Stephen Shaiken's Blog, page 7

WE ALL CARRY A HIDDEN YOGI

It was this time of year in 2005, right before the holiday break, when I did something I didn’t think was even on my radar screen: I took a yoga class.

This was not the very first time I’d done so; back in the early seventies, I took a few yoga classes in California, but they focused more on breathing and meditation than physical yoga, and I wasn’t ready for either. Many years later, when I needed stress reduction course credits to satisfy the California Bar continuing education requirements, I took a short series of Iyengar classes, but the teacher was more like the Navy flight school drill  instructor in Top Gun than a practitioner of an Eastern spiritual tradition.

By 2005, a good ten years after the Iyengar experience, I was well into my mid fifties, and my main physical activity was mountain biking, which was great for endurance and leg muscles, a little for the upper body, but nothing for flexibility. The rides probably weren’t the best treatment for  backs and shoulders.

I was also a member of the local gym, and they offered several yoga classes per week. There was a Taekwondo school around the corner, and I considered them. In the end, the promise of flexibility and no additional charges above my membership fee pushed me to give yoga another try.

I was surprised to discover how much I liked yoga. It was something essentially new and difficult, and I wasn’t very good, but the teacher was, and eventually I was able to handle the most basic asanas and from there moved forward. By late Spring, my wife and I attended a week-long yoga retreat in Mexico, where I practiced twice a day under the eagle eyes of outstanding instructors. 

When I returned from the retreat, I stopped taking classes at the gym. The room they had set aside for practice was not at all guarded against the noise of the gym, and that is not the ideal environment for yoga. I was living in Fairfax, in Marin County, CA, which may well have been ground zero for yoga teachers and studios. there was no shortage of either, and over the next decade, I studied at a procession of yoga studios, all of them excellent and all within walking distance of my home. 

When we lived in Bangkok for three years, I was studied at several fine yoga studios. They have some of the best I’ve ever seen, with great teachers who are generally more demanding than those in America.

Since moving to Tampa, I’ve kept up my practice at studios. For the past year and a half I’ve been taking classes at Jai Dii Yoga on N. Nebraska Ave,. a great yoga studio if ever there was one..

Discovering what yoga is really about

Within a year of my reintroduction at that gym, I developed a routine where I rode my mountain bike at least once per weekend, and took three yoga classes a week. Since I was still practicing criminal law, most of these classes were early evening, after a stressful work day. I referred to my practice as “burning off the stress,” which was true, but was an oversimplification. Yoga was becoming much more than only stress reduction.

Before you start thinking I’ve gone off the rails and floated off into the spiritual plain, let me set the record straight: I’m not a Hindu, make no pretense of even knowing much about that ancient and wise tradition, other than what I’ve gleaned from my practice. I don’t claim any special powers, and have not seen any of my fellow yogis, teachers or students, possess any. We’ve all improved exponentially in the physical practice, and all of us who have stuck with it can skillfully handle numerous asanas, or yoga postures, we once thought impossible. That’s where we get into the non-physical aspects of yoga. Some call it spirituality, others refer to it as discipline, or mental outlook, or realization. It doesn’t really matter what you call it, but I prefer the yoga term “intention,” as in one sets their intention, develops it, realizes it. Those are the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in seventeen years of practice.

Yoga is all about finding balance, physical and mental. Yogis search for the “sweet spot” where they can handle any pain or discomfort related to holding a particular asana. We know we can stop at any time, assume the poses of down dog or child’s pose if we need to, and there is never, ever supposed to be any ego involved. (I didn’t say there wasn’t any; I said there’s not supposed to be any, and yoga won’t work if there is.)

Yoga is also about clearing the mind of irrelevant and distracting thoughts. In that regard, it is very much like the Theravada Buddhist mediation I’ve been practicing a little longer than I’ve practiced yoga. When on the yoga mat as when on the meditation cushion, one must strive to empty their minds of such thoughts. The thoughts will keep coming, and the practitioner learns to keep getting rid o them until they are no longer there. It’s a necessity for most asanas; imagine trying to balance on one leg while twisting your body, if you’re not paying attention to your body but instead focused on something that interferes, maybe even makes you feel bad. If you practice long enough, you will develop some of these skills. I find that after a class, I’m always relaxed mentally and physically. 

A yogi’s ability to master the art of clearing the mind during practice is distinctly different from mastering the physical asanas. A yogi who is diligent and pursues the clarity needed for yoga will gain great benefits and insights even if their physical asanas are not likely to be as artful as the photo at the top of this post.

Yoga is neither difficult nor rigid.

Yoga is mot a sport nor is it competitive. The standard and the levels each yogi works at are decided by that yogi in consultation with their own mind and body. There are classes for every level, classes of different schools of yoga, some more physically demanding than others. There are classes in every community in America. 

This does not mean there is no effort. There is great effort and great commitment. Remember I mentioned “setting one’s intention?” Showing up for class is the best way to do this!

You also must be consistent. How good will you become in a musical instrument if you practice only once a month?What kind of baseball pitcher could one be if they only threw the ball one day a month? How well will one learn a language studying only one hour a month?

If you want to realize the benefits of yoga, you must commit to practicing most days. this might mean taking a class, or it might mean practicing at home. (After a while, you’ll be able to with no problem.) 

I have seen the great changes yoga has afforded me. I’m pretty much guaranteed three or four times a week when I can really cl;ear my mind and reach a state of peaceful relation; those are the class days. I’m seventy three and have virtually no aches or pains, I’m as flexible as most thirty-somethings, my endurance is as good as it ever was, and no balance issues whatsoever (Still staying off ladders.)  It’s now my primary physical exercise. Mountain biking is non-starter in Florida, and the vinyasa flows, especially with a slow yoga pushups, along with holding postures, prevent muscle and bone loss and really build strength and endurance. 

Sometime I’m amazed that I have been practicing so long. I never saw myself as fitting the profile of a yogi. The truth is there’s no such profile. Everyone has a hidden yogi inside. 

Yoga wouldn’t have lasted all these thousands of years if it didn’t work.

 

 

 

 

QUEENSBOROUGH ROCK ON SALE FOR THREE MORE DAYS

Queensborough Rock

Only $1.99 through December 16! List price is $6.99, and it’s a bargain at that price! 

ROCK & ROLL, NYC & THE SIXTIES: ALL FOR $1.99 THROUGH 12/16

 

 

 

Click here to visit the Amazon Kindle page for Queensborough Rock

(After December 16, the novel will sell for its list price of $6.99 for an e-book.)

Take a trip back in time to NYC in 1971. The Sixties haven’t ended and rock ‘n’ roll reigns. Jack Bernstein wants to manage top artists, but is stuck in a rut out in Queens, struggling to survive, deep in debt to a loanshark & a pawnbroker. A friendly mobster says if Jack will do his best to make his nephew a star, he’ll make things happen for Jack.

WISE WORDS FROM JACK KORNFIELD ABOUT COMPASSION

When I lived in Marin county, CA, I was a regular at Jack Kornfield’s Monday night meditation sessions at Spirit Rock. Hundreds of us  would sit for about an hour in silent mindful meditation in a big hall set amidst the beautiful rolling hills of West Marin. The meditation was  followed by one of Jack’s incomparable dharma talks. I’m one of many “Ju-Bus” inspired by Jack (and of course by Sylvia Boorstein): Jews who practice Buddhist meditation and study the teachings of the Buddha without compromising their Jewishness. (Anyone interested in this very American phenomena should read Boorstein’s book, That’s Funny, you Don’t Look Buddhist.)  Click here to visit the Amazon page for this book.

To explore Mindfulness Meditation and a practical, everyday-living approach to buddhist teachings, visit Spirit Rock in person or online: https://www.spiritrock.org/ 

Photo by Stephen Shaiken

RABBI CAPERS FUNNYE TAKES DOWN KANYE WEST AND KYRIE IRVING

For Israelite chief rabbi, a ‘mess’ of Kanye’s making

                                                     STEPEHEN SHAIKEN’S VIEWS: 

What’s been overlooked in the Kanye West-Kyrie Irving cesspools of antisemitism is the existence of Jews who are Black. One of them is Rabbi Capers Funnye, who happens to be a cousin of Michelle Obama. The sad thing is that some have confused the hate-mongering racists emboldened by West and Irving with real Jews who happen to be Black. Of course, Jews can be Black, or any other color or ethnicity, and so can rabbis. (We have Black, Latino, and Asian rabbis here in America.) What can’t happen is some liar getting up on a soapbox and making up a fantastic story about their own fake Judaism and denying the existence of real Jews. As Rabbi Funnye points out, becoming Jewish when not born that way is an arduous process, and the path is definitely not through racism, hate-mongering and lying.

RABBI FUNNYE CAPERS TAKES DOWN KANYE WEST AND KYRIE IRVING

For Israelite chief rabbi, a ‘mess’ of Kanye’s making

                                                     STEPEHEN SHAIKEN’S VIEWS: 

What’s been overlooked in the Kanye West-Kyrie Irving cesspools of antisemitism is the existence of Jews who are Black. One of them is Rabbi Capers Funnye, who happens to be a cousin of Michelle Obama. The sad thing is that some have confused the hate-mongering racists emboldened by West and Irving with real Jews who happen to be Black. Of course, Jews can be Black, or any other color or ethnicity, and so can rabbis. (We have Black, Latino, and Asian rabbis here in America.) What can’t happen is some liar getting up on a soapbox and making up a fantastic story about their own fake Judaism and denying the existence of real Jews. As Rabbi Funnye points out, becoming Jewish when not born that way is an arduous process, and the path is definitely not through racism, hate-mongering and lying.

THE GREAT ROCK ‘N’ ROLL NOVEL IS ONLY 99 CENTS ON 11/21-22

QUEENSBOROUGH ROCK is offered as an e book to my readers and friends for two days at only 99 cents. The regular list price is $6.99. 

The rock ‘n’ roll novel you’ve been waiting for.

It’s 1971 and young Jack Bernstein is a struggling rock ’n’ roll manager in New York City. Instead of a fancy office in Manhattan, a flashy car and backstage passes, he operates  out of a basement apartment in working-class Queens, driving a cranky eight-year-old Volvo as he trolls third-string venues for hidden talent. He suffers enormous betrayal when Manhattan agents or  “sharks” steal his best artists. Jack finances a demo tape for his top talent by borrowing from a loanshark and pawning a friend’s guitar. When the tape fails to land a deal, Jack’s last hope is an offer from a friendly Queens mobster: manage his obnoxious nephew as best he can and doors will open. New York City in the late sixties and early seventies comes alive with all its intensity.

All you have to do is  Click here to purchase Queensborough Rock for 99 cents and you’ll be taken to the Amazon page for the novel.

I hope you enjoy reading the novel as much as I enjoyed writing it. While it’s definitely not required, if you lied the book, I’d appreciate your giving it a five star rating or review.

QUEENSBOROUGH ROCK; COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS UNTIL RELEASE

November 23, 2022: that’s the release date Queensborough Rock.my novel about rock’ n’ roll in Queens, NYC in the late sixties and early seventies. 

Why are you taking so long to release the book?

Queensborough Rock is utterly different than my three NJA club novels, and that’s why it’s being promoted and released differently.

I have no idea whether readers who enjoyed the three exotic noir thrillers will sink their teeth into a work of historical fiction taking place in the Big Apple. I’m hoping they will, but I must try to reach a broader audience.

I’ve been doing a fair amount of pre-release publicity. A professionally-designed press release was distributed and if you search for the book, the release will pop up.This helps push the book up on search engines.

Why should people be interested in the story?

Queensborough Rock was written for readers who love rock music, the Sixties, and New York City, especially the often overlooked borough of Queens, where most of the action occurs. I guarantee you will become familiar with the sights, sounds and tastes of this era and locale.

The novel will be offered at a greatly reduced price of $1.99 for the first few weeks. I’m hoping after that, there will be enough good ratings and reviews to increase readership. After the introductory periods, the ebook will be $8.99 and print edition $13.99.

You can read about the novel by clicking here: AT LAST, THE GREAT ROCK &;ROLL NOVEL

Stay informed about the release and discounted price!

The best way to make certain you’re told about the discounted price and release date is to sign up for this blog or my e mail newsletter. You can do both on the lower right hand section of this page. 

Feel free to contact me with any questions about the upcoming novel or the NJA Club  books..

FOURTH NJA CLUB NOVEL TO BE RELEASED IN EARLY 2023

Photo by Stephen Shaiken

I’ve been a busy writer. Next month will see the release of my Sixties rock ‘n’ roll novel, Queensborough Rock, published by Crosswinds Press. (See COMING THIS NOVEMBER-A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF STEPHEN SHAIKEN NOVEL ) While that book  is undergoing production and pre-release publicity, I find myself deep in the middle of another NJA Club novel, the fourth in the series.

The novel is still untitled, but I can say it takes place in the current time and is written in the third person as was the last novel, Bangkok Blues. The worst of COVID is over, and Bangkok has returned to normal, at least as normal as life can remain for Glenn and his eclectic band of friends.

In the first three novels, Glenn’s adversaries were all agents of one government or another, including  our own CIA, North Korea, and the People’s Republic of China. An ongoing theme has been that you really can’t trust any government.

In the new book, there isn’t any government trying to harm Glenn and company, unless you count the attractive FBI agent  sent to Bangkok to investigate  the same Mafia scheme the NJA Club gang is dealing with. A crew of Brooklyn mobsters decide that declining business opportunities  on the home front can be compensated for by selling hijacked booze in Thailand, where the real stuff commands top prices. When the mob’s local hires try to strong-arm Wang, the owner of the NJA Club, the General sends Sleepy Joe to deliver a message to the hoods. That’s when the action begins. Joe looks like a burnt out aging  hippie , the former Australian Special Forces soldier is as deadly as ever. 

Readers will be brought into the inner sanctums of a local Brooklyn Mafia crew, and watch as their schemes are out into action. We’re talking about some violent people, so some of what goes on in Brooklyn is as bloody and deadly as some of the action scenes in the first three novels. 

This novel will be published by Crosswinds Press, and will be available as an e book or print edition. The anticipated release date is mid January, 2023. 

Click on the link below to receive my e mail newsletter and be informed of the discounted and free book dates and future releases.

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AT LAST, THE GREAT ROCK ‘N ‘ROLL NOVEL

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 07:35 GMTعربي Stephen Shaiken Noted Author, Releases His New Book“Queensborough Rock”

Date

9/17/2022 2:10:24 AM(MENAFN– GetNews)

It’s 1971 and young Jack Bernstein is a struggling rock ‘n’ roll manager in New York City. Instead of a fancy office in Manhattan, a flashy car, and backstage passes, he operates out of a basement apartment in working-class Queens, driving a cranky year-old Volvo as he trolls third-string venues for hidden talent.

Tampa, Florida, September 17, 2022, Author Stephen Shaiken has released his new blockbuster called Queensborough Rock , and his fans will not be disappointed.

This is a Rock & Roll novel, a work of historical fiction set in Queens, NY in the late sixties/early seventies. It’s 1971 and young Jack Bernstein is a struggling rock ‘n’ roll manager in New York City. Instead of a fancy office in Manhattan, a flashy car, and backstage passes, he operates out of a basement apartment in working-class Queens, driving a cranky year-old Volvo as he trolls third-string venues for hidden talent.

He suffers enormous betrayal when Manhattan agents or“sharks” steal his top talent, Galahad. Jack financed a demo tape for his top talent by borrowing from a loan shark and pawning a friend’s guitar. When the tape fails to land a deal, Jack’s last hope is an offer from a friendly Queens mobster: manage his obnoxious nephew as best he can and doors will open. Jack counterintuitively connects the nephew with a Black band from South Jamaica in a desperate attempt to break into the big time. New York City in the late sixties and early seventies comes alive with all its intensity.

Jack is haunted by his experience with Tennessee Eddie, his first serious talent. Eddie lived with and was supported by Jack for almost a year. Jack got him a gig at famed Max’s Kansas City, where“Sharks”- Jack’s term for powerful Manhattan music executives – steal Eddie and land him a record deal and contract tour.

As the novel progresses, so does Jack’s savvy and ability to act forcefully when necessary. He refuses to be intimidated by the Sharks or their lawyers and sues the people who stole Tennessee Eddie.

In this very relatable novel, being in the late sixties, there are scenes throughout the novel that mark the period. Jack’s car has a touchy choke, he is forever looking for pay phones and navigating without GPS. He attends a concert at the Fillmore East and secures a gig for Tennessee Eddie at Max’s Kansas City.

He engages with a weed dealer in the hopes of making enough to pay off his debts, but he and his friends smoke up so much that there is no profit. Jack takes his one and only LSD trip. Readers will enter NYC pizza parlors and Italian restaurants and pass through iconic NYC landmarks like White Castle and Lemon Ice King of Corona. They are also brought into the studio for the making of the Galahad tape.

About The Author:

Stephen Shaiken practiced criminal law for more than thirty-five years. He is a graduate of Queens College and Brooklyn Law School and earned an MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Stephen has authored three novels in the acclaimed NJA Club Series, best described as exotic noir thrillers. The three novels-Bangkok Shadows, Bangkok Whispers and Bangkok Blues-feature American expat lawyer Glenn Murray Cohen and his eclectic friends from Bangkok’s mysterious NJA Club as they are dragged into intrigue and danger.

Queensborough Rock is a different kind of novel, very loosely inspired by Stephen’s brief career as a rock manager in 1970-71.

When not writing, Stephen enjoys travel, gardening, yoga, guitar, and following politics and current events with a passion. He’s a voracious reader of fiction and nonfiction in too many genres and subjects to list.

Follow Stephen on his blog and on Twitter and sign up for his newsletter to receive advance notice of Stephen’s future novels and short stories. His blog contains short stories, travel tales and photos, and comments of the state of the world.

For complete information, visit:

Click here to follow Stephen on Twitter
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