James Walsh Yoga

Friday, November 27 2020 (Part I), Yesterday was Thanksgiving 2020.  Like all good parties, a Thanksgiving gathering (whether it be large or small), will contain food and drinks.   Gravy on everything.....champagne popped at 11:00am.....dinner rolls....some sort of icebox cake that has a layer of sliceable chocolate with another layer of, what appears to be, whipping cream with Kahlua in it......the whole schmear.... It feels great to enjoy a day like this.  Zero responsibilities, nothing to do but cook and eat and relax.  However, afterwards, it's important to work hard, after playing hard.  Friday, November 27, 2020 (Part II),  A deep, strong, and strenuous practice.   No time to post a secondary update.   Until tomorrow. Namaste

Wednesday, November 25, 2020  A pyre is the large pile of wood (or other burnable material) where cremations traditionally took place.  Before modern methods of burial and cremation, a large stack of wood was built and remains were placed in, or under, the pyre.   Fire is a common theme used in cleansing, purifying, and death/rebirth.  You can create a "fire" by heating your body, and focusing your mind; the physical heating of one's body becomes cleansing; your mental focus becomes the pyre.  When thoughts and emotions that don't serve you flit through your consciences, place them on the pyre and offer them up.  You can select, isolate, and focus on individual emotions and thoughts, and burn through them.   Stressing out?......put it on the pyre Unhappy about how things are going?....put your unhappiness on the pyre Fearful about something you can't control or just feeling a sense of doom for no apparent reason?....put it on the pyre Allow y...

Thursday, November 19, 2020 (Part I),  The above title is a line from an excellent film called, " The Curse of The Golden Flower".  The analogy made to a yoga practice is that the time spent on your mat, can balance and re-adjust your perspective on yourself, and the value/non-value you bring to the world.   Facing your own insignificance, and non-value, is a bitter and humbling medicine at times.  Humility is a gift that can come from your practice, and your mat.  Humility, is a clarifying value, and clarifying mindset, to maintain.  If what many of us believe is true, and the planet, solar system, galaxy, interstellar cluster, quadrant, and known universe were  created by a conscience, omnipotent, being,....what do my actions, that occur on my little planet, in my little solar system, in my little galaxy, in my little cluster and quadrant, mean to that being?  They mean nothing.  This goes double if there isn't a conscience, omnipotent bein...

Wednesday, November 11, 2020 (Part I),  A good (but not great), movie called " Party Monster " is where today's title comes from.  Based on the life of James Clark, Party Monster details some of the uglier sides of substance abuse and night club life (think Studio 54 , in that there's a seductive and glamorous side to this lifestyle, but it comes at the price of your physical, and mental, health).  Taking place in the late 1980's, Party Monster has a memorable scene where, in full night club swing, a throng of people are enjoying a song that details out the age they're living in.  The lyrics specifically mention that: ..." We are living in the age, in which the pursuit of all values other than, money, success, fame, glamour, has either been discredited, or destroyed"... Golly....how could you argue that (and that was people in the 1980's saying that!).  In 2020, the focus of the world has not changed, and the world remains obsessed with money, s...

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 (Part I),  Literal silence is seldom present.  Whether in our homes, our cars, or our offices, noise, and other physical sounds, are almost always being generated from somewhere.  Try a little experiment next time the opportunity arises; turn off all music, all noise making devices, and make your environment as quiet as possible.  Then, close your eyes and sit for 2 minutes.  You’ll, very quickly, begin to hear things you weren't noticing before.  The same is true when you silence your own thoughts. You turn off the “noise” of your own brain, and you begin to notice and hear things that are always there, but that you simply didn’t notice before.   To “turn down the volume” in your own head, physically imagine a hand turning down a volume dial. Then, select an object of meditation (a loved one, a religious object, or something plain and innocuous, like a pineapple), and hold that image in your mind.  Within moments, your ...

Friday, November 6, 2020 (Part I),  " Luminous beings are we; not this crude matter "- Yoda #starwars4lyfe A yoga practice can bring the focus, and understanding, that your body, your mind, and your soul are all connected and all influence each other.  However, which one these is the leader?.....which is the "senior"?.....which one is most important? My opinion (that no one asked for), is that the only part of you that will continue on, is your soul.  Your body, and the Earth itself, will all be destroyed (the Sun will eventually expand into a Red Giant and engulf the Earth....think about that next time you're worried about your 401k). Since your body can, and will, be destroyed, it is inferior and subordinate to its counterparts.  It, therefore, needs to be tended to very frequently as your physical body can still influence your heart, mind, and soul.  Eat too much, and you become docile and listless....eat too little and you become edgy and hangry....breath to...

Thursday, November 5, 2020 (Part I),  The world we live in, which asks you to be obsessed with money, fame, success, and glamour, isn't real.  No, I don't mean that it's all a hologram, or that the things you read in the "news" aren't actually occurring; rather, I mean that the events shown to us through our screens are filtered so many times, through many different "filtering agents", that the end product that comes through our device isn't anymore "real" than a hotdog is beef.   Delicious, satisfying, and easy.....you can't have too many hotdogs before you start to feel ill, and out of balance.  The same is true for "news" and other nonsense that comes to you via a screen.     Enough chit-chat. time to begin today's practice.  Thursday, November 5, 2020 (Part II),  I was trained, and normally practice, a style of yoga called Ashtanga yoga .  This style is regimented, "faster" in its transitions (usually onl...