8 Folded Limbs

I am nervous. I have an appointment in 1 week to see a cardiologist. This makes me feel old and somewhat feeble, I suppose. Why am I going? I had a terrible panic attack last month and I have had trouble ever since it started getting 'Tennessee' hot. I went outside last week and had to leave my car right where it was and have someone drive me home. That happened last month and before that--nine years ago. These started in 1999 -- what I thought were allergic reactions to bug bites (which give me anaphylactic problems), and have followed and affected my life even since. I have changed plans, delayed work, missed opportunities, lost lovers, lost time and money and several other choices along the way. I had just assumed after two years of avoiding driving (2001-2004), that they would be gone -- that I had 'beaten' them for good. They have been off-and-on for years since, but I never noticed until this Summer that the heat is a trigger too. I have been reading abo...

I am working on learning the Primary series in Ashtanga Yoga, and I have to admit -- I am having some structural issues with some of the poses.  ( I am sure that there are strength issues with some of them as well as other things, but for now I am focusing on the placement of the bones.)  As of now, it has been a struggle to find resources that deconstruct the poses into bite-sized chunks.

That's right.  The Solar Plexus Chakra.  It seems to me that most Chakra classes are concerned with all of them BUT this one.  This is the one that most people forgot when I did a , "can you name all of the chakras" fiasco today. Yellow is not a very 'cool' color and there don't seem , ( at first blush) to be many Asanas that help to balance this area. I am going to take my weekend and find out what I can about this forgotten bird. I can say that when I feel a panic attack coming on in my car, that touching this area give me instant calm.  I wonder why?? 

So, I decided to go ahead and jump the gun.  I have had an idea for a group of people to get together in public parks and do some Yoga.  I think that it is necessary for the community to gather on a regular basis and have fellowship with each other.  The odd this is:  There is an event happening around the World on the same day -- with the same sort-of idea. http://www.yogastopstraffick.org/wp/ I assume we will all be doing 108 Sun Salutations. Well, why not?

I will be attending a Yoga teacher training in July of this year.  It will be an immersion intensive, and I will most likely decompress on this wayward blog.

I seriously cannot move like a normal human this morning.   I did three+ hours of shoulder / hip openers yesterday.   I am taking a 'Vinyasa' form of yoga, peppered with an Ashtanga Primary series that would kick anyone's arse. The evil weed calls to me less and less, but still lives in my rotten brain.  I need something to do with my hands.  I never finished learning the fiddle ...

                               --Feel what you understand-- Emotion, even in Eastern practice, is seen as stronger than reason.  The central problem of our spiritual life is to find emotional equivalents for our intellectual understanding.  Our Perfect Emotion should be an expression of our Perfect Vision.  While that sounds simple, it is truly a task not summoning up our intellects to rationalize events or actions.  Out Vision has gotten us onto the path, and our Emotions are being transformed.       The Path is not easy--learning how to practice this limb of the journey has proven to be the hardest ( so far) of most of the petals .  Not that I have had an issue with compassion, but it is hard to let go of frustrated cravings that have had decades to marinade.  On the other hand (be...

The first step, or perhaps the beginning of the path concerns understanding.  It is called 'right view' by most sources, but by some--and perhaps more aptly put--Perfect Vision. Most of the resources on the Path describe this first step occurring after or during personal tragedy or extreme loss.  It is in these times of great sorrow that we are open to 'see' the way ahead.  Perfect Vision is not only the opening of the path, but the first in a series of 'steps' of the path.  I do not see it as a 'stairway to Heaven', but more of a pathway to inner peace.  The path-- as I understand it--mirrors and echoes most other faiths insofar as how we relate to the World and how we treat others.

~The way out IS the way through.  Most people struggle--in vain-- to find a bright, cheery window to crawl toward during any period of discomfort.  This window is called Heaven by some-- Nirvana by others, but regardless of title it seems to hold the same reward.  ~In our search to lessen pain and multiply pleasure, we place ourselves in a position between Heaven and Hell.