The Christmas Yoga Mat (a really deep and touching holiday story for the whole family)

The photo below is of the yoga mat I’ve been using for the past year or so...or, more specifically, the family Christmas tree, as seen through one of the larger holes in the mat I’ve been using for the past year or so...

 ...whereas this one is my fancy-schmancy so-heavy-it’s-gonna-add-a-whole-new-level-of-athletic-challenge-to-biking-to-yoga-class, ready-to-be-used-by-cockroaches-and-Keith-Richards-after-a-nuclear-war, 85-inch (since, to me, nothing says yoga more than being able to tell the guy next to me "mine’s bigger than yours"), brand new Christmas miracle Manduka mat...under the same tree...

 ...so, needless to say, since this is, of course, one of those ever-so-deep-and-spiritual yoga blogs, there’s a far deeper and more spiritual message here...when you really think about it...with your heart, as well as your mind...about renewal and hope and...um...peace on earth...or something...

...okay, it’s basically a very crass and materialistic kinda modern Christmas story about getting cool new stuff...(kinda like I wrote about here)...

...I’ll try to be more deep and spiritual, next time....for now, oh man, am I psyched about my new yoga mat...

Happy Holidays, y’all...

The Only Kind of Spirituality I Have Any Interest In...

...so...as has been reflected here...I’ve been doing a lot of yoga...and a lot of meditation...and reading a lot about mindfulness...and have been writing about it...which might, in the eyes of some, make me a really spiritual dude...

...anyway, tonight, I went out and got really, really trashed...obnoxiously so, in fact...which, to some, might seem a bit of a contradiction...in fact, I’ve been known to see things that way, myself...walk the walk if you’re gonna talk the talk, as they say...

...truth be told, though, I really never meant to indicate that I’m into into any of this yoga or meditation or mindfulness shit because I’m any more spiritual or peaceful than anyone else....to the contrary it’s because I’m just as...if not more...fucked up as you are...

...and ultimately, this is the only kind of spirituality I have any interest in...the kind that says we’re all struggling...you, me, and the Dalai Lama...and we’re all trying, and we’re all worthy of compassion even as we fuck up...and no matter how many times we fuck up...and that, ultimately, that’s what that namaste thing people say at the end of yoga classes means...in addition to indicating that you can roll up your mat and go home...that we’re all worthy...that anybody’s as holy or sacred as anybody else...no matter what...no exceptions...whatever we believe in...or don’t...and however we might behave at any given time...

...and, with that, namaste to all...

*thanks to my blogger artist friend Ed T. gave me permission to use that Buddha image up there a long time ago*