GOOD MORNING YOGIS –

In our present culture, we have come to believe that “more, more, more” is better.  The LUST for affluence is accepted and seen to be good, add to this the pace of everyday which leaves us feeling fractured, lost and fragmented and you have a recipe for unhappiness.   This breathless rushing to “the next thing” leaves us breathless, and uptight and frequently overwhelms us.  We have thought that there is no way to get off the wheel, however, the universe has been tuned in, and the wheel has been taken away.  The rat is left but not the race.

The simplicity imposed by Covid could liberate us from these frustrations of both having or not having, and allow us to see material things for what they are – GOODS to enhance life, not to oppress your life.  Simplicity does not mean “poverty”.  Whilst we stay in our homes, we must remember that we actually live in a time of unprecedented poverty and starvation on a scale never before seen in history.  About 500 people die PER HOUR from starvation, and millions more live on the edge of extinction, homeless, malnourished, desperate.

How can we respond when our own responsibilities seem to grow overnight?  We race through days overburdened with meetings, deadlines and obligations.  Worrying and trying to align ourselves with the strictures imposed on us by the challenges of Covid.  This is an especially hard problem for people who are trying to do right.  In simplicity we can enter the deep silences of the heart for which we were created.

If you came to yoga and meditation in the hopes of finding “four easy steps to simplicity” I am afraid I will disappoint you.  Yogic simplicity lives in harmony with the complexity of life.  Thomas a Kempis said of compunction of heart “It is better to practice that to know how to define it”.  Simplicity is a Grace and a discipline. We perhaps have an idea of what simplicity looks like, and we have been trying to fit ourselves to that.  What we DO does not give us simplicity but it does get us into the condition where we are ready to receive it.  It is like playing the piano, or driving a car – it is difficult until it becomes easy.  One day after considerable practice, patience and effort,  we get into the car and we just drive… the car has become part of us, and we have become a part of the car in that way it is not just about externals.  We have changed.

To achieve simplicity, we affirm both the goodness and the limitation of material things.  Material things are good, but it is a limited good, and misery arises when we try to make their acquisition the meaning of our life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer before he died at the hands of the Nazis said “to be simple is to fix one’s eye solely on the simple truth of God at a time when all concepts are being confused, distorted and turned upside down”.  

We live in “interesting” times.  To live well, read the Yamas.  They are the guideposts to simplicity.

KEEP WELL, KEEP SAFE, BE HAPPY.  Namaste JAHNE

 

Dear Yogis,

If you have read the blog, you will know that I have spent time today finishing off the pond – and apart from one little change (lifting the urn), it is finished.  I have also planted more choc mint, mugwort (loves water), watercress (the roots filter the water and keep it fresh).  I also have a tub of water chestnuts in the little pond I am going to split and transplant.

I hope you think it is beautiful.  I do.  All I have to do is lift the urn so the water makes a noise as it runs into the pond.  At the present it is a quiet spill.  I am looking for something musical. You can see the corner of my little meditation platform on the right hand side, I want to listen to the water as I sit..

The next project is getting the seeds and cards ready for you.  I am getting the seeds from the plants I forage and from my garden, taking photographs of the matching plants,  and preparing cards with a recipe.  I thought they would be a great HELLO card for any of your friends you want to do a “call out” to in this time of home stay.   They will come in packs of four.  Four cards with an inner sleeve, 4 matching seed packs, and on the front of each, a photograph of the plant so that you can go out into the garden and forage for yourself.  I have been into the market place and “seed greeting cards” cost about $10 each, and seeds usually cost $4+ per packet.  I am going to sell the four including postage to you for $27.50 – the wholesale price.  Please let me know if you would like a set.  DD as usual.  Commonwealth Bank BSB 063806 1019 1251 Yoga First.

Seeing that we are home-staying, and you have the same 24 hours per day as me, and you probably don’t have a pond you are fiddling with like me, but you do have MODULES, you do have REGISTRATION that probably needs renewing… We are giving everyone who registers at this time 3 free months, so instead of being registered from May to May, you will be registered from May’20 to August’21.  The video subscriptions will still only be for 12 months as you will probably be accessing them frequently at this time.  To get the forms, email me at yogafirst2@bigpond.com

I am missing you all, and I am certainly missing classes with you.   Consciously breathe, read the yamas, work on the chakras… get the book HOW AND WHY YOGA WORKS – it’s on ETSY www.myyogabooks.etsy.com.  Spend the money you are saving on coffees on one of my yoga booklets.  They last longer….. and for $5.75 for the cost of this booklet, it really is the cost of a mug of coffee.

 

If you want to know why your yoga works, not just the asanas… then get this booklet.  It is crammed with good information that is always super valuable – not just as this time…..

 

Stay safe – find good things to do – laugh.  

Love and blessings – Namaste, JAHNE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Yogis (got your attention?)

I didn’t think you would be interested in SOX….

Thank you to the universe…  For the last few years I have been sharing the few “domestic art” skills I have and encouraging others to do the same as part of a barter network.  It seemed ridiculous to some, but goodness me, it has turned into something wonderful.  Today I had a delivery of SOX TO DARN that I know will turn into HARE when the job is done or when a hare is caught.  Please please, start doing this with neighbours and friends.  Note to self:  Make sure you have taken every precaution with the things you leave on their front step.  Thoroughly launder.. etc etc.

SOX IN WAITING…

In this time of living at a distance, I love these doorstop deliveries – THANK YOU GANG for remembering that although there are no yoga classes, (and no ZOOM – although we already have 100 videos you can access.  Yes there is a charge, but it is secure, which we now know Zoom is not.) and I am still holding the space.

Today,  Sox! A million thank yous’.  I love these “secret” visits and finding unexpected things on the front step.  Even my raven is leaving gifts (his leftovers) on the step – the odd crumpet, piece of toast, and he always says “Hi” and stays close by when I go out to garden..

Why do I like to barter?  I get to sit watching the TV at night giving Sox and sweaters a second life, feeling that I am doing something very useful for myself and for the planet, with the advantage that I will have a supply of meat which will last me a long time.  Hare stew, pulled hare, potted hare, Mexican hare casserole, Bengali stew. A win-win situation for both me and the cat who has developed a deep desire for this particular (no fat) meat.  She is not interested in chicken, fussy about fish,  but hare?  She would scream the roof down if I didn’t give her a portion. Those who can’t give meat, swap with other things I need, there is a certain amount of negotiation involved, and that is what text and the email are for.  Who knew that mending and darning would be such a valuable skill?

From the domestic to the planetary..

Published yesterday by the Commission for the Human Future, which has isolated 10 potentially catastrophic threats to human survival.

Not prioritised over one another, these risks are:

1. decline of natural resources, particularly water
2. collapse of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity
3. human population growth beyond earth’s carrying capacity
4. global warming and human-induced climate change
5. chemical pollution of the earth system, including the atmosphere and oceans
6. rising food insecurity and failing nutritional quality
7. nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction
8. pandemics of new and untreatable disease
9. the advent of powerful, uncontrolled new technology
10. national and global failure to understand and act preventatively on these risks.

Put the list on your fridge – Just so we keep things worldwide, instead of looking at our own backyard, today.

STAY WELL AND STAY WARM – NAMASTE  JAHNE