Weekly Tao Te Ching Verse - Week #20

So this was a "long" weekend since it was Thanksgiving. I subbed on Wednesday night at the Highland Heights Fitworks which was pretty fun. For Thanksgiving, I pretty much cooked all day long and took it all down to Mom's apartment and Judson Manor .and we had a really good time. We had an extensive conversation with Mom about how she is struggling with the transition to her new abode. As nice at it is it's not the house she lived in for 25 or 30 years of her life. It was really good to get "real" with her.

On Friday morning I took off to Westlake to take the inaugural class at Soul Stretch Yoga with Rose Sabin the owner. Beginning in early December I will be teaching Friday nights at Soul Stretch. More on that in a different post though.

Rose kicked my ass and my legs are still feeling it. I thought I held poses long as an instructor, om my god. Great class, great music. After heading home to get some lunch and do some preparation for a class I was teaching later in the day, I met up at Eton Place to have coffee with my old friend Ted Sturman. It was great seeing Ted and great to see in what great shape he's in after having back surgery on November 1st. He's a tough cookie to be sure! His wife Debbie stopped in towards the end and it was great catching up with her too. I really like the both of them and I like them together.

I had to leave after that to head out to Avon to teach a community class at 3 Sisters. I had 9 people in class including a couple of kids. I thought the class went well but more importantly since the class is donation based we pulled in $70!! I am really pumped by that.

Saturday morning I took my weekly Saturday class at Cleveland Yoga with my teacher, Marni, headed home, took a shower and headed out to Fitworks again to teach my normal Saturday morning class. After that I went to have lunch with Jenny Eden my yoga mentor and fantastic teacher. Turns out that she is *really* smart too and provided me with some great guidance on what to think about and design as I begin to put my plans together for a non-profit. It helps actually that she tried a business that didn't work out but gave her a lot of hands on experience. So that's cool.

Got home and basically went comatose. I think the combination of Rose's and Marni's class did me in more than I anticipated. Unfortunately I had a couple cups of coffee so I couldn't sleep. Instead of the coffee I should have just taken a nap. In the end though, since I was still pretty awake, I did finish reading The Pleasure Trap by Doug Lisle and Alan Goldhamer.

This book posits that humans activity, all animal activity in fact, is driven by what they call the motivational triad of 1)Seek Pleasure, 2)Avoidance Of Pain and 3) Conservation of Energy. Our moods that we experience as subtle reinforcers of this fundamental motivation. The point of the book is that technology be it the agricultural revolution or the light bulb has created an environment where this motivational triad is working against us and causing us to be sick. The solution they posit is 1)a whole foods, plant based diet, 2) elimination of recreational drugs and/or other chemicals designed to screw with our system including caffeine and alcohol, 3) getting enough sleep defined as 9 hours or to satiety, 4) water fasting to recover to reboot the body and allow it to heal.

Since I was tired, on Sunday I rested. No, I jest. I went to take the aforementioned Jenny Eden's yoga class at Oasis Yoga + Fitness in Solon. After that we both went back to Cleveland Yoga to take Marni's class together. This time did I try taking a nap instead of coffee. Nope. Just went a head and had coffee and watched the Browns game. Two mistakes in one afternoon. Ah well.

Welcome to this week's Tao Te Ching verse. See here for what this is all about. 

Verse 20

Stop thinking and end your problems

What difference between yes and no?

What difference between success and failure?

Must you value what others value,

avoid what others avoid?

How ridiculous!

Other people are excited,

as though they were at a parade.

I alone don't care

I alone am expressionless,

like an infant before it can smile.

Other people have what they need;

I alon possess nothing.

I alone drift about,

like someone without a home.

I am like an idiot, my mind is so empty.

Other people are bright;

I alone am dark.

Other people are sharp;

I alone am dull.

Other people have a purpose;

I alone don't know.

I drift like a wave on the ocean;

I blow as aimless as the wind.

I am different from ordinary people.

I drink from the Great Mother's breasts.