Ā I hope youāve taken some time to consider how to make these holidays happier by living with purpose, seeking enjoyment, and fostering satisfaction. (Doesnāt sound familiar? You can catch up on my blog post How to Have Happier Holidays.)Ā
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That was what I THOUGHT was going to be the theme of the Yoga Community Gathering last weekend, but, as I said at the time, thatās not the class that wanted to be taught. The one that wanted to be taught was about JOY. So I had to follow the thread!
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We were inspired by the newsletter from the Center for Action and Contemplation, and the writing of Fr. Richard Rohr about his time in Istanbul:
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āI attended the prayer of the Sufi whirling dervishes. Again, in this sacred dance, there was a spinning around a calm and fixed center. In fact, a dervish cannot fake a calm center and survive the prayer. One foot has to be firmly, calmly grounded in a Stable Love or they cannot do the danceā¦ā
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I had the pleasure of watching the whirling dervishes ...
Is it just me, or does it seem like thereās no woo-hoo! anymore?Ā One of my dearest friends was back in town recently, and this was one of our first topics of conversation. She is someone I used to woo-hoo! with. I mean girls night out, dancing on bars on 6th Street, house parties ātil 3am kind of woo-hoo! (By the way, please read woo-hoo! like a cowboy swinging his hat around his head with a full blown Texas accent.)Ā
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Maybe itās post-pandemic, maybe itās maturity. Or maybe itās that those things that used to make me want to shout woo-hoo! just donāt sound as fun as they used to.Ā Itās not like Iāve become introverted or donāt love a good party.Ā Itās that now I crave depth over thrills and connection over sensation.Ā I think this is one of the side effects of yoga, once again.Ā Ā
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Joy doesnāt look like it used to.
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After contemplating this in my morning meditation, I turned on Spotify to get some work tunes going.Ā And whadyaknow, a new and more fitting description of joy was...
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