Hari Om

Today, we shift from contemplative thought to working in some active practice of breathwork. Bringing the work we are doing to open ourselves to the teaching of Love Everybody begins in the body. It is from this place that we grasp onto narratives that may inform our resistance to loving ourselves, which, of course, justifies our belief that we cannot possibly love everybody. To untie those knots, we need to be able to be with the stories that block us and to work through them.

Many of those stories contain shame and guilt around our bodies. This is a massive barrier to the joy of the body. To be in a body is an opportunity for joy! We must open ourselves to joy if we wish to engage fully with love.

So we breathe. And we breathe. And we breathe. Today we work with two pranayama practices, breathing practices from the Vedic traditions. Kapalabhati and Brhamari Pranayam.

This is a good short video from Bharti Yoga on the most fundemental aspects of Kapalbhati and Bhramari Pranayam. This video only shows the technique, and does not go into the rich history and inherent connections of this and other pranayama practices to the cultures which developed them, and I highly encourage anyone interested in this practice to begin to study and learn about these practices and their roots in communal health.

Enjoy these practices!

Our poem today is from William Carlos Williams, and for me, it personifies the personal that having a body can offer.

Danse Russe William Carlos Williams If I when my wife is sleeping and the baby and Kathleen are sleeping and the sun is a flame-white disc in silken mists above shining trees,— if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself: “I am lonely, lonely. I was born to be lonely, I am best so!” If I admire my arms, my face, my shoulders, flanks, buttocks against the yellow drawn shades,— Who shall say I am not the happy genius of my household?

To dance with your joy is genius, indeed, Mr. Williams.

We also spend another moment with bell hooks Appalachian Elegy 23.

Appalachian Elegy 23 bell hooks bring Buddha to rest home in Kentucky hills that outside each window a light may shine not a guilt teaching tradition be balanced know loving kindness end suffering rejoice in the oneness of life then let go carry nothing on your back travel empty as you climb steep mountain paths

Read it and read it and read it aloud. Thank you bell hooks. thank you thank you thank you.

All In Love,

Michael

Generate Generosity Here

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Hari Om

Sometimes we find ourselves feeling the quick comeuppance of old feelings, emotions, and wounds emerging. Usually, this is not as surprising in it’s reality as it feels in the moment because these things are often slowly building up over time. Often, it is a result of bypassing feelings and uncomfortable situations under the guise of thinking that is what it is to ‘let it go’. Letting it go is not a bypass. We must first acknowledge the feeling, sit with it for a moment, and accommodate what is being given to us, and release our attachment to continuing to think the thoughts that hold us to the feeling. This is far different from bypassing.

Luckily for us, the old things will always come back. Always. And when they do, we have another chance to step into the place of presence with a slew of new tools we have been practicing in our daily mindfulness work! Use them.

Go to the breath.

Go to the body.

Ask the feelings questions of curiosity not defensive dismissiveness.

Listen to what you hear.

Act accordingly.

This is how we understand that understanding itself is a name of love. It is what love requires of me most in the moments I feel misunderstood.

Today we sit with bell hooks Appalachian Elegy 23, once again. We are going to work with this poem for the rest of the week, I believe.

Appalachian Elegy 23 bell hooks bring Buddha to rest home in Kentucky hills that outside each window a light may shine not a guilt teaching tradition be balanced know loving kindness end suffering rejoice in the oneness of life then let go carry nothing on your back travel empty as you climb steep mountain paths

Find the teaching today that you were not present for yesterday.

All In Love,

Michael

Generate Generosity Here

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Hari Om

Some days, the breath is the central focus; some days, it is what brings us to our central focus. Today, the breath is at the forefront of the practice. This helps us to get our conscious awareness directly to the center of our body, and from this place, we are centered. It has a physical space within our body. Moving our awareness out of our head and into our body is the essence of mindful practice. The thing to remember here: THIS IS A PRACTICE. It requires a bit of doing, no matter how elementary you feel the work may be. Take the time to take a few breaths, being truly present, and you will see the shift in each moment of your awareness. See if you can find three breaths in succession without wandering into a thought. It is simple, but not easy.

ON NEARUDA'S DEATH Allen Ginsberg Some breath breathes out Adonais & Canto General Some breath breathes out Bombs and dog barks Some breath breathes silent over green snow mountains Some breath breathes not at all 25 Sept 1973

The breath is what connects us to one another. Thank you Allen Ginsberg. OM.

We revisit bell hooks profound work, Appalachian Elegy, specifically number 23.

Appalachian Elegy 23. bell hooks bring Buddha to rest home in Kentucky hills that outside each window a light may shine not a guilt teaching tradition be balanced know loving kindness end suffering rejoice in the oneness of life then let go carry nothing on your back travel empty as you climb steep mountain paths

I am really enjoying revisiting this poem each day this week. There is a lot offered within.

All In Love,

Michael

Generate Generosity Here

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.