Thoughts and Things to Say

v.16 | Readings for wayfinding.

Hello yogafolk—

I’m nearing the close of two years of graduate study, the culmination of which will be 11,000 words on śavāsana, the practice of yogic rest. As I hone in on a single posture’s history, evolution, role and goal in practice, I feel my own consciousness necessarily narrowing to a pinhole focus. But it is said that for every pose there is a counter pose; for every exhale there is an inhale. And even as my vision contracts, I simultaneously feel it widening: the more I zoom in to a single fractal, the more I see fractals replicating to create a larger, magnificent whole.

The below readings and attitudes are keeping me sane and steady as I hold both the micro and the macro in my palms. I hope you find them reassuring, too.

From the research depths,

Erica

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In their perpetual brilliance, adrienne maree brown reflects: “For me, working with an embodiment framework through a somatic lens has most helped me feel healing, rather than just think about healing. I feel the presence of my healing work when what I feel within is totally aligned with what I am expressing and practicing externally, socially. I know I am in healing dynamics with others when I can fully be myself, without feeling pressure to wound myself with contortion, dishonesty, or overextension. How do you know when you feel healing in yourself, and in your relationships?” | Yes Magazine

“To heal ourselves we must remember that we are a small part of a much greater whole.” Illustration by Michael Luong

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This past winter I was agonizing over yet another term paper. I was striving for a perfect, articulate, meaningful, and original piece while straddling two continents, and staring down the Omicron wave. I was complaining to a colleague that I couldn’t seem to get the words quite right, and she responded: “What if it isn’t perfect? What if it’s good enough?” Mind blown, I turned in my paper and I haven’t stopped asking: “but is it good enough?”

Perfectionism “makes for a thin life, lived for what it isn’t rather than what it is.”

— Moya Sarner in The Perfectionism Trap

My propensity is to strive for perfection, but perfection never leads to satisfaction. Instead, I’m practicing being ordinary. Illustrator Adam Simpson captured live footage from Yogafolk HQ this past week for The Economist

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“Seasons and the natural rhythms of bees determine much of Ava Roth’s practice, which hinges on collaborating with the fuzzy pollinators. The Ontario-based artist stitches elaborate embroideries with beads and intricate thread-based motifs that, once her contribution is complete, she turns over to her insect counterparts. The critters then finish the mixed-media pieces by embedding them in golden, hexagonal honeycomb.” | Colossal

“Honeycomb Quilt,” encaustic, birch bark, paper, gold leaf, embroidery floss, glass beads, and natural honeycomb, in custom local Ontario maple frame, 17.5 x 17.5 inches. | Ava Roth

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“Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places.”

— Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

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