The Joy of Connection

Joy is peaceful. Joy is centering. Joy is the very nature of this existence. It’s the container for all our “feelings” and everything that happens to us … if we take a breath and settle and notice. It’s always there.

It’s a knowing… that “all shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well” that can feel impossible in our worst moments but that we also can sense is profoundly and utterly true.

Joy is, above all, connection.

Joy is connection to self.

Joy is connection to other.

Joy is connection to whatever it is that you think of as “divine.”

JoyBody is simply a way to say… here are some things to try that will help you to connect — to self, to others, and to the truth of you.

Moving in Trust

We get so caught up in our IDEAS of things, don’t we?

And those ideas then get caught up with other people’s ideas and pretty soon we are in knots over things that seem like they should be pretty simple.

Movement, for example.

Instead of just trusting ourselves to move in ways that bring us joy and pleasure and growth and change and all the things we really want from movement, we start to explore a particular path.

Then we get caught up in doing it “right.”

Then we self identify with the culture of the path.

Let’s take, for example, yoga — the very thing that is meant to bring us freedom and an understanding of ourselves that is infinite. Over time, over repetitions, it ends up concretizing us in our bodies and our minds. It can take a long time — if ever — to be able to see that this is what has happened.

Maybe then we move to “primal movement,” but again, instead of trusting ourselves, we seek a “program” and even in this concept called “primal,” we find ourselves learning patterns and repeating patterns and wondering when we’ll get to the “advanced” patterns.

When the most “advanced” pattern is the capacity to follow no pattern.

There is nothing wrong with studying different paths and with different teachers as long as we don’t get STUCK.

Find a teacher who is the geekiest student you’ve ever met.

Find a teacher who is there to light your curiosity on fire.

Find a teacher who is never ever finished.

Find a culture of no culture, one that is always expanding.

Find a group of humans who don’t believe in hierarchies of any kind.

Be brave.

Stop following. Stop patterning.

Question. Experiment. Play.

Instead of a Word of the Year: A Practice of the Year

So many words kept coming at me, trying to assert themselves as the front runner for my word of 2021, but it bothered me… this idea of distilling it all down to one word when I knew I needed a broader and simultaneously deeper approach after the dumpster fire of 2020.

I needed something that would help me to refocus on what really matters to me. I needed something that would feed the better parts of me.

I needed something that would get me back on my right path when it came to nurturing my spirit.

But I also needed a challenge for my world weary heart — a challenge that would take me beyond all the unproductive rage I’ve been living with for the past many months and a challenge that could help to lift me out of my post-serious-depression acedia (spiritual apathy).

And then it hit me:

I will be spending 2021 studying the Yamas and Niyamas of Yoga. These are the ethical practices of yoga. There are ten in total and so during the last two months, I will dive into a sort of “review,” focusing on the ones that I found especially challenging.

I will be using this text. At the beginning of each month, I’ll read the corresponding chapter, and then I will spend the month exploring that particular yama or niyama in all areas of my life.

I would love for you to join me so I’ll also be writing about this journey here and in the JoyBody Sanctuary on Facebook. If you’re not in the sanctuary, you can ask to join by going here or you can just send me a message anywhere you have access to me and ask me to add you. It’s a private group and no one can see what’s being written in there except for the members.

JoyBody is NOT...

I use the word JOY in the way mystics have traditionally used it across many traditions.

It doesn't mean happiness or silliness or any sort of BIG expressed, giddy sort of emotional state. It's the ground of your being. It's the ground of all existence.

It's the feeling that we have when we are centered and residing in the space in ourselves that knows it is a good thing to be living this life no matter what is happening. It's actually quite... calm, steady, abiding... it feels a lot like long deep breathing.

There are as many ways to access this state as there are human experiences and that is where tantra comes in for me. Tantra is an understanding of life that says that every single thing you take in via your senses is a gift that we can learn from, that we can grow from.

So tantra never denies bodily needs and desires like so many paths do. There's no "transcending." There's being right here IN THIS.

This does NOT mean that SHIT doesn't happen. It doesn't mean that SHIT isn't SHITTY. It doesn't mean there aren't UBER SHITTY humans on this planet making UBER SHITTY choices.

It means that if we are settled in our joybody we can, after processing and being truthful and expressing what needs to be expressed, we can find even just a small something of value for ourselves. After the fact.

The universe and life aren't here to "teach you lessons." Open minded and inquisitive people turn life INTO lessons.

So when I ask you about joy even in this current context of craposity, I mean, dig a little under that. Are you breathing today? Then there's something for you under the crap.

THIS is LIBERATING your joybody.

JOYBODY is Not Just Movement Practices

Nope. JOYBODY is a way of living.

Remember what I said: it’s not a product or a goal.

JOYBODY is a process. We live FROM joybody by listening deeply TO joybody.

And that means joybody is everything about being in these bodies and in these lives.

What we eat. What we wear. How we treat others. How we engage in our communities. The work we do. Our relationships in every part of our lives.

JOYBODY Movement Arts Six Week Online Session: You Are Fascinating

If you’ve been around me for more than a couple of years, you know that I can never quite NAME the work I do. Until recently…when I woke up one morning a couple of weeks ago with this in my head…

JOYBODY.

And as someone smart in my orbit remarked, that name has been there all along.

Yes. It has. I can remember the very first training I took at Kripalu and this idea of accessing our original joy nature? It popped out of my mouth by the end of that week.

When I watch you, even though you might not be capable of feeling it yet, that’s what I see… your essential nature as a joybody.

A being of love and compassion and a strength you likely have forgotten.

But through our movement experiments and our shared rituals, we can remember.

We can re-member:

We are not a product or a result or someone's "after" photo. There is nothing wrong with us. We are not "over" or "under" weight. We are not "inflexible." We are not someone "with two left feet."

We are not a THING in any way, and we are not, therefore, to be somehow qualified, quantified, or categorized.

We are a PROCESS... and we are ever-evolving.

NEXT SESSION BEGINS MONDAY, October 12th and runs for 6 weeks.

WHERE: ONLINE, via Skype

TIME: Mondays, 5:30 to 6:45 PM (Eastern Time)

DATES: October 12, 19, 26 and November 2, 9, 16

HOW: For this session, you need to also be familiar with/able to use Spotify or YouTube ALONG WITH Skype. It’s free. I’ll be providing a music list BEFORE each class. While I’m teaching, ALL MICS MUST BE OFF, except for mine. You’ll be listening to the music at your end (providing more volume and clarity) AND you’ll still be able to hear me (I’ll be using an earbud for my own music.)

MISSED CLASS: If you miss a class, I will gladly provide the prompts for that music list in writing up to two times per session.

COST: $85

JoyBody Morning Quickie: 6 Week Online Kundalini Yoga for an Open Heart

According to yoga tradition and philosophy, we are in a time period when things are very skewed. (And they don’t just mean 2020.)

We’re in a time when the typical spiritual practices are either too difficult for people to comprehend or just not effective because of the depth of despair and disbelief and disconnect that humans are experiencing.

During this time, tantra yoga practices are what humans need. They’re concrete. They’re easy to grasp. They’re grounded in the physical world more than any of the others. They’re effective QUICKLY.

And so we have Kundalini yoga.

And I DO believe that this is the yoga we need right now.

We need a yoga that can quickly affect our mind and heart and spirit via body practices that are accessible to all bodies with barely any modification.

This yoga clarifies immediately. Even a short practice, takes away my brain fog.

This yoga clears the heart immediately. No matter what’s on the news, after a quick Kundalini practice I feel like I can handle life again.

This yoga activates the body powerfully. I feel like a different person after a mere ten minutes and I feel ready to tackle whatever needs to be tackled.

This is the yoga of the heart based warrior.

PLEASE READ ALL THE HOWS AND WHATS BELOW CAREFULLY!

WHAT YOU GET:
ACCESS TO TWO 20 MINUTE PRACTICES A WEEK, WHICH YOU CAN WATCH LIVE OR YOU CAN WATCH THE RECORDING WHEN YOU HAVE TIME. IT’S ALL UP TO YOU.

You can also REPEAT the material as much as you want. Each class will stay up in the group for the entire month and a bit beyond.

You also have access to ME. You can ask for help ANY TIME in the group.

HOW:
YOU HAVE TO BE ON FACEBOOK.

MUSIC will be provided in the group prior to the class via Spotify and YouTube lists.

You’ll be added to a “Morning Quickie Yoga” PRIVATE group.

TIME ZONE: I’m in the Eastern U.S. Time Zone. For those of you for whom that might not mean much, I’m in the same time zone as New York City.

ALSO NOTE: Classes, though online, START ON TIME. You can jump in late, but I won't be waiting.

COST: $70 for 6 weeks of 2 quickie classes
TIME: 10:30 AM
Tuesdays: October 13, 20, 27 and November 3, 10, 17
Thursdays: October 15, 22, 29 and November 5, 12, 19

REALLY Big News (and if you're a certain age, you just heard a black and white TV show emcee in your head)

This photo is full of layers upon layers of stories that I could spend books full of words telling, but I’ll simply start with this: This photo is love and it was taken in Erie.

I was surrounded that day by so many women who have been so important to me, who have supported me through hell and back, and who cheered me when my wings were strong again.

So many of you reading this would fit into that category of women. I am lucky.

And though so many of you are all over this globe and all over this country, right now I’m especially talking to those of you in Erie.

Those women who would drop anything and come running when they could feel my pain and know its depths.

Those women who watched as I built myself up and always were there to say, YES! MORE!

Those women who were my roots when I felt rootless.

Erie is the soil in which all of this love grew and I know those roots are strong enough to stay connected to me even as I leave.

Finally I can share the news...

When we moved back to Erie 3 years ago from our brief adventure in Vermont, it was a difficult and complicated choice between home and another city that called to us. Home was the right thing at that moment. There were lots of knots that needed to be undone here and we've done that.

And I'll never not be grateful that we chose Erie when it turned out my father and mother really needed us.

I love this land and this lake upon which this small city sits, but alas...both of us crave and need more opportunity and, quite frankly, less history, less known, less sameness.

My sister and her family live in Columbus, Ohio, Craig's favorite city, where he has spent many years of his life.

I have not lived in the same town with my sister since I left for college, and my nieces and nephew... I want more time with them.

Columbus is only just under 4 hours away.

We will miss people. Deeply. But this is still home and we'll be around lots. And we expect to see our peeps in Columbus because let me tell you... there is SO MUCH TO DO AND EXPLORE!

And we will be putting the house up for sale, which pains me but also feels like a relief.

This house has sheltered me through so much. This house has made me feel safe when I was alone.

And this house... I taught out of this space so much and I have chanted and danced my butt off and it has left a residue of peacefulness that you can only experience upon walking in.

There's barely anyone who doesn't comment on it.

May we all, who have moved in that space, carry the energy and love and witness that it provided for us.

May you all continue to feel the love I have for you, as I will carry yours with me.

As a note, we’ll be leaving the weekend of September 5th. Please reach out if you want to see me before we go. We can visit safely outside.