Being a Lady: A Home Practice: Wailea, Hi: September 19, 2020

“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.”—RBG

Hanging out poolside with Star and RBG feels pretty great.

My asana practice this morning was all about moving my joints. Usually, on a physical level, I play in the realm of the bones and muscles. But it's the joints that allow our bodies ease in movement.

And it's our minds that make or break our freedom.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg died last night. She fought for my freedom in ways I can't even begin to think myself capable of, and for her I am beyond grateful. And I'm learning gratitude-true, earthshaking, change-your-world gratitude-isn't sentimental or passive, just like my joints won't help me much if I don't move them often. These things work in earnest only when put to good use.

And you know what? I am capable of that. I am completely and unquestionably capable of moving my body, my heart and my life in ways to promote freedom for all.

Moving my joints this morning took paths of circular motion, rocking in ways I don't frequently traverse, plank circles, wheel rocking, wrist stretches, windshield wipers rolling over my fists. Fascia, the web of connective tissue in our bodies, is said to hold our consciousness as well as our joints, ligaments, and muscles. This sarah-ann style tissue responds well to these exercises, liquifies and releases deep physical and emotional holds. Our spiritual path unwinds similarly; .rarely does it roll out in a straight line.

I've made the break from Reno. I’m in Maui now. I've been trying to live in Hawaii since I was eighteen years old, and as my eyes look into a mere nine months into the future, I'll be 60. Sixty. It's not lost on me the gestation period of a human baby is 9 months. Birth and death are weaving closer together for me with each passing month in this covid world. My heart begs to be still, solid, steadfast like Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and my pledge this morning, while basking in the clarity of a hard won savasana following a hard move from Nevada and a practice which revealed greater access to mobility in my joints and my heart, is to use this freedom to join in the fight for justice for all.

This isn’t easy to do and it’s not somthing I like to admit in open space because, frankly, I”m a little embarrassed about it. In my own marriage, I’ve become acutely aware of an inequality. And in my own way I’ve been fighting for justice. The covid pandemic, the riots, the election and now the death of RBG takes it all up a notch. Until this moment, right now, and unlike RBG, it’s looked unladylike for the most part; I cry, I rant, I scream obscenities, I hide under bed blankets in shame. Awareness of my personal plight isn’t enough. A willingness to break a long line of ancestral silence won’t move the needle much. Skilled action is required. A desire to make my resolve for justice both person and collective is demanded. And I can’t imagine anyone better to model the way than Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Health, Love, and Rock and Roll