam to unleash your power.
The very first step of change is so powerful, the boundaries of time fall aside. In one bittersweet moment, the sting of the past is dissolved and its honey salvaged.”
— quoted from the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.
### There Is No Call Waiting ###