On Saturday evening we drove down the hill, under a green gray tornado colored sky. Four of us, looking into the middle years and beyond. We went to see the dancer's recital, on the Elementary school gymnasium stage, the dancers of all ages, and my two yoga students.
I cannot prove it with any scientific facts, but I do believe, my yoga pals, both over 55, shone the brightest, had the most artful, easy grace, danced with the finest posture - even over the teenagers.
You might say I am biased, and that I will admit to. Yet, there can be no mistaking the fact that these two women have endured breast cancer, the usual challenges of aging and work, the fatigue factors of time, and their faces shone that night. They each stood out - the ballerina leaping, the tap dancer clipping. Serene smiles, clear eyes, they had a light from within.
Making time for our practice is lighting a candle from the inside out. On days like this, when it is gray and cold, and the solstice is here, making one feel disoriented, the candle needs more than ever to be lit from within.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Write Like No One's Watching
A funny thing about writing things that will appear publicly, is that there are a whole lot of little mental stops which come up over ideas.
Like today I was feeling the usual sadness which Father's Day brings, and I thought I should write about it, but then I couldn't. It is too raw, and not easily made eloquent.
My writer pal Tammy put out a Father's Day writing prompt, on FB, which got me thinking of the emotion inherent in these kinds of holidays. So many of us do not have the traditional linear nuclear family... Mom and Dad married, biological kids all in common, everyone normal, affluent, sane etc.
Not to say my own family is not really fabulous, we just aren't 'linear'.
I am lucky to have my Dad, with the palindrome name - Bob. He is first class.
For all of us with the various relationships to fathers living and dead, we are left with a forward looking, jumping off, somewhere -to-go place - we can feel grateful to all men in the world who are nurturing people - men who care about children and youth in general. It is because of them that we can celebrate fatherhood tomorrow. Fatherhood is so much more than biological, padrisimo!
Like today I was feeling the usual sadness which Father's Day brings, and I thought I should write about it, but then I couldn't. It is too raw, and not easily made eloquent.
My writer pal Tammy put out a Father's Day writing prompt, on FB, which got me thinking of the emotion inherent in these kinds of holidays. So many of us do not have the traditional linear nuclear family... Mom and Dad married, biological kids all in common, everyone normal, affluent, sane etc.
Not to say my own family is not really fabulous, we just aren't 'linear'.
I am lucky to have my Dad, with the palindrome name - Bob. He is first class.
For all of us with the various relationships to fathers living and dead, we are left with a forward looking, jumping off, somewhere -to-go place - we can feel grateful to all men in the world who are nurturing people - men who care about children and youth in general. It is because of them that we can celebrate fatherhood tomorrow. Fatherhood is so much more than biological, padrisimo!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Summer Yoga and Writing Combined
Here is the class info I promised. I am so excited to be offering this combination, and hope you will give it a thought and share it with other writers.
You are warmly invited:
Summer class offering with the Tolovana Arts Colony:
Yoga~Writing with Margi
Three Sunday mornings to explore the physical connection to the mind.
July 10, 17 and 31~ 10:30 - 12:30
Tolovana Community Hall
3779 S. Hemlock
Cannon Beach, OR
~Combining contemplative yoga practice with writing time~
For this class no prior yoga experience is necessary, although some knowledge of yoga philosophy is helpful.
Class fee: $80 for all 3 classes
$30 per class drop-in (1 day advance notice required for those wishing to drop-in)
Materials:
* yoga mat
* writing notebook
* writing pen
* sitting blanket and/or pillow
For more information, RSVP or registration contact:
Margi Shindler
margishindler@yahoo.com
21685 SW Ornduff Rd
Hillsboro, OR 97123
503-440-7412
( Opportunity to carpool with me to the coast is possible with advance RSVP!)
Sponsored by The Tolovana Arts Colony
Valerie Manes Mcgee, Program Coordinator
Jeff Womack, President
Summer class offering with the Tolovana Arts Colony:
Yoga~Writing with Margi
Three Sunday mornings to explore the physical connection to the mind.
July 10, 17 and 31~ 10:30 - 12:30
Tolovana Community Hall
3779 S. Hemlock
Cannon Beach, OR
~Combining contemplative yoga practice with writing time~
For this class no prior yoga experience is necessary, although some knowledge of yoga philosophy is helpful.
Class fee: $80 for all 3 classes
$30 per class drop-in (1 day advance notice required for those wishing to drop-in)
Materials:
* yoga mat
* writing notebook
* writing pen
* sitting blanket and/or pillow
For more information, RSVP or registration contact:
margishindler@yahoo.com
21685 SW Ornduff Rd
Hillsboro, OR 97123
503-440-7412
( Opportunity to carpool with me to the coast is possible with advance RSVP!)
Sponsored by The Tolovana Arts Colony
Valerie Manes Mcgee, Program Coordinator
Jeff Womack, President
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Traveling
"Masters are under no cosmic compulsion to live on mountains only". .... " The Himalayas in India and Tibet have no monopoly on the saints. What one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon. As soon as the devotee is willing to go to the ends of the earth for spirititual enlightenment, his guru will appear nearby".
From : 'The Sleepless Saint', Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
The middle sentence, 'What one does not bother to find within....' is a principle on which I base my summer yoga offering in Cannon Beach -Yoga and Writing combined. This integration of disciplines is a concept I employ in my morning practice when I have the time (which lately seems not often enough). Now I will share the opportunity with a group for 2 luxurious hours of nothing to do but yoga and the words which emanate from this practice. All this, and the ocean air on a Sunday morning in July.
Class size is limited .. :) Stay tuned.
From : 'The Sleepless Saint', Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
The middle sentence, 'What one does not bother to find within....' is a principle on which I base my summer yoga offering in Cannon Beach -Yoga and Writing combined. This integration of disciplines is a concept I employ in my morning practice when I have the time (which lately seems not often enough). Now I will share the opportunity with a group for 2 luxurious hours of nothing to do but yoga and the words which emanate from this practice. All this, and the ocean air on a Sunday morning in July.
Class size is limited .. :) Stay tuned.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Crazy Weather and Revolution
The news today includes yet another really destructive tornado, this one in Springfield, MA. The Midwest and east of the U.S. is being pummeled weekly. While here in the Pacific North-wet many of the facebook posts lately have been about how horrible our spring has been, with endless cold, rainy gray days. The crazy natural disasters/unusual weather seem to have begun with the tsunami in Japan, back in March. The tsunami was technically not meteorological, but geologic, even so, it seems the gods have it in for us right now. How very vulnerable we are.
There are a few articles which dare to mention 'Climate Change', also known as 'Global Warming', but warming makes no sense to those of us stuck in winter temps during most of April and May this year, just as we fevently hope for a reprieve from our already too long winters. Climate change is the result of the upsetting of natural ocean air currents which give us what we can't help but recognize as 'weather'. There are scientists being paid good money to keep up a stream of obfuscation on the issue. In the end, if you are the recipient of climactic anomalies, you will either be digging your belongings out of the rubble of your home, or wondering if you will ever be able to plant your vegetables as the summer begins on the calendar, and you are still building a woodstove fire to keep warm.
Earthquakes are probably not avoidable on any level, but nuclear power plants, especially near fault lines, are.
On a happy note, there is an awesome non-violent revolution going on in Spain right now. I just watched a youtube video of a whole crowd of people camped out in the square in the city of Valladolid. The video was set to music, the vignettes were lively and inspiring. One image I loved is of a little girl, about 5 years old. Her t-shirt said, "Para mi futuro" - "For my future".
The future looks very strange indeed, as the Boehners etc. try to pillage Social Security, as though this fund belonged to the Wall street types. If the politicians were true fiduciaries, the fund never would have been raided to pay into the National debt. Now that it has been pillaged, somehow it is fair game to be taken from the millions of us who go actually go out and get dirty working everyday.
Your humble posting writer wonders, as she gets nearer elderhood, what will be left of our social fabric when the time comes that she might need to count on the money paid in all these years by the hapless workers. However, it is not too late. It must not be, it can't be. We can all get sleeping bags and camp out in front of our government offices. Even tornadoes can't keep the people from going forward into the future with courage and the truth.
My sincere condolences to all those who have lost people and homes in this past spring's disasters. I hope you find the light within shining anyway, and the joy of working as a community again, where we find we always do need one another. Our best selves can manifest during times of intense cooperation.
As always too, during times of uncertainty, we have our practice, which reminds us of the truth, and the goodness we can carry into the world.
There are a few articles which dare to mention 'Climate Change', also known as 'Global Warming', but warming makes no sense to those of us stuck in winter temps during most of April and May this year, just as we fevently hope for a reprieve from our already too long winters. Climate change is the result of the upsetting of natural ocean air currents which give us what we can't help but recognize as 'weather'. There are scientists being paid good money to keep up a stream of obfuscation on the issue. In the end, if you are the recipient of climactic anomalies, you will either be digging your belongings out of the rubble of your home, or wondering if you will ever be able to plant your vegetables as the summer begins on the calendar, and you are still building a woodstove fire to keep warm.
Earthquakes are probably not avoidable on any level, but nuclear power plants, especially near fault lines, are.
On a happy note, there is an awesome non-violent revolution going on in Spain right now. I just watched a youtube video of a whole crowd of people camped out in the square in the city of Valladolid. The video was set to music, the vignettes were lively and inspiring. One image I loved is of a little girl, about 5 years old. Her t-shirt said, "Para mi futuro" - "For my future".
The future looks very strange indeed, as the Boehners etc. try to pillage Social Security, as though this fund belonged to the Wall street types. If the politicians were true fiduciaries, the fund never would have been raided to pay into the National debt. Now that it has been pillaged, somehow it is fair game to be taken from the millions of us who go actually go out and get dirty working everyday.
Your humble posting writer wonders, as she gets nearer elderhood, what will be left of our social fabric when the time comes that she might need to count on the money paid in all these years by the hapless workers. However, it is not too late. It must not be, it can't be. We can all get sleeping bags and camp out in front of our government offices. Even tornadoes can't keep the people from going forward into the future with courage and the truth.
My sincere condolences to all those who have lost people and homes in this past spring's disasters. I hope you find the light within shining anyway, and the joy of working as a community again, where we find we always do need one another. Our best selves can manifest during times of intense cooperation.
As always too, during times of uncertainty, we have our practice, which reminds us of the truth, and the goodness we can carry into the world.
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