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The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state that makes art inevitable.
– Robert Henry
Love,
Love is a verb.
Love is an action word, fearless on my breath.
-Elizabeth Fraser|Massive Attack|Teardrop
“Whatever we do or whatever we do not do, we are practicing mudras, so it only makes sense to understand what is it we are doing.
–Indu Arora
You’ll figure it out.
If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create.
John Lennon
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Earlier this month, I received a special gift from a fellow yogi: a full 60-minute playlist of Beatles love songs to use in our Valentine’s Day class. This gift inspired a contest – whoever guessed the number of times the word “love” occurred in the lyrics during the class won a prize. It was SO much fun!
In appreciation for the playlist, I compiled a list of Beatles lyrics and quotes in the spirit of yoga wisdom. Each quote went down on a little decorated card and was placed inside a repurposed Altoids Tin.
Have you ever liked a song so much that you listen to it a gazillion times and you think you have the song all figured out, then years pass and you grow out of that song and move on to other songs until one day you hear the same old song again, but suddenly something in that old, tricky song has shifted and a whole new world of meaning opens?
Of course, it’s the listener that’s changed, not the song, right? Hmmmm…or is it?
No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.
–Heraclitus
Or perhaps it’s the zeitgeist that changed. On a grand scale, I think this happened in the collective consciousness with the song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside” on the wake of the “Me Too Movement.” What seems like the innocent flirtation of one era turns into nefarious intent in another era.
Recently I experienced a song’s shift (in a good way) when I heard Madonna’s “Vogue.” ‘What just happened here? ‘ I wondered to myself after hearing the song with these 2020 ears. There was a lot more depth there than I remembered there being in 1990 when I first heard it. (Can y’all believe that song is 30 years old now?!) I had to go look up the lyrics and then the etymology of the word “vogue” to discover that in addition to the “fashion forward” meaning of the word, it’s also a boating term indicating the “drift, swaying motion (of a boat).” It’s from Old French voguer, meaning “to row, sway, set sail.” [according to vogue | Search Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com)]
So this week in my classes we are going on a sailing adventure.
All you need is your own imagination
So use it that’s what it’s for
Go inside for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door
-Shep Pettibone & Madonna/Vogue
“The basic human need to be watched was once satisfied by God. Now the same functionality can be replicated with data-mining algorithms.”
–Morphius, Deus Ex
“…talent is no more than a clarity of doing, an embodied moment where spirit and hand are one.”
Mark Nepo
All the water that will ever be is, right now.
~National Geographic, October 1993
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Someone in the desert was crying out for you.
Bad Water Basin salting up Death Valley
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Someone elsewhere was drowning.
Mississippi River gushing between Tennessee & Arkansas
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Someone was learning to swim in your deep end.
Pacific Ocean inviting us to the deep
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Someone was propelling herself forward through you.
Nameless water in her aquarium with jellyfish
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Someone saw herself in you.
Woodward Park Reflecting Pool reflecting the things above
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Someone saw you in the heavens.
Anonymous water fueling rainbows in the Memphis sky
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There are not enough lips to utter
All your fleeting names, O waterI would have to say them in every tongue
Pronouncing all the vowels at onceWislawa Szymborska, (Excerpt from a translation of Water. Read the beautiful poem here).
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My Svadhisthana Inspiration Playlist
Dear Island, ≈∝≈ Joseph Michael
Sleepwalk ≈∝≈ Kalani
Clare de Lune ≈∝≈ Kerrilyn Renshaw ≈∝≈ Classical Relaxation Piano with Soothing Ocean Sounds
Moonlight Sonata ≈∝≈ Chie Nagatani ≈∝≈ Classical Relaxation Piano with Soothing Ocean Sounds
(ok, absolutely anything and everything from the Classical Relaxation Piano with Soothing Ocean Sounds Album)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow ≈∝≈ Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Heaven ≈∝≈ DJ Sammy
I Want Your Sex ≈∝≈ George Michael
The Seal Lullabye ≈∝≈ Voces8 & Lavinia Meijer
As the Water… ≈∝≈ John Williams
Erotic City ≈∝≈ Prince
Orinoco Flow ≈∝≈ Enya
Overflow of Love ≈∝≈ Alexandre Desplat ≈∝≈ The Shape of Water
The Women of Water ≈∝≈ Lin Hai ≈∝≈ Empire of Silver
Made of Water ≈∝≈ Tom Wisner
Feelin’ Love ≈∝≈ Paula Cole
Roots! Bloody Roots!
Roots! Bloody Roots!
Roots! Bloody
Roots! Roots!
Bloody
Roots
!
~Max Cavalera, Sepultura
Today I’m sharing another page from my yoga planning journal. This is one page from a series that revolves around the chakras. This page’s concepts were field tested and taught last fall. We spent several classes exploring the qualities of stability, solidity, focus, and form in the body. I am gearing up to revisit the topic in upcoming classes. The concepts came from a workshop with Shala Worseley and from Anodea Judith’s Wheels of Life and from musicians referenced in the playlist below.
Muladhara is not an easy theme for me to teach as I’m prone to zipping and buzzing about in flights of fancy. Fortunately, I have a good friend in Yip, who is willing to sit with me and help me settle down.
Muladhara Playlist
The Mystery ¤ Michael Mandrell & Benjy Wertheimer
Beethoven Symphony No. 7-11 ¤ Beethoven ¤ Speaking Unto Nations ¤ Terry Davies
Earth and Sky ¤ Terry Oldfield
Shadow ¤ Tim Rayborn
Te Amo ¤ Armand Amar
Terra Di Siena ¤ Music for Deep Relaxation
Terra incognita ¤ Armand Amar
Patience ¤ Buddha Spirit
Travail ¤ John G. Elliot
The Suit ¤ Rachel Portman ¤ Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Passacaglia ¤ Secret Garden
Priya (Beloved) ¤ Michael Mandrell & Benjy Wertheimer
Like a Mountain ¤ Peter Mayer
Gravity ¤ John Mayer
Lullaby ¤ Tina Malia
My Little Spacebook 