our-yoga

On Monday November 19th, President Obama visited Myanmar for the first time, and met with democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi at the house here she was placed under house arrest for most of the last two decades. Very inspiring. I guess I'll let the video speak for itself here:

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And I'm doing this even though, not being a citizen of these United States, I can't vote in this election... Actually, that's not correct: My inability to personally vote is all the more reason why I should mobilize the modest rallying power of this modest soapbox to get as many votes for Obama as possible.

Why Obama? There's a lot I can say here (although in my opinion, the unpleasant alternative--Mitt Romney--should be reason enough), but I'm just going to quote Matthew Remski's platform in a recent article on Elephant Journal, which I wholeheartedly agree with:

"– Given that Mitt Romney’s discernible platform stands to set socio-economic justice, women’s rights, ecological stewardship, scientific research and foreign relations back by several generations, and
– Given that much more of his platform is actually indiscernible due to his pathological lying and opportunism, and
– Given that he is an ordained operative in an exclusionary religious institution rife with the anti-rationalism, anti-environmentalism, and magical thinking that is anathema to the culture of yogic inquiry:
– Incumbent President Obama remains the better and at least known choice, and should be passionately supported by yoga practitioners.

Simple, no? Anyone disagree? I know: I apologize to third-party advocates. Obama is not a perfect choice, given his mediocre record on human rights, upholding international law, and environmental progress. But the immediate legislative impact of a Romney administration is a far heavier price to pay than the ground we lose in reshaping the electoral landscape. Remember Nader, 2000, Florida. It’s not worth it."

I was planning on keeping this post short, but now I can't resist saying more myself. So I'll say a few more things here. If you think it's somehow unyogic to brazenly support a political candidate and espouse a political position on a yoga blog, try asking yourself these questions: 

(1) How yogic is it to stand by and say and do nothing while somebody who is a card-carrying member of a religion (Mormonism) that has a very poor track record on women's rights (to put it mildly) stands at least a fair chance of becoming the leader of what is arguably (at least at this moment) the richest and most powerful country in the world, and who will, if elected, have much more executive power to put his retrogressive views about women in place?

(2) How yogic is it to stand by and say and do nothing while some spineless flip-flopper continues to flip-flop his way to, God forbid, the highest poltiical office in this land? Sadly, if the polls are any indication, it appears that close to half the country (maybe even more) actually believe in his flip-flopping ways. Can an opportunistic flip-flopper be allowed to take the highest office in this country? 

Or, if you still don't see what I'm saying, recall this phrase of the Ashtanga closing prayer: "May the leaders of the Earth protect in every way by keeping to the right path." 

Can we trust a spineless opportunistic flip-flopper to be able to "protect in every way by keeping to the right path"? Think about this.

(3) How yogic is it to stand by and say and do nothing while a plutocrat who advocates more tax breaks for the rich and more trickle-down economics--the kind of economics that got this country into the deepest recession since the Great Depression--stands at least a fair chance of attaining the highest political office in this land and putting these policies into place; policies that can only make the rich richer and the poor poorer, making it easier for those who already have much to continue to violate aparigraha (non-grasping) and asteya (non-stealing)?     
  
As Remski points out above, Obama is far from being a perfect leader. But he easily beats Romney by a thousand miles (probably more...). And besides, it takes guts to be able to start doing his job at the time he did four years ago, when hope was in short supply, and the economy seemed like it was in perpetual freefall. Well, we're not out of the woods yet, but I'm confident that if we at least stay the course (and not regress to trickle-down economics), things can only get better. But I won't say any more here; economics is not my cup of tea. 

Last but not least, I have something to say in response to a question Remski poses at the beginning of his article. Remski asks:

My question to the yoga community at large is: why have we not seen a single prominent teacher or yoga organization formally and publicly endorse the Obama-Biden ticket? Do we not want to get our hands too dirty? Are we too busy pretending It’s All Good? Are we even a community at all? 

Well, Matthew (if I may), there is at least one prominent teacher who has been formally and passionately endorsing Obama for the last few months: Kino MacGregor. Check out her Facebook page. Ha! I guess this means I'm endorsing Kino too; glad to be of service :-) But then again, Kino is not running for any political office...  

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Now and then, I read blog posts about procrastination, written by bloggers who suffer from this, ahem, terrible scourge of our information-saturated age. Well, if you suffer from this affliction, there is now hope: You can hire somebody to slap you whenever you procrastinate! Talk about tough love... This is exactly what blogger Maneesh Sethi has done: He recently went on Craigslist and hired a woman to be his "slapper". For $8 an hour, the woman will sit beside him at a designated place (in this case, a cafe) and slap him whenever she notices him looking at things on his computer that is not related to his work (for more details, see this article). Here's a video of the slapper in action:

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I went bowling yesterday with my fiancee and a friend. It has been quite a while since the last time I bowled, and we had a lot of fun. We played about 5 or 6 games. The first two games were okay. I only started getting into form in the last couple of games: I scored a double strike followed by a spare in the second last game: Funny how things only start to get exciting when it's time to go, isn't it? ;-)

On the face of it, bowling seems like the furthest thing from yoga. After all, on a purely physical level, yoga practice involves taking the body through a wide range of asanas and bringing the joints and muscles through a wide range of motion, whereas bowling seems to simply involve doing the same set of actions over and over again: Walk up to the lane, pick up the ball from the ball-feeder (I think that's what it's called), walk down the lane with the ball, take aim, release ball, and hope for the best. Then go back to your seat, watch your friends/opponents bowl (and secretly hope they mess up ;-)). Then rinse and repeat.

But if you have ever bowled more than a couple of games at a time, you will know that to be able to bowl well consistently (or, at the very least, be able to not land one's balls in the gutter all the time) requires a certain consistency in physical technique. This consistency in technique is, in turn, best achieved if one has a clear mind which is not perturbed by things going on around oneself ("Damn! Why is my friend/opponent scoring strikes and spares all the time, while my balls keep going into the gutter?!").  Oh, and in case you don't bowl, and don't know what a gutter ball is, here's a demonstration: Here's then-senator Obama bowling a gutter ball in Pennsylvania back in 2008:

Well, I guess this shows that a great president does not necessarily a great bowler make :-)

The parallels between yoga and bowling become even more pronounced as one goes further into the game. Throughout the course of a bowling session, one may be required to make changes to one's technique and equipment in response to changes in one's physical condition as the session progresses. For example, a heavier ball is harder to lift up and roll, but once released, it also tends to be more stable, and tends to stay the course better than lighter balls, which tend to be more sensitive to changes in one's wrist direction at the moment one releases the ball. With this piece of information in mind, it is usually a good idea to start the game with a heavier ball, and then switch to a lighter ball after a couple of games, when one's hand is a little more tired. In order to know when it is appropriate to switch balls or make adjustments to one's technique, one needs to be mindful of what one's body is feeling at any given moment.

All in all, I think that one is much more likely to enjoy bowling (and even bowl well) if one pays attention to one's physical condition and technique, but at the same time doesn't take oneself too seriously. Remember: It's just a game. And if even Barack Obama can score gutter balls... well, we're in good company :-) Take heart.

Last but not least, it would be very improper of me to talk about bowling without mentioning one of my favorite movies of all time: The Big Lebowski. I highly recommend this movie. This is one movie that might actually change your life :-) Here are a few of my favorite characters from the movie:

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