Karma of a Dog

The dog is out rolling in the grass and the sunshine. Oh, and hacking up balls of grass she's eaten. She is so happy. I went out to take a picture of her and to look at the buds on the rose bushes, and the air smells strongly of orange and tangerine blossoms. Gorgeous. Well, not so much for The Cop. He got home from work late this morning, at 9AM, and headed off to sleep. As I drove off to led class, I noticed contractors pulling in at the next door neighbors' house. They're putting in double-paned windows.

So practice is done, I've come home and am eating my lunch, and the contractors are hammering. As far as I can tell, the installation of double-paned windows involves about seven hundred thousand hammer hits per half inch of window frame. And much loud discussion. The Cop appears in the livingroom, looking very tired and very annoyed. I tell him he should sleep in the guest room, which is a little quieter, and get him a blanket. He opens the front door and looks out threateningly (well, as threateningly as one can look while clutching a pillow), then thinks better of his homicidal plans and just sacks out in the guest room.

So now the dog is out rolling the grass, seemingly oblivious to the merry endless hammering. And The Cop sleeps. I hope.

Led class was good for all the usual reasons: a chance to see some friends (Chanting Man and his daughter, The Cat, were there, and The Other Dave, and Returning Guy), and a chance to practice in unbelievable heat.

Perhaps it is the return of summer, perhaps the ambient temperature is higher to begin with, perhaps there were more people than usual--but dang! it was hot. Hot as in having to bend over after poses to keep from blacking out. Or maybe that was just me. Nah, I saw The Other Dave "taking a moment" a few times. I could feel my heart beating really fast. It was weird, too, because I was keeping my breathing slow and even, and underneath that, there was my heart, racing.

There were two new people to my left. New as in new to Ashtanga. I find this very distracting, because I feel responsible to be a good role model. Dorky, I know. But I do much better practicing with people with more experience than I. Then everyone just keeps their driste and goes about their business. Today I felt like I was being watched. LOL! Good luck to them, if they're taking their cues from me! I guess that's just their karma.

Speaking of which, it seems that many people around me are wrestling with personal life karma. Yoga folks, work folks--lots of questioning and emotion and upheaval. If I prayed, I'd pray for them, but I don't. Of course, everyone will get exactly where they need to be, and even if things are awful now, there will come a day when life seems terrific again. At least the yoga folks know that there are days when practice stinks and days when it is transcendent--you just have to keep going along and accept that things will always change. Eventually the hammering will stop, eventually things will sort themselves out--and in the meantime, you just breathe. Unless you are a dog, of course, because if you are a dog, you just roll around in the grass and enjoy some sun. There is a famous koan: "Does a dog have Buddha nature?"