Mindful Balance

I just had a really wonderful weekend, and the best thing was how many different kinds of activities I got to do.  It was the perfect balance of solitude and social activity; friends, family and strangers; work, play and spiritual practice.

Saturday I woke up early and did yoga.  I've re-discovered yoga in the last month or so, after my friend Laura Beth led a wonderful yoga class daily on Star Island the last week in August.  Since then, I've gone to a few classes at Seaons of Yoga in downtown Haverhill, which were fine but not exactly what I'm looking for.  One thing about moving here from New York is that in certain areas o my life I didn't know how good I had it.  The first yoga classes I ever took were at the Integral Yoga studio in the West Village.  I went there because it was not far from my job at NYU, not because it's one of the best yoga studios, like, anywhere.  But it turns out, it is.  It is not as westernized as most American yoga studios.  When I first took a class there, I was a little intimidated and wierded out by the chanting that opens and closes the class, but I came to really love that part.  Now, going to classes here, I miss that spiritual core of the class. 

So I've been practicing yoga at home while I research other places that might have what I'm looking for.  And the nice thing about that is that I can make up my own practice, take as long or short as I want (or have time for), and don't have to feel self-conscious when I have trouble with some of the asanas.  In fact, I find the balance poses easier at home, probably because I'm not worrying so much about what I look like.

I also worked at the yarn store on Saturday, and it was the perfect kind of day in my book: not many customers, but the ones that came in mostly bought a lot.  In my spare time there I started dreaming up shop samples and started a hat in the super-soft Frog Tree Merino.  I hope they'll let me make a scarf and mittens to match.

Sunday was church work.  One of the nice things about my job is that I do get to go to the worship services, and I like the services at Arlington Street very much.  My job title is Membership and Leadership Coordinator, and one of the things that the minister, Kim, and I have been working on is trying to change the culture of the church to be more welcoming.  Her sermon this Sunday was called "A Conspiracy of Welcome," and she talked about how challenging it can be for us New Englanders to be warm and friendly.  How just saying hello to a stranger has become a radical act.  Full text of her sermon is here.  I means a lot to me to have these messages coming from the pulpit, so that I don't have to try to convince everyone by myself that hospitality is a spiritual practice.

Monday I did a full hour of yoga and then met up with a fellow blogger, The FemiKnit Mafia, who is very cool.  We seem to have a lot in common and I look forward to hanging with her again.  Thank god(dess) for other women who will own the term feminist!  I've been missing having friends and, oh, a social life since I moved away from my NYC life, so this was a very good thing.

And later that day I got to take my sister wedding dress shopping, with her best friend.  Yet again I'm reminded how lucky I am that I actually like my family.

There were lots of other good things about my weekend (getting things done around the house, knitting, sleeping, discovering My Name is Earl which is the funniest show I've seen in a very, very long time), but enough is enough...

Comments

[Jeanine]

Hi there Alison,

You've been on my mind lately and just wanted to drop you a quick note hello. I also have recently taken up yoga and am loving it. BTW, I enjoy watching My Name is Earl.

[Karola]

Alison,
the sermon was lovely.. I truly enjoyed it and it gave me insite that i didn't have before and knowledge.. it made me feel good too:-) thank you :-) thank her! and lots of hugs from a soggy new york city :-) karola

[julia fc]

I'll take your word for it on the Earl thing. I was curious.
On Sunday in Newburyport, the sermon was delivered by a guest,Charles Stevens from Nebraska, and it was about the importance now of being a Liberal Religious Minister
http://www.frsuu.org/o-sermon-stephen.htm
And I loved every minute of it, almost ready to apply to Harvard Div when he was done. But in front of me on old timer turned around at the end of the service and harumphed about it. He should remember, she said, that some of us AREN'T liberals. And she totally missed the point about tolerance and community and hearing many voices in the conversation. (and of course I coudln't help wonder if she ever listened), but I am just asaying, that it IS good to hear it from someone who is a leader. That's why I'm there as a follower.

[Alison G. W.]

Julia, yeah, I think she did miss the point. Much of what he's talking about is about being a religious liberal, which is not necessarily the same as being politically liberal. And she must not have been paying attention when he said that there is no UU dogma against the war or anything, but that we have freedom of the pulpit and it's important for UU ministers to preach what they believe.

Anyway... glad you had such a great church experience.