Sweating & santosha

Saturday, June 7

The thing about no A/C is:

We're cheap hippies. It is preposterous to us to pay to keep the entire house cool all day, everyday, in order for us to enjoy during those few hours when we're not at work or on the back porch. (Note: our pets might disagree with our premise.) Also, carbon footprint, yaddi-yadda, and the like. And it's pretty standard hereabouts to care not a bit about spending the pretty months of the year in a sealed box--but, I am Canadian, to me nice weather= open windows. There are countless birds in our neighbourhood, and they sound pretty.

When we were contemplating the move to Texas I remember fearing the heat more than the gun-toting, God-fearing rednecks, but I guess how well you handle a situation has more to do with how you perceive said situation than with any parameters inherent in again-said situation, because as it turns out Texas heat isn't nearly as hot as I feared, and I seem to be handling it better than the aforementioned Texas-born rednecks. I swear, everyday one of them will walk into my office and whine like a little girl about how bloody hot it is, and I, former resident of Victoria, world capital of weather snobs, blink at them wondering what the hell they're talking about. Dude, I'd like to say, would you quit you're bellyaching, at any given moment it's bound to be 95 degrees or more in my house and I'm here to tell you IT'S FINE. A/C has turned you all into weather wimps. Why would we need A/C when God invented the people who invented fans. And watermelons.

And to someone (me) who spends a great deal of time reading/thinking about spiritual practices and India and how they relate to each other, the heat can be perceived to bestow some virtues. I'm not talking about hot yoga here (although it is hot, and I do do yoga). But wouldn't all this sweating and santosha create a sort of spiritual cleansing? Couldn't it be as easy as allowing both sweat and samskaras to pool around me as I sit? "Why yes, I'd love a little bit of delusion with my cold white wine. Thank you." Gather your tapas while ye may, and all that.

And while I wait for the rising mercury to soar me towards enlightenment, here's a few tips from the Priest household on how to brave the Texas heat without artificial air:

-Frequent brief cold showers. For extra bonus points, drip-dry in front of a tower fan.

-Watermelon. (Duh.)

-Half cold white wine, half Italian soda.

-Cold avocado soup.

-Foot baths with ice cubes.

-Hammocks.

-San Marcos river.

2 comments:

James Kingsley said...

dude - i fully hear ya: warm weather is rad because it's warm. why live somewhere with distinct seasons if you're gonna hide inside for them!

i say crack the windows and get prone in front of a fan with a slice of watermelon in one hand and an ice-cold micro-brew in the other.

from 32°C (or 42°C with the humidex),
James

Illuminate said...

India+yoga+heat = must get used to it. Me and my husband visited central/south India in March, what is not the best time for south, as it is very HOT and wet. I brought up deep diligence and patience with yoga practice there. *Now* I know that any other place is the best place for yoga :) (for my body used to cold northern temperatures)

As for cleansing the heat brings, I totally agree. We can intensify the process by detecting our samskaras and work them out.

Thanks for posting :)

 
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