James Walsh Yoga

Tuesday, December 28, 2021, The image shown in today's post is a famous photograph where, in June of 1963, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, named Thich Quang Dur, self-immolated, burning himself to death as a protest for religious freedom in his country. It's a frightening image and it's a frightening thought, but this now famous photograph commands respect for the monk who did this as a form of protest, and makes one reflect on one's own life (and how feeble one's faith, resolve, and conviction is compared to this holy man's faith, resolve, and conviction).  What would he have been thinking knowing he was going to do this....." what happens to my body is irrelevant"....."what happens to me is meaningless"....."my death will force change"..... and it did.  A shrine to this monk was erected on the streets of Saigon on the very location where he self-immolated. Accounts of the event describe the crowd, shocked as they were, as being mostly...

Wednesday, December 22, 2021 On my mat a bit behind schedule at 5:27am as I type this.   Today's title (and yesterday's title), is something that I plan to talk about more, but the concept of being indifferent to pain isn't necessarily tied to a yoga practice, or to the art/science of yoga as a whole; indifference to pain is merely something that I've personally connected to my practice as a benefit that I receive.  Why would anyone want to be indifferent to their pain? There are 8 limbs to the tree of yoga; Asana (or physical postures) are what most of us think of when we think of "yoga", but Asana is only one of the 8.   Pratyahara is the 5th limb, and it is the withdrawal from the senses.  I won't expand too much on this concept because, even after 10+ years of a practice, this is a difficult concept to understand but, at its core, I believe this principle is meant to focus our mind.  Your mind controls your body (where pain originates from), and ...

Tuesday, December 21, 2021, I'm writing/updating this post after this morning's practice.  The title, " Indifference to Pain (Part I)" , is a concept that I'll write more about when I have a bit more time.  A physical practice, which is what of us think of when we think of yoga, helps one become indifferent to physical strain/pain, etc. More on that tomorrow.... Namaste

Monday, December 20, 2021 With absolutely no drive or enthusiasm, I am on my mat (behind schedule at 5:40am as I type this).  I try to practice what I preach, however, and I know that, motivation, enthusiasm, and drive will not always be there; do what you're supposed to do anyway. Time to begin...

Friday, December 17, 2021 I don't typically watch any network TV but, on occasion, I'll switch over to traditional network television.  I was watching Wheel of Fortune last night (as one does), and the commercials/advertisements during this show always give me a chuckle.  The commercials are, very obviously, geared towards an age demographic. Advertising, and advertisements, have always been interesting to me but, at its core, advertising is the art of manipulation.  In 30 seconds or less a commercial can show us a harrowing tale of loss, resilience, and overcoming challenges; you can be brought to tears with the emotional surge that a well-crafted advertisement creates.  29 of those 30 seconds are designed to build you up emotionally, and make you feel and think a certain way and then, BAM!......in that last second, the veil is dropped, and you're told to, " try the new bacon double cheeseburger"......"take this years SUV out for a test drive".........

Thursday, December 16, 2021 "Be Strong, Be Kind, Be Beautiful"; this is an old Korean phrase (so I've heard), that stuck with me when I heard it years ago.  I couldn't say why it resonated with me so much, but my guess is that the side-by-side mentioning of strength with beauty has made me contemplate what it means to be beautiful (unsolicited opinions about life, that no one asked for,......coming up....turn back now).  The world can seem vulgar and ugly; in many ways, the world is completely vulgar and ugly (the entertainment industry/Hollywood for example, is vulgar and ugly).  The ugliness of Hollywood has nothing to do with the faces of our celebrities; on the contrary, they're kept in better shape and better skin-care than most.  However, the ugliness comes from the non-physical.  This is the same with all people (celebrity or not).  It's a constant, and daily struggle to live in a world that is vulgar and ugly, and not let it turn you into something ...

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 & Wednesday, December 15 Part I Woke at my usual 4:15am yesterday, and today, but was only able to get through prayers, breathing/pranayama, and meditation before needing to cut the practice short; no physical/Asanas were practiced yesterday.  I'll take a moment to say that, even without the physical strain (which many of us call"yoga"), a practice still has enormous benefits on one's psyche, mood, and overall well being. I'm back on the mat this morning a tad behind schedule (it's 5:24am as I type this), so I'll quite gum flappin, and hop to it.... Part II: It's 6:45am as I type this, and I'm back on schedule, having completed my full practice, complete with back-bending sequence (something I haven't done for awhile.  Time to enter the world. Namaste

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 Part I: Routines are dull, boring, predictable, and scheduled.  However, you've often heard child-care experts say things along the lines of, " children thrive on routines, and structure".  I believe that phrase is true for, not only children, but for the more developed adult brain as well.  Structure, routines and predictability lead to peace.   In that vein, it's 5:24am, and it's time to begin.... Part II: I try never to rush but, as far as today and yesterday were concerned, I'm behind skedge.  It's 6:50am as I type this, and today's practice was completely different than yesterday's.  Yesterday I felt ill, sickly, weak, stiff, and unhappy; today, I was able to break through some of that, and push myself into a deeper sweat that resulted in my feeling excellent after Savasana.  No time to dilly dally...time to shower up, and enter the world.  Namaste

Monday, December 6, 2021,  Part I: There are many principles that can help you maintain a good habit (like yoga); primarily among them, is perseverance and discipline.   I lack both of these at times, and don't always do what I know I should be doing (I.E. Sunday evening, I should be folding laundry, but I'm often still bingeing Netflix and eating snacks on the couch as I milk the last sweet moments from the weekend).  The same applies to my yoga practice; I've found that, very often, Mondays are the worst days for a practice, and are, very often, skipped.   It's 5:37am as I type this, and I'm behind schedule so, on that note, I'll begin... Part II: I'm writing this Part II update, as always, on my mat, having just come out of Savasana.  It's 6:46am, and I'll say that this morning's practice was not strong, or focused.  I felt body fatigue, paired with sweat, paired with an unfocused mind.  All told, a morning that starts with a yoga practice...

 Friday, December 3, 2021,  Part I While I haven't posted a blog update in a mo, I've continued my practice, in my new space, and have kept a reasonably consistent routine.  Today would be the third time this week I'm starting my morning on my mat.   It's 5:23am as I type this, and I'm technically behind schedule (should really start at 5:15am), so in that spirit, it's time to begin Part II Writing this Part II update, post practice, on my mat, having just come out of Savasana.  It' 6:48am as I type this, and there's no time to dilly dally.  Wonderful practice; wonderful way to start one's day; highly recommend; 12 out of 10 stars. xxx Namaste

Wednesday, September 1, 2021, One can nearly be brought to tears with the beauty and craftsmanship of contemporary advertisements.....in 30 seconds or less, you're shown a family growing together....struggling together.....learning, failing, succeeding, and just getting through the same trials that you, and everyone else around you, is going through.  Your heart swells......your eyes water up........you reminisce about similar emotional periods in your own life...........and then the advertisement shows you how the family were able to do it all with the help of their new fully loaded SUV with power steering and finance options of 0% interest for 12 months with same-as-cash rebates, (void where prohibited).  The company making that SUV cares about you....trust.  Don't be fooled by advertisements that attempt to show you that they, and their company, is with you in the struggles of life; they're not.   They're trying to sell you something to make money.....don't f...

  Wednesday, July 7, 2021, Who knows if David Attenborough actually said the quote at left......who knows if it's even true that ants in a jar will live peacefully among each other until the jar is shaken........what I do know is that, true or not, the analogy resonated with me enough to screenshot the phrase, and use it.  The "jar" is your mind/heart/soul......the "shaker" is, almost always the "news" (T.V., Social Media, Apps, Emails, Screens-of-all-kinds, etc.).   The "news" does not want you to feel at peace....not even for a second.   The "news" does not want you to feel secure and stable....not even for a second.   Just yesterday I, personally, scanned through some "news headlines" on a popular news platform via my phone, and was immediately smacked across my face with, " ....could the new COVID strain put the world back into lockdown?!?!?........the next economic crash could be just around the corner!!!!..........

Tuesday, June 15, 2021, A routine keeps you stable when other areas of the world (that are out of your control) seem unstable.  Children crave routines and structure and, if you ask me (and no one on planet Earth has asked me), adults crave routines and structure as well.  I write all of this to hype myself up to get onto my mat and practice, as I don't feel like doing either of those things....that routine, however, brings stability and consistency to one's life and stability and consistency help to bring peace in our heads and our hearts Time to begin....

Friday, June 11, 2021, " Be strong, be kind, and be beautiful ", is, from what I've heard, a Korean proverb (who knows if that's accurate or not), but the phrase resonated with me when I heard it years ago, and it's stuck with me.  As I've written many times before, we're all physically nothing more than intelligent, and evolved, apes living in our evolved ape bodies and thinking with our evolved ape brains.  We're bound into it, and we're constrained by it; and we always will be, until the day we die. Since we are all encased in our evolved ape bodies/minds, we have to live alongside that ugliness, and everything that comes with it. Much of the ugliness, however, lives inside our heads and can become over complicated through confusion, overthinking, and other deficiencies.   Can this evolved ape ever be beautiful?  Beautiful, not in the physical sense, but beautiful in the control that's achieved over the ape-body and the ape-mind.  Yes, that ...

Wednesday, June 9, 2021,  There is no question that we're in charge of 99.99% of what happens to us, but does"luck" and "good fortune" come from our own behavior, or do luck and good fortune occur to everyone, in relatively equal amounts, throughout a person's life? In other words, does a persistent/constant attitude keep you going (through "good-luck" and "bad-luck"), until good fortune comes organically and naturally, or are some people "lucky".   My perspective, that no one on this planet of Earth asked for, is that every living, breathing human will have relatively equal amounts of good opportunity and bad circumstances come their way and the response and reaction to the situation is what matters.  Is one defeated after an unfortunate turn of events or does one immediately begin to consider how to mitigate and minimize the damage? You've heard it many times, in many phrases; " your perspective is your reality"....

Tuesday, June 8, 2021,  Today's title is a classic, and timeless phrase that we've all heard a million times; " you are what you eat". In the physical sense, this phrase is completely true, in that the food you eat will have an effect on your body (for better or for worse).  However, we "eat" with our eyes, brains, hearts, and souls too and, if we "eat" and consume the wrong thing....it will begin to negatively effect us.   Each morning, before I begin my practice, I spend an hour enjoying coffee and contemplation (#strangerthings).  While I was spending my coffee hour this morning scrolling through my phone, I found myself on a once-favorite app of mine which was intended to be a fun place to share memes, funny pictures, and gifs, etc.  This app, unfortunately, has become a sewer of unhappiness and discontent (most acutely in the past few years).   I mention this app, because, while I still occasionally visit it to steal a funny meme or gif, I ma...

Thursday, June 3, 2021,  When I'm feeling down, and blue, I ask myself, " hold up.....check yourself....how much social media have you been consuming?.....have you been consuming images of "influencers" living influential lives, and doing influential things, and sitting around soaking up each others influence?".....#meangirlz The answer, very often, is "yes, I have".  Like everyone else who's reading this, I live in the same swamp of the modern world; that swamp has some dry and pleasant oasis in it, and it has some overcrowded, noisy, pig-pens as well.  While we're in the swamp, we're equipped with your phone; your phone is going to show you people who are better looking than you, having more fun than you, living a life that you could only hope to achieve, while they surf, drink White Claws, and party.  Don't know how you got to be so lame....but ya did *stares in mirror*.  As the title suggests, you may have already made a connection ...

Thursday, May 20, 2021,  When I wake up un-inspired, my post title is typically the day of the week + the word "yoga"; as is the case today.  Nothing interesting, inspirational, or thought provoking to say this morning.....but it's time to begin.  Namaste

Tuesday, May 18, 2021,  "You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you"- Bruce Lee There's an enormous emphasis on emotions in our current world.  Emotions are natural, but they change with the wind.  However, we're told to get in touch with them, stay in touch with them, allow them to do what they want and what they will, let them flow, *insert generic syrupy new-age phrase*.   We are rarely told, however, to control our emotions, to get them in line, to ensure we remain master over them, and they remain diminutive and obedient to us.  Learning that skill makes you powerful in the sense that it makes you the master of your emotions, your reactions, and, therefore,  your "reality".  Don't let the chickens just run around in their pen.......ensure that, whenever you clap your hands and give a command, the chickens obey.  Otherwise, you'll be constantly chasing your tail. Namaste

Tuesday, May 3, 2021 Part I,  Today's title is a direct line from the show " Rick & Morty " and I weave  Rick & Morty  into my yoga practice any chance I get.  #pickle-rick Being in the world, and not "of" the world is, first, a pretty "meta" thing to contemplate and, second, a daily maintenance chore that, if skipped, even for a day, begins to regress immediately.  In effect, I can say that, through a dedicated practice, you will gain the ability to view certain things differently; certain things that you once put value in become meaningless (ever looked back through your music collection from highschool/gradeschool at the "celebrities" you were obsessed with and wonder what was actually wrong with you?......asking for a friend).  Similar to that comparison, I would say that a practice begins to "burn away" some of fog and confusion that the world puts one in.  That fog and confusion very often comes from the entertainment ...