When I typed the subject for this blog, I had a flashback to days at the public pool and Slurpees from 7-11. Oh man! But that’s not the purpose of this blog… I’m writing to tell you what today’s class is about: Life is a Dance.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I noticed I had no energy to watch television or movies. I was trying to make my life as simple as possible and the more you do that, the more you realize the effect and affect what you consume has on you. I remember telling my friends how TV (which I was previously obsessed with, by the way.. I spent years trying to write television shows.) was just too much. This isn’t me trying to tell you how much better your life will be if you only do what I did… this is me telling you what I did and why. Your path is going to be unique to you.

I did have energy for audiobooks. My mind could settle if I was listening to a lecture or audiobook and doing something else like a puzzle or laying down in the sun on my bedroom floor. The early morning hours became the most sacred for me. My roommate was still asleep, the sun was gently announcing its arrival, and the city was still while the city birds had their morning chats. I felt like the outside world was performing a play just for me – the city was so quiet that it seemed like I was the only one awake. I could have my coffee and look out at the way the light changed as I went through my sorting and moving meditation (the puzzle). Sometimes I would listen to an audiobook then but mostly, I wanted to absorb the silence. Silence is such a rare thing to experience in the city. I grew up in the country and those mornings transported me back to feeling safe.

These feelings I generated by experiencing life moment to moment brought me closer to the truth. Alan Watts taught me one day that the purpose of life is the dancing of it. Hindu mythology says that we are all divine incarnation just playing to experience something new.

When was the last time you played? I mean, like really played? What does it mean to play? Let’s think about kids and how they play. In the summers, I would play all day long. I had no purpose, no end-goal and I had freedom to roam all over the place. I explored. I would walk down to the pond at the end of our street and just check shit out. I would re-arrange my bedroom. I would make a play and perform it for my family. I would play with Barbies. I would dance. Oh my, I would dance. Then I became a competitive gymnast and my play time was different. Even when I had free time, I was training. My dad made me my own balance beam so I could practice at home. My play time had a purpose. I think yoga provides me all the benefits of playtime with a purpose and playing as just roaming around, checking shit out.

Let’s try to consider that maybe the purpose of yoga is just the doing of it. It’s not something to get better at, really. You don’t get more benefits by doing more advanced poses. Most of the time, it’s your ego that gets filled that way instead of your spirit. The more you focus on treating yoga like a cost-benefit analysis, the less its magic will be revealed.

Here’s today’s playlist: