EXCERPT (repost): “Tolstoy’s Theories & Questions (soooo many questions)” **updated w/extra link** September 9, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Meditation, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, Aylmer Maude, Books, Leo Tolstoy, Louise Maude, Mindfulness, Questions, Religion, Writing
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone fasting and/or planting and nourishing the seeds of friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom.
Stay safe! Hydrate and nourish your heart, body, and mind.
“It once occurred to a certain king that if he always knew the right time to begin everything; if he knew who were the right people to listen to, and whom to avoid; and, above all, if he always knew what was the most important thing to do, he would never fail in anything he might undertake.”
— quoted from the short story “The Three Questions” (originally published in the short story collection What Men Live By) by Leo Tolstoy (b. 09/08/1828, according to the Gregorian calendar), translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT LEO TOLSTOY.
FTWMI: Tolstoy’s Theories & Questions (soooo many questions)
Please join me today (Wednesday, September 9th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom (featuring “Three Questions,” one of Tolstoy’s short stories). 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 “09092020 Tolstoy’s Theory”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes a video in the before/after section that is not available on Spotify. The Spotify playlist includes an instrumental version of the same song.
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.
You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!
September 25 — 27, 2026
### ??? ###
How You Can Use What is “Happening” to Un-Cage Yourself (a compilation post with excerpts & a video) September 5, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Japa, Japa-Ajapa, Life, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Vairagya, Vipassana, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 8 Limbs of Yoga Philosophy, 988, Abhyasa, Allan Kaprow, Art, Bhagavad Gita, dance, elephants, Happening, I Ching, Japa-Ajapa, John Cage, kriyā yoga, La Monte Young, Merce Cunningham, music, Philosophy, Richard Kostelanetz, samskaras, samskāras, silence, tapas, Vairagya, vasana, vāsanā, Walt Whitman, Writing, yoga, Yoga Sutra 2.1, Zen Buddhism
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing Apodosis of the Dormition; offering prayers for forgiveness on Leil Selichot; and/or awakening friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
May you be safe, protected, and appreciated.
“The past is not fact. The past is simply a big field that had a great deal of activity in it. I asked a historian once, ‘How do you write history?’ and he said, ‘Oh, you have to invent it.’ Well, the way we invent history is by doing what we do; and the more we do, the more we look into the past to see if there is anything that is like what we are doing. If there is, we get interested; and if there isn’t, we don’t.”
— quoted from “Three: His Own Music (to 1970)” in Conversing with Cage by Richard Kostelanetz
What we are doing right here, right now, in this present moment, is based on our past moments and our past experiences. What we do next is based on those past moments and experiences as well as whatever we do (are doing) in this present moment. It seems really obvious, right? And, yet, if we are not mindful, intentional, and deliberate, we will continue doing the same things over and over again — even when those things no longer serve us (or we realize they never served us). Even when they are the same mistakes and/or the same bad behavior, over and over again.
Change requires discipline. Tapas (“heat, discipline, austerity” and the practices that cultivate them) is such an important part of the Yoga Philosophy it is one of the niyamas (internal “observations”) and the first element in kriyā yoga (“union in action”). (YS 2.1) It is described in the Bhagavad Gita as a purification tool and defined as “‘to melt’, as in refining ore.” (BG 17.14)
Tapas is a part of the practice that requires repetition.
“And this repetition of the exercises, which resemble print more than electronics, which resemble classing dancing more than Happenings, is nevertheless physically necessary if [Merce Cunningham] is to dance at all. I think this is his principal problem at the present moment. Were he to give up the daily class, all the dancing, as he has lived to do it, it would become impossible, because the things that are done are athletic in character and are not possible unless you maintain a daily discipline in the same sense that one cannot high jump unless the body is physically disciplined.”
— quoted from “Nine: Dance” in Conversing with Cage by Richard Kostelanetz
Because of the discipline involved, a yoga practice has a lot in common with dance (and other athletic endeavors). Yet, a yoga class can also haves a lot in common with a “Happening”: a performance or art event that may be lightly scripted, but/and is ultimately a collaboration between the performers, the audience, the time, and the place. The term (“happening”) is attributed to Allan Kaprow, who studied with John Cage.
Born today in 1912, John Cage played around with musical happenings in the 1950s, while also studying Buddhism and collaborating with his partner Merce Cunningham, the choreographer. He also experimented with prepared instruments and explored silence and chance, while grappling with his ever-evolving feelings about repetition (particularly in music).
“[The composer La Monte Young] is able either through the repetition of a single sound or through the continued performance of a single sound for a period like twenty minutes, to bring it about that after, say, five minutes, I discover what I have all along been thinking was the same thing is not the same thing after all, but full of variety. I find his work remarkable almost in the same sense that the change in experience of seeing is when you look through a microscope. You see that there is something other than what you thought there was.”
— quoted from “Ten: Successors” in Conversing with Cage by Richard Kostelanetz
In some ways, our yoga practice is like a lab or a microscope, giving us the opportunity to “see things [like our habits] in a special way”.
Ancient and modern sciences agree that if we repeatedly do something enough times, we will continue to do that thing. In other words, it will become a habit. It doesn’t matter if we look at this paradigm through the lens of modern science (which focuses on how neural pathways are formed and hardwired) or if we think of it through the lens of ancient sciences like Yoga and Āyurveda (which highlight samskara [a “mental impression”] and vasana [a literal “dwelling” place of our habits]). Do something enough and doing it begins to feel instinctual. This is true whether we consider the behavior good, bad, or neutral.
Regardless of the value we place on a behavior, most of the things we are in the habit of doing are things that we may not have intentionally set out to do. The Yoga Philosophy, however, encourages us to cultivate the habit of cultivating habits. Abhyasa is the “[continuous and deliberate] practice, [engaged with sincere devotion]”. Paired with vairagya (“non-attachment”), abhyasa is a mindful, intentional, and deliberate way of creating habits that serve you — on and off the mat. (YS. 1.12-1.14) This practice highlights the fact that, although we may find ourselves trapped in habitual behaviors, we forget (or never learned) that we can change our habits.
We just have to do the new thing again and again… and again.
“If something is boring after 2 minutes, try it for 4. If still boring, then 8. Then 16. Then 38. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.”
— John Cage
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE.
First Friday Night Special #59 — Invitation for “How to Get Out of Your Cage” (with excerpt & video)
“Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself.”
— John Cage
Please join me today (Saturday, September 5th) 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09052020 The Cagey Truth About Nothing”]
FAIR WARNING: The volume on these tracks is quite dynamic, especially on the Spotify list. I love this music, however, I know some folks hate it; so, feel free to “randomly” pick another list or…practice in “silence.”
If you are interested in John Cage, and need something a little less dynamic, another playlist is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09052025 How to Get Out of Your Cage”]
Pure Cage
Extreme heat (and a lot of changes) 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
LIMITED SPACE FOR HOTEL DISCOUNTS!
### LIVE UNCAGED ###
[FTWMI] 2 EXCERPTS: “Re-Introducing SOPHIE” & “How Do You Love Ye?” (the post-practice Monday post) August 24, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, avidya, Books, Goth, Intolerance, music, Paulo Coelho, Sophie Lancaster, Sophie Lancaster Foundation, Sylvia Lancaster, Writing, yoga, yoga philosophy
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Dormition (Theotokos) Fast; and/or working to cultivate friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside) — on the International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination, & Violence Based on Musical Preference.
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
For Those Who Missed It: This post-practice post for Monday, August 24th, was originally posted in 2025. Some formatting, links, and retreat information have been added/updated. The 2026 prompt question was, “What is your favorite kind/genre of music?” You can request an audio recording of these practices 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.
“. . . the great aim of every human being is to understand the meaning of total love. Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person.”
— quoted from Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho (b. 1947)
Click on the first excerpt title below to “meet” Sophie Lancaster and the second excerpt title for a mini-post about Paulo Coelho.
“During the long hours at hospital, Sylvia decided that when Sophie was better, they would go into schools and talk to young people about difference, and how it is ok to be who you are and express yourself in your own way. Sadly, Sylvia never got a chance to do this with Sophie.”
— quoted from the “Welcome” page for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices; however….
You can find music referenced in the practice and in the excerpted posts on the playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08242021 A Day for SOPHIE”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist contains this video with a graphic depiction of violence.
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
### “Love is looking at the same mountains from different angles.” ~ Paulo Coelho ###
**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: A Coda & EXCERPT: “A Little Grace [plus] Compassion and Peace (with regards to Ralph Waldo Emerson)” July 15, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Life, Meditation, One Hoop, Pema Chodron, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Vairagya, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, Black Codes, Black Hair, Books, hair, Harvard Divinity School, Jim Crow, literature, Poetry, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Religion, shenpa, transcendentalism, yoga philosophy, yoga practice
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone practicing peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
For Those Who Missed It: The following coda (& excerpt) were originally posted in 2025. Class details, some links, and some formatting have been updated/added.
“But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at once into a mere illustration and fable of this mind. What am I? and What is? asks the human spirit with a curiosity new-kindled, but never to be quenched. Behold these outrunning laws, which our imperfect apprehension can see tend this way and that, but not come full circle. Behold these infinite relations, so like, so unlike; many, yet one. I would study, I would know, I would admire forever. These works of thought have been the entertainments of the human spirit in all ages.”
— quoted from the 1838 “Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
You can read this coda before or after you check out the post excerpted below; because, it involves a “full circle” moment I had a few days ago [in 2025] when I was talking to a neighbor.
This neighbor, who has known me all my life, was talking about sharing a meal with old friends and about the conversations that did and did not come up during the meal. Then she said that the problem with the world was that we were taught, as children, that it wasn’t polite or appropriate to talk about certain subjects in public. I mentioned, as I do in the post excerpted below, that I learned this lesson in a different way. Now, here, I should note that my neighbor and I have different hair textures — and, ironically, her mother occasionally did my grandmother’s hair — but, she got my point.
What struck me about the moment is how some rules and mores get passed down (and around) without people knowing why they are the rules and laws that govern our behavior. For instance, here in the United States, certain laws related to slavery are no longer on the books and yet people — of all races and ethnicities — behave as if they are still the law of the land.
More to the point: We don’t talk about this! In some cases, we don’t discuss certain things because we don’t want to start an argument — which is why we need to practice getting “unhooked”.
In other cases, we don’t talk about certain subjects because we don’t want to be banned (for 27 years… and 6 days) as Ralph Waldo Emerson was after addressing the Harvard Divinity School graduating class today in 1838.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.
A Little Grace & FTWMI: Compassion and Peace (with regards to Ralph Waldo Emerson)
“The intuition of the moral sentiment is an insight of the perfection of the laws of the soul. These laws execute themselves. They are out of time, out of space, and not subject to circumstance. Thus; in the soul of man there is a justice whose retributions are instant and entire. He who does a good deed, is instantly ennobled. He who does a mean deed, is by the action itself contracted. He who puts off impurity, thereby puts on purity. If a man is at heart just, then in so far is he God; the safety of God, the immortality of God, the majesty of God do enter into that man with justice. If a man dissemble, deceive, he deceives himself, and goes out of acquaintance with his own being. A man in the view of absolute goodness, adores, with total humility. Every step so downward, is a step upward. The man who renounces himself, comes to himself.”
— quoted from the 1838 “Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Please join me today (Wednesday, July 15th) 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 “07152020 Peace & Compassion RWE”]
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
### Peace In, Peace Out ###
TEASER/EXCERPT: “The Serendipity Practice” (with an extra video!) January 28, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Life, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Vipassana, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Art, chaos theory, Christa McAuliffe, Ed Sheeran, Ekow Nimako, Elvis Presley, Horace Walpole, Horatio Walpole, LEGO, samskāras, santosha, santoşā, serendipity, shoshin, Space Shuttle Challenger, synchronicity, T. H. Huxley, Thomas Henry Huxley, vasanas, Voltaire, vāsanā, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra 2.20, Yoga Sutra 3.16
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Many blessings to everyone, everywhere.
May we all be safe and protected / May we all be peaceful and happy / May we all be healthy and strong! May we all appreciate the “accidental goodness” in our lives.
“In all these cases, it is only the relation to time which alters — the process of divination beyond the limits of possible direct knowledge remains the same.“
— quoted from the essay “On the Method of Zadig: Retrospective Prophecy as a Function of Science” (1880) in Collected Essays, Volume 4. Science and Hebrew Tradition by T. H. Huxley
Today in 1754, Horace Walpole, the Right Honorable Earl of Orford, shared the word and meaning of serendipity.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE!
The Serendipity Practice (the “missing” and “long-lost” Sunday post for 1/28)
Yoga Sūtra 3.16: pariṇāmatrayasaṃyamādatãtānāgatajñānam
— “By samyama [focus-concentration-meditation] on the three-fold changes in form, time, and characteristics, there comes knowledge of the past and future.”
Please join me today (Wednesday, January 21st) 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 “01282024 Serendipity”]
Check out what Ekow Nimako does with LEGO (which were patented today in 1958)!
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.)
### “I’ll pick you up when you’re gettin’ down” ~ Ed Sheeran ###
A Much Needed Break for the Brain (& other stuff) [just the music & blessings] January 20, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, brain, Health, Science, Yoga Sutras 1.30-1.34
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Warm wishes and many blessings to everyone, everywhere.
May you be safe and protected / May you be peaceful and happy / May you be healthy and strong!
Please join me today (Tuesday, January 20th) 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 in the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “02252024 Traveling Music”]
NOTE: One of the before/after practice songs is not available to everyone on Spotify.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
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A Quick Note, Links, & Excerpts Related to Freedom [& Dreaming] (a post-practice Monday post) January 20, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Meditation, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, B. A. Parker, Buddhism, Code Switch, Dolly Lama, Dolly Parton, freedom, injustice, Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King Jr, Michael E. Eidenmuller, Nicholas Buccola, Racism, yoga
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Many blessings to everyone, and especially for anyone celebrating the Holy Theophany of Jesus (Baptism of the Lord) May everyone breathe deeply and savor the richness of living a three dimensional life!
May you be safe and protected / May you be peaceful and happy / May you be healthy and strong!
This is a short post-practice post for Monday, January 19th (with excerpts). It includes some links that will direct you to a site outside of this blog. The 2026 prompt question was, “‘…which age would you like to live in?’” 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.
“Something is happening in Memphis; something is happening in our world. And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, ‘Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?’ I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God’s children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn’t stop there.”
— quoted from the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, delivered Wednesday, April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
In anticipation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day — which is the third Monday in January for most of the United States1 — the January 17th episode of Code Switch featured B. A. Parker interviewing Nicholas Buccola, the historian and author of One Man’s Freedom. The book uses the activism and political engagement of Martin Luther King and Barry Goldwater to examine the concept of freedom and the interview discussed the ways in which these two public figures had different concepts of freedom.
The idea that “freedom” means something different to different people — and/or different groups of people — is something I have considered before. Of course, in philosophies like Yoga and Buddhism, freedom (and liberation) are related to the end of suffering; with pain being something physical and suffering being something mental and/or emotional. Physical pain can lead to mental and emotional suffering, and vice versa; however, one does not automatically lead to the other. Suffering, ultimately, comes down to attitude — even when someone is intentionally inflicting pain and suffering on others.
This is why someone very rich and (politically) powerful can be miserable, while someone financially and/or physically poor can have a good time.
This is why, as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. illustrated in his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, someone can be happy even as they are struggling — and, sometimes, specifically because they believe their suffering will ultimately lead to the end of suffering.
Click on the excerpt titles below for other sermons that I have highlighted on MLK Day and for more about MLK.
A Quick Note, Links, & Excerpts Related to Life (a post-practice Monday post)
“Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, ‘If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy.’
Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding.
Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee — the cry is always the same: ‘We want to be free.’”
— quoted from the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, delivered Wednesday, April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today’s prompt question might seem strange and out of place in the context of a practice about being present, right here and right now. And I debated using it — even though I lifted it directly from Reverend King’s final speech. It is interesting to note that, like MLK’s answers, the answers on Monday night were related to change and, more than once, to times when people were struggling for civil rights and civil liberties.
It seems many people dream of change and, also, of being part of making those dreams come true.
“And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream, and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
— quoted from the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, delivered Wednesday, April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Speaking of dreams, this year (2026), the third Monday in January happens to fall on the birthday of another dreamer, seeker, and preacher: the “Dolly Lama”!
Click on the excerpt title below for more about Dolly Partin, born January 19, 1946.
“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”
— Dolly Parton
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
NOTE: The “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech was Martin Luther King Jr’s final speech, as he was assassinated the following day (on April 4, 1968).
Click here to listen and/or read the speech on the American Rhetoric website.
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).
NOTE: 1While the third Monday in January is a federal holiday observed in all 50 states and the United States territories, not everyone observes it simply as “MLK Day”. Some states include “Civil Rights”, “Human Rights”, or “Equality” in the name. Other states (umm, specifically states in the South), have historically named the day after King and at least one Confederate general. While some of those Confederate observations have been eliminated, some were simply moved to other dates.
CORRECTION: During the 2026 practice, I erroneously said that Nicholas Buccola wrote about Martin Luther King Jr. and Bull Connors, as opposed to MLK and Barry Goldwater.
### “We need all of you.” ~ MLK ###
EXCERPT: “Searching….” January 18, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Meditation, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 9 Days, 988, A. A. Milne, Alan Alexander Milne, Art, Christopher Robin Milne, E. H. Shephard, Ernest Howard Shephard, Hope, meditation, Poetry, Winnie-the-Pooh, yoga
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Many blessings to everyone. May everyone breathe deeply and have sovereignty over your self!
May you know you are and be safe and protected / peaceful and happy / healthy and strong!
“Christopher Robin came down from the Forest to the bridge, feeling all sunny and careless, and just as if twice nineteen didn’t matter a bit, as it didn’t on such a happy afternoon, and he thought if he stood on the bottom rail of the bridge, and leant over, and watched the river slipping slowly away beneath him, then he would suddenly know everything there was to be known, and he would be able to tell Pooh, who wasn’t quite sure of it. But when he got to the bridge and saw all the animals there, then he knew that it wasn’t that kind of afternoon, but the other kind, when you wanted to do something.”
— quoted from “Chapter Six, In Which – Pooh Invents a New Game and Eeyore Joins In” of The House at Pooh Corner by Alan Alexander Milne, with decorations by Ernest Howard Shephard
Since Alan Alexander Milne was born today in 1882, some people call today Winnie-the-Pooh Day.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE (including a video).
“Every child has his Pooh, but one would think it odd if every man still kept his Pooh to remind him of his childhood. But my Pooh is different, you say: he is the Pooh. No, this only makes him different to you. My toys were and are to me no more than yours were and are to you, not different to me. I do not love them more because they are known to children in Australia or Japan. Fame has nothing to do with love.”
— quoted from “12. The Toys” in The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne
Please join me today (Sunday, January 18th) 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 “08212021 An Afternoon of Just Knowing”]
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.
### “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” ~ A. A. M. ###
EXCERPT: “Out of This World Firsts” January 14, 2026
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Art, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Surya Namaskar, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Art, brain, inspiration, Makar Sankrantani, mind, neuroscience, Norman Doidge MD, Robert A. Heinlein, samskaras, samskāras, travel, vasana, vāsanā
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“Happy Makar Sankranti!” to all who are celebrating a new beginning. Many blessings to all!!
May everyone breathe deeply and savor the richness of doing something amazing for the first time!
“If you want to lift a hundred pounds, you don’t expect to succeed the first time. You start with a lighter weight and work up little by little. You actually fail to lift a hundred pounds, every day, until the day you succeed. But it is in the days when you are exerting yourself that growth is occurring.”
— quoted from the “Notes and References [related to Chapter 6. Brain Lock Unlocked — Using Plasticity to Stop Worries, Obsessions, Compulsions, and Bad Habits]” in The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, M.D.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE (including a video).
“… Don protested. ‘But that’s theoretically impossible— isn’t it?’
Dr. Jefferson brushed it aside. ‘Everything is theoretically impossible, until it’s done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen. Studied any mathematical philosophy, Don? Familiar with infinite universe sheafs and open-ended postulate systems?’
‘Uh, I’m afraid not, sir.’
‘Simple idea and very tempting. The notion that everything is possible—and I mean everything—and everything has happened. Everything.’”
— quoted from “II: ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel,Upharsin’” in Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein
Please join me today (Wednesday, January 14th) 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 “01142024 Out of This World Firsts”]
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 