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Smile to the Infinite Variety

In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite variety and mystery of it. -William Saroyan

 

Departing from my usual format, I'm just going to list some things I found interesting this past week. I go back and forth between my iPhone, two laptops, books, magazines, Kindle, NPR on the radio, and talking to real live people. Somewhere along the trail I found:

• Tara Bray Smith on true communication. Hawaii born and raised, Tara wrote a memoir, West of Then: A Mother, a Daughter, and a Journey Past Paradise in 2004. She's now married and living in Germany and speaks to living around a new language.
• MIT Open Courseware. MIT offers free, non-credit courses on-line, 2,000 of them, according to their home page. Some of them offer videos of lectures while many include notes and reading lists.
• Dying with Confidence, is something I'm determined to do so I was overjoyed (really!) when this book popped up on one of my screens. It's written by Anyen Rinpoche and on it's way from Amazon along with...
• Anatomy for Hip Openers and Forward Bends. You can flip through the book online, along with the sound of a page turning. :D
• Photos of the 1946 tsunami that hit the Big Island, along with 2010 pictures of the same locations. A six minute video by the Center for Study of Volcanoes.
• How Meditation May Change the Brain, appeared in the New York Times. I'm waiting for a study to prove that you can meditate while doing an active yoga practice but the current research makes me happy.

 

   Where's Armand?  Diary Writing and Memory. This is a revisit of a 2009 article in which I compare Armand's diaries to those of Thomas Edison, who wrote 5 millions pages of notes.  

 

   Lessons in Balance. If you'd like to read what I write during the rest of the week, this is where I post them.  

 

   Kona Yoga, This Week: Don's Monday (1/31) class has been canceled and I'm canceling my Monday class on 2/07. All other classes will be held as scheduled this week.

Weekly Class Schedule.

   Coming Up: Jehangir Palkhivala, April 8-10. I'm working on fliers this week and if you'd like copies mailed to you for your studio or for friends with no internet access, please e-mail me your mailing address. Jehangir will be teaching a new sequence, a deep relaxation method, and a talk on his latest nutrition experiences and discoveries.




Photo: World Culture Pictorial

Getting Even

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~John E. Southard

I'd like to get even with this man.

 

I could stop right there. The title, photo, and quote say enough.The man is my yoga teacher, Jehangir Palkhivala, from Mumbai, India. He makes the trip to the U.S. once a year, to teach his sequences of yoga postures. He enthralls his audience with mythic tales of gods and goddesses, remarkable healing experiences, and equanimity. I see and experience him just once a year, I appreciate and learn from him, every day.

 

How would I get even? How could I get even? I guess if I'm going to announce to the world that he is my teacher, it would be proper and respectful of me to be a good example of his teachings. That would take a lot of doing, and time.

 

Maybe I should stop right here.

 

 

Related post: Reverb 10 - Appreciate

Photo courtesy of Aadil Palkhivala

Originally published in Lessons in Balance,1/14/11.

 

The Gift of Support

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

-John F. Kennedy

When asked a few days ago, "What's the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?" my response was:

My most memorable gift this year was Support, I truly felt the helping hands of others this year. Whether they sent kind words, generous monetary gifts, smiles, airline tickets, mouthed "thank you" or  "I love you", treated me to breakfast, lunch and dinner, or sat expectantly in front of me for a yoga class. I felt so cared for and appreciated.

 

I've been so blessed in years past, but this year I felt as though everyone was bracing me, telling me that I was doing the right thing. In the coming year, I'd like to continue to notice and appreciate Support, as well as to spread it around to others.

 

Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
~William Wordsworth

 

Art: Gifts by Julie Paschkis, 2003

Posted on Lessons In Balance, December 30, 2010.