FTWMI: A Quick Note & Excerpts About Using the Hook… July 20, 2025

Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone putting together the pieces for peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).

For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024. Class details and some links have been updated.

“Today
Is all I really need to find the answers

I’ll find the constant flow
Of all the harmony”

— quoted from the song “All the Love of the Universe” by Carlos Santana (b. 07/20/1947), written by Carlos Santana / Neal Schon

This present moment is the culmination of all our previous moments and — whether we recognize it or not — it is informed by our previous moments So, right here, right now, we all come into this present moment with stuff. Without judging or categorizing the stuff, just recognize that it is a lot of stuff and because we bring this stuff into the moment — and into the practice — each moment and each practice is unique. Even when we repeat a sequence and/or a theme, there is something that is new and different.

Yes, the fact that different people show up at different times means that some things will be different. Plus, I often tweak the sequence, how I cue it, and/or which parts of the theme to share. I may even remix the music or use a different playlist. All of that is part of “the stuff.” So too is how our bodies change as we practice and as we age. So too is whatever is going on in our lives and in the world. All of that (plus how we feel about all of that and how we process all of that) is “the stuff” that makes this present moment different from all the other moments.

All of the aforementioned stuff is the energetic and symbolic purview of the Sahasrara (“thousand-petalled”) chakra. Also known as the crown chakra, the seventh chakra is associated with the top of the head; thought, consciousness, and self-knowledge. Some teachers also associate it with our connection to the Divine/Source (whatever that means to you at this moment). Finally, it is associated with this present moment and one’s ability to be present in (any given) moment.

Of course, our ability to truly be present and to truly comprehend the present moment — as well as understand how this present moment is informed by previous moments and will inform future moments — can be hampered when we get “hooked” because something or someone pushed our buttons. Throughout this last week, as we practiced with Pema Chödrön’s teachings related to the the R’s, I have mostly referenced “the hook” in a negative way. However….

Click on the excerpt titles below to learn about a different kind of hook and how past experiences that hook you can also motivate you to create change in the world.

Using the “hook” to get unhooked (the “missing” Tuesday post)

“Like diabetes, deafness, polio or any other misfortune, [intellectual disabilities] can happen in any family. It has happened in the families of the poor and the rich, of governors, senators, Nobel prizewinners, doctors, lawyers, writers, men of genius, presidents of corporations – the President of the United States.”

— quoted from a September 22, 1962 article by Eunice Kennedy Shriver printed in The Saturday Evening Post

Welcome to Right Here, Right Now

“But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.”

— quoted from “Welcome to Holland” by Emily Perl Kingsley ©1987

In Times of Darkness / Just Reach Out

“Everybody needs a helpin’ hand
Everybody needs a helpin’ hand”

— quoted from the song “All the Love of the Universe” by Carlos Santana (b. 07/20/1947), written by Carlos Santana / Neal Schon

Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, July 20^th) at 2:30 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra  (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Sunday’s playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07202021 Using the Hook”]

NOTE: The YouTube playlist has an extra track in the before/after section.

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

### BIG HUGS ###