Fasting
Yesterday, Rachel at Suburban Yogini wrote a post about ritual. Not sure if she knew that she was writing the post on the day that, after sundown, Yom Kippur begins. While I wouldn't say I practice Judaism (I would call myself a secular or humanistic Jew), I love the Jewish community. So you won't see me there all that often, but sometimes I'll make my way over to the temple for a little community time.
Last night, I went to services with my friend Dara. They were long (three hours... the first half standing!), but I am glad I went. There aren't other opportunities in my life to sing in a large group, and although I surely pronounced everything wrong, my favorite bit was all of the group singing. Per Rachel's post, I also really found myself getting into the ritual of it. There is something about performing the same movements, words, and, yes, prayers that people have been doing for so very long. The connection to history helps, for me, to collapse time and see less delineation between "then" and "now." Because, yogi knows, it's all now.
Today I'm fasting. I haven't, in all honestly, actually figured out why. The best guess is my competitive nature ("well, this whole room of people is fasting, I bet I can, too!"). The second reason would be because it's probably good for the old digestive system to get a bit of a break from the heavy lifting I make it do every day. So far, it's been interesting to notice my attachment to food. How with just the knowledge that I am not eating it, I want it all the more. I know that with all likelihood nothing bad is going to happen to me from 24 hours without food, but I feel the fear creeping up anyway. I know there are people out there who go so much longer without, but they probably don't have the same attachment issues I do!
I said to Dara last night (when I didn't think I would be fasting): "I don't understand why I would fast. They say to do it so you can focus on G-d, but all I do is think about food." Well, I'm not thinking a whole lot about spirit, but I am thinking about needs, what they are, and why they are there. Are they necessary?
Because I am not eating, no heavy practice today. Meditation sounds just about right. Here is a website that I recently came across. I especially like the page on "Meditation Posture." Learned something new. Here's to learning something new about myself, too.
Last night, I went to services with my friend Dara. They were long (three hours... the first half standing!), but I am glad I went. There aren't other opportunities in my life to sing in a large group, and although I surely pronounced everything wrong, my favorite bit was all of the group singing. Per Rachel's post, I also really found myself getting into the ritual of it. There is something about performing the same movements, words, and, yes, prayers that people have been doing for so very long. The connection to history helps, for me, to collapse time and see less delineation between "then" and "now." Because, yogi knows, it's all now.
Today I'm fasting. I haven't, in all honestly, actually figured out why. The best guess is my competitive nature ("well, this whole room of people is fasting, I bet I can, too!"). The second reason would be because it's probably good for the old digestive system to get a bit of a break from the heavy lifting I make it do every day. So far, it's been interesting to notice my attachment to food. How with just the knowledge that I am not eating it, I want it all the more. I know that with all likelihood nothing bad is going to happen to me from 24 hours without food, but I feel the fear creeping up anyway. I know there are people out there who go so much longer without, but they probably don't have the same attachment issues I do!
I said to Dara last night (when I didn't think I would be fasting): "I don't understand why I would fast. They say to do it so you can focus on G-d, but all I do is think about food." Well, I'm not thinking a whole lot about spirit, but I am thinking about needs, what they are, and why they are there. Are they necessary?
Because I am not eating, no heavy practice today. Meditation sounds just about right. Here is a website that I recently came across. I especially like the page on "Meditation Posture." Learned something new. Here's to learning something new about myself, too.
