A Joyful Practice

First Friday Night Special #60 — Invitation for “Another Liminal (& Auspicious) Friday Night” (the “missing” invitation w/excerpts) October 3, 2025

Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom.

This “missing” invitation for the “First Friday Night Special” on October 3^rd includes some extra (related) excerpts. You can request an audio recording of this Restorative Yoga 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.

“Man is composed of such elements as vital breath, deeds, thought, and the senses—all of them deriving their being from the Self. They have come out of the Self, and in the Self they ultimately disappear—even as the waters of a river disappear in the sea.”

— quoted from “IV Prasna” in The Upanishads — Breath of the Eternal: The Principal Texts Selected and Translated from the Original Sanskrit by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester

The Upanishads (“sitting near devotedly”) are a collection of sacred texts conveying teachings from teachers to students. Although the original number of texts is unknown, there are 108 that have been preserved and studied. Adi Shankaracharya (or Adi Shankara), the 8^th century Vedic scholar, philosopher, and teacher, recognized 16 of the texts as authentic and 10 (of those 16) are usually what people mean when they speak of the Upanishads. Prasna, the fourth text, is exactly what the title indicates: a “task, lesson [and] short section or paragraph” in the form of a “question, query, inquiry“. (NOTE: The italicized definition is the modern translation.)

Prasna Upanishad features six (6) sets of questions. The second set of questions are “Holy sir, how many several powers¹ hold together this body? Which of them are most manifest in it? And which is the greatest?” These questions lead to a story and direct the focus of our practice.

“‘Prana, to justify himself, made as if he intended to leave the body. But as he rose and appeared to be going, all the rest realized that if he went they also would have to depart with him; and as Prana again seated himself, the rest found their respective places. As bees go out when their queen goes out, and return when she returns, so was it with speech, mind, vision, hearing, and the rest.’”

— quoted from “IV Prasna” in The Upanishads — Breath of the Eternal: The Principal Texts Selected and Translated from the Original Sanskrit by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester

The story referenced above highlights a moment when all the powers or forces in the known universe, recognize the power of Prana. In the commentary for Yoga Sūtras 2.49-2.50, Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood (in How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali) pointed out that while we may translate the Sanskrit word prana as breath, it has a much broader meaning. This is why I sometimes reference breath as a symbol of our spirit and a symbol of our life force. It is the vital energy that fuels everything we do and, if we pay attention, it can inform everything we do.

Prāṇāyāma, the awareness of breath and the extension of breath, is the fourth limb of the Yoga Philosophy and one of the cornerstones of the physical practice of yoga (regardless of the style or tradition). It is the way we pay attention (and the way we get in the habit of paying attention) to the thing that is essential to our very existence.

Focusing on the breath is also a way to “cultivate a clear, calm, tranquil, and one-pointed mind.”

Yoga Sūtra 2.49: tasminsati śvāsapraśvāsayorgativicchedaḥ prāṇāyāmahaḥ

— “Prāṇāyāma, which is expanding the life force by controlling the movement of the inhalation and exhalation, can be practiced after completely mastering [the seat or pose].”

The excerpt below is from a 2020/2021 post:

Think for a moment, about all the things you want in your life and all the things you need. Make sure you are clear about what is a desire versus what is a necessity. Now, slowly, start thinking about your life without some of the things you desire. If you are honest with yourself and clear-minded, you know you can live your whole life without those things you desire. You may even live a happy life without those things.

Notice how you feel about that.

Now, slowly, go through the list of things you need. How long can you live without some form of protection from the elements? (It depends on your environment, climate, and other external factors.) How long can you go without some form of food? (On average, a relatively healthy and well hydrated adult can survive up to two months without food – although extreme symptoms of starvation kick in about 30 days.) How long can you live without water? (A typical adult could survive about 100 hours, or 3 – 4 days without any kind of hydration; but, again, this can be time line is dependent on temperature.) How long can you go without sleep? (I don’t have a definitive answer for this one. While people have been recorded as going without sleep for almost 2 weeks, the nervous system will drop a person into “microsleep” states. Microsleep may only last a few seconds, but those few seconds keep the body functioning.) Finally, how long can you go without breathing? (Again, there are some variables, but if the average person holds their breath, their body is going to force them to breathe within 3 minutes. If external circumstances cut off breathing, irreversible brain damage occurs after 5 – 10 minutes – unless there are other variables, like temperature.)

Notice how you feel about that.

Click on the excerpt title below for more of the post excerpted above.

For Those Who Missed It: Third Step: Repeat the First & Second Steps

Yoga Sūtra 2.50: bāhyābhyantarastambhavṛttirdeśakālasasaṃkhyābhiḥ paridṛṣṭo dīrghasūkṣmaḥ

— “The breath may be stopped externally, internally, or checked in mid-motion, and regulated according to place, time and a fixed number of moments, so that the [pause] is either protracted or brief.”

Click on the excerpt title below for more about prāṇāyāma practices.

Air & FTWMI: More Ways to Breathe (the Tuesday post)

“As a student of raja yoga, our goal is to cultivate a clear, calm, tranquil, and one-pointed mind. We then turn this calm and one-pointed mind inward and allow it to bathe in the luminosity of our core being. The longer our mind is infused with the luminosity of our core being, the less change we have of being affected by our deep-seated habits. We recapture our innate power of discernment and gain the strength to face and conquer our most dreaded samskara—avidya [ignorance].”

— quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.50 from The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

This Restorative Yoga practice is accessible and open to all. 

(NOTE: There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.)

Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10042024 A Liminal & Auspicious Friday Night”]
Start with Track 1; Track 11; Track 12; or Track 13]

Prop wise, we will start with a chair, sofa, or coffee table and this is a kitchen sink practice. You can practice without props or you  can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.

You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice). Having a wall, chair, sofa, or coffee table will also be handy.

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: ¹In the context of the questions in the Prasna Upanishad, Deva can be translated as “gods, deities, or powers” — with the underlying understanding being that there is something Divine inside all human beings.

### Breathe Easy, Y’all ###