Note: {I originally published this podcast episode on December, 27, 2020 as Episode 18. I recently published it again (as Episode 37) with the hope that it might lift your spirits during this holiday season}. Here is the transcript. . . .

Greetings All, Welcome to the podcast “Close to the Bone.” I’m Carl Vreeland.

This is episode #18, it’s entitled, The Story of Scrooge.

I am grateful for Yoga. It has transformed my life. The poses, the movement, the mindful breathing has graced me with good health; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And I am reminded of this during the holiday Christmas season, particularly because of the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens, as most of you know. A story about, among other things, how people can change. And how it usually takes divine intervention, great pain and suffering, grace, a surrendering to a Power greater or a spiritual discipline. So, unlike what many think, it’s never too late to change.

With Scrooge, here we have a young man who progressively suffers the consequences of his actions; choosing the material world over the spiritual world. That is to say, choosing money over love, human connection, and the Divine. As with any and every wrong turn, which steers us away from the spiritual realm, the Divine, a Higher Power, God, we take a step closer to a hell on earth. And soon enough we find ourselves suffering in some shape or form a little more each day, whether that be in the form of back pain, stomach pain, frequent colds, migraines, or high anxiety, depression, or a feeling of emptiness. Yes, spiritual sickness is progressive. But again, as we witness in a Christmas Carol, it’s never too late to turn your life around. And here we see Scrooge, a crotchety, old, miserably miser, experience an intervention. Which, and important to point out, took hold. I say this because there are many who have wake-up calls that never. . . well. . . wake-up. They remain asleep, no matter how times they get beaten over the head, as it were. My teacher often said, “Denial is a powerful thing.”

The ego, when it rules over all else, such as heart, love, the welfare of others, and God, is destructive and harmful. I mean, just