Ramming Speed

The Universe has given marching orders for ever greater speed, and multi-layers of multi-taskery.  Perhaps because of the speed, I read Jane Austen-ish novels, and watch old movies where slaves are shackled to ship’s oar-benches.  They row to the steady cadence of the drummer’s beat, until orders drop from above, “Ramming speed!”  Slaves soon keel over from the fierce effort, leaving only the hero and a few uber-rowers panting sweat over their oars. You feel sorry for them until thinking, ‘Egad, their life was drab, but simple, We, on the other hand, are shackled to Ipads, Iphones, cellphones, computers, Blackberries, and a new, faster device I don’t know about yet, but is coming soon. Our daily cadence is Ramming Speed. Depite all the communication apps and snaps we’re not communicating with intimacy. We throw words at each other in drive by shootings. We hope something will stick but we can’t hang around long enough to find out.

Intimacy requires time to ripen. It suffers from becoming a task.  It agonizes as we prioritize and parce ourselves out to loved ones.  Do I choose the friend who makes me laugh?  The one who is dying and needs long hours of witnessing? Is it the new neighbor who has called four times, and will not call again?  Who do I have time to be with? To be? To become?

Because of all this, in honor of all this, the pre-launch of the re-configured website offers new links of relating, perhaps even unusual forms of intimacy. My hope is we row our boats ‘gently down the stream’ shackled together long enough to discover shared thought and wonderful relationship, even if we are at ramming speed.

Asana: Camcatasana, better known as ‘Flipping your Dog.’ Enter from Adho Mukha Svanasana-Down Dog, lift R leg up and bend knee, keeping thigh and knee high.  Bring weight onto L  hand as  R foot comes down behind L hip, as close to hip as possible. Knee can remain bent, but try to keep R leg extended,  pressing down into feet,  lifting hips and heart as high as you can. It feels like you unfurl into a one sided back bend.  Let head and  R arm extend back & up.
A small note to help maintain high hips after flipping, look under L arm at L foot as long as possible, until the R leg is over and almost down.  To return to Down Dog, flip back the way you came, bringing L arm over to floor, returning R leg back to mat.  When advanced,  take this pose into Urdhva Dhanurasana- back bend.

Health Notes: As with all the chest and heart openers, helps with depression, and fatigue. This is a happy pose! It strengthens arms, legs, and back. keeps spine flexible.

Astrology Notes: Despite being immersed in much Virgo energy, Look lively this week for the changes inherent in fall winds are repeated in planetary, Venus, Pluto, Jupiter, and Mercury, Virgo’s ruler, are all doing some transforming dance.  If you feel pulled and buffeted, go to your mat for savasana-corpse pose. You aren’t alone.  Does that help?  I’m not sure it ever does, but…with the unrolling of Wednesday’s New Moon in Virgo, and Mercury about to go direct, we are taking a last frantic stab at cleaning out, re-doing, and re-configuring the past so we move on clearly and cleanly.

Ayurvedic Notes: With fall cooling winds, we move into vata energies;  dry, restless, active, not particularly grounded.  To counterbalance the instability do a centered, rhythmical Practice…No ramming speed. Try for habitual ritual every day, which is a Virgo virtue.