What is practice and popping the mysore pimple

Sometimes the whole world stops for seven seconds and hovering in the moment, you know that you are a part of something special. This morning Guruji led the 6:15 class. I was right in front doing my thing. He would mess up the counting and the names of the poses and then would carry on as without skipping a beat. Just when you (pictured) and begin to think, "he is 92," he "falls asleep" during poses like navasanasirsasana. After class, as Guruji stood up and began to descend the stage, a hush went over the entire room. Everything stopped and at the same time everything was screaming. He carefully shuffled one foot in front of the other and everyone watched in silence as he made his way through the students to the back office. It was a moment like being a part of something so magical but at the same time kind of sad to watch a lion grow old. There are so many things in life that we always assume will be constant. Like we have our entire lives to figure them out or see them, or not appreciate them. But really, all that we have is right now. For a moment today, right now was everything in the whole world.

After practice at Shakti house was very very crowded. The food was very slow to come. Very very slow. Back home, I would get very pumped to go to practice. Every morning was like, "yeah! off I go!" But here, it seems like the practice was like a carrot that lured me to this place. This place where the practice would melt away as I knew it and the things that I failed to emphasize (no one really does), are coming steadily to a head. Who am I? What am I? How do I behave in this situation? What does this person do? How do things affect me? What is real and unreal? etc etc? Sitting in wait for food at Shakti house is practice. Trusting that how things are working out can't be changed so just laugh is practice.

Yoga is the restraint of fluctuations of the mind.yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah
Then the seer is abiding in the seer's true nature. tada drastuh sva rupe'vasthanam

I've been thinking about the pain we create for ourselves in our minds. Like I said, there is a lot of time for relection here.

The past and future don't exist. If what exists is only right now, than by existing in this one moment, we ought to learn how to create a moment of peace, whether the moment is of pleasure or pain. Yesterday I sat in meditation with the Shabad Kriya (scroll to the bottom of the page if you follow the link) for about 30 minutes. During the meditation was really very intense. (A lot of times, things really effect us when we go looking for them.) My body began to follow the movement of the breathing and I felt a lot of energy around my spine and up the top of my head like things were really moving. Afterward, I laid down on my bed and noticed the blood begin to flood my legs. I screamed at first, because the sensation was so strong, but then I softened my face and focused on my breathing. I felt the flood move under my skin and around my toes, but I didn't move. It was just a sensation, it would pass, there was no point fighting it, so I decided to welcome it and ride it out.

But why do are minds run in circles? Why do we create misery for ourselves?

Valid cognitions are perception, inference, and valid testimony.
pratyaksa-anumana-agamah pramnani

Error is false knowledge, without foundation.
viparyayo mithya-jnanam atad rupa-pratistham

So, reality is what we can see, what has been proven, in essence things that exist. But we can create our own reality by tainting our thoughts. So then the real answer is what should we attach our minds to? Truth. And what is truth? Things that can be proven. So if something has not yet manifested, why allow it to taint the mind?

I spent the entire day at the hotel formerly known as the southern star working on my tan and lying in the water. Meditation is a lot like staring at the sun. Everything is trying to wake us up.