What does this have to do with Yoga? It’s about yoga off the mat – read on.
(a woman slumped over resembling me – lol – not so horrible with softwares nowadays- but still. Photo credit to US News & World Report/Money section dtd 2/23/2016)
Immediately faced with reality upon return from the … forest …Spring Break, ironically in Snow Country (Kawabata-ish? not) – but soooo cleansing to the system. It was quite dream-like…
Spring time may be about engaging in dietary cleanse and energy renewal but for many, we have to face the more secular realities of filing … taxes. Rather than dreading the headache, relying on humor to get through – what was it that someone famous said?
In this world nothing can be said to be certain,
except death and taxes.
– Benjamin Franklin
Yes, even for yogis … we cannot escape this deadline. As a reference, fiscal year end in Japan is March 31st; Tax filing deadline here in US is April 18th …
If this blog was about mind-body-spirit, this is to bring you more peace of “mind” by taking care of these demands so that we can refocus on what brings us joy.
Many families with children all have to think about the most valuable gift we can give our children – that of education and here’s a good site to read up … as thoughts of finances may be in the minds of many when we are forced to face it.
Oddly, this is probably the time to do even more yoga? Here is a story I heard about this famous spiritual leader, a karma yogi, we so respect:
During his insanely busy schedule, Gandhi said to a group of his backers, “I need to set aside one hour a day to do meditation.”
One of the influential backers said, “no, you can’t do that ! You are too busy to take time off like that, We need you Gandhi !”
Gandhi said, “Well, then, in that case, I now need to set aside two hours a day to do meditation.”
ohhhhh, no wonder, even a less mortal like me need to yoga and clear my busy mind so I can get though this busywork and real work faster …The postural yoga is done to banish the kinks, tightness, tensions out of your BODY so that you can address the MIND through practice of meditation. It is hard to sit in stillness for meditation if your body feels the cramps…the soreness … the KNOTS, the pain … and once you start fidgeting, it’s over – your mind is unable to get to the quiet place and back to thinking about …that tax filing due around the corner. So much for neuroplasticity – rewiring the brain through this kind of a discipline … This is probably when I need a monk to give me a light tap with a stick as in the zazen practice of my home county – there’s a lot of sitting with most traditional rituals – tea ceremony, flower arrangement, incense burning … with beautiful posture and forms held, exercising centering and grounding to bring one back to the present moment. All without the postural yoga – I don’t know how my grandmother did all that and lived a long fulfilling life. It’s probably all about focus … one pointed concentration. We need that more than ever … to live this life we were meant to have.
