A Gift from a Beautiful Spirit

 

 

A beautiful Mantra to the Goddess Green Tara. Female incarnation of the Buddha of compassion.

 

There must be a Yoga dynamic I'm only beginning to learn about. The more my heart opens up through the practice, the more arrows seem to be aimed at it, and the more I'm having walk on eggshells around other people, even my closest friends. The keystone of that learning curve seems paradoxical to me now, but no less essential: the more my heart opens outward, the more I need to go back inside as in meditation. The rest will take care of itself, I imagine.

Vinyasa Yoga and Capoeira

I want to link Yoga and Capoeira in parallel or sequential fashion, or use one to reinforce the other (not an original idea, but I want to do it myself). Capoeira de Angola was my love and life when I was footloose and fancy free, before I was sidelined by family and business. Now that I've given myself to Vinyasa , I realize how much the muscle memory, strength, body awareness, mindfulness, and flow resonate with capoeira and prepared me to take on power Yoga. Indeed, the radical inversion, "inverted tadasana"-hands-on-the-earth work, and flow are defining features of capoeira, which surprise-attacks the colonial order upside down. Each "move" is an Afro-Brazilian "asana" of sorts, but they are connected by dynamic movement--an elegant flow. We could say that capoeira de angola is the ritualistic, spirit-inspired Tai Chi of the Afro-Atlantic danced "martial arts." If you are a yogi, look at the delicious dance driven practice of Shiva Rea or Tias Little, for example, you will immediately get it, even if you don't know capoeira directly. I would love to dialogue with anyone who continues to practice dance, martial arts, and yoga. As I write this, I think immediately of two beloved members of our Yoga community. Don't be shy. (The first video is a didactic introduction and is, technically, the fast "up" style of Capoeira Regional; the second video is a staged and produced representation of Angola Capoeira).

Click here: http://youtu.be/DF9o9hJ2-ic

A New Student's Revelation

Yoga encourages us to stay present on the mat and take joy in our practice: this happens in-and-through the breath and our growing expression of asana. So, this type-A personality, who has worked all his life just a bit too hard for success, discovers one day in a deep pigeon pose (ah, emotions stored in the hips!) that it's actually possible to relax and enjoy asana. It's not a moral or intellectual mandate. It's the practice, stupid. No one can do it for you; certainly not your head. "The body speaks and the breath responds," a teacher close to my heart recently told me; still, what I took away from her class was the profound impression of her joy. I thought about these words and her joy for a month, but they had no effect until three minutes into the pigeon, when the practice permitted my body to relax. Then I knew joy. It was fleeting but certain--and portends good things ahead.

Better Than Anything

Janine's Vinyasa flow and Yin class this morning was masterful and transformative, nothing less than a smorgasbord of neurotransmitters. And it gets better and better on and off the mat. Oh, just for the sake of metaphor, imagine Al Jarreau's or Patti Cathcart Andress' version of "Better Than Anything."

Better than sailing at midnight
Better than diving for pearls
Better than skiing in Aspen...
Better than feeding the squirrels
Better than finding a horseshoe
Better than losing your head
Better than anything thought of
Better than anything said
Better than singing right out loud
Or being spotted in a crowd

Better than anything except being in love

I'm talking about being in love....

Better than four sets of Dizzy
Better than Count Basie's band
Better than Rollins and Coltrane
Better than being on the stand
Better than Ella Fitzgerald
Better than Miles' latest news
Better than Bill Evans' ballads
Better than Joe Williams' blues
Better than hearing Lady Day
Or checking in at Monterey

Better than anything except being in love
We're talking about being in love...

Better than Lucy and Desi
Better than Route 66
Better than Kildare and Casey
Better than quiz shows on Pix
Better than Huntley and Brinkley
And Singing with Mitch
Better than Hitchcock and Karloff
And clicking the switch
Better than movies late at night
And watching Emile Griffith fight.

Better than anything except being in love
We're talking about being in love....

Elephants dancing
Clowns on parade
Better than peanuts and popcorn
Fresh lemonade
Better than rides on the midway
Better than seals blowing horns
Better than men shot from cannons
Better than fresh ears of corn
Better than balancing on a wire
Or watching tigers leap through fire

Better than anything except being in love...say now...being in love...
[Talking 'bout] being in love....Skat, Skat, Skat....Better than anything except being in love.