Presence is often discussed like it is something to choose off the shelf, like selecting a can of soup for dinner. The request to “be present,” seems so simple. But really, it creates the same tension as someone requesting that you “just relax!” To be relaxed requires awareness and particular actions. The same is true […]
Category: Philosophy
Active Presence and Misunderstanding%3$s>
Resilience through Practice%3$s>
I have been pondering the lessons of Michelle Cassandra Johnson and Kerri Kelly regarding Resilience through practice since their Race & Resilience course earlier in the year. Here is a link to her work. It is the inspiration for these thoughts. The consistent practice of yoga provides many things, of course. Primarily though, through Abhyasa […]
A Discussion on What is Yoga?%3$s>
I was grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed by the company with whom I work, The Pad Climbing. About a year ago, the Pad hired me to support, expand, and make more nuanced the Yoga and Fitness Program at the gym. In the process, I discovered how closely aligned Classical Hatha Yoga methodologies are […]
Āyus (आयुस्), Veda (वेद), and Yuj (युज्)%3$s>
Āyus (आयुस्) means life and Veda (वेद) means spiritual wisdom. Yoga (योग) comes from the root yuj-(युज्) which means to yoke or unite. When we think about uniting in yoga, we always assume that those elements we desire to unite are already in their prime state, ready to be connected. But rarely is this the […]
Kali Yuga%3$s>
I consider myself an inquisitive, openminded person. I see myself mostly as a person before i do any other categorizing title. But, in moments of weakness, and doubt, or even just in the quiet moments in the dark in bed, between awake and asleep, I feel myself judging myself as a woman before a person. […]
A Blessed Paragon%3$s>
Nature makes immediate use. A tree falls and instantly the Earth curls with sweetened fingers around it. Animals move out, others move in. Mourning what has ended melds into the movement of becoming. There is no concern for judgement as it is the cleanest of flow. Spending time in fertile forests, the power of active […]
The Future’s Promise%3$s>
On the past half year away I have learned so many things – some concrete and tangible and others of a more introspective variety. Discerning which is which is hard to do, perhaps everything I have learned is a blend. However, the lesson that stands out as the hardest and yet most liberating, has been […]
A Hero’s Journey%3$s>
The best course of action is the most specific one. The chiseling of life into this is the finest art. Ignorance hides itself in the cracks of generality. And in all its heaviness, it is responsible for so much, if not all, of our suffering. ignorance keeps us victims. In its wake we can hardly […]
A Melting%3$s>
The melting of the self feels to me best done from the inside. It is faster. The inside of the Earth has a middle like ours. A soft and gently churning molten core that embellishes its exterior with an unqualifiable elegance. It can be our fate too. And why shouldn’t we be like Her? Made […]
Be More Present Here%3$s>
Sometimes when we are suffering from a dis-ease of the mind or the body, upon initial treatment, the symptoms may get worse before they get better. This is something that came up while I observed the Out Patient Clinic today. A patient had returned to the clinic for psoriasis. She had previously been offered a […]