Advice from a Yogi (Not the Bear)
Jeff Davis wrote this book about how particular practices and philosophies of yoga can benefit the writer. I bought it at a library book sale (I should have been at home writing) and then read through most of it (I should have been writing) and jotted down a few notes (which I count as writing).
- On page 85, Davis tells about advice that Rainer Marie Rilke received from Rodin: Stop thinking in the abstract and work with your eyes, learn from your eyes.
- Page 85, Rilke’s response: Somehow I, too, must come to make things; not plastic, but written things - realities that emerge from handwork.
- Page 87: It’s easy to bemoan this world of things, more challenging to praise it.
- Page 89: Giving your attention for several minutes, hours even, to coffee grains or worn-out socks rather than to “big” ideas like global warming or economics sends your ego and mind a message: “Be small.” The ego can quiet down as it stops trying to figure out things and instead appreciates and receives a thing.
- Page 39:So to render universals, being with particulars.
Writing and yoga. A match made in samadhi.


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