the philosophy of yoga: Change and yoga

Change is good, right? Yet, we so often drag our heels against its momentum. As a post midlife human being, i am often daunted by the ways my body shows me change. In spite of the new ways of my growing older body-- my mind seems to be as quick and witty as ever-- spinning yarns and providing commentary about the world around me that is also undergoing a massive face life. I have been a yoga teacher for over 20 years. I have also had mucho time spent learning from others more senior to me as well as countless hours spent in personal journey work on the mat and on the cushion. But, it is my teaching experience that I wish to comment on today as I prepare to engage my most senior students in a *LIVE* video/zoom class in a few minutes.

Last week, the content of discussion revolved around how the world is changing and how so many of us older folks don't feel that we are a part of it. Some of us feel too, in spite of our very good natures that we don't like the way the world is changing. So many of the older population even finds themselves disliking the younger generations of today-- us and them-ing in self referential ways. I find this phenomenon to be quite compelling because you are talking about a generation of people here that marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and who vote for the constituency that are the least likely to engage in war-fare. These folks find themselves in spite of their best intentions of us and them-ing our younger gens. As the late bell hooks has written: "this is the most important of our work– the work of liberation— one that transforms our consciousness, our very being."

You have to be the one who sits with themselves, pays attention to the way the conditioned mind secretes, drip by drip thoughts. After years of dripping onto the cave floor, those secretions become hardened, calcified, reified into beliefs, attitude, podcast material-- or in the case of my senior friends-- letters to the local newspaper editor about music, trash, dress codes.

Change is possible. You can change your mind. Let the drippings of conditioned thought be accumulated in a vast wide bigger space. More space, more perspective. What else is there? Can you hold space, with open arms for even those thoughts that are not kind? This is the very first step-- awareness. How many of us can open to those parts of ourselves that are unkind, unfriendly, isolated, scared, angry, in pain? Attempt to understand where your unkind thoughts arise out of. The music? You dislike the music? I can remember another generation of elders one of whom their members would throw away my concert t-shirts.

As I've read and teach, make change happen one little thing at a time. If you practice yoga with me via YouTube videos them you have heard me say, start a "first thing in the morning" movement routine. Before your feet even hit the floor, heel slides, knees to chest, eagle arms (channel your inner Steve Martin)! Take 3 deeper breaths-- just 3-- then go make that morning beverage and feed the dogs. The small morning practice will warm up your body slowly, allow you to check in and notice what is new, and provide a break in the autopilot mode we tend to be in when things are routine. I'll see you on the yoga mat!

https://youtu.be/30h6kG77__M