Just B Yoga Blog

Malcolm X dared us to think and behave differently, defiantly and yet honorably. Malcolm’s self exploration was so public and noble. Malcolm’s evolution as a spirit is inspiring to me to this day.
I am honored and blessed for this opportunity to share yoga with my community in Malcolm X’s name.

I breathed all day Sunday. Good for me, right? I attended an extended yoga teacher training focusing on the yoga sutras of Patanjali, book three, Vibhuti Pada (portion on accomplishments) and pranayama, the practice of breath control. But please get a qualified guru to teach you. These are powerful practices that are serious and can be done improperly producing ill effects.

Here’s some Just B bits to chew on today. Mantras. A Lansing woman cycling 3,100-miles across the country. Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration in Battle Creek. Gardening. And more.

The work on the Full Circle Ranch in Potterville was tough and dangerous but the company and the purpose and the connection was nourishment for the soul. I was frozen to the bone by the end of the day but warm in my heart.And that’s what it was all about, a full circle of life. Winter releasing its grip for spring. New life emerging in the bounce and kick of young kid goats. The end of a cycle for well-cared for cattle. And human spirits rejoicing at the sweet smell in the air and the togetherness of community.

I know poop’s not sexy but, water and sewer systems are aging across the country. We need water to live, we need to have a sanitary sewer system and we need to pay for it. So why don’t we pay attention to our most vitals needs?

Building any regular practice takes a commitment and focus. That’s a first step in quieting the mind – quieting that loud objection that gives you a gajillion reasons not to get up in the morning and roll out of bed for yoga.

Sometimes my professional life and my personal inner journey collide. I’m a digital journalist who is also a yogini who believes in slowing down. I’m in upper management but don’t drive a car. I believe in the First Amendment but also practicing dharmic Right Speech and Right Action.

A long line of yogis – angels, sages and friends – have been sent to my path to direct and guide me. Hilaire Lockwood. Annie Topie. Chinook Wusdhu. Laurel Hodory. Baron Baptiste.

Churn the waters to find stillness. Turn up the volume to find silence

Yoga teachers are often so eager to show “what we know” that we completely ignore the journey, the path that we are meant to share. We actually allow our yoga egos and pride to dominate. It becomes a “look at me” kind of pursuit and it stops becoming a sharing of a deep, spiritual art.

Cats are higher beings. Truly. The sooner we all acknowledge that and stop fighting it, the better.

I have imposed a moratorium on the word “Fuck” from my language. The first few days the F-ers still crept out as prefaces to random sentences. I relied on them for an emphasis, like an accent mark. It was like I had my keyboard on PERMANENT CAPS LOCK. After a while F-ing this and F-ing that wasn’t doing anything for the sentence, the issue I thought it was emphasizing and certainly not my image. It was a default setting and it’s become acceptable in every circle of my life so there were not boundaries – work, home, even the yoga studio!