Mantra Monday: Just Dance Along.

Somehow, January seems to have slipped from my perception of space and time. But I'm still calm and put together - if not more so than most of months of late. For what it's worth, both my desk at work and apartment are organized and I've practiced for a minimum of 45 minutes every day. How have I managed to do this? The practice, all the travel, all the activities and visits, and work?


I found my answer while reading on the commuter rail from Boston to So. Attleboro last Monday:

"The secret of this kind of climbing," said Japhy, " is like Zen. Don't think. Just dance along. It's the easiest thing in the world, actually easier than walking on flat ground which is monotonous. The cute little problems present themselves at each step and yet you never hesitate and you find yourself on some other boulder you picked out for no special reason at all, just like Zen." Which it was.
- Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. The Viking Press: 1958; ed. Penguin Books: New York, 2006. p. 48.

Class# 295; AYC DC Mysore Class # 131: Another Eureka Moment.

Brought to you by Post-it Notes.
I did it - I dropped back.

No crash.
No drama.




Just a little assist from a simple post-it note.

We don't realize, do we?

I had lunch today with a friend and former co-worker of mine, whose teenage son played paintball with Parson. She said that last night they were hanging out, watching TV, and he looked up at her from the floor of the den and asked how to spell Parson's last name.

She responded and asked why he wanted to know.
His response?

You'll see when I'm 18.



* * *

I'm not just referencing Parson here.
It's each and every one of us. Every person we've met, interacted with, in any capacity.

I would venture none of us can truly fathom the importance of our distinct roles.

Tending to the New Year

I had this idea that once the holidays were over things would not be quite so frenetic.

Heh.

What may you ask am I doing / will be doing with my time?

• This coming weekend a visit with Fluellen in FL.
• The next to RI & MA to escape the hoards of reveling masses who will ascend/descend on DC (not much of a fan of crowds) - and get in a visit with Lady Apollo, a member of Bauhaus, hopefully Sweet Bro as well as Mr/s A, and of course the Mathematician and Artist.
  
• The following weekend to Charlottesville to visit a couple more members of Bauhaus and attend a workshop at Ashtanga Charlottesville.
• The final weekend of January, the Mathematician and the Artist will be in town for a show and will be working with them.

In an ideal universe, it would be nice I could do all of those things I've wanted to start doing - sketching/writing during my lunch break, simplifying and eliminating clutter in my apartment (in turn creating a space conducive to artwork, writing, mediation, sleeping, you know the basics), and maybe get myself a haircut.

Optimistically looking at things, I've certainly been taking small steps to achieve them. You know, utilizing those odd minutes here and there to clean, organize, etc. Like this morning's post practice/getting ready for work bathroom cleaning.

Totally stoked about that.

Maybe what I'm hoping to achieve is, to take some of the discipline that my ashtanga practice has cultivated and apply it to the other 22 odd hours of my day. No small task when you take into account everything from daily work to tending to friends and the self. Besides, what's the purpose of a day, or an hour, or a minute or a second (for that matter) but to mark the passage of time?

In toto,

2009 is going to be a great year - it will involve a lot of work and patience - but it will be a great year.

There's a lot of exciting stuff on the horizon.



...and a bathroom that's clean.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing friends, old and new, joy and warmth this season - continuing into the new year.

Shanti.

Narragansett, RI
Sunrise, Christmas 2008

Class# 283; AYC DC Mysore Class # 125: Balmy Weather Discoveries.

Woke up this morning to a heat wave of 35 degrees fahrenheit.
Now, this is what weather in DC is supposed to be like!

Slight chill, but nothing to chill a northern gal to the core. None of this frigid weather that seized up each and every one of my muscles, especially attacking my hip-flexors, making many poses (including standing from UD) nearly impossible.

Back to a solid non-cranky practice this morning. On thing I did discover, if you stand you also have to drop back. Go figure. Apparently it's not cool to stand, then just sit yourself back down on your mat and set up for another Urdhva Dhanurasana, stand and repeat a couple of times.

The idea of dropping back, for some reason, just freaks me out.

It would really be nice to stop thinking - I think I think too much. I find myself in deep back bend and freak out. Gentle A called me out on this morning - told me just to let go. So I did - I was just about touch the ground with my fingertips, then... *THWAP* Full forward solid double knee plant - like the hammer of a mousetrap hitting the platform. Knees were forward, not hips. Assisted dropbacks, no problem. But I think of it this way, I've now fallen on my head and knees - maybe next time I'll find some middle ground.

At least I now know where the band-aids are kept in the shala.

Class# 282; AYC DC Mysore Class # 124: Winter.

Mornings like these I wonder if I'm going soft.
I'm a Yankee at heart - aren't I supposed to thrive in the cold?