Comments on: Nothing like a little Milton before dinner.

By: einajs

einajs — Sat, 23 May 2009 07:41:25 +0000

in what way, Maili? [if you're still out there...]

By: Maili

Maili — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:45:43 +0000

Kind of off topic but the Bhagavad Gita and Paradise Lost have some strong similarities…

By: einajs

einajs — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:10:40 +0000

Thanks you guys; I was worried about this post because a) I felt like it was all Anusara-rah-rah-rah when there are of course tons of excellent modalities that help and heal, I just happen to have had the most success with this one b) Being concerned and respectful of your injury is not the same thing as letting it define you, and paying attention to your pain is a weird thing, for both men and women for different reasons c) The line between courage and folly is a tiny little line and I’m not even sure exactly where it is for me.

So thanks for commenting and also for adding your personal experience; Natasha, while I don’t have the breasts-problem I still often feel like standing with good alignment is eroticized [I have the butt problem, if anything]: like, this is the way my body looks and I’m not ashamed of it, which is opposed to the cultural training we receive. Esp. in a room of very slender yoginis and in a “core”-obsessed culture, it’s very weird to actually stand up properly and take my thighs back. More on this to come, I’m sure. Any other thoughts/feelings/comments out there in the hivemind?

By: Natasha

Natasha — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:05:17 +0000

Thanks for this, Sjanie. My thoughts on this subject feel very disorganized, but a couple of things–first–I loved what you said about House (of course!) and about the empowerment of naming your pain–I think that is so important, especially for people whose pain/illness/dysfunction has been denied or invalidated (women, much?) But the challenge then being to not let that name become your identity, not to wrap that identity around yourself because you can’t rid yourself of the pain. I was reading an article yesterday about chronic pain and attention and how part of learning to live with pain is learning to pay less attention to it. How can we integrate our pain/illness/dysfunction as something that’s important and needs acknowledgment without making it all of who we are?

And then the breasts thing, I’ve definitely noticed that when I’m well-aligned with good posture, there’s something emotionally uncomfortable about it–I feel BIGGER, I feel TALLER, I feel more OPEN, my breasts stick out more (as if they needed the help) and it can be scary to feel that way–it changes my state of mind in a way that’s both welcome AND frightening.

SO, I don’t have a conclusion, but this post was food for thought. I love that you’re writing this blog!

By: Heather W

Heather W — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:24:35 +0000

Perfect. Thank you.