Somewhere Between Dharana and Dhyana, Balance is Possible…
The effort of reaching for your dreams is like Sisyphus rolling a rock uphill forever. Push too hard and you just wear yourself out, not hard enough and you will never get there. I struggle between my mind and body every time I try to achieve handstand. Am I warmed up enough yet? Will I fall flat on my face again and get the wind knocked out of me? Where is my drishti? Am I even focused on the right goal?
November 2016 was a very dark time for me. I woke up having panic attacks in the middle of the night once I learned we were under the thumb of a pussy grabbing tyrant. The worst part. I had done Nothing to stop it from happening.
I had assumed common sense and reason would prevail. I was, and still am, worried about the environment – as a parasite of this planet, I’m pretty sure killing the host is a bad idea… I’m worried about losing all the hard won civil rights, from freedom to privacy to choice. I’m terrified for what may happen to animals, children, earth and the future of humanity if things continue going as they are in a downward spiral of unsustainable commercial greed and aggression.
In the words of a few immortal heroes who spoke their minds despite the great adversity of suppression and oppression …
A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
Malcolm X
My father was in the army. My husband was a Marine who fought in Desert Storm. Three of my brothers are also US Marines. For the sacrifices they made, I can at least participate with due diligence.
Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into the night.
From Montpelier, Vermont this past Saturday, Bernie Sanders’ speech was mostly serious, but he sought a light note when he said this Montpelier audience should “come to my inauguration” in January 2021. The crowd responded by chanting his name.
“Recently I have been attacked in the media because of my views, actions and votes on foreign policy issues, so let me be as clear as I can be,” Sanders said. As a young man, he continued, he marched against the Vietnam War, which “ravaged” his generation. “I make no apologies for having opposed that war.”
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
When it rains, my guruji suggests helping the displaced earthworms find real ground. I try to carry it from my yoga poses to every day life. Helping others find fertile soil, healing where you can and letting nature take its course.
Helping others is a pattern that can be created. Sometimes it’s frustrating to watch the worm we just tossed into the grass make a bee-line back to the pavement. Balance becomes a matter of knowing when to let nature take its course. Or when to help mother nature out and take action…
If we work on doing something right, no matter how small, the pattern makes it easier and the once difficult discipline becomes its own reward. This is true for politics, business, hobbies and relationships.
Finding the pivot point is learning how to use momentum without overdoing it. Each endeavor has its own unique balance that we must find through trial and error and hopefully some luck. The main ingredient in finding balance is practice. Lots and lots of it, even when it seems pointless, to keep trying.
Eventually, when no one is looking, I manage a little hang time. Once I stopped trying too hard, I found that perfect moment in space, where my legs pivot over my body and I balance in the air effortlessly for a few sweet seconds, before I start thinking about the worms and crumble back to the ground.
As a citizen of the world I can no longer shirk my patriotic duty to use my voice and my vote, my thoughts and my words as well as my actions to inspire participation in the few democratic rights we have left, to do what I can to be the change.