Manasika Muse: 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, 99 Bottles of Beer…

Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall…

Who says mantras must only be in Sanskrit? Chanting this classic road trip song during class might not have been as sonically effective as om namah shivya but it sure would have been fun. I’m still smiling thinking about a passerby peeking into the studio as we flowed through our asanas belting out a count down to ‘one bottle of beer on the wall, one bottle of beer…’ until we stumbled into svasana.

Why all this talk about beer and yoga this week? I was inspired by a story about a Thai Buddhist temple in the province of Sisaket which– get this – was constructed using one million beer bottles! Yes, one million beer bottles. Check out a few more pics and link to the article below.

There is not much a change in perspective can’t transform into a good thing.

What intrigued me most about the temple is the blatant reminder that all of us have a tremendous amount of choice in how we see the world in which we live. Really, we do. And the next time you doubt it, recall the Buddhist beer temple!

The Buddhist monks could have turned away from the environmental waste which littered their town or expressed disgust for an enabler of addiction like alcohol.

Instead they chose to make art out of the mundane—to take the trash, waste, tempting vices, and sit with them, engage them head on, ultimately using them to build a sacred (optimally aligned) place.

And we can too. Making art out of our, at times humdrum, lives does not have to mean we take more trips to MoMA or the ballet, but rather cultivate our ability to more deeply appreciate the state/world we are in, whether standing in line at Target or on an exotic vacation.

So this week on our mats we practiced having a kaleidoscopic perspective, one that opens us up to possibilities…without drinking a few beers! Sorry to disappoint, but our practice is at 8:30AM. We placed particular attention on being receptive versus passive, and playing with the following:

• Invoke the always present rasa (taste) of shanta (peace)
• Move to the boundary of certainty
• Flex your thinking at the mid-line, uber-receptive to the possibilities
• Welcome the uncertainty

In keeping with indulging a libations theme, while in malasana (squat), I shared a quote:

Happiness is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel it’s warmth.

And so we quickly digressed into some male encoded humor. You responded with your own favorite drinking related jokes, the only one I recollect had something to do with dunalp beer, and bellies that dunlap over your belt. Who says yoga class has to be serious:)

In closing...

My wish for you as we left our mats was that the Buddhist beer temple serves as a reminder that you can choose to make art out of the everyday. The monks chose to celebrate and make art of the world they live in, exactly as it is, with all of its perfect imperfections. So when you too find yourself at the boundary of certainty, just like we practiced our our mats this week, consider opening to the peace and calm (shanta) which is never father than your next breathe and welcome in the uncertainty, the alternative view point, the art. And the best side effect (hangover, if you will)...

...when you change the way you look at things the things you look at change.

Om shanti!