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Why is it difficult to practice? We face a lot of pressure in this world to go fast, and we’ve become very complicated. We have to make our minds simple, present, attentive. If we don’t make our minds simple, it’s very difficult to pay attention to what we’re doing.

I read about an experiment that was done on dogs. I hesitate to talk about it because we want to protect animals from research, but it leads to an interesting point you may have discovered in your own practice. They kept young dogs in cages until they were very, very hungry, then put some food on one end of a special cage. Between the dogs and the food was a metal grid. When the dogs tried to reach the food they received a fairly strong electrical shock. After a couple of times the dogs would not cross the grid even when there was no electricity. Even if the dogs were starving they wouldn’t try it, and they would jump off if the researchers put them on the grid.

Then the researchers went a step further and found the only way to get rid of that conditioning was to hold the dogs on the grid when there was no shock. The dogs didn’t learn very quickly. Each dog went through everything it went through when it was shocked – trembling, screeching, urinating, completely losing control. But after it had gone through this whole reaction the dog would realize there was no more shock, and then it could cross the grid.

This has relevance to us because our karmic conditioning is the same. We’ve conditioned ourselves to react to certain situations. To get free of that conditioning we have to put ourselves into the situation and stay there while we go through all the trembling and sweating and urination in our pants, until we realize there is no shock in the grid. Nothing is really going on there. In my experience the tendrils of karma are very deep. Dharma Master Ji Kwang Dae Poep Sa Nim says, “Your karma seems really heavy. But when you finally take it off, it’s just like a thin piece of paper.” You have to be willing to practice with your whole body and mind to digest it, to de-condition it, and to see very clearly what is there and what isn’t there. Then even a shock won’t affect you.

– Zen Master Dae Bong

[My Gift grew up answering the question "What would Dae Bong do?" Hilarious when applied to schoolyard dramas and high school hijinks. Still, it's never steered us wrong.]

Words of wisdom. Not mine, of course

Here is the basic prescription for any question: Open the hips, then the back. Heal the knees (by opening the hips, then the back). If you want to do the next pose, perfect all the previous ones. If you want to start Second Series, deepen the backbends. If you want to do Third Series, don’t. You probably shouldn’t. If you are frequently injured or miss practices, scale back or do primary only until the inconsistency is all gone for a long time. Never, ever skip practice. And implicitly: don’t feel sorry for yourself, work hard, give thanks to your teachers, breathe deep, defer to SKPJ in all things, and make offerings to Ganesh.

Or, as Soen Sa Nim said (before Nike ever thought of it): Just do it!

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Fun with the dehydrator! Right now on my desk, there’s a little zip-lock bag of dried salted kale leaves and crispy turnip chips, and a bag of dried apple rings and pineapple wedges. All very yummy. But I’ll tell you what: I consider the dehydrator worth its price and the amount of space it takes up (kind of a lot), just for the unbelievable deliciousness of raw flax crackers.

I’ve always had little tea splatters under my desk from tossing my tea bags into the waste basket. Now there’re a few flax seeds under there, too. I’m pretty convinced a human could live happily on flax crackers and tea. The Cop will definitely disagree on this. He is amused by the dehydrator, particularly when I tell him I can use it to squirrel away food for the coming apocalypse (he’s always ready for that eventuality).

Yup, we’ll be set for the apocalypse. Guns and ammo? Check! Large, protective dog? Check! Dried food? Check! Ice dancing routine? Check!

So I look over last night and all I can think is, “God, I have to make him some pants.”

Cop, approaching me: “I’m going to put my hands under your armpits and lift you up…”

Me: “Huh? Why?”

Cop, with his hands under my arms: “One! Two! Three!”

Me, getting heavy so he can’t lift me up: “What are you doing?!”

Cop: “You jump and I’ll catch you up over my head. It’ll be fun. One… two…”

Me: “No! I don’t want to!”

Cop, disappointed: “Why not? It’s like ice dancing. What’s the worst thing that can happen?”

Me, nodding toward a 7 foot tall bookshelf made of 95% glass and 5% metal: “I don’t want to fall on that. We’re not trained to do this!”

Cop, setting up to throw: “If anything goes wrong, I’ll throw you toward the bed. One… two.. three!”

Me, up in the air over his head, having made the jump: {screaming sound}

Cop, putting me down: “See? Like ice dancing.”

As noted in the past, when The Cop is at work, I cook things that I love but which horrify him.

Today I’m making Crispy Kale! It’s as yummy as potato chips (I have a potato chip problem…).

Crispy Kale

A bunch of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces and tough stems removed
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Rinse and salad spin the kale. Use a towel to blot any extra water on the leaves. Place the kale on the baking sheet.

3. Drizzle olive oil over the kale leaves and use your hands to toss and coat the leaves. Bake in the oven for 12-20 minutes until leaves are crisp. Check the kale at the 12 minute mark. If the leaves are paper-thin crackly, it’s done. If the leaves are still a bit soft, leave them in for another 2 minutes. Do not let the leaves turn brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt and serve.

Dana: I suspect that, much like the last post, you may be disappointed with this.

I’d been thinking a bit about where to do a yoga vacation in 2010, and suddenly it dawned on me. There’s an authorized teacher right here in Arizona! Duh! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner.

I sent Lisa an email, asking if it’d be okay for me to visit for a couple of weeks in April & she replied that that would be fine. I figure I’ll go to Mysore practice, and then perhaps book a private class or two while I’m there.

The best part of this is that The Cop wants to come along. Usually I’m on my own for yoga vacations, so this is terrific news! There’s great mountain biking in Tucson for him, so we’ll pack up Waylon, the Manduka, and his mountain bike and spend two weeks in a vacation rental.

Now I just need to find a place to rent. I’ve been looking at a few websites and they have increeeeedibly slooooooow servers. Gah! I hate going slow on the information superhighway! Still, this is a pretty good problem to have.