Many Points of View in Everyday Ramblings

Other than the dramatic monsoon we had last Saturday afternoon it has been dry here for weeks. I thought this picture captured that but also the late light. My own birdbath has been filled every day with fresh water and there has been much activity. I am not sure why watching a song sparrow take a bath is so endearing but it is.

Other than my rich interior life there has not been much practical going on lately. One of the women I have been working with for the last seven years died last weekend.

She has been very unhappy for a long time, suffering from some sort of chronic condition that was never properly diagnosed and then she developed a blood cancer last year. She was 62. She worked up until just a few weeks ago. She hasn’t been very productive in her position for quite some time so it will be very interesting to see what happens now that a bright young temp has been brought in.

This woman has been firmly embedded in The Evil Empire and so I have only had intermittent contact with her. What contact I had was cordial. She never had anything personal against me; just all the rumor and opinions of others about me that she heard endlessly by said others. I am sad that she didn’t get a chance to retire and fully enjoy her pets and family.

Also this week, one of my caregiver moms who came from very far away to get treatment for her young daughter is going home tomorrow with her daughter because there is nothing they can do for the little girl. This is breaking my heart. I knew this was going to happen when I took on this teaching assignment… but this family, oh! These are very special people to me and the mom has helped me as a teacher in many ways she will never understand.

She says her family teases her when she does some of the simple things I have shown her but she does them anyway because they help her feel both better and give her more energy.

Compare that with last night when I ended up at one of the gyms I belong to walking on the treadmill in my sandals listening to the new Tana French mystery on audiobook and right beside me was a small exercise studio. I could catch glimpses of the very fit people in there contorting themselves into all sorts of advanced yoga postures through the blinds.

They did a headstand, which made me shudder, in a gym class, with little supervision. The women were all young and lovely and the men were older and handsome and looked like they would probably be on their third wife, if they were married.

It has become fashionable to do advanced yoga poses in street clothes and high heels out and about and get your picture taken.

That doesn’t have much to do with the gentle movement and relaxation I teach. Not that what I teach isn’t challenging because it can be.

When was the last time you sat still and did absolutely nothing for five minutes when you were awake? :) Even I have trouble doing that and I teach it! It was actually my Weight Watcher’s homework for this last week.

Just like with this whole idea of poetry, what is yoga anyway?

Last updated September 05, 2014