Dear Danielle,
You have been the Roman to my Greek, the Aurelius to my Aristotle, the Archaeologist to my Philosopher, the arrow on my tilt-a-whirl. The dry ground to my faucet.
We’ve each given up so much, had so much taken, let so much go by; but all that together is nothing in proportion to what we’ve been given and what [...]
Entries from July 2007
July 31, 2007
Love Letter to a Dying Friend
July 31, 2007
Addendum: Love letter to a dying friend
Sadness. My best friend from graduate school was diagnosed with a rare variant of leukemia more than three years ago. She fought hard, was placed on palliative care in the last several months.
When I got home from work Saturday morning my husband told me to call her. He’d received a call during the prior night, it might [...]
July 28, 2007
RPP
Rhythm, Persistence, Patience.
That pretty much sums up my favorite of Patanjali’s yoga Sutras: II.47
“Yoga pose is mastered
by relaxation of effort,
lessening the tendency
for restless breathing,
and promoting an identification
of oneself as living
within
the infinite breath of life.”
~tr. Stiles
Ah, the infinite breath of life!
July 27, 2007
New Yoga Teacher Podcast
Yay! just want to spread the word: Elsie and Hillary have a new podcast chat about teaching: www.mudramoments.com. Yes, it rocks. You should go listen to it!
July 27, 2007
Growing Pains and Milestones
I’m a great believer in celebrating small everyday milestones and delights, as well as acknowledging the embarrassing and unexpectedly awkard moments along the way. Usually, I find unexpected events contain blessings I wasn’t smart enough to ask for for myself, but sometimes that has to be unearthed from feelings of being out of control, not [...]
July 25, 2007
Forgiveness
People often remark on how different my career appears to be from my training. Graduate Student in Philosophy to Paramedic and Yoga Teacher. It couldn’t make more sense to me, but I get why it seems so odd to others.
The thing is, I’m not sure how I’d survive as a medic without my training as a [...]
July 19, 2007
Gratitude Activates Life
On the PRI Radio program Human Kind (http://www.humanmedia.org/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords=gratitude) this morning, they interviewed some extraordinary people on the practice of gratitude. One, Brother Rast, made an ontological statement that really struck me deeply:
Gratitude activates life.
One of deep quests allowed by the abundance of our Modern lifestyle is the quest to find and embrace what makes a [...]
July 19, 2007
Camel Contentment
Been doing more doing than writing lately, but a lot of the doing has been exploring Ustrasana – camel pose. The one thing that’s clear is that the more I play with it – gently, respectfully – the more the sensations and emotions change. Or perhaps it’s my perception of the sensation that’s changing the [...]
July 14, 2007
Backwards Under the Top
What is your favorite backbending asana and did you work to find yourself in it, or was it always natural to you? Leave me your thoughts in a comment, please.
I love backbends becuase they work with the deep structure of the body so organically: it’s just because they’re incredible back strengtheners that they’re powerful chest [...]
July 12, 2007
camel terror
I’ve been attending Bikram yoga classes now for a week and, much to my surprise, really enjoying them. I am fascinated with all the emotion churning up and know from experience that some of this happens with each yoga pose when fully engaged. However, the intensity is, well, intense.
Most of it is palatable and not [...]
