Toothbrush

Today's photo theme: Toothbrush

Yes, a toothbrush. I didn't write this list of photo prompts, though I've been faithfully following them for two months and it's been fun.

Next month, I won't be blogging the photos here, but I'll probably post them on Instagram. Give me a shout if you'd like to follow my Instagram feed and I'll add you.

Also: this blog will be going on a one-month hiatus while I carry out a top-secret blogging experiment.

Ask yourself these questions:
-Are we buddies?
-Does the secret code word 'Superfilter' mean anything to you?
-Do you know me in person, or have we followed each other's online shenanigans for a number of years?
-Would I share my sweet potato fries with you?
-Can I vouch for your identity through an established yoga blog or online presence?
-Are you dying to keep in touch with me and/or are willing to persuade me that you're not my secret stalker, posting as an Ashtangi loyalist?

If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes', please drop me a line. I'll hook you up.

As usual, I'm up to no good ;-)



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Calm...

...before the storm.

I shot this photo at 1:30 in the afternoon. For hours afterward, it rained, poured, thundered and flashed lightning. Princess Fur hid under the bed. I just watched in awe...


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Last Thing I Bought

Today's photo theme: 'Last Thing I Bought'

The good news: I'm not buying those chocolate-covered almonds anymore.

The bad news? Well...lol...




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Cup

Photo theme: Cup

From the archives: A cup of herbal tea in classic Queen's Ware - this is a replica of eighteenth century Queen's Ware from George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate (I'm flying my 'archaeology geek' flag today).




I spent at least an hour composing a long diatribe about Astanga and aging and meditation. Then all the wind went out of my sails.

Looks like you guys will need to wait till I finish the Maehle book for an official review. Also, it appears that he's now writing a book on meditation.

My response to this news, in short: 'Yes, please!'

Check out this superawesome post on Maehle's FB page. I can't figure out a way to link to it, so I'm reposting here in its entirety:

I completed the 2nd draft of my new meditation book, called Yoga Meditation.

I will now start to here post content.

I got requests from a few students to write about how body and practice changes as one gets older as people seem to struggle to keep up practice. Important here is to realize that asana practice was designed to support practice of meditation and pranayama. As you get older you need to shift emphasis from asana practice to the higher limbs. Try to limit your asana practice to 90 minutes and spend the rest on higher yogic practices.

Physical problems often result from students not graduating on to the higher limbs. It’s the higher limbs that will give you the realization that you are not the body but the consciousness, the self. Once that has been attained the ambition to flog the body in asana practice, will disappear and with it many of the physical problems.
(passage from Yoga Meditation): If asana is understood on a deep level then we will, once in the posture, produce the counteraction that propelled us into the posture. When done on all levels of live this method leads to mastery, that it going with the flow, being in the zone or being in the Tao. Rather than manifesting an enormous force that breaks through the barriers of the world and must in the end produce our own un-doing we move through life without force but using existing forces. This way no counterforce is ever necessary to manifest against us.
This principle is beautifully expressed in Chuang Tzu’s “The Dexterous Butcher”. The story is a bit unsavoury for vegetarians but the message is deep nevertheless. Here, Lord Wen-hui watches and questions his cook who for 19 years uses the same blade to carve up thousands of oxen without sharpening it. The cook explains that rather than hacking through the oxen, he first pays respect in his heart, meets the oxen with his whole consciousness and he cares for the Way. He then moves with great subtlety, finds the right spot, almost effortlessly leans against the oxen and suddenly it is as if the whole oxen falls apart by itself. (end of quote)

Your body is that oxen. Rather than hacking through it with much energy and effort, first pay respect for it in your heart. It is not an animal that you need to conquer and beat into submission. Meet your body with your whole consciousness and treat it as an expression of the Divine creative force (prana). Do not think that you only want to get that backbend, that leg-behind-head or which ever posture it is. Understand that your body is the crystallized history of your past thoughts, emotions and actions. Its not just meat, but more than you think it is.

Move with great subtlety and find the right spots where you are holding on. Because it is you that is holding on, not somebody else. And now comes the secret: After with having identified with great subtlety the right spot, lean against it almost effortless and without ambition, just by shifting your body weight within your body. The result will be that your body will open almost effortless.

Important though is that you do not practice for the results, for the outcome. Do not practice goal-oriented as that will lead to more and more injury. As Lord Krishna says in the Gita, surrender the outcomes of your actions.
I found that it takes many years and decades to open to inner intelligence and intelligence of the body. Good news is that intelligence grows as one gets older. Years ago scientists thought that we get dumber as we get older but this has now been proven wrong. There is something called the neuroplasticity of the brain. It means that as long as you keep learning, your brain will become more and more powerful.

As I am getting older, I found that I am using less and less energy and time to achieve in my practice more and more. Recently I read a sign in a café’ saying, ‘Drink coffee. Do more stupid things, faster and with more energy.’ A was amazed that the sign expressed reciprocally what happened in my practice (without coffee). Using much less energy, I do less things in a smarter way but the outcome is much more profound. But like Lord Wen-hui’s butcher I first had to learn to listen to my body.

The good news is that yoga gets better as it goes on. I found the first 10 years tough. The second decade sort of happened by auto-pilot, meaning it required no additional effort. But only in the third decade the harvest began. Keep hanging in there. It will get better and better.

I had a fantastic time teaching in Manila. Heartfelt thanks to the people of the Philippines, who welcomed me so openly. I found them to be some of the friendliest people that I ever visited. I very much look forward to returning to Manila in the future.

I will stay in Perth for the next almost three months until we got to Bali to teach our 200-hour teacher training. Here we will present the essence of our 35 years of research and practice. If you are interested please request our prospectus at http://www.8limbs.com/teacher-training

If you are currently reading or have read my Pranayama book and found it helpful please do not hesitate to give it a review at your favourite online retailer. I put an enormous amount of work into my books and your reviews help to circulate the books and keep me going.

Hari OM
Gregor


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On the Road

Today's photo theme: On the Road

From the archives: A fragment of poetry written by bpNichol on the lane named in his honour (behind Coach House Books)



Because of the varied schedule at Shala South, I don't follow a 'traditional' weekly schedule anymore. Thursdays have become my 'day off' instead of the traditional Saturdays (and when I say 'day off' I mean 'a day for a led class'). Fridays are my Sundays. And Tuesdays are usually my Fridays (that's when I practice Primary Series).

I mixed things up a bit more this week, doing my regular practice on Tuesday and taking Primary Series at home on Wednesday morning.

It's been months since I did any home practice and I found it surreal. Oddly, after I finished (early in the morning), I kept forgetting I had practised and I went around all day thinking that I needed to get on the mat!

On Thursdays in the summer, I usually go to a led class in the east end of the city with one of my first teachers. It's an easy vinyasa class and I love the slower pace. It gets me back in touch with why I fell in love yoga in the first place. All of the hard work I do during the week seems to find a fruition in the practice of these basic postures; grace and mindfulness and joy.

Last night, I arrived at the studio early and unrolled my mat, grabbed a couple of blocks with a supine backbend in mind. But there was a glimmer of chaos in the air and I noticed a couple of the other students were eyeing me with mild curiosity. "She's in here!" someone called out, and I realised they meant me.

My teacher had an emergency and wasn't coming. The staff at the front desk asked if I could fill in and teach the class. The odd thing is (and I don't know how I knew this), I had a *feeling* I might be teaching that class! I even wore my 'teaching clothes' instead of the groddy clothes I usually wear to Mysore practice and I put on some jewelry and lipstick before I walked out the door.

So, yay for intuition! ;-)

As I pulled my mat to the front of the room, I tried to initiate that mental shift from 'student' to 'teacher'. And you know what? It's hard! It took me a few minutes to find my voice and to get a good grip on the thread of a sequence that would allow me to begin.

But once I got going, I had a lot of fun. In fact, it's the best class I taught all week - mainly because it was unexpected and funny and vaguely serendipitous. My sequencing was choppy because I was winging it, but sometimes flying by the seat of your pants is fun! :-) I nearly skipped a posture on one side. Then I had a few extra minutes so I added a fun arm balance.

The studio has bolsters (most of the places I teach don't), so I walked around during Savasana, offering bolsters around like a flight attendant handing out cocktails and blankets in the first class cabin (do they still do that, I wonder?).

Afterward, I rode home and did three sun salutations and though *that* was officially my practice, it was really so much more.


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Sunshine

Today's photo theme: Sunshine

From the archives: Princess Fur enjoys a sunbeam.


She's doing really well, fully recovered from her ordeal and back to her happy routine of napping, eating and tolerating my undivided attention when she isn't outright demanding it.




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Heart

Have you ever had a gut feeling that was so strong, so overhwhelming that it forced you to topple all your plans, to rethink a decision, to seek out a new solution?

A few months ago, my web-friend Summer was co-ordinating her family's move out of the big city and she found a great house to rent. But the minute she said 'Yes', she was struck with a feeling that this was the *wrong* house. Even though everything about the house was absolutely perfect, her gut was telling her 'NO!'.

She listened. She and her partner sought out another house.

A few days ago, while planning my travels, I contacted Princess Fur's longtime dogsitter - it didn't occur to me to consider any other option. She lives outside the city in a beautiful rural area on a farm that's been converted into a doggie-wonderland - the dogs have their own house, with boarders divided into 'rooms' based on breed/size/age. C is a bit of a 'doggie guru' and has been caring for Fur during my travels for more than 9 years. She's amazing and my dog adores her.

But as soon as I made that reservation, this horrible feeling started growing in my gut. It wasn't a whisper, it wasn't even speaking to me in a normal tone of voice. It was *screaming*.

It was screaming: "NOOOOO!"

This has never happened to me with such an intensity - it was absolutely surreal. I'm generally a calm, measured person, but I spent a day-and-a-bit literally in the throes of a borderline anxiety attack. Every time I thought about that dog care booking, I started hyperventilating, my chest felt tight, my gut began talking to me.

So I started exploring other options. The next morning, I was walking through the park, thinking about my dog and panicking about leaving her when I coincidentally ran into our old dog walker. We see G regularly, as she lives in the neighbourhood. I had a sudden epiphany.

"Do you ever board dogs?" I asked her. "Could you board Princess Fur?"

She boards selectively. We discussed it and the next day we ironed out some details. It's now confirmed: Princess Fur is going to go stay with G, with walks around her own familiar neighbourhood, easy access to her vet if there's an emergency, and she'll be cared for by someone who has known her since puppyhood.

It's the perfect solution. I still don't know what my gut was trying to tell me, but as soon as I made this decision, I was flooded with a sense of profound inner peace.

I'm beyond certain that I made the right decision. I'm kind of in awe of 'my gut' right now.

Today's photo theme: 'Heart'



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