Just when we get our metaphorical ducks in a row, the universe winds up and sends change our way. Sometimes for good, sometimes we just have a little wobble and keep on going, and sometimes our life as we know it is altered completely. The only thing we can have any kind of control over in this changing world is how we respond to the tides of change.

Our words and deeds are the only ground upon which we can make a stand. So goes the Buddhist teaching in the Upajjhatthana Sutta, the summation of the Four Remembrances. It reminds us that we are of the nature of change. We grow old, we get sick, we have relationships, our relationships end, we die, the people we love die.

This is some pretty heavy stuff, if we’re not diligent we can easily fall prey to the lure that there’s nothing we can do. Just sit it out and hope that eventually change swings back in your favor. There’s a lot of people that live their life thinking this way. It is difficult not to do just this, wait it out and hope that you’ll be able to ride out the hard times. It is far easier to turn avert our eyes from the suffering around us and focus instead upon what will make us happy in the immediate future.

However, our practice isn’t in a bubble. We are a part of the world and our practice gives us tools for living compassionately and ethically. To my mind, both compassion and ethics demand some level of involvement. Practicing ahimsa (nonviolence, the first of the Yamas) isn’t just a directive that we, ourselves cause no direct harm, but that we also do not sit by quietly while others are being harmed. If we practice satya, (truthfulness, the second of the Yamas), it isn’t just upon us to be honest in our thoughts, words, and actions, but that we don’t just ignore it, saying nothing, when the leaders of our countries are lying.

Artwork by Shepard Fairey for The Amplifier Foundation

Living our Yoga demands involvement.

This doesn’t mean you must go to the next protest. I personally cause myself more harm than good protesting, something I discovered about myself protesting the first Gulf War. I live with hyper-vigilance, part of life with Complex PTSD from developmental trauma. Being jostled around by any amount of strangers, even perfectly lovely ones, really leaves my energy depleted and my body aching from the muscles tensing. That’s not the only way to be involved. You don’t need to pick the hardest thing, but find something you feel able to do.

At no point in my life have I ever more keenly felt the uncertainty of change then right now. I’ve been trying to find words to talk about this since the election in November. It has taken a great deal to surmount despair and teach some days, but I’m reminded that connecting with community through teaching is vital. I’ve been told by students and friends that my teaching is going to be needed now, more then ever before.

Andre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

With that in mind, I’m committed to offering classes that help people explore how to practice gratitude, compassion, generosity, and kindness. Providing tools to help relieve the stress of our vigilant attention to the changes happening in our world, and the exhaustion that comes from reaching out to help those who will suffer most from the changes that will be coming. To bear witness and speak out against injustice and hatred is hard work, but it is the work that Living our Yoga demands.

In the spirit of reaching out, we need to grow and strengthen our Beloved Community. Reach out to people, invite them to other events. Tell students about other activities you’re involved in. My wife and I are thinking about ways to expand and create community, to get people connected beyond just a workplace. Look into how we start recreating our Third Places. In February I’m coordinating a couple of radical postcard making gatherings to send postcards of support to various organizations fighting for justice.

We can all take more time in every interaction to be kind, to see the person you’re interacting with as a whole being and not “just a clerk” (parking attendant, barista, waiter, etc.). Even if you’re in a hurry, make eye contact, let people know you see them. Tell the stranger at the grocery store her hijab is beautiful, you’ll both have a better day for doing it. Spend more time connecting and less time rushing through the day, caught up inside your own world.

We’re all just humans here, suffering together. We all just want to be valued and seen for who we are. Love everyone, it doesn’t need to be  personal, just love more,

Don’t just sit there on your cushion, or move on through your Sun Salutations, hoping that if you just wait it out, things will get better. Do something, find what you’re able to do and help. When you’re tired from doing, from watching, from speaking out, take time to care for yourself. Make a healthy meal, don’t skip your daily practice, connect with people who love you.

When we make time for self-care, we’re making sure we’re going to have the energy for the long struggle for equality and justice for all living beings.

May all beings be free from anxiety and fear.
May all beings be peaceful and content.

#resist

I have a difficult relationship with the times I’m not feeling well. Living with chronic pain can mean that is is really difficult to not resent anything that upsets the delicate balance that allows me to participate fully in life. On the other hand, being forced to stop and rest due to illness provides some good opportunities to practice, particularly with the Yamas, the ethical rules for right living in the practice of Yoga.  Acknowledging that I’m ill and responding to it appropriately, without resentment, helps me to be mindful of Satya, truthfulness.

When I don’t teach I feel anxious about money. Devoting my life to making Yoga my vocation as well as my avocation, and resisting the enormous temptation to return to technology work against my doctor’s orders, has come with a 93% pay cut. Starting a business, particularly one that is so much a part of my heart, can be terrifying and way out of my comfort zone. However, pushing myself to teach when I’m ill not only increases the chance of my staying ill for a lot longer, or getting much more sick, but it also is absolutely disrespectful of my students. Teaching at the onset of a virus could pass it along to students, many of mine have more vulnerable health to begin with and it would be unconscionable for me to risk their health because of my own anxiety about money. This really reflects Asteya, non-stealing, for me, as I would be stealing the good health of others.

In order that we are not tempted to steal we are encouraged to recognize that we have desires, but to be modest in them, trustworthy, and respectful in our dealings with others. We may eventually come to realize the inherent impermanence in the idea of anything that is “mine” or “theirs” to steal. With this practice, we cultivate the space to be more giving of our resources, possessions, and self.

When teaching students, in assuming the responsibility of guiding other people, I must be giving of my resources. I must be accountable to the students and mindful the trust they place in another person to teach them. Although it is good to desire to see students attain correct posture, this should be moderated by respect and compassion for each student’s ability.

When I have added that positive side to it, the affirmation of life, the concept of Ahimsa becomes much richer and fuller for me. I not only look at how my choices in the world can be a voice for harm-reduction, but for how those choices also cultivate the lives of those around me. It moves me towards slower responses so I have time for greater consideration for the person I am interacting with. It involves being mindful especially when my own irritation arises and learning how not to react instantly. This practice helps me recognize that there are far less harmful ways of achieving results than letting people know I am irritated with their performance. On the occasions when my approach does not mesh well with some one’s personality it helps remind me to not hold onto comments, using negative ones to judge myself relentlessly.

These lessons grow my ability to teach. Ahimsa practice moves me towards deep listening, confirmations, and gentle corrections. I watch my students carefully checking not only for adjustments to alignment and posture, but for strain and upset. Strain can lead to injury of the body, which can be an emotional injury as well. I encourage them to make great effort and feel the heat of it, but with compassion and awareness of where they are in the present. I request that they not merely endure, suffering through class.