Maggie Norton Yoga

In the culture that I grew up in, as well as the one where I now live, it can be rare to find comforting and life-affirming ways of thinking and talking about the unavoidable challenges and the impermanent nature of our lives. The Buddhist monk Ajahn Karunadhammo gave a talk here last week about the natural ‘laws’ of life and the inevitability of aging, sickness and death. It was far from a gloomy perspective, strangely uplifting in its honest acceptance of how things are. At one point he quoted Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, “I am not OK, you are not OK, and that’s OK!”
Ah, how important to remember that and perhaps especially in challenging and heart breaking times. As I age I have many friends who are unwell, and we are all witnessing so much injustice, aggression and divisiveness in addition to the ordinary ups and downs of human existence. Learning to find peace, growth and even joy and gratitude midst our most painful moments can be an incredible and worthwhile act of courage and resilience. Pema Chodron suggest that we ‘come back to square one, just the minimum bare bones. Relaxing with the present moment, relaxing with hopelessness, relaxing with death, not resisting the fact that things end, that things pass, that things have no lasting substance that everything is changing all the time.”
May we open to moments of ease and of gratitude in our yoga and meditation practices and midst whatever we may find challenging in our lives and may we all sense ‘the music in our bones’. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)
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Last week I wrote about being a part of the whole in a spiritual sense of belonging to the grand communion, the dust that dances in the light with all other dust. My reflections continue with thoughts about how we belong to each other. As john a. powell says,“Belongingness entails an unwavering commitment to not simply tolerating and respecting difference, but to ensuring that all people are welcome and feel that they belong.”
We are each our own galaxy in a world of galaxies, interlocking, experiencing life together. Your kindness doesn't end with who receives it. It works its way into their orbit through their hands, their words, their work.
Belonging also comes from feeling part of a community, connected to others, feeling accepted and recognized. Yet it seems that throughout history there has been a human tendency to believe that belonging requires us to separate our own kind in some way, to protect our own family, tribe, community against those that we see as different or that don't quite fit our views. There is certainly so much ‘othering’ and divisiveness in our world these days. We can feel a sense of truly belonging whatever the circumstances but I think that most of us thrive where there is a sense of welcome and recognition. I’m sure we all long for a society that acknowledges the inherent dignity, humanity, and equal worth of all people."Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” Mother Teresa
I searched for a poem that speaks about belonging to each other but did not find one that really fits here! This week’s poem instead considers the importance of our sense of belonging moving with us throughout the inevitable flow of changes that life brings, ‘for you are the motion of your journey’. May our yoga and meditation practices encourage a sense of belonging as a rising flame in the mysterious river of life’s journey. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30 pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email .(links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

The Benedictine monk Br. David Steindl-Rast, now 100 years old, says “Nothing gives you more joy than when your heart grows wider and wider and your sense of belonging to the universe grows deeper and deeper.”
For myself the sense of belonging is a theme that arises particularly having just spent time with family and old friends in my country of origin and now living on a different continent and in quite a different culture. Maya Angelou said "I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself." Where does our sense of belonging come from? Is it about place, familiarity, being known from childhood, feeling accepted and recognized or can it come from a deep sense of being settled and ‘at home’ within ourselves?
Wisdom traditions and great poets often remind us that we are innately and miraculously part of something, rather than nothing. Even when we experience pain, loneliness or anxiety, when it can feel difficult to connect to joy, ease or even any gratitude, may we remember that we belong to the grand communion (see poem), that we are the dust that dances in the light with all other dust. May our yoga and meditation practices encourage this deep sense of belonging. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

There can be so much that gets in the way of appreciating the beauty and wonder of everyday life. This is perhaps especially so when our attention is caught up in fear, worry or anxiety. There is so much in our world these days that may trigger our angst, let alone just being in a body, and an aging one!
This week’s poem suggests a perspective where the sacred is not limited to specific places, objects, or times, but is present and accessible in all aspects of life. The concept that ‘everything turns holy’ invites us to reflect on our sense of the sacred. Do you consider the ‘spiritual‘ as separate from the mundane or as interwoven with it? Do you see the holy even in the bugs trapped in light fixtures?
Here is another poet reminding us to pay attention to the seemingly inconsequential things in life and to recognise ‘the sacred’ even when our cheeks are tear stained or our bodies tighten with fear. I love that Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer reminds us that fear and praise can arise in us at the very same time. All is holy ground. The human heart can hold it all. We do not have to sacrifice our joy and our sense of wonder when times are tough.
Reading poems and practicing yoga doesn’t make the bad news go away, but as John O'Donohue reminds us, “So much depends on the frame of vision -- the window through which you look.” I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

I arrived home on Saturday from my time in the UK visiting beloved family and friends. Inevitably it's taking a little while to settle in back here and to recover from jetlag. This week's poem reminds us to slow down and that not everything has to be urgent.
That is definitely a reminder for myself this week as I try to catch up on so much after being away. Perhaps weeding the overgrown garden, replying to all the emails and messages I missed, organising appointments and returning to the overlooked cleaning and sorting are not urgent. This mind has a tendency to think that it all has to happen today, if not yesterday!
Not everything needs a decision right now. The constant chatter of expectations, obligations, and household demands can easily muddy our minds, leaving us feeling frantic and out of sync. Stepping away for a moment of genuine quiet allows the swirling sediment to settle. So here's to taking a moment (or even a few moments) and slowing life down a little. Let’s enjoy our yoga practice, “breathe a little deeper, those slow, steady breaths that remind your body to soften”.
I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

Worrying about your warrior pose?!
🙏🏼🧘🏽‍♀️
Do join us for my virtual live-stream yoga classes which will begin again next week, June 23 & 24.
Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

The British writer Lucy Jones asks,“How do we see the world as sacred again? By radical noticing. Looking for awe in all of life.”
This week's poet Anna Akhmatova lived and wrote under Stalinism (in what is now Ukraine) yet seems to have been able to ‘look for awe in all of life’ and sense ‘the miraculous….‘wild in our breast for centuries’.
So may we give our attention, at least a little each day if we possibly can, to notice the beauty of this season with its glorious greens, brilliant blossoms and bountiful birdsong or to whatever else offers you some joy and moments of grace. Perhaps one of those things is yoga!
I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

May we indeed learn from the trees by 'seeking nourishment from the good things in life' and 'remembering our roots', no matter how stormy the weather around us may be. Yoga practice is of course a reliable source of such intuitive wisdom.
I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

Mary Paffard will be teaching in Ukiah on Monday evenings 5.30-6.45pm - 6 week series May 11 - June 22 (No Class 5/25)
Register with the city (early bird ends 5/1)
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18QhTUR4DG/

Yoga in Ukiah — Mary Paffard Yoga Yoga continues in person in Ukiah throughout the summer. Next session begins 5/11