Svadhyaya

I'm reading Light on Yoga, by B.K.S. Iyengar. Here's an excerpt from the introduction:

Svadhyaya. Sva means self and adhyaya means study or education. Education is the drawing out of the best that is within a person. Savadhyaya, therefore, is the education of the self.
Svadhyaya is different from mere instruction like attending a lecture where the lecturer parades his own learning before the ignorance of his audience. When people meet for svadhyaya, the speaker and listener are of one mind and have mutual love and respect. There is no sermonizing and one hear speaks to another. The ennobling thoughts that arise from svadhyaya are, so to speak, taken into one's bloodstream so that they become a part of one's life and being.
The person practicing svadhyaya reads his own book of life, at the same time that he writes and revises it. There is a change in his outlook on life. He starts to realize that all creation is meant for bhakti (adoration) rather than bhoga (enjoyment), that all creation is divine, that there is divinity within himself and that the energy which moves him is the same that moves the entire universe.
...
Philology is not a language but the science of languages, the study of which will enable the student to learn his own language better. Similarly, Yoga is not a religion by itself. It is the science of religions, the study of which will enable a sadhaka the better to appreciate his own faith.

Here's a video from MC Yogi:

Give Love!

I want to sit and watch this whole thing.

Here's a video that I want to sit and watch: The Comic Imagination. It's a two-hour long panel discussion. Don't know anything about the Philoctetes Center. But anyway, I'm finding this interesting.

On a completely separate note, one image that sort of resonates with me as a yogi is the image of a crusty towel. You know the kind - sitting in the locker room long-forgotten. Add a little moisture and wring it out and it gets a little less crusty. That's how my body feels after a good practice.

4 Decades of Whimsy - the clips.

This is an addendum to the post I wrote last week, 4 Decades of Whimsy, in which I outline my birthday plans.

For those folks who are curious what all my birthday events are about, here are some clips:

Lindy Hop

Here's the classic Groovie Movie, the film that inspired so many of us over a decade ago. I remember the night I shared this clip with the back room at the Derby. Oh, man, them's memories.

Improv

I don't have audio at the moment, but at some point I'd like to listen to this clip. I haven't watched it fully yet.

Yoga

Here's Anusara Yoga founder John Friend, speaking at a yoga conference.

Board Games

Watching people play board games on YouTube might not be the best way to experience it.

Okay, so play is the operative word. Come play with me next week!

What I've been up to lately.

I am loving yoga and improvisation classes. I'm also playing plenty of board games.

I'm taking improv classes through Monkey Butler, which offer many free classes throughout the week all over Southern California and in some other places too. I'm currently in the level one class in Sherman Oaks. I'd take classes closer to home if they didn't conflict with the LindyGroove Technique Class. I'm also backing up this with the I.O. West Improv Jam, hosted by my buddy Nando Velasquez. The Improv Jam is an opportunity for students to play with IO team performers. They're currently reconsidering their schedule, but at the moment the Jam is scheduled for every Wednesday at 11:30pm.

I'm learning a ton there and really putting in the work that I was never able to do in college. I feel like I'm hitting a lot of breakthroughs, so I'm pretty happy with my progress.

I'm taking yoga at Mission Street Yoga in South Pasadena. At the moment I can only afford the $5 lunchtime yoga classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There's a donation class tomorrow afternoon that I'm planning to take and there are FREE classes every Monday through the end of the month at 10:45am. I'm planning to hit those for the next couple of weeks.

Also hitting breakthroughs here too. I may even soon be more comfortable with going upside down. Don't know why that's so huge, but even being close to it is a lot for me. I'm also returning to a point at which I no longer need the belt to reach my toes in a sitting stretch. It's especially wonderful to be in a place where breathing is so praised. One day I was experimenting with Crow position, a position with which I've never been comfortable and the instructor (without my realization) had pointed me out to the class as having a fully engaged breath. I didn't in fact know that she was speaking to anyone but me until I heard the applause of the rest of the class. It took me by surprise because I take my breathing for granted. That should be the case after having done it for so long.

I'm playing board games a lot. I just picked up Vasco Da Gama and I'm really looking forward to getting it on the table. We've been playing a lot of Power Grid: Factory Manager lately and mostly I'm just going with the flow and being a decent host.