On schedule! Today marks Ekadashi (11 days) after the full moon and a record number of cold rainy days here in Austin, Texas. People were beginning to act edgy, sometimes downright grumpy. The normally cheerful checker at the grocery store asked me "Does the weather think I'm Scandinavian?" We are spoiled with sunlight here! And too much can make plant growth difficult.
In fact, more than one person has mentioned that the cool, wet weather actually bodes well for the peaches and other fruits that people like to grow around these parts. Bill Christensen was telling me last night after yoga class that he will be teaching a workshop on grafting fruit trees on March 8, a Sunday. More details on this later. He has a half acre southwest of town with 28 fruit trees on it.
We're inspired and on our way out to cut some oak and cedar on the little plot near the Pedernales River that we have. We'll also be sizing up the fairly level clearing there for possible fruit tree planting. Although it's cedar season, my guess is that shedding pollen-laden clothes and taking a shower on returning will keep us from suffering too much. RJ heats his studio with a wood stove. This method has worked for him for years, though the cedar resin will coat the inside of the stove pipe, so needs to be cleaned out regularly to avoid fire hazard. The oak burns longer, but the cedar burns hotter, so he uses both.
This yoga activist, then, is on a mission to get more active with nature today. After speaking with my friend Cheryl Kirschner last week (she mentioned how vital hiking in the Cascades is for her and her husband from their home in Snohomish), I'm looking forward to being outside. The events in France, Ayotzinapa and Pakistan are haunting me, and being outdoors seems like a good antidote.
After writing my initial post on this blog, I was amazed that I had forgotten to mention the massacres at the military school in Pakistan and in Guerrero, Mexico. In Texas, we tend to ignore what happens closest to us, so although there were huge marches all over Mexico after the disappearance of 43
young students from a teachers' college in Ayotzinapa, we did not hear much about them here. It is profoundly tragic and disturbing to read about the murder of young people. To think that soldiers, terrorists, gunmen, whatever they may be called, would open fire on the young can cause the mind to shut down, at least my mind.
So I've been wondering--are we seeing these events because of population pressures? poverty? ideology? pure evil? All of the aforementioned? Again, my question remains: what can we as a spiritual community of practicing yogis DO? Iyengar was famouns for saying "Before we can have peace among nations, we need to find peace in our own hearts." So getting on our yoga mats might be a start--DAILY practice. When rival drug gangs battle over territory (apparently newly cultivated earth in Guerrero is being planted with opium poppies, operning up a new product for the gangs of Mexico), it seems that leaders will stop at nothing to secure what they have.
Pakistan, Mexico, France, Ferguson, New York, Austin, may all beings be at peace. May we learn to practice and live in peace. More next Ekadashi.
In fact, more than one person has mentioned that the cool, wet weather actually bodes well for the peaches and other fruits that people like to grow around these parts. Bill Christensen was telling me last night after yoga class that he will be teaching a workshop on grafting fruit trees on March 8, a Sunday. More details on this later. He has a half acre southwest of town with 28 fruit trees on it.
We're inspired and on our way out to cut some oak and cedar on the little plot near the Pedernales River that we have. We'll also be sizing up the fairly level clearing there for possible fruit tree planting. Although it's cedar season, my guess is that shedding pollen-laden clothes and taking a shower on returning will keep us from suffering too much. RJ heats his studio with a wood stove. This method has worked for him for years, though the cedar resin will coat the inside of the stove pipe, so needs to be cleaned out regularly to avoid fire hazard. The oak burns longer, but the cedar burns hotter, so he uses both.
This yoga activist, then, is on a mission to get more active with nature today. After speaking with my friend Cheryl Kirschner last week (she mentioned how vital hiking in the Cascades is for her and her husband from their home in Snohomish), I'm looking forward to being outside. The events in France, Ayotzinapa and Pakistan are haunting me, and being outdoors seems like a good antidote.
After writing my initial post on this blog, I was amazed that I had forgotten to mention the massacres at the military school in Pakistan and in Guerrero, Mexico. In Texas, we tend to ignore what happens closest to us, so although there were huge marches all over Mexico after the disappearance of 43
young students from a teachers' college in Ayotzinapa, we did not hear much about them here. It is profoundly tragic and disturbing to read about the murder of young people. To think that soldiers, terrorists, gunmen, whatever they may be called, would open fire on the young can cause the mind to shut down, at least my mind.
So I've been wondering--are we seeing these events because of population pressures? poverty? ideology? pure evil? All of the aforementioned? Again, my question remains: what can we as a spiritual community of practicing yogis DO? Iyengar was famouns for saying "Before we can have peace among nations, we need to find peace in our own hearts." So getting on our yoga mats might be a start--DAILY practice. When rival drug gangs battle over territory (apparently newly cultivated earth in Guerrero is being planted with opium poppies, operning up a new product for the gangs of Mexico), it seems that leaders will stop at nothing to secure what they have.
Pakistan, Mexico, France, Ferguson, New York, Austin, may all beings be at peace. May we learn to practice and live in peace. More next Ekadashi.
Very illuminating. What a legacy he has left us. Thanks for sharing.
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