Birthday Pup

"Plant the seeds of Love in your hearts. Let them grow into trees of Service and shower the sweet fruit of Ananda. Share the Ananda with all. That is the proper way to celebrate the Birthday." - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Today is my dog's birthday. Devereux is 9 years old today and healthy and happy! Yay!

More Important Than My Ego

"If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now."

- Douglas Adams



Aparigraha in Action

I mentioned yesterday that we're moving... quickly... and far away. This being the case, dragging our full household of stuff would be inconvenient and expensive. We've decided to sell/donate at least 80% of our stuff. The bed, couch, loveseat, giant chair and matching ottoman, fancy red chair, TV, washer, dryer, end tables, dining room table/chairs, etc.... It's all going away. That's just the big stuff. We're also shedding tons of boxes of smaller items like weights. Almost all the small stuff is just being donated and we're exchanging the big stuff for money. I think it's all honorably priced, and it is moving quickly. I just listed the big stuff today and almost all of it is being picked up tomorrow by happy people matched up with great furniture.

I don't know the last time you were face to face with an honest appraisal of how much "stuff" you own (or maybe it owns you), but it was probably too much. That's usually the case anyway. Humans have some pack rat tendencies. We tend to hold onto things for sentimental reasons, obligation, or for no reason at all. Sometimes we even keep things out of guilt. But when was the last time you actually USED any of that stuff? I've been having to ask myself some tough questions about things. Do I really need/want/use/like this item? Why do I have it? Does it serve my purpose on this path? Usually the answer is no... so it belongs in the sell list or the donate pile. It doesn't always get put there. Sometimes it's packed in a box to travel with me, but we all have our weaknesses. For me it's art supplies - for you maybe it's something else.

I've written about aparigraha (greedlessness, non-attachment) before, and you can read more about its practice here.

Photo Source: Tineye found nothing. Don't know. I'm lazy at midnight, so I'm not going to try harder than that.

Packing Up

Good News! Adam got a job! in Austin, TX. So we're moving... and pretty quickly. It's a rush job and we're going halfway across the country (just shy of 1,800 miles) so I'm going to be pretty busy in the next couple weeks. Trying to fit in some yoga will be challenging... it might be just my simple morning practice + meditation for a while. I'll try to keep the blog updating on schedule, but don't be surprised if I miss a couple days between now and July 1st.

Photo Source: Dunno. A quick Tineye search yielded 0 results.

What is Already Yours

"Our desires presage the capacities within us; they are harbingers of what we shall be able to accomplish. What we can do and want to do is projected in our imagination, quite outside ourselves, and into the future. We are attracted to what is already ours in secret. Thus passionate anticipation transforms what is indeed possible into dreamt-for reality." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You may recall Adam had not really been practicing until he got laid off from his job in March. With a little coaching he's made it a long way in only a couple of months. He always learns things so fast that it can inspire jealousy, but as his teacher and wife I'm super proud.

The Story of Yoga (Video)

What was the catalyst for yoga to leave the caves and come to the people? To women even! If you absolutely must know - watch this video to learn all about it.



Readers via Email click here for the video.

Home Practice - All By Myself

Adam is out of town for a couple days for a job interview in Texas, so I'm left to see how much yoga I can really do. Since I declared last week that I was taking some time to rest and then a slow progression into my real practice again - I've only done one full practice. It wasn't a pre-designed sequence and it wasn't very long or difficult. The real challenge was making sure not to overdo it. I will definitely be doing some full practices while I'm home alone. I do my best work all by myself. Today I'll do a sequence I put together specifically for sore backs, so hopefully it will feel great. By the way, my back feels 99% fine now. I'm just being cautious so I can keep it that way.

This pic was taken a couple weeks ago. I like the morning darkness to it.