Words by Candlelight

Actually Scrabble by candlelight. Recognising Earth Hour yesterday evening, my husband and myself lit a circle of candles in our family room, got out the Scrabble board and let the tiles create words. A writer and an editor with lives shaped by words we decided, in honour of the occasion, to have a friendly game so did not keep any scores.

I got off to a good start with ‘regret’, using all but one of my tiles. Later I made ‘ermine’ and ‘boodle’; finally after twice creating two words at once, ended up with just one tile – a C -  worth only one point if we had been playing for real.

We play by fairly strict standards, no slang, abbreviations, proper nouns or foreign words, etc. I have played with friends whose Scrabble dictionary allows many of these and sometimes I wonder about adopting a similar approach. It’s always good to keep a flexible, open mind.

No foreign words on the board,  but dinner was themed Indian. We had salad, spicy lentil dhal (homemade) and crispy papadums. We like the ‘Rabbit’ or Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad brand. This is an organization owned and run solely by women that produces large quantities of papadums on the open market. Papad is often associated with the empowerment of women in India. Many individual and organized businesses are run by women and produce papad, pickles, and other snacks. This provides them regular income from minimal financial investment.

Dessert was those lovely flaky Indian ‘cakes’; pistachio, cardamom flavoured Saon Papdi. We buy our Indian foods and spices from Blue Olive, an eastern restaurant and shop in Dieppe.

Time flew by without us noticing; it was almost 10 pm when we folded up the board. Proving that you do not need anything outside yourself to be entertained and challenged, to use your mind, and learn some new words. Once or twice checking the dictionary I found a word I could not use last night, but will keep tucked away for a future game.

There is something very tranquil and cozy about candlelight; being inside a circle of light but knowing the darkness is not scary or cause for worry. Rather it was like a comforting blanket, velvety and soft.

It made me think we should do this regularly, more often. Not only saving energy, allowing the earth to breathe more easily, but also slowing down ourselves and treasuring quiet times together.

Ele-phantising - Ganesha and other Elephants

Elephants have been padding their way into my heart for several years. Recently a small collection, more by chance than intent, has begun to find a place in our house.

In India a few years ago I was enchanted to see wild elephants  at dawn on a nature reserve and the painted, decorated elephants that take part in ceremonies at temples and at the Palace in Mysore. As a memento I bought one, the small blue, joyful one, second from left in the group. Until I opened my yoga space he remained my only one. Then Ganesha joined us.

Though I have been teaching yoga for many years, the Yoga Space in Moncton was a new place for my students and me.

During a workshop in Fredericton I found my Ganesha in Cultures, the fair trade shop. He sits at the feet of Buddha among the candles during our classes.

The beloved elephant-faced-Deity Ganesha is one of the most popular gods in Hindu mythology. Known as the ‘remover of obstacles’ he is worshipped at the beginning of a new venture or  journey. Endowed with a gentle and affectionate nature he is also a god of wisdom. Images of Ganesha are found in almost every household in India and on the outskirts of villages as a guardian deity.

The sacred texts give a variety of stories about Ganesha's birth. The most regarded says Ganesha was created by Goddess Parvati to guard her when she was annoyed by the refusal of her husband Shiva to respect her privacy while she was bathing. She rubbed sandalwood paste off her body and out of it created a young boy who she called her son and instructed him to watch while she bathed.

All the qualities of the elephant are contained in Ganesha. The elephant is the largest and strongest of animals of the forest, yet he is gentle and, amazingly, a vegetarian, so that he does not kill to eat. He is very affectionate and loyal to his keeper and responds to love and kindness. Ganesha, though a powerful deity, is similarly loving and forgiving and moved by the affection of his devotees.

After Ganesha the other elephants came trumpeting along. The happy one on the far left of the top photo with his mandolin reminded me of the music room at a museum in Mysore. He was found at the Salvation Army. The large carved wooded one at the back of the photo was found at a local flea market. There is a very small drawer for treasures in his side. Later the blue and white elephant stepped off a shelf at Value Village and another visit to Sally Ann found the fellow on the right waiting for me.

Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories and even laugh. They are sensitive too. If a baby complains, the entire family will rumble and go to touch and caress it. They will grieve the loss of a stillborn baby, a family member and often another elephants. When a friend has been away, elephants have greeting ceremonies in welcome.

One of the most informative and moving animal books I’ve read is ‘When Elephants Weep’ by Jeffery Moussaieff Masson. (Another fascinating must-read by Masson is ‘The Emperor’s Embrace’ – about non-human fatherhood and parenting).

Practical items from India include my blue Ganesha yoga tunic, a black tunic with pink elephants and a bolster bag in my favourite colours of blue and purple with bands of batiked elephants.

Closer to home Frenchy’s revealed the lovely embroidered, sequinned small bag and the cotton bag from Thailand with a small brass elephant pendant. Then just yesterday, not specially looking, or needing, anything I saw this amazing scarf. At Frenchy’s prices it would have been foolish to leave it hanging.

Two Loves: Books & Music. Recent reading & listening And Our Chipmunk was Hibernating!

Since as early as I can remember books and music have been not just important, but necessities of life for me.

A book sale sign is an instant attraction, guaranteeing I’ll be occupied for an hour or more and emerge with at least one box filled to overflowing.

Yesterday was a good book day. First at Riverview Library, my nearest and favourite, on the book sale shelves I found ‘Mistresses’ – surely a title hard to resist.  Spanning three centuries of love and lechery, power and wealth, it’s biographical accounts of such seductresses as Lady Hamilton, George Sand, Lola Montez and Eva Braun. All that for just one dollar.

From the Library I also took out Gabriel García Márquez’s ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’. I enjoyed his’ Love in the Time of Cholera’ until near the end, when I found it rather drawn out, but  am interested to read what is regarded as his best work. ’What the Body Remembers’ by Sauna Singh Baldwin, is the story of a young Sikh girl in Northern India in the years before partition. This I’m already well into.

 Then at the Habitat for Humanity Restore with some donations, I found a Robertson Davies I haven’t got on the shelves at home – ‘World of Wonders and a new-to-us Anne Perry, which both my husband and I will enjoy. These two in paperback for another dollar.

Currently I’m also reading ‘Nothing Left Over’, Toinette Lippe’s book about discovering what is essential, and letting go of the rest. In my present focus on de-cluttering, physically and mentally, it resonates. ‘World of the Buddha’ has been bedside for a month or two. It’s not a ‘read through’, rather a study to dip into, make notes, reflect and re-read portions.

Recent good reads included ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’; Anita Rau Badami’s second book, ‘The Hero’s Walk’ about an orphaned Indian-Canadian girl’s adaptation to her Indian grandparents and their country and ‘The Birth of Venus’ , a novel of Medici Florence and a young girl’s desire to use her talent as an artist, which she finally achieves, in a convent.

Another lovely book was ‘An Equal Music’ by Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy) set mainly in London about a chamber music quartet and the ill-fated love of one of the musicians.

When I listen to music I find I focus on periods. Currently I am totally in love with the music of Arvo Pärt, a contemporary Estonian composer.  I first heard his Te Deum some years ago on the car radio and parked on a side street to hear it to its conclusion. A Christmas gift was his ‘Alina’, spare, almost single note music for piano violin and cello that is mystically haunting and meditative. I’ve also been playing John Taverner; ‘The Protecting Veil’ and ’Thrinos’, both for cello my favourite instrument, never fail to move me.

Before that it was weeks of early music; Byrd, Hildegard of Bingen Gregorian chant and masses. I suspect soon I’ll be searching for Bach, Mozart and Haydn. Though chamber music is my best-loved form, last night during during dinner we played Pavarotti’s Rogoletto with Renata Scotto, reminding me what a divine instrument the human voice is.

All this and the joy this morning opening the curtains to see ‘our’ chipmunk scurrying across the snow. I had feared the worst because previous winters he had always been around. He must have known this one was going to be tough and hibernated, bringing me a moment of joy as once again he’s here nibbling the seeds with the doves.

Welcome Waxwings. Bring & Buy at the Yoga Space

A long-time writer and reviewer I consider these notes and thoughts as a weekly column, similar to the ones I’ve written on the arts for weekly newspapers and various magazines.

Writing isn’t as much a significant part of my current life as I'd wish. Each week I teach 10 yoga classes, with varying levels, lengths and needs, including my ‘Warrior Women’ class – Yoga for ladies fighting and surviving breast cancer. Friday is ‘my’ day, which usually means I end up spending several hours planning the following week’s classes, sometimes having a massage or meeting a friend for a chai or hot chocolate if I’m lucky, and there isn’t a snowstorm.

This past week our garden was enlivened by new visitors. Joining the pheasants, mourning doves, chickadees and the squirrel was a flock of waxwings. They may have been Bohemian waxwings, but more probably Cedar waxwings.

They clustered in our cherry tree so I wasn’t able to get a clear photograph, but used one from our bird book. With their beautifully made up mask-like eyes, and tufted crest, like a punk’s gelled spike of hair, they put me in mind of ultra high fashion models, straight off the runways in Paris. All bright and perky they made me smile and feel joyful.

A Yoga studio probably isn’t the first place you think of for a ‘swap shop’ or ‘bring and buy’.   Actually I call mine Blue Lotus Yoga Space; space, an open area where people come to find space for themselves in busy lives, to create space within themselves, where they can breath, stretch, flow, balance, twist, relax and meditate.

For me yoga is so much more than just the postures.  It’s about how we live. I encourage students to take what we do in class off their mats and into their lives. This session we are studying the Yamas and Niyamas, the guidelines we use to create a foundation on which to build and grow a practice. Yamas guide our relationships with others; Niyamas help to organize our inner lives.

One Yama, Aparigraha, is non-possessiveness. Ancient yogis believed “All the things of the world are yours to use, but not to own.”

Today, while agreeing more and more, we think of it in terms of non-attachment, non-greed. Of not accumulating ‘things, of using what is in the world for their intended purpose, without feeling we own them or are owned by them.  This means living simply, possessing only what is necessary. Being satisfied with what you have; not hoarding things for ‘the future’ or that you no longer need. Accumulations can tie you down.

From this I’m inviting students to bring unwanted, not used, small items to our space. If someone sees a possible need, use for or a gift, they ‘buy’ the item by making a donation. I’m committed to take ‘unsold’ items to one or two local charities at the end of this session. After next session we will donate money raised to a similar organization.  It’s a way of de-cluttering, recycling, benefitting others and living your yoga.