Pedestals
Eighteen years ago, when I was first diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hips, my ego got crushed like a stepped-on grape. I was convinced the diagnosis spelled career suicide for me as a yoga teacher. […]
Now
I watched a movie last night that had a scene with two small kids playing on a beach, seabirds flying around. I realized that was the first time I’d seen birds since the end of January.
I’m sure there’s birdlife out there, but I’ve been inside – a week at Mater Hospital, now nearly a week at Hunters Hill Rehab, and one more to go.
I’m not complaining; this is what I’m here for. I’m not even close to going outside. […]
Portion Control Take Two
The wise ancient, Patanjali, identified certain human frailities and offered ways of correcting them in his “Yoga Sutra”.
One of them is particularly relevant to the above topic and in Sanskrit is called “aparigraha”, the practice of non-greed.
Greed is spectacularly obvious when we read about excessive Goldman Sachs’ executive bonuses or Bernie Madoff’s financial blood-sucking.
But greed presents with much more of a slippery edge when it plays out in yoga practice.
You might decide to go that little bit further in Uttanasana because you felt you didn’t do enough yesterday. […]
Portion Control
I’m sure I could become the next guru if I could explain to people how to do “portion control”. These two words didn’t fall together so often until relatively recently, until the “obesity epidemic” started mushrooming.
I can imagine my sensible Midwestern-born 90 yr.-old mother-in-law saying, “You just push your plate away when you’re full. That’s all.”
I’m a member of that camp – stop eating when you’re full. Scientists link this ability with something called an “appestat”, like a thermostat for central air control on the wall, only appetite control is in your brain. […]
Say "No" to Drugs (Sometimes)
Miracles of modern times. I’m sitting here in my chair, with my 6 day old happy hips and sending my words out across the globe. Trishna and Krishna, twins conjoined at the back of their brains, are separated and live to tell about it. Faces are transplanted. Eight children are born in one labour.
This is only possible through advances in medical technology, surgery and drugs. […]
Swiish, swiish
There’s a particularly delicious sound that the in-line rollers of rollerblades create when you’re moving with a rhythmic stride. I’m sure it’s theta wave inspired like what happens when the sadhus chant “Ram, Ram, Ram” for hours on end. The potential problem here is that the blader can get hypnotized by the music of his feet and crash!
Today for the first time I learned to use crutches, practising walking with my new prosthetic hips. I’m a tiny bit embarrassed to say I experienced some of the exhilaration of my old blading days. […]
Tears
Yesterday I had quite a few tears. Happily sadness doesn’t scare me. To the contrary, I consider it to be cleansing and revealing. The emotion that was coming up each time I cried was associated with a certain feeling I’d been stuffing down and not allowing myself to experience. I was surprised when I realised that part of the blues was caused by the fact that I hadn’t told people I love how much they meant to me.It’s not unusual to misinterpret or ignore strong emotion. […]
Hesitancy
I noticed I was avoiding writing this post as it makes very real that I am beginning the surgery process. I’ll check in to the hospital in just an hour for pre-admission, with my bilateral hip surgery scheduled for tomorrow morning.
My intention is to keep you posted 🙂 about what this process is like, especially from a yogini’s point of view. […]
Smooth as….
The rocks in our local surf are rough and shiny, but I by the time I take them home they are dull, dull, dull.
Approximately four weeks of shaping, smoothing and polishing and the rocks are as pretty as gemstones. They actually have to lose a fair bit of their mass in my rock tumbler to finish up being satiny and attractive.
A number of years ago I heard a renowned yoga teacher say that it takes at least 12 years for a trainee to become a skilled teacher. […]
Levity vs. Gravity
I was practising yoga out in the Shed this morning with my friend and housemate Heather. What ecstasy to have our own yoga studio a few steps from the house! Pretty much we just roll out of bed and onto the mat, more often than not still in pyjamas.
On some mornings, we single-mindedly, silently, and with gravitas pursue our yoga practice. Other times we have a bit of a goss about the neighbours or our spouses. We have been known to rehash a movie we’ve seen or discuss books. […]
Pain
For me, the really ugly thing about being in pain isn’t the pain itself but the way it takes me out of relationship with people and the environment. I just want to go to ground and isolate myself, like an animal crawling down its lair. This is not the way I usually express myself in the everyday world; I’m not reclusive in the least.
The pain I experience intermittently is the result of advanced osteoarthritis in my hips which I have decided not to battle anymore. […]
Rough and Tumble
Our local beach at Manning Point is rough and tumble; the rips are rough and most days the tides will tumble you like a clothes dryers. That’s why it’s such a great place for rock collecting.
My very first visit there more than five years ago I was seduced by the variety of smooth stones and had to have them. […]