2001-10-24 2:15 p.m.
I gave my demo class about goal-setting today at the employment center . I was expecting it to be a one-on-one situation, with another teacher. But no--I was the "guest speaker" in an actual class. Yikes!
I think it went OK--people participated and paid attention...the usual bell curve of responsive students and unruly ones and silent ones and one or two who gave off that charming, "I'm an escaped mental patient" vibe. I have no idea how it went over with the teacher who was observing...there was no tell-tale glint in his eye as we shook hands goodbye.
How 'bout those anthrax letters, eh? Those ugly block letters and misspelled words, that sinister slant of the sentences--much scarier to me than the spores themselves.
Yesterday I finally checked out the new Anusara center in the Village. I didn't like it. The class was taught in that Iyengar-like "workshop" style, focussing on only a few elements but going over them in detail, over and over. I find that approach a bit limiting and dull. Alos, the center is quite pricey ($17 for the class, and $2.00 for a mat).
I came away with an appreciation for the importance of keeping the shoulders rolled back and arm-pits lifted in down dog, so it wasn't a total loss. Shiva's in the details.
I was heartened to see that Anusara founder John Friend is a follower of Laksmanjoo (via Swami Chitenanda) and Kashmir Shaivism, just like one of my favorite yoga writers, Alice Christensen.
At the birthday party on Sunday I learned that my 16-year-old nephew is a big fan of Neil Young. He hauled out his portable CD collection (commercial CDs and stuff from Napster) and I was surprised how many classic rock albums and songs he had. Is this normal?
It bears noting that after over 2 years of eating not one shred of meat--not even in France or at relatives' houses where that's all they had--I ate some chicken this week. I don't know why--I was curious to see what would happen, I guess. The answer is, not much. I didn't get sick or anything.
I love eating vegetarian, but my motives are not essentially health-related, since I eat more crap than anyone I know. Also, even when I was eating very strictly vegan and laying offf sweets and caffeine, I still never felt 100% great.
My reasons for not eating meat are a little complicated and the reasons overlap, with no one reason dominating and none rational enough to stand alone. It's partly a devotional practice, partly a practice of attention and intention and sacrifice, and partly because it just feels...correct. I do feel a little lighter in mind and body. Or, in HTML terms, lighter in body and font.
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