http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1983/isep83/gany1.shtml

Mahatma Gandhi was a karma yogi who tried to put into practice various yama and niyama. He tried to follow the path of truth, non-violence, self-restraint, brahmacharya, etc.

The following ten rules (1) guided him through life:

1. Truth.
2. Ahimsa (non-violence).
3. Brahmacharya (chastity).
4. Restraint of palate, which he elaborated as eating for the mere sustenance of the body, abstaining from intoxicating drinks and drugs such as opium and tobacco.
5. Abstaining from the possession of things for themselves.
6. Adherence to life’s law that one’s bread must be earned by the sweat of one’s brow.
7. Swedeshi, the belief that man’s primary duty is to serve.
8. Belief in the equality of mankind.
9. Belief in the equality of all the great faiths of the world.
10. Fearlessness.

http://theumlaut.com/2013/05/07/how-commerce-expands-culture/

“Take our friend Beethoven. His stellar musical rise was fueled by the productive powers of capitalism. The commercialization of the printing press allowed the Maestro to sell sheet music directly to middle class families and make a cozy artistic freelance living. Businessmen eager to peddle instruments to a growing middle class improved production and lowered the costs of owning a family piano, which drove demand for the sheet music that allowed classical composers to live free from the bondage of patronage. The rise of a wealthy merchant class allowed composers to work for private grants and performances, freed from the strictures of stuffy state and religious taste. Classical composers’ growing roles as businessmen in the developing music market allowed them unprecedented degrees of artistic freedom.”

“Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Some profound thoughts from Pattabhi Jois via Victoria’s blog:

“Since his first arrival in Mysore he went through exceeding difficulties. He knew neither friends nor relatives in the town, and was forced to beg for food during his first few years of staying there.”

“ ..the primary steps are first to cleanse the body of its physical imbalances.”

“what all practitioners seem to have in common is the love for their practice and the embodiment of greater health and well being that seem to shine vibrantly through their skin and eyes and manifest clearly on their faces.”

“Pattabhi Jois urges his students to pay more attention to this inner receptivity of ‘being” in matters of diet, health, nutrition, etc. “Find out what works for you,” he says. ”

“The significant feature of these simple exercises is that people certainly improve their health and well being, but also seem to find a new approach to life which involves a greater receptivity to something internally profound.”

“The practice takes time,” he repeatedly claims, but says further: “When you experience it for yourself you will come to know that it is real.”

How has Pattabhi Jois directly or indirectly influenced you in your practice?

How do you get started on a creative project? One way is to wait until inspiration arrives. But who knows when that flash will come? A better way is to get into the habit of working!

Carve out a little time each day, maybe bright and early before your “real” day begins, and get in the habit of working on your scrapbooking, your novel or your home business at the same time each day, five days a week (or six or seven!).

There are three important reasons to institute a morning creativity practice.

1. The first reason is the obvious one—you’ll be getting a lot of creative work done! Even if only a percentage of what you do pleases you, by virtue of working regularly you’ll start to create a body of work. That’ll feel good!
2. A second reason is that you get to make use of your “sleep thinking”—you get to make use of whatever your brain has been thinking about all night. Create first thing and capture those thoughts that have been percolating all night!
3. The third reason is that, by creating first thing, you’ll have the experience of making some meaning on that day and the rest of the day can be half-meaningless and you won’t get depressed! Getting right to your creative work first thing each day will provide you with a sense of meaningfulness!

You can wait for inspiration or you can institute a morning creativity practice. Instituting that practice is the much better bet!

Via Dr. Eric Maisel and Entheos.com

http://theconfluencecountdown.com/2011/12/15/studies-support-gurujis-claim-no-coffee-no-prana/

“No coffee, no prana,” Guruji used to say.

“Tim Miller tells great stories about being just wiped out after practicing in the early days in Mysore, lying down for 10 or 15 or 20 minutes in Savasana until Guruji’s wife, Amma, would stick her head into the room and quietly ask, “Tim? OK? Coffee, Tim?”

Why Leaving a Book Half-Read is So Hard:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323469804578525354146879558.html

“It goes against how we’re built,” says Matthew Wilhelm, a clinical psychologist with Kaiser Permanente in Union City, Calif. “There is a tendency for us to perceive objects as ‘finished’ or ‘whole’ even though they may not be. This motivation is very powerful and helps to explain anxiety around unfinished activities.”

“Readers age 16 and older average 17 books a year, according to Pew Research Center data, with the median around 8. Ms. Ginder used to read an average amount. But using her new approach to reading, she says she is up to 31 books a year. She has about 10 books ready to begin on her shelf or Kindle at any time. When she drops one, she simply pulls up another in seconds.”

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672655/designers-learn-to-code-heres-how-to-

“WHEN YOU START EXPERIMENTING WITH CODE, YOU FIND THAT THE NEW TOOL HELPS YOU DO YOUR JOB BETTER. JUST THINK OF IT LIKE GETTING PUNCHED IN THE FACE FOR THE FIRST TIME–ONCE IT HAPPENS, YOU REALIZE IT’S NOT THAT BAD.”

“I’ve done this longer than any professional project I can remember, and I still consider it a joy and a privilege. I write and edit every word myself, and always have. This is me, unvarnished.

Thank you for letting me write this blog for you, and thank you for being along for the ride.

Showing up daily isn’t my challenge–it’s learning to live with the fact that I can’t say everything I want in a single post, that the trade-off of reaching people easily is that you can also lose people easily. It’s a journey, for both of us, and I’m thrilled to be taking it with you.

Here’s how I was thinking about this 3,650 days ago. And a few posts about the arc of my blog.

You can find a ton of favorites, including videos, here.

I asked my colleague, Bernadette Jiwa to nominate five other posts that have really stood out over the years:

Five years from now…

Ode: How to tell a great story

Make something happen

I spread your idea because…

Reject the tyranny of being picked: pick yourself

My biggest surprise? That more people aren’t doing this. Not just every college professor (particularly those in the humanities and business), but everyone hoping to shape opinions or spread ideas. Entrepreneurs. Senior VPs. People who work in non-profits. Frustrated poets and unknown musicians… Don’t do it because it’s your job, do it because you can.

The selfishness of the industrial age (scarcity being the thing we built demand upon, and the short-term exchange of value being the measurement) has led many people to question the value of giving away content, daily, for a decade or more. And yet… I’ve never once met a successful blogger who questioned the personal value of what she did.

For me, the privilege is sharing what I notice, without the pressure of having to nail it every time… I treasure the ability to say, “this might not work.”

While it’s tempting to swing for the fences and hit a grand slam, particularly on post 5,000, I’m going to resist, as I try to resist every day. Drip, drip, drip.

Are you soaked yet?

PS There are two inexpensive collections of my best blog posts, which some readers find a good way to catch up.

They’re not instantly searchable, but neither do they require an internet connection.

PPS My email box is now officially broken, and I’m just no longer go to be able to answer all of my incoming email. This is the curse of asymmetry, and I apologize for not being able to keep up.

*If every one of my posts was a dollar bill and you stacked them in bundles, they’d be about 24 inches tall. Hmmm. Let me try to be more hyperbolic… That’s a post for every floor in the Empire State Building. Fifty times.”