Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Love, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Poetry, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, A. A. Milne, Books, Carter Crocker, cerebral palsy, Christopher Robin Milne, Clare Milne Trust, E. H. Shephard, gunas, John Donovan, Karl Geurs, Kenny Loggins, myasthenia gravis, Robert Cormier, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.20
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).
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
This is the “missing” for Wednesday, August 21st. Technically, it is also a portion of the “long lost” post for the 2021 practice. It includes some previously posted information. 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.
“By the time it came to the edge of the Forest, the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river, and being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, ‘There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.’ But all the little streams higher up in the Forest went this way and that, quickly, eagerly, having so much to out before it was too late.”
— 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
One day, a couple had a baby. They were expecting a girl and planned to call her “Rosemary.” But, it turned out they were having a boy. They decided to call him “Billy” — and while they did call him “Billy Moon,” they never intended to christen him “William.” Instead, the couple each picked a name. Born in Chelsea, London, England, today in 1920, the little baby boy was christened Christopher Robin Milne.
You may have heard of him.
Like his father, he was an author, as well as a bookseller, who wrote The Enchanted Places (1974), The Path Through the Trees (1979), The Hollow on the Hill (1982), The Windfall (1985), and The Open Garden (1988). Also like his father, Alan Alexander Milne, Christopher served in the military — although, it was a little harder for the younger Milne to join the British Army since he had health issues and failed his medical exam. At some point in his life he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis, which is a neuromuscular junction disease that creates muscle weakness and can lead to double vision. The elder Milne pulled some strings and young Christopher was able to join the 2nd Training Battalion of the Royal Engineers. After serving in the Middle East and Italy, being wounded, he eventually returned to Trinity College, Cambridge University, where he earned a degree in English.
But, that’s probably not why you’ve heard of him.
If you’ve heard of him, it’s probably not because he, like his father, married a woman from the de Sélincourt family — A. A. married Dorothy “Daphne” de Sélincourt, in 1913, and Christopher married Lesley (a first cousin), in 1948. Nor is it likely — although it is possible — that you know of him because (like his parents), he and his wife had one child, a daughter named Clare. I say that it is possible, but not likely, to have heard of Christopher Milne through his daughter Clare, because Clare had cerebral palsy and was an advocate for people with disabilities. In fact, Clare and her mother established the Clare Milne Trust in 1999, in order to provide grants to charities and organizations that “support people of all ages with a disability who live in Devon or Cornwall [and] help them to live a full and active life.” The trust started distributing grants in 2002; so, it’s possible (although, not probable) that that’s how you heard of Christopher Milne.
But, I’m willing to bet a whole jar of honey that you first heard of Christopher Robin Milne, because of his toys.
“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
Christopher Milne received the first of those toys today in 1921. It was a Teddy bear named Edward, naturally. Later that year, one of his first Christmas presents was a stuffed grey donkey, Eeyore. Sometime that same year, he also received Piglet. Much later, his parents gave him three more stuffed animals: Kanga, Roo, and Tigger. At some point, the family went to the London Zoo to see a Canadian black bear named Winnipeg. Then, when he was around five years old, Mr. Milne and his family moved to a country home in East Sussex. The house was surrounded by woods and things the little boy was eager to explore.
To entertain his son, A. A. Milne wrote little verses, including one called “Teddy Bear,” which appeared in Punch when Christopher Robin was three years old. When the family moved, the senior Mr. Milne started incorporating the woods around their East Sussex home into the poems and stories about Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, and the other stuffed animals. Owl and Rabbit (and maybe Small) — and definitely the Heffalump were made up. Alice was not; she was young Christopher’s nanny, Olive “Nou” Rand Brockwell. Much to everyone’s surprise — and much to A. A. Milne’s chagrin — the stories, with those lovely “decorations” by E. H. Shephard, garnered more accolades than for his plays, articles, and adult novels.
But, what could he do about that?
”Forty years ago such letters were addressed to my father, and I can well remember seeing them on the breakfast table every morning and watching him open them…. He would read them silently, then pass them, one at a time, to my mother.
‘What do you think?’
‘Probably Wol.’
‘I thought so too.’
So ‘Wol’ it often was.
You may remember the occasion. Rabbit had found the notice saying GON OUT BACKSON BISY BACKSON and had taken it round to Owl for his advice. You may even remember the actual lines. Owl asks:
‘What did you do?’
‘Nothing’
‘The best thing,’ said Owl wisely.
Somehow, so often, nothing did seem the best thing to do.”
— quoted from the “Introduction” in The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne
Click on the excerpt title below for the 2022 post dedicated to A. A. Milne (featuring a related video from my “Nine Days” series).
Searching…. (the “missing” Tuesday post w/a little extra)
But, what of the little boy?
The little boy grew up, as little boys do. His parents were concerned by how all the attention affected their still young son — who, it must be said, kind of hated the attention. He was bullied when he was in Boxgrove School (a boarding school) and even more so when he went to Stowe School. Eventually, as I mentioned before, he went to college, then to war, and then back to college. He got married and had his daughter. Much to his mother’s surprise, Christopher Milne opened Harbour Bookshop, in Dartmouth, on August 25. 1951. The bookstore was a success. In fact, up until its last owners closed the shop in 2011, it was the only independent bookshop in Dartmouth for the better part of 60 years.
While Christopher Milne maintained a relationship with his father up until A. A. Milne’s death in 1956 (shortly before Clare was born), he was estranged from his mother from 1956 until her death in 1971. He had no interest in returning to Cotchford Farm, his childhood home in East Sussex, or his father’s royalties. With the exception of Roo, who was lost when Mr. Milne was 9, the original stuffed animals were all donated to the New York Public Library.
A portion of the following was posted last year.
”Yet the little boy did grow up and it is the grown-up little boy who is writing now. And something of what he was by nature and something of what he became as a result of his experience will colour his words.”
— quoted from the “Introduction” in The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne
In 1974, the very grown-up Christopher Milne wrote The Enchanted Places to bridge the gap between what people know — or think they know — about a boy and his toys and the man that grew up. That bridge is full of “a few precious things / [that] Seem to follow throughout all our lives.” Some of those things are specific, tangible and describable: toys, games, people. Some of those things are unspecific: a feeling created and then remembered. The bridge is also made up of barely describable and absolutely indescribable things.
As Patanjali pointed out in Yoga Sūtras 2.18 – 2.20), everything in the world is made up of these things. So, there is always a bridge and every one of us has a story (or stories) that make up our bridge. Those stories are filled (if we are lucky) with friends — like Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Tigger, the Heffalump, and (even) Small and Alice — and afternoons of just knowing, doing “nothing” (or something).
“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
Wednesday’s playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08212021 An Afternoon of Just Knowing”]
“If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together…there is something you must always remember: you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think…”
— Christopher Robin to Winnie-the-Pooh (in the Walt Disney movie, Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, written by Carter Crocker and Karl Geurs
Yes, it’s true, one of the most famous Christopher Robin / Winnie-the-Pooh quote was not written by A. A. Milne (nor was it written while he was still alive). You can click on the excerpt title above to find out more and/or click here to check out my 2016 post about someone who likes to explore enchanted places.
Click here to pick up the thread and learn about two writers born on August 22nd.
Extreme heat (and a lot of changes) can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, they can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
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).
### Do You Know For What or Whom You Are Looking? ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Healing Stories, Karma, Life, Music, Philosophy, Riḍván, Wisdom, Yoga.
Tags: Bill Moyers, Counting the Omer, George Lucas, gunas, Malchut, samskāras, The force, Tiferes, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 2.13, yoga sutra 2.18, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.11, Yoga Sutra 4.12, Yoga Sutra 4.13, Yoga Sutra 4.14, Yoga Sutra 4.7, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.10
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Second Eastertide, Counting the Omer, and/or working as a force of peace, freedom, and fulfillment (inside and outside).
“I’m telling an old myth in a new way. Each society takes that myth and retells it in a different way, which relates to the particular environment they live in. The motif is the same. It’s just that it gets localized.”
— George Lucas (b. 05/14/1944) in the Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas & Bill Moyers
Please join me today (Tuesday, May 14th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05142022 That Same Force”]
May the Fourth Strengthen Your Awareness *UPDATED*
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.
### 🎶 ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Annie Proulx, Anushka Fernandopulle, Christopher Robin Milne, gunas, Kenny Loggins, Ray Bradbury, samskaras, samskāras, vasanas, Vedanta, vedanā, Vedānta, yoga, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.20
Stay safe. Stay hydrated. Notice the path.
”Yet the little boy did grow up and it is the grown-up little boy who is writing now. And something of what he was by nature and something of what he became as a result of his experience will colour his words.”
– quoted from the “Introduction” in The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne
Yesterday was the anniversary of the birth of Christopher Robin Milne (b. 8/22/1920), whose book The Enchanted Places bridged the gap between what people know – or think they know – about a boy and his toys and the man that grew up. That bridge is full of “a few precious things / [that] Seem to follow throughout all our lives.” Some of those things are specific, tangible and describable: toys, games, people. Some of those things are unspecific: a feeling created and then remembered. The bridge is also made up of barely describable and absolutely indescribable things.
As Patanjali pointed out in Yoga Sūtras 2.18 – 2.20), everything in the world is made up of these things. So, there is always a bridge and every one of us has a story (or stories) that make up our bridge. Or, we can think of the space between our “yesterdays” and today as a thread. Either way, when we pick up that thread today, we find an author born the day after Mr. Milne and another born fifteen years after that.
“I knew something important had happened to me that day because of Mr. Electrico. I felt changed. He gave me importance, immortality, a mystical gift. My life was turned around completely. It makes me cold all over to think about it, but I went home and within days I started to write. I’ve never stopped.
Seventy-seven years ago, and I’ve remembered it perfectly. I went back and saw him that night. He sat in the chair with his sword, they pulled the switch, and his hair stood up. He reached out with his sword and touched everyone in the front row, boys and girls, men and women, with the electricity that sizzled from the sword. When he came to me, he touched me on the brow, and on the nose, and on the chin, and he said to me, in a whisper, ‘Live forever.’ And I decided to.”
– Ray Bradbury (b. 8/22/1920)
The following excerpt is from a 2020 post:
“Every writer’s work is directly or indirectly the result of everything they’ve experienced, done, seen, thought, and heard. Just like each point in our lives is the direct and indirect experience of everything we’ve experienced, done, seen, thought, and heard. Writing is, after all, just a reflection of life. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to distinguish the seams or pull apart the threads that make up the tapestry. But then you read work by writers like Ray Bradbury and Annie Proulx and it’s as if every word and every page is an instruction manual in how things are put together and how things come apart. It’s as if they are saying, ‘Here, here, pull here.’
Both born today, Bradbury (in 1920) and Proulx (in 1935) were and are writers whose works leave impressions, while simultaneously pointing out the impressions that are being left by the lives we lead. Their works, like Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 and “The Sound of Thunder” and Proulx’s The Shipping News and ‘Brokeback Mountain” illustrate the cause and effect continuum that in yoga philosophy is referred to as karma (act, word, and deed – as well as the result or effect of effort) and samskāra (the mental and energetic impression left by the act, word, and deed). In life, while we are living it, we don’t always see where things begin and end. Reading brings our awareness to the edges, the extremes of the continuum – as does a meditation practice.”
“Almost every book I’ve ever read has left its mark.”
– Annie Proulx (b. 8/22/1935)
Please join me today (Tuesday, August 22nd) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08222021 Fire Thread”]
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.)
### SECOND STEP: NOTICE WHAT YOU NOTICE. ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.
Tags: Dr. Gerald Edelman, Dr. Oliver Sacks, gunas, Marcel Proust, prakiti, purusha, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.21, Yoga Sutra 4.22, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.20
Peace and many blessings to everyone!
“‘Every act of perception,’ [Dr. Gerald] Edelman writes, ‘is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.’”
*
“Many composers, indeed, do not compose initially or entirely at an instrument but in their minds. There is no more extraordinary example of this than Beethoven, who continued to compose (and whose compositions rose to greater and greater heights) years after he had become totally deaf. It is possible that his musical imagery was even intensified by deafness…. There is an analogous phenomenon in those who lose their sight; some people who become blind may have, paradoxically, heightened visually imagery.”
*
– quoted from Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks (b. 07/09/1933)
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, July 9th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07092022 Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness”]
“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”
*
– quoted from The Captive, Volume 5 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust (b. 07/10/1871)
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.)
ERRATA (That is also a correction): Corrected the date of Marcel Proust’s birthday.
### 🎶 ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Super Heroes, Vairagya, Wisdom, Yoga.
Tags: Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna Marie Jarvis, Bill Moyers, Claudia Gray, Counting the Omer, George Lucas, gunas, Hero's Journey, monomyth, Mother's Day, samskāras, The force, Tim Harford, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 2.13, yoga sutra 2.18, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.11, Yoga Sutra 4.12, Yoga Sutra 4.13, Yoga Sutra 4.14, Yoga Sutra 4.7, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.10
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
“I’m telling an old myth in a new way. Each society takesHa that myth and retells it in a different way, which relates to the particular environment they live in. The motif is the same. It’s just that it gets localized.”
– George Lucas (b. 05/14/1944) in the Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas & Bill Moyers
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms. No matter how you came to be a mom (or what your kiddos call you), you are a powerful force in the world and represent a powerful Force in the world. The Mother archetype is present in every life story, every healing story, and in every religious and cultural story or myth. In the monomyth (or “Hero’s Journey”), the Mother can represent life, death, and time; nurturing, nourishment, and protection; unconditional love, acceptance, and devotion; as well as unselfishness. The Mother can present as the Matriarch, as Mother Nature/Gaia, as a Fairy Godmother, or as a Divine Mother/Goddess. The Mother can be seen as the Good Mother, the Working Mother (which opens up into a whole host of other archetypes), the Stay-at-Home Mother, the Perfect Mother, the Devoted Mother. the Co-Dependent Mother, the Abusive Mother, the Abandoning Mother, the Critical Mother, or the Hovering/Helicopter Mother.
I used the word “or” for the aforementioned archetypal patterns; because, in many stories, maternal figures are often portrayed as one-dimensional. In real life, however, mothers can be more than one thing… simultaneously – and sometimes in ways that may seem contradictory. In real life, mothers are people: they love, they hope, they desire, they fear, and the fit into so many boxes it doesn’t even make sense to put them into a box… let alone to regulate them to a single day.
And yet, here we are… Mother’s Day in the United States.
“I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother’s day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
– quoted from the end of 1876 Sunday school lesson by Ann Reeves Jarvis (words that inspired her daughter Anna Maria Jarvis)
I added that “in the United States,” because for years I willfully ignored the fact that other countries – not to mention, a variety of religions – celebrate Mother’s Day at other times during the year and in very different ways than the way the observation has evolved here in the US. While I don’t know if I will ever go back to teaching on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I will continue to offer the 2020 recordings for those who are on my Sunday mailing list (or who request the recording via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.).
Click here to check out my 2020 blog post about Mother’s Day (which lands in a special way since my mom unexpectedly passed in 2020). For a deeper dive, check out the April 28, 2023 episode of Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford – The Dark Money Behind Mother’s Day. (This link takes you to the episode on Tim Harford’s website.)
The Mother’s Day playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Mother’s Day 2020”]
“Leia saw her mother coming through the crowd toward her; those nearby parted before her, clearing a path without Queen Breha having to hold out a hand or say a word. At last, Leia would be able to talk with her mother about what she’d accomplished, about the splendid rescue she’d just completed on a world most people were afraid to even mention, much less visit. Breha Organa would have to talk to her daughter as an equal.”
– quoted from Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray
Since Mother’s Day falls on George Lucas’s birthday in 2023, I am also sending the Sunday mailing list an opportunity to consider how being a mother is it’s own “Hero’s Journey.” The May 14, 2022, practice does not specifically focus on mothers in movies by George Lucas. However, take note of how motherhood checks all the monomyth boxes, beginning with “The Call” and moving through “The Return.”
You can check out my posts about “the Force” in yoga here and more about using “the Force” in yoga here.
The playlist related to George Lucas and Yoga Sūtra 4.14 is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05142022 That Same Force”]
“‘When last you stood before us, you swore to undertake Challenges of Mind, Body, and Heart. This you have done.’
Leia gripped the hilt even more tightly. ‘How do you judge me, my mother and queen?’
‘I judge that you have completed your three challenges with great strength and even greater spirit. In all ways, you have proved yourself worthy.’ Gesturing for Leia to step closer, Breha rose from her throne.
As Leia ascended the dais to join her parents, she held the Rhindon Sword aloft in one hand. Breha reached up to clasp the hilt along with her: two rulers, not fighting over the symbol of power but sharing its weight.”
– quoted from Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray
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.
I will be back on schedule (and on Zoom) tomorrow. If you are interested in receiving one of the aforementioned practices, please comment below or email me via myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Errata: The spelling of Tim Harford’s name has been corrected.
### AUM ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Life, Music, Philosophy, Yoga.
Tags: gunas, Yoga Sutra 3.53, Yoga Sutra 4.26, Yoga Sutra 4.27, Yoga Sutra 4.28, Yoga Sutra 4.29, Yoga Sutra 4.30, Yoga Sutra 4.31, Yoga Sutra 4.32, Yoga Sutra 4.33, Yoga Sutra 4.34
“Shana Tovah U’Metukah!” to anyone who is observing the High Holidays.
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, October 1st) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
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.)
### 
###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Life, Music, Philosophy, Yoga.
Tags: Christopher Isherwood, gunas, Swami Prabhavananda, Yoga Sutra 3.53, Yoga Sutra 4.26, Yoga Sutra 4.27, Yoga Sutra 4.28, Yoga Sutra 4.29, Yoga Sutra 4.30, Yoga Sutra 4.31, Yoga Sutra 4.32, Yoga Sutra 4.33 Cyndi Lauper
“I’ve got a suitcase of memories that I almost left behind
Time after time
Time after time”
– quoted from the song “Time after Time” by Cyndi Lauper
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, September 24th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10052021 A Matter of Time”]
“Time is a sequence of moments and, hence, a sequence of the mutations of the gunas which take place at every moment. We only become aware of these moments-changes at intervals, when a whole series of them has resulted in mutation which is sufficiently remarkable to be apparent to our senses.”
– quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (4:33), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
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.)
### ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.
Tags: Christopher Isherwood, gunas, prakiti, purusha, Swami Prabhavananda, Yoga Sutra 1.18, Yoga Sutra 1.30-1.31, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutra 4.25, Yoga Sutra 4.26, Yoga Sutra 4.27, Yoga Sutra 4.28, Yoga Sutra 4.29, Yoga Sutra 4.30, Yoga Sutra 4.31, Yoga Sutra 4.32, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.22, Yoga Sutras 2.20-2.21, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
“18. The object of experience is composed of the three gunas – the principles of illumination (satywa), activity (rajas) and inertia (tamas). From these, the whole universe has evolved, together with the instruments of knowledge – such as the mind, senses, etc. – and the objects perceived – such as the physical elements. The universe exists in order that the experiencer may experience it, and thus become liberated.”
“…. For the Truth lies hidden everywhere, within every experience and in every object of the universe. Everything that happens to us, no matter how seemingly trivial, throughout the day, offers some tiny clue which could lead us toward wider spiritual knowledge and eventual liberation.”
– quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (2:18), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, September 17th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06032020 How Can We See, Dr. Wiesel”]
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.)
### ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Loss, Love, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Christopher Isherwood, Dunning-Kruger Effect, Edna St. Vincent Millay, gunas, Hero's Journey, Martin Buber, Mary Oliver, Miss Jean, Molly Malone Cook, prakiti, purusha, Robert Fulghum, Sir Isaac Newton, Swami Prabhavananda, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.18, Yoga Sutra 1.30-1.31, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutra 4.25, Yoga Sutra 4.26, Yoga Sutra 4.27, Yoga Sutra 4.28, Yoga Sutra 4.29, Yoga Sutra 4.30, Yoga Sutra 4.31, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.22, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
[This is a “missing” post for Saturday, September 10th. 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.
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.]
“Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.”
– quoted from the poem “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver
Earlier this year, during a practice for the Lunar New Year’s birthday celebration for all humans, I got to ask some of my dharma/yoga buddies what it means to be human. People had great answers: it means we’re part of a community; it means experiencing the dichotomy of being compassionate but also holding grudges; it means we’re imperfect; it means messiness. That last one tied back into a point someone made at the beginning: we make things up.
Yes, well….
As someone who makes things up and loves reading and experiencing things that other humans make up, I have to admit that our penchant for making things up also makes things complicated, messy, and it leads to suffering. The world, as it turns out, is really simple. Each of us is a microcosm of the families and groups to which we belong, which are themselves microcosms of the macrocosm that is the world. So, as we learn in the Yoga Sūtras, if we really pay attention to ourselves – focus, concentrate, meditate on different aspects ourselves – we can learn more about ourselves and also more about the world.
“The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings.”
– Martin Buber
So we embrace ourselves and, along the way, we learn to embrace to others. Although it is really that simple, I can already hear someone sputtering, “But, but, what about…?”
Yes, sure, as I’ve already acknowledged, life can be complicated and messy; but we make it that way. And despite all the nuances, which I have mentioned before, all the great religious and philosophical teachings say the same things: Love yourself and love all others. Sure, different religions, philosophies, and cultures have different ways of phrasing that. For instance, we could substitute the word “respect” for “love” and maintain the same intention.
Likewise, all the philosophies, religions, and cultures have different ways of explaining how the Universe works. Ultimately, however, all those different ways can be summed up with love/respect and the Laws of Motion. So, Robert Fulghum’s idea that “all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten” is not as hyperbolic as some might think. That’s why I sometimes say that there’s a Garth Brooks song for every situation. It’s also why I have said that everything you need to know about this practice (or about life) can be learned from a Mary Oliver poem.
“You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.”
– quoted from the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver
Born today in 1935, Mary Oliver grew up loving the outdoors, reading and writing poetry. She went to college, because that’s what girls from good families in Ohio did in the 50’s, but then she dropped out and made her way to Edna St. Vincent Millay’s 800-acre estate in Austerliz, New York. She met Vincent’s sister and husband and decided to stay. Eventually, she fell in love with another woman that came to visit, Molly Malone Cook, and eventually they moved to Massachusetts together.
Mary Oliver wrote and published and wrote and published and did the things one does when they love the woods and all that is natural in the world. In fact, she once said “I’ve always wanted to write poems and nothing else. There were times over the years when life was not easy, but if you’re working a few hours a day and you’ve got a good book to read, and you can go outside to the beach and dig for clams, you’re okay.” Then, in 1983, after publishing several collections, she won the Pulitzer Prize for American Primitive. Suddenly, everyone wanted more of and from Mary Oliver. She once said she couldn’t remember doing any readings before the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry announcement was made, but then, suddenly, people were calling for her to do readings and book promotions.
“Today is a day like any other: twenty-four hours, a
little sunshine, a little rain.
Listen, says ambition, nervously shifting her weight from
one boot to another – why don’t you get going?
For there I am, in the mossy shadows, under the trees.
And too tell the truth I don’t want to let go of the wrists
of idleness, I don’t want to sell my life for money,
I don’t even want to come in out of the rain.”
– quoted from the poem “Black Oaks” by Mary Oliver
Molly Malone Cook, her love and life partner, was also Mary Oliver’s official photographer, literary agent, and the person most editors and miscellaneous strangers would talk to when the called the Oliver-Cook household. Cook would not only answer the phone, she would go to (what I consider) hilarious extremes to convince whomever was on the phone that the next voice they heard was that of Mary Oliver – even though it was still Molly Malone Cook.
Now I’m not suggesting people go around pretending to be people they are not – even when they have permission to do so – but, there is a lesson in that story. Consider how much lovelier and simpler the world would be if we all accepted each other as we are; supported the ones we love as they are; allowed others in the world to get what they wanted/needed from us without compromising our own wants/needs, and let go of all the rest.
Simply stated: Consider how much lovelier and simpler the world would be if we love/respected each other, helped each other out, and let go of all the rest.
“To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.”
– quoted from the poem “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver
I am woefully behind in my Saturday posts and so I apologize to anyone who was following along with our Saturday study of the Yoga Sūtras. Especially considering that I am just jumping back in with this one and, on a certain level, it is missing context and continuity. That said, I have to smirk at myself when I think about how attached I’ve gotten to posting these. Especially since I was not blogging as much when we started this study in January of 2019 and, therefore, I didn’t provide a post for all of those original practices. In other words, there’s already a gap and context and continuity and yet… We keep figuring it out and moving forward.
Not just on Saturdays, but on any other day that I teach, there is the possibility that someone new will enter the practice. Maybe they are new to yoga; maybe they are new to me; or maybe they have been physically practicing for a long time and are just new to the philosophy. Also, as I have to continuously remind myself, life happens and even people who are “Saturday regulars” sometimes miss a practice. Finally, people don’t absorb and remember things the same way. All of which means that I always need to include a little context and continuity. I just don’t always have to repeat everything I’ve ever said and every lesson ever explored chapter and verse. It’s not that complicated. Like everything else, it can be quite simple. It can be quite simple, because you already know everything you need to know.
“One day you finally
Knew what you had to do, and
began”
– quoted from the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver
Right at the beginning of the sūtras, specifically in Yoga Sūtras 1.3-1.4, Patanjali defined the practice by explaining what comes from the practice. It is a promise, of sorts. As we move through the practice – which is just like the hero’s journey – we find ourselves faced with obstacles (and their accompanying ailments), trials and tribulations, challenges and triumphs. We encounter some people who seem to magically assist us along the way; some people we need to forgive and some who need to forgive us; and we experience great loves and great loss. All along the way, there are temptations and boons – which can sometimes be one and the same. In fact, after detailed explanations about the benefits of the practice and warnings about what happens when we get too attached – even to the rewards and benefits – Patanjali reveals that the biggest boon of all awaits us… if we don’t get distracted.
That biggest boon is megah samadhih, which is sometimes translated as “a cloud of virtue” or “a cloud of clarity.” Along with that cloud comes the end of ignorance and, therefore, the end of suffering. Additionally, there is infinite knowledge or wisdom. This could all be interpreted as having every bit of knowledge that has ever existed suddenly rushing into you or raining down on you. But, honestly, it’s not that overwhelming or complicated. Simply stated, with clarity comes pure understanding of how everything is connected and how everything works.
Yoga Sūtra 4.29: prasankhyāne‘pyakusīdasya sarvathā vivekakhyāterdharmameghah samādhih
– “[The one] who remains undistracted even when he is in possession of all the psychic powers, achieves, as the result of perfect discernment, that samadhi which is called the ‘cloud of virtue’.”
[Alternate translation: “When there is no longer any interest even in omniscience, that discernment allows the samadhi, which brings an abundance of virtues like a rain cloud brings rain.”]
Yoga Sūtra 4.30: tatah kleśakarmanivŗttih
– “Thence comes cessation of ignorance, the cause of suffering, and freedom from the power of karma.”
Yoga Sūtra 4.31: Tadā sarvāranamalāpetasya jñānasyānantyājjñeyamalpam
– “Then, by the removal of those veils of imperfection, there comes the experience of the infinite, and the realization that there is almost nothing to be known.”
[Alternate translation: “Then the whole universe, with all its objects of sense-knowledge, becomes as nothing in comparison to that infinite knowledge which is free from all obstructions and impurities.”]
It is important to note that this shower of clarity, knowledge, and wisdom is not a case of Dunning-Kruger Effect (i.e., someone thinking they are an expert on something about which they know very little). Instead, one is aware of what they don’t know and there is a true understanding of the Universe (and everything in the Universe) as described in Yoga Sūtras 2.18 – 2.19. This is truly understanding – through direct experience – how everything is “composed of elements and senses and having the inherent properties of illumination, action, and stability” and, furthermore, recognizing that everything has a purpose. It is recognizing the simplicity (and simple beauty) of the Universe.
Having that clarity of mind is not confusing or conflating a drop of water with the whole ocean, but rather recognizing that the drop and the ocean share qualities, traits, and properties. It’s recognizing that these qualities, traits, and properties are consistent whether the item is flowing freely, frozen, or boiling and then evaporating. It is understanding that it’s all water (H2O) and then also understanding that other elements have similar states of manifestation. Finally, it is understanding how that plays out inside of us and all around us. (Especially, in the case of water, when we note that our physical forms are mostly water.)
“To man in his ordinary sense-consciousness, the universe seems full of secrets. There seems so infinitely much to be discovered and known. Every object is an invitation to study. He is overcome by a sense of his own ignorance. But, to the illumined yogi, the universe does not seem at all mysterious. It is said that, if you know clay, you know the nature of everything that is made of clay. So, if you know the Atman, you know the nature of everything in the universe. Then, all the painstaking researches of science seem like efforts of a child to empty the ocean with a spoon.”
– commentary quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (4:31), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
(NOTE: A child gets a lot of delight from that spoon and ocean combination. As we journey through life, we too can take delight at what we have at hand – especially since that spoon can be rinsed off and used for dessert. Stay curious and enjoy the best parts of your life!)
Saturday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
“When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into
my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made my life something
particular, and real.”
– quoted from the poem “When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver shared a birth date with one of my favorite people. Click here to read how I remembered my maternal grandmother when death came.
### SO HUM, HAM SA ###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.
Tags: gunas, prakiti, purusha, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.18, Yoga Sutra 1.30-1.31, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutra 4.25, Yoga Sutra 4.26, Yoga Sutra 4.27, Yoga Sutra 4.28, Yoga Sutra 4.29, Yoga Sutra 4.30, Yoga Sutra 4.31, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.22, Yoga Sutras 2.20-2.21, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, September 10th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
### ###
A Joyful Practice 