Being Naive...

Always remain open to experiment, always be ready to walk a path you have never walked before. Who knows? Even if it proves useless, it will be an experience. - Osho

I have always tried to live my life like this. I once had a drawing teacher in college who said to me, "If I could teach you one thing, it would be to take every chance to try new things as they come up..." I took these words to heart and a few days later I signed myself up to study abroad in Kenya for half of a year. It was a life-changing and often difficult experience when I was there, but I never regretted it.

As for today, I took 19 teenagers to the MIA for a field trip. I spent at least 20 hours to prepare for it and had all of the students caravan over. I decided trust them in this museum (that is filled to the rim with priceless art) and gave them questions to answer, and artwork to find throughout. I told them to meet me down in the coffee shop at 11:30 sharp.

Every single group did the work and were able to meet me on time. Little did they know that this trust was my own experiment. A test to see if teenagers could step-up and follow through even though I've been "burned" before. I'm not sure how I am still so naive after teaching for so many years.

na·ive - according to Webster...

 /nɑˈiv/ Show Spelled[nah-eev]

adjective

1.

having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.

2.

having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous: She's so naive she believes everything she reads. 

Consumer or a Creator?

 Today I took Ted Rosen's Slow Flow class (amazing) and at the end during savasana he mentioned to imagine the edges of our bodies erasing or disappearing and to take note of the expansive feeling when these borders dissolve.
I imagined my body as a pencil drawing and I slowly erased the edges.


Once Matt mentioned to me that he liked a part of one of my paintings. I responded, "thanks, but I didn't paint that, it just showed up in my painting. " I love this idea of synchronicity...

I paint not by sight but by faith. 

Faith gives you sight. 

-Amos Ferguson, The Artist's Way

 

Just a quick thought about Black Friday. 
How do you identify with yourself? Are you a consumer or a creator? 

Why should we all use our creative power...? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of
objects and money. 

-Brenda Ueland, The Artist's Way

On meditation and drawing...

I've been waking up gently by starting my day with a dreamy meditation.
If you think that you can't draw, then maybe you need to rethink the purpose of drawing. Is it possible for you to do it without judging yourself or live in fear of others judging you?
- Make a drawing today of something that is sitting right in front of you. Study it, notice the light and shadows around it. Resist the urge to erase parts as you go. Then throw it away without showing anyone else. And before you do, you could try the following before you start. -t
The following meditation I found in the book, "The Yoga of Drawing" by Jeanne Carbonetti:

Breathe deeply

As you do imagine that all of the tension in your body drains through your feet

Take a second deep breath as you imagine that all of the extraneous thoughts are
floating weightless out the top of your head

With a third deep breath bring your attention to your heart center. Imagine a golden translucent cord traveling from your heart to the heart of your subject. Through that cord you can feel the movements of the subject... You are able to register the subtle nuances of feeling, as energy shifts within your own body... -J.L.

Ashes to Ashes...

Last night I had a dream about an actual experience that happened to my friend's son, Josiah (9) last summer. We were all at  a Minnesota state park along with twelve other families. We stayed up late most nights and told stories over a big fire pit. The kids got up in the morning to run barefoot through the woods. When Josiah saw the soft gray charcoal, he walked through the pit. Just under the gray material were bright hot burning embers. Fortunately, he got out quickly and wasn't badly injured.

Aparigraha is a Yama that means non-hoarding, or letting go.

The dream made me think about how the gray matter is like all of the things that we hold on to, both material and emotional. The glowing embers are like the the internal fire both beautiful and strong. It so close (even though it doesn't seem to exist) and is able to be restarted with our breath.

Commitments for November

So far, so good. I've been doing a lot of yoga, watering (and talking to) my plants and I've been cooking/baking too. Above is a picture of the cupcakes that I made today. This weeks focus is Brahmacarya (moderation) and I'm bringing these tasty little guys with me to yoga class.

"Brahmacarya is the feeling of freedom that comes when we have let an addictive craving go -- when we eat to live, not live to eat; when we can work to live, not live to work; when we stand firmly and with ease of heart in the postures of life."
Ralph Gates, Meditations from the Mat

Yamas

Tortilla Soup - 3 Commitments

Renewing 3 Commitments

As I hunker down and eat some tortilla soup that I made yesterday, I was thinking about the goodness that comes from making food. For many reasons, in recent years, making food started by going into the freezer or the local deli to see, “what’s for dinner.” Buying a ½ share of the Food For Thought CSA this summer, helped me kick-start my cooking inventions. Also, having friends (you know who you are) who cook from scratch all of the time helps with feeling some peer pressure on the subject.

This brings me to my title today, Renewing 3 Commitments. I’d like to make a list of a three things that I will commit to for a month. Feel free to do the same with the Comment Button below. I’ll check back in with you on Nov. 22 to see how it goes.

Don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t perfect. 

What are 3 things that you are willing to commit to?

  

1)   Do yoga every day for 15 minutes or more.
I’m looking for the real deal here       Open =mind/body/breath 

2)   Cook a giant vat of soup and a dessert from scratch every week 

3)   Keep my plants watered – I’m actually not joking with this one. I tend to forget about the little guys.

Ahimsa 

Non-Violence

1st of the Yamas

It is the backbone or the life-preserver of the Yamas. If you can't remember much, remember this one. It means non-violence. If you think of this in terms of thoughts, speech and action, then you've got some searching to do. Also, if you think of it in the range from thinking negative thoughts about someone (or yourself) to the other extreme, of killing someone.

More importantly, it is what you do. 

Do you remember the feeling of falling madly in love with someone? How all that they said or did (even their faults) were amazing, or at least quaint? How do we get there with ourselves in our yoga practice, both on and off the mat?
Can we take the risk to be open enough to love ourselves (even our faults) for who we are?
-t.

Thank you Rachel Hinsley for starting this conversation in my head!

Mountain or a Leaf?

I've been feeling as stable a ancient mountain,
just to let one thing come along and blow me off my feet.

Instead of  a mountain, 

I am a dried up leaf, just shifting in the breeze. 

I've got some work to do...
The big question is whether or not I can make the choice to return to being a mountain. 
If so, how do I do it?

An Echoing Place...

The world is an echoing place. If we throw anger, anger comes back; if we give love, love comes back. 

Love should not be demanding, otherwise it loses wings; it cannot fly... Love should not be conditional, one should not expect anything out of it. It should be for its own sake, not for any reward, not for any result. And just because there is no desire for any result, it does not mean that results do not happen; they do, they happen a thousand-fold, because what we give to the world comes back, it rebounds...

Everyday Osho

After reading this, I went to pick up some Thai food. I tried my best to be pleasant and kind to everyone that helped me. Vwalla, it worked! I'll try it again tomorrow. But seriously, it is pretty easy to give a smile to those handing me a wonderfully spicy meal. Sometimes it is hardest to do it toward people who are nearest and dearest to my heart...

btw I made it through my second donation yoga class tonight. It was fun. I told the story of Buddha and the cobras. All three of the students smiled when offered eye-pillows :)

My new bff...

Like a hollow bamboo rest at ease with your body. 

Giving not, 

Nor taking.

Put your body to rest. 

- Tilopa (from Creativity Unleashing the forces within)

There is nothing to give, nothing to get. Everything is absolutely okay as it is. There is no need for any give and take. Your are absolutely perfect the way that you are. - Osho

I think that Osho is my new bff. No really, I stumbled upon his book about Creativity in the public library and I'm eating it up. The top quote in his book by Tilopa, is perfect for savasana (the resting pose at the end of yoga) and for life in general.
I know that there are times when I am out of sink and anxious. It would help me to think in these terms. How could I be anything but amazed with this life that I am living? 

so lucky.

t.

Observe, step back and breathe...

It is true of every art that 

you can not acquire 

what you have not felt. 

-Gustie Herrigel

I just finished my fifth time teaching students yoga. I'm lucky to have the same group all along so that we can  continue to build on what we know. 

But after the first two times I was thinking, "what am I trying to do here?" Why did I think that putting myself and my family through all of these hours of teacher training so that I can what? Tripping over my own words, and question how I can possibly fill an entire hour with these words and actions so that people can walk away feeling unsatisfied?

I had to get over myself.

How does a person do this? Very carefully. 

First, sit back and try to be an objective observer about the situation. It might not be as bad as you think. 

Second, realize that the world doesn't revolve around me. What a relief. Everyone there is coming from their own lives, and stuff. All if it is completely out of my control. 

Third, don't waste another minute and BREATHE.

Observe, step back and breathe. 

Once I do these things when teaching art, yoga or spending time with my kids, it is amazing to see the results! The last three times, knock on wood, my yoga classes have been more smooth and fun.

Centering Clay/Centering Your Mind

I've been learning about "centering" at the beginning and the end of each yoga class. If you've ever been to a yoga class without it, you might feel ripped off. 

Why is centering important? Coming from a culture of faster-is-better, it made me wonder...

"Centering" your body is like centering clay on a wheel. The most basic ceramic technique starts with slapping a handful of clay in the middle of a metal disc (wheel) before you pull it up into a cylinder. Without it, the clay throws you, not the other way around.

If you watch a master do this before you give it a try, it looks easy. They throw the clay on the wheel, place their hands over it, and pull it up into a given shape. Within a minute they could have a finished work. 

As a beginner, I thought, "I'd love to have an ice cream bowl. " (the end product) 

Lacking patience and  wondering why it was difficult when it looked easy, I became frustrated. 

Like ceramics, yoga centering/meditation looks easy. But it is important to remember that no master is born a master, rather it takes practice. 

More importantly, it isn't about (the end product) instead it is the journey that makes it forth the while. 

Start by enjoying your journey...

t.

Sand Mandalas and the death of a yoga practice...

Our version of Tibetan Sand Mandalas at Washburn High School...

Would you make art just to destroy it? 

What is the difference between this and the death of our yoga practice? 

Is it worth it just for the experience?

How to teach a Yoga Sequence?

Developing a yoga sequence to teach is a bit more difficult than meets the eye. On one hand, I wonder how to fill an entire hour of time and on the other I wonder how I could possibly squeeze it into an hour.
It sounds contrary, and yet possible for this to happen.
As in teaching art (this is my 8th year) this is always the case. And for a scattered mind like mine, it is difficult. All I know is that I need to over plan, be myself and understand there will people that I still won't click with and this is OK.
Below is a recent video of a student who learned about sand mandalas in my class...

Any ideas?