Tuesday, July 22, 2008

What the hell kinda yogi writes blog posts at three twenty-nine in the morning?

Telephone’s ringing, but I don’t answer it
cause everybody knows that good news always sleeps till noon.
The Cowboy Junkies

The truth is, I’d have nothing against morning people if more of them would simply acknowledge that they are morning people, as opposed to people who are livin’ right, unlike you lazy deviants still in bed. Yeah, we’ve all heard the old Ben Franklin, “early to bed” thing, and, of course, when people like Ray Charles and Wilson Pickett sing “the night time is the right time” and “gonna do all the things I told ya in the midnight hour,” religious leaders of all stripes can reply quite smugly “yes, and that’s exactly the problem.” The American attitude toward sleeping-in has always tended to combine traditional Christian attitudes toward sin with more practical concerns about lowering productivity in a capitalist economy.

And yet, when you get into that "alternative spirituality" thing, even among the mellowest of alternative spiritual types, you tend to find said people getting up even earlier. Seriously, we're talkin' Zen freaks getting up to meditate before the bars close...and B.K.S. Iyengar, "the pope of yoga," says yoga should be practiced early in the morning since that’s when the mind is clearest and body loosest. Dare those of us born under the sign of Charlie the Three Toed Sloth, as we drag our sorry selves out of bed, so stiff and fuzzy-headed that making that oh-so-necessary first pot of coffee seems as difficult and complicated a process as enriching uranium, say "speak for yourself, buddy?"

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Steven Wright

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

First of all, look at when this comment was posted.

I think that part of the thing about getting up early is being woken up, shaken out of your dreams like a bag of loose bones. Sleep is an old pair of shoes that slides off nicely (or some such thing), be it 4AM or 12AM.

Zen for example might force the psychic crisis caused by loss of REM sleep.

Lastly, you won't have to brew coffee as enriching uranium if you get some Radium water (mmmm): http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbeat-news/10-radioactive-products-that-people-actually-used/1388

Charles said...

Yes. Early birds catches the worm. And if you develop a keen sense of responsibility to achieve your goals.

Early morning is definitely the right time.

Thank you
Money Making and Blogging Tips
Charles
resourcesandmoney.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Oh thank you! I am so not a morning person....I often suffer from insomnia and when I finally fall asleep, it's 3:30 am, like last night....

I have always been told, but you waste the whole day! I'd be wasting more of the day if I got up and was to exhausted to think or function....

I like yoga at night...it is relaxing and helps me fall asleep....

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Great post! I think it all comes down to the time of day you were born. I am a night person myself and hang onto the sheet for dear life in the morning. :D The only thing that will get me up early is a good sunrise...or the smell of chocolate. :D Jeff sometimes places a piece of candy by my nose to see if that will rouse me.

JJ

Anonymous said...

I have a morning biological clock, but I still doubted my ability to function and be in Yoga classes at 5 or 6 a.m. while I was in India.

Anonymous said...

Great post! you made interesting post! i love yoga. Yoga began in India 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit language and means, to join or integrate, or simply union. Yoga started, as far as we know, as part of India's philosophical system, but not everyone practiced yoga, and it has never been a religion.

Kat Mortensen said...

Yup! I'm definitely going to like it here!
Steven Wright? and wonder of wonders: The Cowboy Junkies!!!

Kat (your new Canadian fan)

Kari said...

I am so not a morning person! It's just wrong to me. Thanks for the Steven Wright- I'm still laughing about that!

Lana Gramlich said...

That photo's phenomenal!

MYM said...

I'm learning so much. You're changing all my nasty stereotypes of yoga folks.

As you know ... from our many AM conversations ... I'm not a morning person. Unless your talking 3 or 4 am and I haven't gone to bed yet, then ya, I'm a morning person. :)

Anonymous said...

LOL! I resemble this post...
Its true that yoga and meditation are definitely better practised in the early mornings, before most people have stirred, in the utter stillness of pre-dawn.That doesn't mean they can't be practised at other times however!
But believe it or not, its not true in my experience, that all yogi types *like* getting up at sparrow's fart o'clock. And there are definitely others who despise waking up early.
Some clever folk have a sort of internal alarm that allows them to wake up early without fail. And I envy that.
For I'm the kind of yogi that loves to get up early, but I find it very challenging. If I'm to be out of bed by 4am, then I need to be in bed a good 8 or 9 hours earlier. Going to bed early = easy early rise. Going to bed late = hate every moment of it!
Within my school - or kula - are all of the above mentioned types.
I chuckle at the memeory of one of my beloved kula mates, who managed to look half asleep every single morning of our recent four week retreat!
Endearingly, he would announce how sleepy he was most unabashedly as we brushed our teeth in the dark, readying ourselves for the morning's meditation.
The key is, I think, knowing how you are and not trying to pretend otherwise. And not, as you say - thinking you are somehow superior because you find early risings easier than blinking.
On another note - I have to take umbrage of calling B.K.S. Iyengar, "the pope of yoga" however. There are many who would disagree! ;)