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Year-end Reflections

1/3/2016

3 Comments

 
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 “Evil is everywhere, and anger and hatred are loud. The shouting drowns out the quiet; tragedy and disaster block the view of the good. Yet there are always signs of progress toward a better future. Look, or you may miss them.” - from the NY Times, December 2015

I meant to send this out last week. In fact, there’s a lot of times I want to reach out to you and share my thoughts, but I know you get a lot of emails, and I’d prefer not to add to the cacophony too often. 

Still, what a year. From a personal perspective, it was one of change: my youngest child became a college freshman and my husband and I are embarking on the “empty nester” time of life. Ashtanga Yoga Northampton moved from being my sole responsibility to being cooperatively owned and run by all of its teachers. And, I finally traveled for the first time to India this past October - a dream of mine for over two decades. 

Collectively, it was a year that brought the forefront some serious human-caused problems that have been brewing and plaguing our world for centuries, to name a few: unceasing global wars and unrest, ever-present global poverty and famine, the proliferation of ignorant terror attacks, the acceleration of senseless gun violence in our own country, the shame of our continued institutionalized racism, and of course, the destruction of so much of our planet and its ecosystems, that we seem to be on course for a mass extinction of countless species - perhaps even our own. 

It’s hard not to get discouraged by the suffering and pain that are so prevalent on our little blue planet, by the suffering we experience as individuals and as a species. It certainly doesn’t help that much of our media and many American politicians seem insistent on fostering a culture of xenophobia that exacerbates this feeling of separation, isolation, discouragement and apathy.

Nevertheless, if you’re a “cup half full” kind of person, as I am, there were many things that happened in 2015 that give me hope, too, some of which are wonderfully outlined in this editorial in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/25/opinion/moments-of-grace-in-a-grim-year.html?_r=0
It’s worth reading. 

And, because I’m an optimist, rather than get discouraged by this increasingly mad world, I am planning on doing more of the following in 2016 to help alleviate my own angst and helplessness, and perhaps shed a little light - in no particular order:
  • Take good care of myself - get enough sleep, practice more yoga.
  • Make a point to smile at people, and say “hello.”
  • Foster community.
  • Be more patient when I am driving.
  • Use social media less.
  • Write letters more.
  • Eat mindfully, locally and sustainably.
  • Consume less, defer buying new - buy more vintage!
  • Do more art.
  • Support local businesses vs. big boxes.
  • Give more charitably.
  • Be there for my family and friends.
  • Say yes to invites (because if you say “no” often enough, the invites stop.)
  • Serve my students selflessly.
  • Use as little plastic as possible.
  • Shut off the lights. 
  • Shut off the devices.
  • Read more.
  • Listen more.

Changing the whole world is an impossible task. But, it is possible to start making positive changes within yourself to raise your own vibration, to increase your own sense of light and lightness. Doing yoga together is another small thing you can do - because it fosters community, it helps connect you with others, and it spreads goodwill and cheerfulness. Plus, studies show, the more people you come into contact with, the healthier you become. You raise your own vibration when you do yoga with us. You raise our vibration when you walk up those stairs and roll out a mat and breath with us. And, you raise the vibration of people you come into contact with after you practice, too. It’s a win-win-win, whenever you do your practice.

I believe it’s the small changes we make in ourselves that might lead us all towards the light, towards a better world, not only for our fellow human beings, but for all life on our planet. It begins at an individual level and can spread outward, like ripples in a pond. 

Please join us at AYN in 2016 to practice yoga with us. We are here to support and serve you, to be your community of like-minded folks, and we look forward to practicing with you this year.

Happy New Year, from all of us at AYN,

Michelle, Georgiann, Meghan, Alicia, and Anna
3 Comments
Corynn
1/16/2016 09:47:31 am

Thank you for this beautiful reminder, Michelle -- that it's not about denying the presence of suffering, but not getting so hyperfocused on the bad news that we miss our opportunity to celebrate, shine our light on the healing that is concurrently happening, & add our small actions to suffering's end. Thank you to the whole AYN gang for giving us a place to practice together, & for filling it with your positive vibes! *Peace*

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Nagesh link
7/26/2016 07:34:18 am

From fully into it to I can't have it - this is soo typical! Did you ever took the time to practice actual yoga, to use it as a tool to understand who you are and were you are at? Your words show you never actually got a glance of it. It feels like you were expecting a miracle just by following the recipe, like a solution to pollution. You did it all, 6 days a week, the days you are supposed to, like as if it made a difference, the vegan raw lettuce organic diet, etc. What about yourself, did you ever consider who you are, where you came from and what does this all "tradition" + random concepts stated by a load of people in their writings, workshops, etc + a load of gossip around ashtanga yoga that have become mainstream knowledge, actually mean to you, wherever you are from? You are not Mr Jois who came from a small village, I am pretty sure you are not Indian, you weren't born immersed in the culture so is silly to expect this tradition to be fully applicable to you, to actually understand a little of it, to try to embrace you need to use a couple more than two brain cells. Be who you are and if there is something about yoga you like, take it by the hand and walk with it, don't assume is a limousine that will take you to heaven and this method was dropped in this world tailor made to you. You are obviously dealing with Ashtangarexia and looking for the Authorisation, yoga practice is about self development, doesn't have anything to do with a career or a final solution to all problems. If you came to Mysore you obviously didn't hear anything Sharath ever said. I bet you didn't get the Authorisation either otherwise you would have been a happy bunny by now :) Maybe Sharath saw this confusion in you in the mist of 200 other people, maybe he is not that stupid at all. You clearly did not get what tradition means, and you are talking about a yoga practice as religion sometimes and then you quickly turn it into a career. Didn't you get is neither of the two. Next time you get into something, use more than two brain cells, it might save you 6 years and the hassle of making a blog post complaining about it. This is typical human behaviour, ones gets into something blindly and then comes out of it angry and throwing the responsibility elsewhere. Next time, take responsibility for your own actions, try, slowly. See if it works for you. If it doesn't, just step out and understand that whatever there is in this world might not fit everyone, or perhaps use more than two brain cells while doing it and balance it to your own self.

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Michelle
7/27/2016 01:57:51 pm

"Evil exists in order to glorify the good. All is Brahman"

- Swami Sivananda

Thank you for reminding me of this truth, Nagesh. Thank you for being my teacher.

I do hope your day tomorrow is better than the one that inspired your words.

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