INTERESTING TIMES

“Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”
― William Martin

When I have a morning at home alone I work on my lists and I fall into my practice more easily.  The sun is streaming in and I am doing triage on piles of "urgent" items which have become buried under a stream of distractions and amusements like my nonstop study of public health.  One observation this morning is that the strong balancing poses which I find so elusive when surrounded by empty air and other students are more accessible when I am alone in my office.  Here I can step into a warrior 3 knowing that the sunny windowsill is right there to hold me up, and yet confidently not needing it.  This strength and balance that I find in my own small office is something I would like to take with me into the world.

I've been trying to be polite. I am more dedicated to my own practice than to any teacher. I've studied under many teachers, and in many schools. Some new teachers were far better than some veterans. Every teacher teaches me something. Every school has taught me something.

Sometimes the thing I learn is a negative. Part of growing up and separating from your parents is deciding "I don't want to ever do that." What I have been learning recently is that many teachers are so busy teaching that they don't take the time to breathe. That is to say, the best teachers are the ones who are truly present with us in the practice, and not simply filling airspace with instructions.

My yoga practice involves tuning in to my own inner voice, and being present with my breath and body. This was a great learning for me, because I grew up very American, unaware of my body, or worse, in denial of it.

( Exhale, inhale... )

If
your compassion
does not include
yourself,
it is incomplete.

~ Jack Kornfield

I'm the one in the red helmet, and this is the portage, not the rapid. A friend took the photo and just won a prize for it. Location: the mysterious Opal Creek in the upper reaches of the North Santiam.

I'm not big on woo woo. When practitioners choose modalities simply because they "resonate" with them, I am skeptical. But when science backs up the use of something that has long been thought of as energy medicine, I am happy to recommend it. Of course people will tell you something is backed by science when it isn't, so you have to go look at the science for yourself, or find sources like me that you know are science-minded and skeptical to help filter the claims for you.

Here's a case of energy medicine turning out to be something real. Scientists have found that acupuncture points are detectable by CT (computed tomography, fancy medical imaging). All those points have a certain size of larger blood vessels, and also thick mats of fine blood vessels that have lots of forks (birfucations) in them. Piercing the tissues at these points is probably affecting the nervous system associated with those blood vessels. This supports my belief that energy medicine (that actually works) has a anatomical and physiological basis. Acupuncture is well proven to be effective for pain, short term at least. To treat pain longterm one must take the naturopathic approach and find the reason for the pain, and change that.

No time to work out, you say? Have to clear out the sink? OK then, try this. The asana for dishwashing is the Fierce pose, Utkatasana. Basically you put your feet hipwidth or narrower and parallel, and bend your legs like you were going to sit into a chair. But there is no chair. Keep your spine straight, not hunched, head up. Pull in your belly. Put your weight into your heels. Drop lower into your seat. Arms go straight overhead for the full expression of the asana, but you can wash a few dishes in between. This asana is warming, and if you persist for more than a minute or two your breathing and heart rate will increase, and your legs will begin to burn. You can hold it longer than you think you can. This asana is one of the best for back pain, both the kind that is between your shoulderblades, and the low back kind.

It's only work
if you'd rather be
doing something else.
--Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby)

For me, the study of medicine could take over my whole life.... I want to do it, and the information comes to me in great floods which I try to understand and sort through so as to be able to apply it.

To practice any art,
no matter how well or badly,
is a way to make your soul grow.
So do it.
--Kurt Vonnegut