Inspiration

Before it falls into night shades The light lies cold-sucked, desiccated Of every color-cell but bone. marrow light Insists the inner odyssey Five senses paralyzed Allow only the barren, Skeletal on the horizon Withstanding loneliness. Rumi would say, “I am here.”

This year feels more difficult to leap into, no? Is it because it’s opening a whole new decade? Is it that last year we lost hope, there for fear stains new dreams? Most are more than pleased to leave ’09 behind, you’d think we’d be in a rush to move onward. We are, but tentative on how best to step out. We are coming to understand the old motivations and methods do not insure success, and we do not yet have compass for the new. We do not know if we are putting stock in the wrong desires. Perhaps we have the right blueprint, but a mis-guided architect? Mebbe we think we’ve boarded the good ship Lollipop for the South Seas, but begin hearing the bellow of drunken sea chanteys from the captain? If I were a true metaphysician, knowing that the only certainty in 2010 is more change, I would ask for my attitude to shift, not for the winds to take me safely into harbor. I would ask to sing along with my off-kilter, song- filled Captain, not abandon ship. I would not beg this year to deliver hoped-for-goods, or particularly sober leadership. I suspect that the true demands of this year are not to abandon Self. I will learn what I can, and forgive myself the errors. I will take what tiny steps I may, and not see them as insufficient. And I will hold my dreams sacred…no matter what. Asana: Dekasana. This is a new pose, but very like the old pose of Virabradrasana III. Move onto one leg, lifting the other up behind as you tilt forward, parallel to floor. In Dekasana you lift the torso up, arms back, as though in flight, instead of the flat back, open arms of Vira III. Health Notes:……

This year feels more difficult to leap into, no? Is it because it’s opening a whole new decade? Is it that last year we lost hope, there for fear stains new dreams? Most are more than pleased to leave ’09 behind, you’d think we’d be in a rush to move onward. We are, but tentative on how best to step out. We are coming to understand the old motivations and methods do not insure success, and we do not yet have compass for the new. We do not know if we are putting stock in the wrong desires. Perhaps we have the right blue prints, but a mis-guided architect? Mebbe we think we’ve boarded the good ship Lollipop for the South Seas, but begin hearing the bellow of drunken sea chanteys from the captain? If I were a true metaphysician, knowing that the only certainty in 2010 is more change, I would ask for my attitude to shift, not for the winds to take me safely into harbor. I would ask to sing along with my off-kilter, song- filled Captain, not abandon ship. I would not beg this year to deliver hoped-for-goods, or particularly sober leadership. I suspect that the true demands of this year are not to abandon Self. I will learn what I can, and forgive myself the errors. I will take what tiny steps I may, and not see them as insufficient. And I will hold my dreams sacred…no matter what. Asana: Dekasana. This is a new pose, but very like the old pose of Virabradrasana III. Move onto one leg, lifting the other up behind as you tilt forward, parallel to floor. In Dekasana you lift the torso up, arms back, as though in flight, instead of the flat back, open arms of Vira III. Health……

*That I won’t have to tweet more than three times to find out what the Kardashians are having for dinner. *That the TV will not glue itself to another distraught politician, golfer, or latenightLetterman, tearfully confessing to yet another sexual transgression for which they hope to absolve themselves with 20-20 remorse. *That our love affair with dead rock stars give us greater grist than their grisly, vacuous lives. *That our love affair with the affairs of anyone who is anyone, even a no-one who wants to be a someone, offer up more grist than the gristle of bad taste and over spewed ‘this just in news.’ *That our love affair with fear, and a fear-feeding-press find a fast cure. *That Capt. Sullenberger is not the only hero in an entire year’s events. *That we think beyond what we are told to think. *That the hope we cling to beyond all reason has not been completely extinguished. *That we can somehow, against all rational belief, elect greatness in our rulers. *That with every ounce of faith/grace & charm we rule ourselves with the same yardstick. Asana: Utkatasana/Chair Pose, or Fierce Pose. Standing in Tadasana, bend knees, pulling hips back and under, lifting energy up into inner thighs & groin, extend arms overhead, lengthen spine, lift chest up, bring thighs parallel to floor. Working within the simple form of Utkatasana we grow muscle to tackle the next, more difficult poses. Health Notes: This pose grounds the body, strengthening thighs, back, and ankles. It tones abdominal organs, and stiff shoulders. When we are grounded we need less tweets. We consume fewer gossip-laden-news-notes. We believe more in our selves and less in the opinions of others. Astrology Notes: During the week’s of Saturn’s reign in Capricorn, we need to be real. Saturn demands are……

Because many of us feel poorer than before, less able to cope or keep up, it is important to ritualize the following gifts, imbuing them with attention and power. Because we feel we do not deserve grandeur and gallant greatness, we must promise to sit and accept, perhaps weep at all we wrap and un-wrap. Because we feel we have no time, we will stop and carefully attend the following: 1. Buy, or find a long shimmery box and in it place silence. Perhaps you open it upside down to pour it over your head. In that silence you listen to your own voice. 2. Find a small jewel of a box, or make one. Let it hold your acceptance of exactly who you are. There is no room for anything other than the true heart of you. 3. A ‘tower of power’ are five, size-graded boxes, stacked one upon the other, tied at the top with multi-hued silk ribbons. Each of these boxes holds one of your gifts. Take them out one by one, marveling at their incandescence, their generosity, their unique contribution. Surprise yourself with honor. 4. The last box is in a size of your own choosing. Wrapped within, lies a mirror, nestled under layers of colored tissue. As you pull back the layers, you feel a growing sense of pleasure to see yourself so beautiful, so serene, and joyeux. Face the one you love. Embrace the gifts you give yourself. They may not be the ones you thought you deserved, they may not be the ones you wished for, but they carry you toward your Self. They are coin of the soul and as such deserve embracing, as well as the ritual of wrapping. Each shock of pleasure at their unveiling is reward enough. Asana: Do……

It’s funny the odd confluences that oscillate and dislocate usual thought and discourse. Despite being unconscious of planetary knowledge, our speech and thoughts often reflect powerful planetary configurations. We are energy fields reacting to energy emissions after all. Thanks to a Saturn/Pluto contact we are ‘brain spanking,’ while running from ‘Yoga police.’ These neurological tracks reveal a propensity for transgression, and punishment, very Saturn/Pluto. These two zodiac masters can bring up the victim/bully polarity. We bully ourselves when we take time out to be ‘lazy.’ Our judgment is worse. Note judgment inherent in ‘lazy,’ opposed to saying ‘rest.’ There is lots of ‘brain spanking’ going on when we are not checking off ‘the list.’ How did that happen? The Yoga-police come out in force if we become too irreverent. When did towing the Saturn line become the only line in town? When we only show up for duty, bowing to the demanding father within, someone bigger comes along to shake that boney, and it is boney, structure. There is little sweet meat to the strictures of do-do-do. Pluto, being far more powerful in its transformative nature than Saturn says, if your beingness is lopsided, and your inner fires tamped and tamed into nothing but respectability, then I can take you down and put it all into perspective. How about getting so ill you might die; will you change then? Will your work day be 40 hours, not 70? What will it take to create balance out of this relentless intensity? In the loss of sweet hours of doing nothing, the engine of creative juices withers. Without that ‘wasted time’ we cannot be, we cannot create, we can only do. And mostly we do doo-doo. It’s crap. (That is written with a loud English accent.) If we are not to become……