Greetings, friends, and happy October!
We are in the full swing of fall now, and as the harvest reaches its full bounty, the time has come to celebrate what is here, and to lay to rest the things that must go. The leaves are onto their final act – a vibrant shock of color – before departing for the forest floor. This time of year calls us to contemplate what is being harvested in our own lives, for we are reaping what we have sewn. It also calls into question what we must let go of; what is ready to be discarded and allowed to fall away to serve as nourishment for what’s to come. The cool, crisp autumn winds clear our inner and outer cobwebs, carrying away the dust and remnants, and offering the opportunity for space, emptiness, and clarity. A potent time of year indeed!
Last week, I shared a story in class that I wanted to pass along to the whole Stone Turtle community. It involves two deities in the Hindu tradition: Shiva and his wife, Parvarti – the protector, the destroyer (of evil) and regenerator of the universe and all life. The story itself was created by Angela Farmer, a wise and preeminent yoga teacher, who I get the privilege of studying with later this month (Patty has also studied with her) (click here to see a video of Angela). It hints at the underlying feminine nature of yoga, and is a beautiful and fun story – scroll all the way down to find it. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you make time this month for quiet reflection and time in nature.
Our class schedule remains the same this month, with four classes per week at the Craf Center in Roscommon, including Hatha, Core, Vinyasa and Yoga Strength, and five classes in Grayling, including Hatha, Core, Gentle and Vinyasa. Please click here to view the schedule and sign up for classes.
Many blessings and we hope to see you soon!
Mariah & the STY crew
Parvati and Shiva
By Angela Farmer
Parvati was Shiva’s wife and she was very beautiful. She just enjoyed her life and she had a lovely home to live in. She had a bath made from a shell in which she would bathe herself and rub sandalwood paste on her body and she would stretch out in the morning in the sunshine, and she would feel her body. It was so delicious that she would twist this way, and twist a little back that way, and then maybe she would lean back over a rock or on a sofa and breathe. She just felt good doing this.
Sometimes Shiva, who was madly in love with her, would creep up behind a pillar and watch her. He would peek secretly, because this was her private time. He loved to see her enjoying her self so much. Then suddenly his mind started ticking, and he said to himself, “well, maybe I could do this too?” So he watcher her very carefully and then went out in the jungle and h tried to do some of the things he had seen her doing so beautifully in the early morning light.
Being Shiva, and being male of course, he began to perfect these movements and these positions. He organized them and he codified them and he practiced very hard to et them all right. When some of his devotee s heard about this, they said “Lord, please will you teach us?” So Shiva thought about this and then he spoke. “Very well, all of you, line up. One, two, three, four! And now you’ve got to JUMP! Three feet apart, left food in, right food out! STRETCH your arms! More, more more!” Bang, crash! And he trained them.
After some time he said “Mmm, Ok, I’m going to give some of you certificates.” He handed out the certificates and then he sent them off out into the world to open up ashrams and yoga centers, and yes, we know the rest of the story!
But what about Parvarti? Oh, she’s still at home, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, taking her bath, rubbing herself with the sandalwood paste, doing a twist here, a backbend there and just feeling so delicious! One morning she might wake up and say to herself, “Well I don’t now what’s going on in the yoga world out there, maybe I should come out and shoe them where it all comes from?”
