yoga for a world out of balance: michael stone

The description:
Every aspect of our life has a part to play in the greater ecological system, Michael Stone explains in this book. How do we bring this large view to our yoga practice? According to Stone, our responsibility as human beings is to live in a sustainable and respectful way. He says two things need to change. First, we need to understand the relationship between our actions and the effects of our actions. Second, once we see the effect of our actions in the human and non-human world, we need practical skills for learning how to make changes.

Using the five principles (yama) described in the Yoga-Sutra attributed to Patanjali, Michael Stone offers a basis for rethinking ethical action and the spiritual path.

My thoughts: I wish I could review this clearly and precisely. My head is too full with the book I am currently reading to go back. Michael Stone is a fantastic author, and if yoga and connecting and relating it to the outside world and environment around you is something that is of interest to you, taking yoga off your mat, then this is a good read.

I have been reading quite a lot of the Lonely Planet Guide to Miami and the Keys because I am going there this week for a week! My cousin Brad and also my Uncle Tom and Aunt Barbara live in Southern Florida and Brad has been trying to get me to come visit for awhile now. I wonder if he was surprised when I finally accepted. I have already planned out a million things I want to do. Too many probably. But even though I wanted to go just to be warm and in the sun, there is so much to do there. I have never been to Miami, or the Keys, or the everglades (except when I was really young I think). I have already made reservations for a canoe trip in the 10,000 island area. And there is snorkeling (not in the everglades) in the Keys and in Biscayne National Park and great restaurants and clubs in Miami and great beaches everywhere. All winter I have been so sick, weak all the time and in pain and going to physical therapy to try to rebuild what some mysterious virus sucked out of me. I can hardly wait to be warm and lazy and adventurous, all things that have been lacking this winter. I also hope to finish more books. I have been going back and forth between three rather long and intense books and it would be nice to finish them up and move on to other things. So here's hoping lazy beach reading will take care of that.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I read this because my sister sent it to me years ago and then Kristina decided to read it for the YA book club. It is a really touching story of boy who doesn't fit in, who doesn't really play an active role in his own life. Then he meets two people who help him open up his world. He never seems quite right or normal. You learn two things later on: that he is exceptionally intelligent, that he was sexually molested by his favorite aunt when he was a small boy, and that he blames himself for her death. The book is written all in letters - a one-way correspondence with a person who is never revealed. Only halfway through the book did I realize that he was actually mailing the letters to this person and never revealed himself or his address to this person. Parts of the book are heartbreaking, some heartwarming, some insights into the depth and sensitivity that come with being a wallflower. This is something I could have related to when I was in high school. Even though I always had friends, I never felt like I really fit in. And I became quite a good observer, listener, and empath. This made me special but also made me walk the line between taking up space in my own life versus only existing within a limited version of what everyone around me needed. I still struggle with this to this day. I liked this book because I understood it and related to it.