Mud Puddles, Unicorns and Drug Busts

Just another fun-filled Earthfest at the Hatch Shell in Boston!  This was the first year I wasn’t the Early Bird, settling in at 10 am for prime real-estate.  This year the honor went to a couple good friends who did an excellent job locating us behind a unicorn balloon, which bobbed and weaved in the breeze like many revelers on the ground.

Of course, those dumb enough to get caught got caught:

Our blanket was the meeting ground for both old friends and new friends, and a few very exciting announcements!  And of course, healthy snacks to share.

The happiest moment was seeing this little guy, plastic spoon in hand, enjoying a perfect day.

Oh — and the music line-up was pretty great too: Shawn Mullins, Seven Mary Three, the Lemonheads and Soul Assylum.  Hello 1994!! 

Adventures on the Commuter Rail

Normally, the commuter rail is a pretty laid back experience, which is why I like it (and trains) in general.  You arrive at the station, get on your train, and a little while later, arrive at your destination.  I love it!  No hassles with traffic or other drivers or your own car or weather.  Simple. Easy.  Painless.

Until last night.

Off the Mat and Into the World

I’ve been practicing yoga for roughly 5 years now.  At first, it was pretty sporadic.  A couple classes here or there in Brooklyn, NY when I thought, foolishly, that I could afford a gym membership.  When I moved to Boston for grad school, they offered an 8-10 week group yoga class.  It got me going again so when I started at HBS full-time, the first thing I did was sign up at the gym and get into their yoga classes.  Since deciding that I want to make a bigger commitment to yoga about a year ago, (a blog post for another day) I’ve been tapping into the larger yoga community to see what others are doing.  There are a ton of great yoga blogs out there and there’s a lot of awesome community work happening.

One of the things I love about these yoga blogs is how people find ways to bring their yoga practice off the mat and into their daily lives.  Now, I haven’t completely bought into all the “hippie speak” that comes with yoga.  And there are those who are much more into the “Mother Earth-loving, tree-hugging, Whole Foods-buying, Vegan-eating, I-Love-My-Juicer, ‘my spine is a flower growing to the light’” type of mentality.  In all honestly, that stuff makes me giggle inappropriately or throw my nasty, sweaty towel at them.  Not very yogic of me, I know.

ANYWAYS, Everything Yoga has an awesome post about bringing yoga to the world, inspired by one of my other favorite blogs, Leo’s Zen Habits.   Diane provides a list of upcoming events that bring yoga to the larger comminity for the benefit of various charities.  Here in Boston, the big one coming up is the Global Mala.  (Fair warning: clicking on the link will bring you to a place of almost overwhelming “hippie speak”.)  Despite my issues with the language, it looks like an amazing event and the 108 sun salutations looks like a ton of fun.  Call me crazy, but it does!      [One of the teachers for Global Mala is Taylor Wells, co-owner of Prana Power Yoga studios, where I practice once or twice and week and hope to get my 200-hour certification.]

There’s a lot to be learned from yoga and yoga practice, and I think taking those practices, principles and lessons to the wider world can only do good.

So I don’t close this post out on the same note as everyone else (meaning no disrespect to Diane, Leo or Ghandi himself) :

“Although the connections are not always obvious, personal change is inseparable from social and political change.” — Harriet Lerner.