"That’s the thing with dementia—you begin mourning long before your loved one dies." brought me to tears. So many people (literally millions) mourn with you - not just for the yogi, your teacher, but through losing a loved one to the fog of dementia. It is SO hard to lose someone to dementia - to see their bodies in front of you while the personality & intellect dissolves before your very eyes. Equally hard when the people, the family, around the person proceed for so long like nothing is wrong and then dress it up or even hide it. I watched my great-grandmother and my grandfather disappear before my very eyes and am forever haunted by the experience, forever wondering if it will happen to me, to my children. Thank you for sharing openly - you inspire others to share openly in our own families and communities.
Love this - thanks for bringing up this icky topic & addressing it so beautifully!
Your sentence "If divine revelation were meant to consist primarily in teachings, then Mary would have written a book instead of having a baby." is so spot-on. Thank you for writing this and thank you, EJ, for posting. I think a lot of us who have found yoga are in the same boat: I've been trying to reconcile the church teachings of my youth with both what I feel intuitively and what I find in other teachings, including Gnostic texts. I think there is often a misunderstanding that the politics involved with the interpretations and application of those interpreted teachings (that are easy for us to identify in Christianity, considering our education is generally based on European history) haven't happened in other religions, too - yes, even the "eastern" ones. These teachings are inside of each and every one of us - I think that what really matters is that every now and then, someone finds a way to say what we all feel inside and help us find our way.
Yes! It's a beautiful thing when our practice spills off our mat into our lives and the lives of others.
Excellent points & perspective - thank you! Just like when I get grouchy it's time for me to go to a yoga class, it's time for him to go organize his tools when things get a little too heavy.
Thanks Bob! I think leaving everything the way it is will be fine - love the additional tweet title.
thanks! Elephant Journal put those great stock photos in with my piece. (So no, that is not actually my husband up top, but it is an excellent representation of him in his element.)
Your comment reminds me of the story I've heard a million times (well, feels like a million) in classes (here's the supershort version):
Teacher takes Student to garden for lesson. Points at fish pond. T: "How many fish?" S: "Ten" T: "How many ponds" St: "one" T: "You sure about that? Count again." St: "Um, One pond." T: "Look closely, count again." St: "WTF there is one effing pond here." Teacher: "Ten fish, ten ponds."
Beautiful! Thanks so much for this enhancement and for posting on FB & Twitter!
Thanks, Carolyn! Like everything, it sure takes practice - well, for me it does :)
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