A supercool moment

I’m so happy to tell this story.  Meet Meena, she’s a very cool chic  from Melbourne, Australia, a dancehall DJ (or “selector”) who spent a few weeks here to delve deeply into the  present and future of Jamaican urban music…AND she happens to be an Ashtangi!  Hooray!! She found me on Twitter (I KNEW it had its uses 😉 ) and wrote me, and a few days later we were able to do our Mysore-style practice together.

Now that might not seem like much, but for me it was amazing. Even though the practice is essentially an independent one, there is definitely something to be said for having someone share the breath and the experience of moving through the postures with you.  And she came along at a moment when I definitely wasn’t feeling as motivated as I normally do on the mat (my wise yoga friends say it’s normal to feel that way, and I try to just remain present and practise and give my all). I’m so grateful for her!

We met up again last Thursday (she returned home on Saturday) and had a yummy lunch and lyme. I was reminded that no matter what, or how lonely practice can feel, that staying with it (practising for “….a long time” – Sutra 1.14 for you yoga philosophers – is the way to reap the true and lasting benefits of the practice of yoga). To boot, I made a new friend in such a cool and unusual (see what I did there? ;)) way; reminding me that even in this life, though we are all different in so many ways, that our pursuits and passions can really bring us together.  And that you’re never really alone. And THAT is really cool.

A Loose Thread…

 

 

 

 

No special post today (but I have a nice one coming!), but a thought (or rather a quote) I felt inspired to share.  

One of my close sistrens is an amazing and talented photographer named Sabriya Simon (she of the beautiful photos just above and below this post, and pretty much any photo of me hitherto this point in this blog) and she posted this photo of the Sadhu (I’m loving his smile and his mudra), along with words that elicited a great Facebook discussion about the presence of African DNA in India (looking at the human genome map is quite frankly fascinating for me, I’m such an unapologetically geeky girl 🙂 )

Anyway, it made me think of how new things are discovered each day as we uncover the secrets and myths of human history (in search of inalienable truth, maybe?) and learn that, in some cases, solidly-held beliefs may have to be held up to the light of scientific and anthropological discovery.  Cognitive dissonance for some, but enlightenment for others, and it made me think “Always be respectful, but never stop questioning”.  And I remember this amazing quote from Gautama Siddhartha (the man who would later become the Buddha “the enlightened one”) and so, here it is!

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

Gautama Siddhartha (563-483 BC)

Just a little loose thread that stuck out in my mind, to remind me to continue to question myself, on and off the mat.  Gratitude to Sabriya, who planted that little seed.  I will always remember to…

Ever Grateful

SWWW

 

A Loop from the Loom

Even when there is doubt

Take it to the Mat

Pray to whomever (or whatever) you do

Take your dreams, wishes, fear and wrath

And leave them there with equal breath 

And when you do, you will begin 

To see, with more than your earthly eyes

The soul, atma, purusha within you, within me, within all 

ALL is coming

So…practise…

 

Ever Grateful

She Who Weaves Words