I am late on the Etsy train but with the price of silver being so high lately and no trips to Mexico planned I needed another option to re-populate my bangle collection. These are coming from Greece - no doubt the price is right there.
Confused by artwork? Check out these tips from Bliss.
All artwork should be centered at eye level for best placement. A good rule of them is between 66" & 72" from the floor. Consider the scale of your room and furniture.
Monday, September 7, 2015
The Practice That Unites
by Jessica Dinisco
She looks at me with her nose slightly wrinkled and a sound of disgust in her tone. "You actually choose to step into a humid, smelly, room filled with people whose sweaty skin is less than a foot away from your own?" To someone who may be observing, this may seem a bit odd. "Yeah", I respond, "Me, and all the other students in the room actually pay for that stuff." I smile confidently knowing that if she had any idea of how good it felt to leave that yoga room she would understand.
Yeah, the benefits of yoga are intuitively known among us all. It can give us increased strength, flexibility, and concentration. Really though, how can we tolerate to sit beside someone and actually honor the light in them when they practically thrust themselves into our personal space?
Of course science has an explanation. After practicing yoga, a chemical called oxytocin is released.
This amazes me. Oxytocin is the same chemical that is released from a mother after giving birth to a newborn. It's also the same chemical released after partners have been intimate and are falling in love. It's the connection chemical, or, the building trust chemical. It increases self- esteem and feelings of optimism. We all had a hunch of sorts that something on a subtle level was going on for us all, but really, the mother- infant bonding chemical?
So what does this all mean for us? Well, I can tell you what I see. Every person that walks into a yoga room looks different. I wear button up sweater vests to work everyday and my yogi sisters get to wear the latest on the Lulu line. I work with psychiatric patients. The student sweating besides me works with kindergarten students.
For a moment, I imagine a patch of flowers budding at different rates, reflecting different colors, and facing different directions. All of this difference creates a mosaic making some beautiful whole. The closer we look at the details, it all looks so separate-- but the forest through the trees shows a masterpiece of connection. Our differences gluing together and BAM! There is community.
We are all hard wired for connection. Theories on attachment, vulnerability, sociology, and psychiatry can all support this. In a sense, community is what sustains us. Each one of us comes together and forms a whole. Individually we are beautiful. As a community we are powerful.
Despite the differences that may manifest when our varying lights are shining, it's when all that falls away we can see that what sustains us from the inside is all the same. It's our breath, our faith, and our aspiration to accept every moment. To accept ourselves, just as we are, and know, that we belong.
"What would you do if you had a million dollars, Jess?"
"Well, I'd probably start with buying a bunch of books."
To no surprise, they all laugh and roll their eyes.
"Of course you would. I would start by hitting up Best Buy."
It all looks so different, but when we flow we find ourselves in sync with the other's Vinyasa. When the familiar sound of Krishna Das plays overhead, the room fills with simultaneous chanting. The sea of individual OMs form together in a musical melody shaking the walls of a four- story house. Yes, this is community. And what is yoga without community? What is life without community?
Whatever it is that has occurred in my day before my mat lands on the floor, I know I'm supported. Supported by the flow, my breath, and by my yoga family. With the help of a little oxytocin, our love, dedication, and strength has the potential to form a universal community. Bringing us all a little closer to peace
