The Yoga of Gardening

I've been making a big push to get the rest of my gardening done before the "official" start of summer, which is right about now, so haven't had much time for blogging. But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing yoga! 

On Saturday when I was getting the last of my vegetables and flowers planted, I did many (many) rounds of uttanasana (forward bend, literally translated as intense stretch--which it is!) and malasana (garland pose or squat, although mine was not quite perfect form since I was often holding a spade in one hand and a plant in the other).

The next day I spent a lot of time in backbends, a perfect counter-pose for all that forward folding my garden required. And today I went out and took some photos to share with all of you. Here they are:

Small tomatoes have already appeared!

Kohlrabi I planted as seed last November.

Beets, cabbage, onions and cucumbers!

Turnip!

Peas growing among the roses.

The garden on the threshold of June.

Jaya Jagadambe! Happy Mother's Day

Wah! leads us in a Mother's Day chant, Jaya Jagadambe Jai Jai Ma, at Omega's Spring Ecstatic Chant this past weekend. There are many names for the Divine Mother--Durge, Kali, Saraswati--but my favorite is Jagadambe, the Mother of the Universe.


Jai Ma! And Happy Mother's Day...a little belatedly.

Ecstatic Chant

Tomorrow, I head off for a trip to upstate New York, where I'll be attending the Spring Ecstatic Chant at the Omega Institute. As a Kirtan enthusiast, I'm very excited about this event, which features a rotating array of different chant leaders throughout the weekend. 

I attended the spring Chant last year and it was, in fact, my first actual Kirtan experience--and, as it turned out, a very powerful experience indeed. I had just completed a five-day workshop with David and Mira Newman designed to teach participants how to lead Kirtan, and the combination of the aptly-named Ecstatic Chant weekend and their excellent instruction launched me into a year in which I've now organized and started a Kirtan group at my yoga studio.

While I totally love leading Kirtan, I have to admit that it will be really nice to be just a member of the chorus for awhile. I tend to get swept away by some of the chants we have been doing, which occasionally makes my keyboard-playing, well, shall we say, "interesting"? So, I'm looking forward to being able to fully throw myself to the chant and not have to worry about whether my fingers are on the right part of the keyboard, which chant to lead next, or anything at all for awhile.

If I'm not totally in ecstasy all weekend, I will try to record a few videos to upload and share later. And, now: off to pack! 

Namaste