Day 16 – 1/15/16
Timer: on…trusty red pants: adorned…french braid: in place…floor: cleaned (as best as it can be with dogs)…
Today I was meditating while practicing about the ritual, again. This idea that the wedding is supposed to be about the couple…it a bit of a farce… The ritual has nothing to do with them; it has everything to do with combining their families and how their families perceive the ritual: was the food tasty?, did the couple provide enough libations?, did they choose the correct people for the wedding party?, did the couple invite everyone they were supposed to invite?
I don’t like all that wavering and questioning…I didn’t want to get married, when I was a little girl and a young woman…I didn’t dream of the “white dress” or me walking down the aisle… So, I bit like an imposter to this ritual because I’m not sure how to do it “the way that it is expected to be done.” And, anyone who knows me knows that I hate being told to do something the way everyone else does it… I want good food, as much libations as we can afford, and fun…that is all… Is that so much to ask for? And, yet, it can be, and the world says things like: “Well, if you can’t get [such and such] for your wedding, then (maybe) you aren’t worthy of getting married…” Hateful and stupid thoughts… So…today I tried to meditate and reflect on the entitlement I feel that allows my chosen and I to do our ritual any way we damn well please…within the parameters that will, at least, keep some people happy…
Back to the practice…
The next pose to discuss is the forward bend section of the sitting or lying part of the practice: Upavista Konasana – The Straddle.
It is fitting that my favorite yoga poses tend to be the ones that use Chakra 2 – Svadhisthana (Navel Chakra), whose thematic color is orange. Orange is my favorite of the colors, and I have always liked all of the poses associated with Svadhisthana. I (also) like being able to imagine my belly as a bright orange that covers the sky as the sun sets…
Upavista Konasana – The Straddle is a Svadhisthana pose. The benefits, according to THE YOGA HANDBOOK by Noa Belling are:
The meaning of this pose, again, according to THE YOGA HANDBOOK, is: “Upavista” meaning “seated” and “kona” meaning “angle”.
This is one of those poses that I had to do regularly in competitive dance and it was expected that you could be able to flatten your stomach on the ground with your legs spread wide and straightened. It is also expected that the knees and toes stay towards the sky or ceiling. I was capable of doing this, then, and I am very close to being able to do it fully, now.
I like the idea of being able to have my body rejoin it’s younger self before the ritual of marriage. Marriage is (traditionally) for the young, and, I think, joining my emotional intelligence (that comes with age) with my younger abilities in the physical sphere, is smart.
That is all…for today…
Day 17 – 1/16/16
Timer: on…french braid: in place…trusty red sweatpants that say ‘love’: adorned…
Well, yoga went well again today…I have to say, I really like this series…I might keep it…Last year the 69 Days of Mourning was a really difficult series and it was exhausting emotionally and physically…this one is a good workout, but it is also one that clears the head…
Speaking of 69…I am starting to get annoyed with all the cool people who are dying at 69: my Dad, David Bowie, John Trudell, Alan Rickman…it’s getting old…literally…
Well, I am at the point where I am supposed to discuss Bidalasana – The Cat, but I already did that, so I’m going to move onto Bhujangasana – the Cobra…
This the back bend pose in the practice for sitting and lying in Chakra 3 Manipura – The solar plexus…
Bhujangasana – The Cobra is a pose that I have always excelled at, and received praise from yoga teachers for my god given flexible back.
I still love this pose…it’s a rest pose for me…or a pose I just fall into, when I need to just clear my mind…
My best friend, who I love with a secret skill of knowing what she’s feeling, and she does the same for me…always has…was born in the year of the snake…sometimes I feel like she was the opposite to my personality that I needed to meet to fill in the blanks that I was missing as a young person and now woman…when I perform the cobra, sometimes I think I channel her…and those blanks that I need to fill…
The benefits according to THE YOGA HANDBOOK:
Now, how does this apply to my practice of creating a ritual that prepares me for marriage? Gosh! I have no idea…except that for around 20 years this is the pose that reminds me of my best friend and the blanks that need to be filled…
In a consciousness sense, I guess we can only gain consciousness through our own experiences and trials/tribulations or through our experiences with others…My experiences with my best friend have always given me that unspoken thing that I needed, and my fiancé seems to do that as well…I didn’t know that I needed the things he just gives of his own accord…but he gives them and I need them…so…maybe this is the pose where I take the love of friendship and I literally marry it with the ritual I am creating to prepare myself for matrimony…
Hard to say, but…that’s what I’m going with today, and the timer says it’s time to take a break…
Day 18 - 1/17/16
Timer: on…french braid: messy, but it exists…floor: cleaner than normal because I spent 15 minutes cleaning it before the practice…trusty red sweatpants that say ‘love’: adorned…
So…I decided to try and create a shorter version of this practice before school starts. Once rehearsals for RAGTIME begin with its epic cast, music, dance, technical needs, and topic…I don’t know if I will have 1-hour plus to enjoy the practice… I have realized that sustaining my energy four 3 months of rehearsal requires that I honor sleep. I don’t always like sleep, but I need it to be clearheaded in the rehearsal room and as successful as I can be in the classroom. I can’t do both on the 4-6 hours of sleep I used to work at in my teens, 20s, and early 30s… Aging is a disease that we all have that there is no cure for [I paraphrase from an episode I watched of THE KNICK last night]. Facts! (as the students say…) And, in order to riser up (another student saying), I need to conserve my energy. I remember feeling guilty last year when I created a shorter version of the practice, but…in that instance I was directing two difficult plays in repertory…crazy…why would I feel guilty…I have to honor everyone I’m responsible for, and, therefore, I have to find something that honors all…
Thus, I decided to try the practice out without its variations in the poses…just one pose. I am not going to rob my meditation or warm-up, but I’m (almost) halfway through this journey and I have (somewhat) found all of these poses. Therefore, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to (once in a while) to do a shorter version.
The next pose I’m supposed to discuss is Salabhasana – “The Locust”. I discussed that on my moon week, but I think I was really just whining about it, so…I am going to honor it a little more today.
A Locust. Yuck! I remember driving to my best friend’s wedding in Detroit, and we ran into a swarm of these outside Mitchell, SD. I had read about them, but I had never seen them. We have grasshoppers and crickets where I’m from, but not those huge locusts. I have a hard time imagining that I am making a Locust in this pose. There are no positive associations that I can create in my head when doing this pose. And, of course, it begs the question as to why anyone would think that a Locust was a pose to create. I need to meet the Yogi that had a soft place in their heart for this harbinger of drought and famine. Anyway, as THE GRAPES OF WRATH attack my consciousness…let’s talk about this…
Last time I discussed this pose, I was using the Yoga Cards. This time we’ll look at the supposed benefits from THE YOGA HANDBOOK by Noa Belling:
Well, it looks like “The Locust” creates a drought in any problems caused by the body. My goodness, it has one of the largest amounts of benefits that I have ever typed.
How can this help my ritual towards matrimony?
Again, I guess I’ll have to take a left turn, but…I like the analogy of the Reaper, that we need to clear the earth to prepare it for the next growing year. “The Locust” prepares many of the areas of the body that need help, and, if “practiced regularly” it will relieve the pain of those areas. This might have to become one of my daily poses because it can clear the body of things that I don’t need, in order to breathe and function and love day to day.
I would like to end today with a great quote I read this morning:
“This belief in the mythic power of erotic love was, a hundred years ago, shared by the whole of Western culture. Poets and intellectuals, businessmen and philosophers, teachers and lawyers saw in its pursuit a metaphor for liberation of the spirit at the highest level. To know love was to penetrate the mysteries of the human condition, to see with radiant clarity the meaning of life and the world, not as it is but as it could be…Emma Goldman’s anarchism burned with original power for a good fifty years because she never abandoned her devotion to Love with a capital “L.”’ – EMMA GOLDMAN REVOLUTION AS A WAY OF LIFE by Vivian Gonick
“The Locust” is a revolution, sometimes painful, but…worth it for love…okay…that’s enough cliché sappiness for one day…
Timer: on…trusty red pants: adorned…french braid: in place…floor: cleaned (as best as it can be with dogs)…
Today I was meditating while practicing about the ritual, again. This idea that the wedding is supposed to be about the couple…it a bit of a farce… The ritual has nothing to do with them; it has everything to do with combining their families and how their families perceive the ritual: was the food tasty?, did the couple provide enough libations?, did they choose the correct people for the wedding party?, did the couple invite everyone they were supposed to invite?
I don’t like all that wavering and questioning…I didn’t want to get married, when I was a little girl and a young woman…I didn’t dream of the “white dress” or me walking down the aisle… So, I bit like an imposter to this ritual because I’m not sure how to do it “the way that it is expected to be done.” And, anyone who knows me knows that I hate being told to do something the way everyone else does it… I want good food, as much libations as we can afford, and fun…that is all… Is that so much to ask for? And, yet, it can be, and the world says things like: “Well, if you can’t get [such and such] for your wedding, then (maybe) you aren’t worthy of getting married…” Hateful and stupid thoughts… So…today I tried to meditate and reflect on the entitlement I feel that allows my chosen and I to do our ritual any way we damn well please…within the parameters that will, at least, keep some people happy…
Back to the practice…
The next pose to discuss is the forward bend section of the sitting or lying part of the practice: Upavista Konasana – The Straddle.
It is fitting that my favorite yoga poses tend to be the ones that use Chakra 2 – Svadhisthana (Navel Chakra), whose thematic color is orange. Orange is my favorite of the colors, and I have always liked all of the poses associated with Svadhisthana. I (also) like being able to imagine my belly as a bright orange that covers the sky as the sun sets…
Upavista Konasana – The Straddle is a Svadhisthana pose. The benefits, according to THE YOGA HANDBOOK by Noa Belling are:
- Increasing flexibility of the inner thighs.
- Stretching and strengthening the back.
- Improving mobility in the hip joint.
- Benefiting the reproductive organs.
- [In the twisting version – of which I do practice along with the traditional pose] Gives a lateral extension of the torso. Called Parsva Upavista Konasana (Sideways Straddle)
The meaning of this pose, again, according to THE YOGA HANDBOOK, is: “Upavista” meaning “seated” and “kona” meaning “angle”.
This is one of those poses that I had to do regularly in competitive dance and it was expected that you could be able to flatten your stomach on the ground with your legs spread wide and straightened. It is also expected that the knees and toes stay towards the sky or ceiling. I was capable of doing this, then, and I am very close to being able to do it fully, now.
I like the idea of being able to have my body rejoin it’s younger self before the ritual of marriage. Marriage is (traditionally) for the young, and, I think, joining my emotional intelligence (that comes with age) with my younger abilities in the physical sphere, is smart.
That is all…for today…
Day 17 – 1/16/16
Timer: on…french braid: in place…trusty red sweatpants that say ‘love’: adorned…
Well, yoga went well again today…I have to say, I really like this series…I might keep it…Last year the 69 Days of Mourning was a really difficult series and it was exhausting emotionally and physically…this one is a good workout, but it is also one that clears the head…
Speaking of 69…I am starting to get annoyed with all the cool people who are dying at 69: my Dad, David Bowie, John Trudell, Alan Rickman…it’s getting old…literally…
Well, I am at the point where I am supposed to discuss Bidalasana – The Cat, but I already did that, so I’m going to move onto Bhujangasana – the Cobra…
This the back bend pose in the practice for sitting and lying in Chakra 3 Manipura – The solar plexus…
Bhujangasana – The Cobra is a pose that I have always excelled at, and received praise from yoga teachers for my god given flexible back.
I still love this pose…it’s a rest pose for me…or a pose I just fall into, when I need to just clear my mind…
My best friend, who I love with a secret skill of knowing what she’s feeling, and she does the same for me…always has…was born in the year of the snake…sometimes I feel like she was the opposite to my personality that I needed to meet to fill in the blanks that I was missing as a young person and now woman…when I perform the cobra, sometimes I think I channel her…and those blanks that I need to fill…
The benefits according to THE YOGA HANDBOOK:
- Strengthens the back muscles.
- Increases flexibility and mobility of the spine and vertebrae, particularly in the upper and middle back.
- Increases blood circulation to the spine and nerves.
- Stretches and strengthens neck and shoulder muscles.
- Expand the chest and frees the throat area.
Now, how does this apply to my practice of creating a ritual that prepares me for marriage? Gosh! I have no idea…except that for around 20 years this is the pose that reminds me of my best friend and the blanks that need to be filled…
In a consciousness sense, I guess we can only gain consciousness through our own experiences and trials/tribulations or through our experiences with others…My experiences with my best friend have always given me that unspoken thing that I needed, and my fiancé seems to do that as well…I didn’t know that I needed the things he just gives of his own accord…but he gives them and I need them…so…maybe this is the pose where I take the love of friendship and I literally marry it with the ritual I am creating to prepare myself for matrimony…
Hard to say, but…that’s what I’m going with today, and the timer says it’s time to take a break…
Day 18 - 1/17/16
Timer: on…french braid: messy, but it exists…floor: cleaner than normal because I spent 15 minutes cleaning it before the practice…trusty red sweatpants that say ‘love’: adorned…
So…I decided to try and create a shorter version of this practice before school starts. Once rehearsals for RAGTIME begin with its epic cast, music, dance, technical needs, and topic…I don’t know if I will have 1-hour plus to enjoy the practice… I have realized that sustaining my energy four 3 months of rehearsal requires that I honor sleep. I don’t always like sleep, but I need it to be clearheaded in the rehearsal room and as successful as I can be in the classroom. I can’t do both on the 4-6 hours of sleep I used to work at in my teens, 20s, and early 30s… Aging is a disease that we all have that there is no cure for [I paraphrase from an episode I watched of THE KNICK last night]. Facts! (as the students say…) And, in order to riser up (another student saying), I need to conserve my energy. I remember feeling guilty last year when I created a shorter version of the practice, but…in that instance I was directing two difficult plays in repertory…crazy…why would I feel guilty…I have to honor everyone I’m responsible for, and, therefore, I have to find something that honors all…
Thus, I decided to try the practice out without its variations in the poses…just one pose. I am not going to rob my meditation or warm-up, but I’m (almost) halfway through this journey and I have (somewhat) found all of these poses. Therefore, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to (once in a while) to do a shorter version.
The next pose I’m supposed to discuss is Salabhasana – “The Locust”. I discussed that on my moon week, but I think I was really just whining about it, so…I am going to honor it a little more today.
A Locust. Yuck! I remember driving to my best friend’s wedding in Detroit, and we ran into a swarm of these outside Mitchell, SD. I had read about them, but I had never seen them. We have grasshoppers and crickets where I’m from, but not those huge locusts. I have a hard time imagining that I am making a Locust in this pose. There are no positive associations that I can create in my head when doing this pose. And, of course, it begs the question as to why anyone would think that a Locust was a pose to create. I need to meet the Yogi that had a soft place in their heart for this harbinger of drought and famine. Anyway, as THE GRAPES OF WRATH attack my consciousness…let’s talk about this…
Last time I discussed this pose, I was using the Yoga Cards. This time we’ll look at the supposed benefits from THE YOGA HANDBOOK by Noa Belling:
- Strengthens the lower back and can relieve pain if practiced regularly.
- Increases flexibility in the upper back.
- Tones and stretches the abdominal area and solar plexus, giving a feeling of lightness to the abdominal area and benefiting the liver, kidneys, and pancreas.
- Improves digestion and can help digestive disorders.
- Benefits the nervous system.
- Strengthens and tones the leg muscles.
- Strengthens the shoulders and arms.
- Increases blood circulation to the head and neck area, nourishing the facial tissues, the brain, and the throat.
- Benefits the bladder and the prostrate gland.
Well, it looks like “The Locust” creates a drought in any problems caused by the body. My goodness, it has one of the largest amounts of benefits that I have ever typed.
How can this help my ritual towards matrimony?
Again, I guess I’ll have to take a left turn, but…I like the analogy of the Reaper, that we need to clear the earth to prepare it for the next growing year. “The Locust” prepares many of the areas of the body that need help, and, if “practiced regularly” it will relieve the pain of those areas. This might have to become one of my daily poses because it can clear the body of things that I don’t need, in order to breathe and function and love day to day.
I would like to end today with a great quote I read this morning:
“This belief in the mythic power of erotic love was, a hundred years ago, shared by the whole of Western culture. Poets and intellectuals, businessmen and philosophers, teachers and lawyers saw in its pursuit a metaphor for liberation of the spirit at the highest level. To know love was to penetrate the mysteries of the human condition, to see with radiant clarity the meaning of life and the world, not as it is but as it could be…Emma Goldman’s anarchism burned with original power for a good fifty years because she never abandoned her devotion to Love with a capital “L.”’ – EMMA GOLDMAN REVOLUTION AS A WAY OF LIFE by Vivian Gonick
“The Locust” is a revolution, sometimes painful, but…worth it for love…okay…that’s enough cliché sappiness for one day…