Wet Paint Week 25 and Week 26

As summer rolls by I find my fingers and toes smattered with paint and a little dirt. Life is fine when there is time to make art and practice yoga until my heart's content. That it is. 

Whitman says, "To me, every hour of light and dark is a miracle." 

How do we capture something as fleeting as time? 

One way is to be an observer, like a "fly on the wall" in your own world. We talk so much about breath in yoga. What happens when you take full breaths? 

Your body starts to slow down. Time is no longer important.  You are in the Flow. 

Just like when I'm painting. 

I don't think that you need to be an artist to consider yourself a creator. You might be a writer, a dreamer or a singer. My sister Cece finds her flow when cooking her favorite dish. 

So, don't let society fool you into thinking that you are here to consume, and consume alone. 

See if you can find a miracle in this moment! 

t.

btw: The bridge above is of the one on Lake of the Isles (near the dog-park)

Wag More - Bark Less - Wet Paint Week 24

And we're rolling down

the windows for this ride... and there's not much time 

to take things slow...

-Lyrics by Widespread Panic

Today I was walking to the Co-op and I saw a bumper-sticker that said, "Wag More --Bark Less" on it and I thought that it went perfectly with this week's theme. 

When I look at my dog and ask him if he'd like to "go for a ride," his ears perk up and there is nothing more that could make him happy than to jump in the car and stick his nose out the window for a sniff as we cruise down the street. A perfect example of living in the moment. 

Similar to my furry friend I have been working with my tongue to cool myself of in the mid-summer heat. Sitali Pranayama is a breathing technique done by sitting tall and sticking your tongue out in the shape of a straw. Inhale through it then close your mouth. Exhale through your nose.

Stay cool. 

t.

Endless Sky

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; 

people create distinctions in their minds and 

believe them to be true.  

- Buddha

This season has been filled with unbelievable skies and clouds to match. It always takes me aback, and made me want to paint it. The above painting was my first attempt to juxtapose a human-made structure with the endless sky. 

This quote by Buddha, reminds me of the difference in talking about/labeling yoga and living it for myself to find the truth in it.

What's the point in labeling when you can instead be in awe that here we are floating through the universe with a blue bubble that hooks us up?

t.

Truth in Water...

The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. 

The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence. 

- Rabindranath Tagore

This week's focus is on taking out what is not needed. I started with my closet this morning. I've decided to remove everything and only put back what I really wear. Two large garbage bags later, I have a new closet. Let me tell you, dropping those bags into the clothing drop off box truly felt like a form of detox. It is funny to think about the "need" to surround ourselves with stuff, when all it really does is weigh us down. 

Another form of detox can start the ol' fashion way. Slice up an organic lemon and put it in your room-temp. water for a cleansing drink first thing in the morning. Then give yourself some time before you eat breakfast... This can help with hydration, digestion as well as many other things! 

 t.

Yoga this Week:

Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Monday Vinyasa 2 @ 5 - Canceled b/c Memorial Day

Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Thursday Hatha Flow  @ 6 pm

Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Thursday Beginning Hatha  @ 7:30 pm

Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Saturday  Vinyasa 1/ 2 @ 8am (subbing)

Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Saturday  Vinyasa 2 @ 4

 Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Sunday ABC 9:30am

 Yoga Center - Saint Louis Park - Sunday  Vinyasa All Levels 4pm

 Hiawatha Yoga- Sunday Candle Light Flow 6:15 pm

Butterfly Effect - Wet Paint Week 21

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world...
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

This week was filled with butterfly sightings; monarchs to be exact. It seems every time I took a walk there they were seemingly aimless in the direction that they were flying in, yet they've got the basics figured out. What to eat, who to mate with, where to go on "vacation" --- Mexico of course.

How to be a little more instinctual on my mat this week was the underlying theme.

Also, thanks to my friends at Wikipedia, I found this info...

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions, where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks before.

Sounds like the interconnected sense a person can get from practicing yoga to me...

t.

 

Plants - Wet Paint Week 20

If it came from a plant, eat it;

If it was made in a Plant, don't. 

-Michael Pollan

The above quote is from the beautifully illustrated book, "Food Rules." It provides the reader with some common-sense ideas regarding food; what to eat, how much, etc.. 

It makes me think of Ahimsa, Non-violence/ Compassion/Kindness. 

Be kind to yourself and eat/drink well. 

Since it is Mother's Day, it was appropriate that this book came to mind. My mom did a really good job setting time aside so that we would eat most home-cooked dinners together, sitting down, all 10 of us, whenever possible. Amazing. We would always find some kind of green on our plates. She never made us eat it all, instead we would just have to "try" it. There were many times that I remember eating one pea. I'm grateful to you mom for setting me up to try stuff! 

Side-note: Another way to think of gratitude... My twin sisters and a partner are leaving San Francisco and taking a '87 Volvo across the country. They each get 1/3 of the car for their stuff. 

If you had to pack up a 1/3 of a car with your earthly goods, what would you take? 

More importantly, what can you live without? 

-t 

Improve Your Vision - Svadhyaya - Wet Paint Week 19

Improve your Vision

Your vision becomes clear when you look into your heart. 

Who looks outside, dreams. 

Who looks inside, awakens. 

- Carl Jung

The next Niyama that I'm focusing on is Svadhyaya (self-study). This is a tricky one because in order to do it we need to go inside. What if we don't like what we find once we get there? There are a million ways to do this and yoga is just one of them. Other examples include: focusing on your breath, making music etc... It is important to do something that is authentic to you. 

Some of my yoga teachers have told me that your gurus (teachers) find you when you aren't looking for them. I like this train-of-thought because it doesn't seem forced. 

I was watching a 20/20 episode the other night about the book called "The Secret." James Arthur Ray, a self-proclaimed, self-help guru used the ideas in this book to take supporters on a $10,000-per-person retreat in Sedona, Arizona. This climaxed in a sweat-lodge event that injured dozens and left three dead. This is an extreme situation, and has helped give the term "guru" a negative connotation. It also got me thinking about the importance of going inside to find your truth rather than searching for it through other people.

I remember the day that I first got my glasses. The clarity was something that was new and strange. How fun is it to find this on your mat?

-t.

The Flame Inside- Tapas- Wet Paint - Week 18

... this isn't a contest but a doorway into thanks

and a silence

in which another voice 

may speak. 

-Mary Oliver, Thirst

This week's focus is on the Niyama, Tapas. There are different ways to explain the meaning of tapas, burning zeal in your practice is one of the them. Think of it as a passion without your ego getting in the way.
You could consider your habits. Think about your bad habits (this should be an easy one), your good habits and last but not least, your neutral habits.
Can you separate the definition of you, from that cup of coffee that you have every morning?
This week try to take yourself out of your own comfort zone at least three times.
My plan:
1) Take showers that are 5 minutes or shorter.
2) Play catch with my kids and try to discover why throwing a ball back and forth is fun.
3) No coffee

 Also, when you are on your mat, be there fully. Feel that flame inside of you stoked by your breath.

Life is Sweet - Santosa - Wet Paint, Week 17

When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy. 

-Rumi

All week as I considered a focus, honey/nectar/bees kept popping up.
As a student in a yoga class, I listened to my teacher describe a nectar flowing through my system.
It makes me think about Santosa (Contentment). How could I be anything but content when thinking about nectar flowing through my veins!

In a time when we can go out to the grocery store and buy a tomato; any time of the year -from clear across the world.  In a place where bus stops and magazines scream things like, "Buy this product... You need it... It will make you happy."

Where do we find contentment? 

Let's start with a cup of tea with a bit of honey. Sit with the tea. Consider its journey. Sit with the honey. Where has it been? How many flowers and how many bees did it take?
Feel the temperature and taste it.
Take time away for this screen that you are reading for a spot of tea.

t. hutch

As a result of contentment, one gains supreme happiness. 

Patañjali, Yoga Sutras

Find Your Balance - Sauca - Wet Paint, Week 16

Find Your Balance through Sauca

Time for some spring-cleaning. Sauca (sow-cha) or purity is a good place to start. I was thinking that it is like the daunting idea of cleaning my entire house; including my basement! Don't do it all at once, instead just pick a closet.  

Cleanliness of the body and mind develops disinterest in
contact with others for self-gratification. 

When the body is cleansed, the mind purified and the senses controled,
joyful awareness, needed to realize the inner-self, also comes. 

Patañjali, Yoga Sutras

It all starts with awareness and a little faith. Think of your body as sacred and remember that the chemicals that we consume and the processed food that we eat isn't as good as the real thing; fresh out of the ground at the farmer's market. 

So hop on your bike and breathe the air. 

t. hutch

Amazing Grace...

Grace is a Crocus: 

Eager, Strong, Delicate and Fleeting. 

T. Hutch

This weeks focus came to me in the form of the song, "Amazing Grace" in the form of the Ani's cover of it. The words that we've all heard a million times.

"T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed."

I found this crocus in my yard and thought about how, in Minnesota, a crocus flower is the first to come up. Often times, too early. I've seen them peeking through the snow. Although they are not around for long, they offer a sense of hope; that spring is here.

I sometimes wonder how to live my life more gracefully. So, for this week the focus is to find glimpses of grace in my life. There is no way to really hold on to the beauty of a crocus. If it is cut and put into a vase, it will only wilt. 

Likewise, there isn't a way to hold on to a sense of grace, instead appreciate the glimpses of it when you feel it pass by. 

t. hutch

Mind Your P's and Q's

Mind your Peace and Quiets 

I'm not sure what "Mind your P's and Q's" really means, but there is a sign up at the Yoga Center that says, "Peace and Quiet Starts Here." This made me wonder about my noisy life. Where can I find this both peace and quiet in it? 

My first thought was an image of a butterfly, and my second was my 18 year-old cat who sits so quietly on my lap that I usually end up asking him, "When did you get here?"

I've know Honey, (my cat) since he was a kitten, for about 1/2 of my life. He sleeps most of the day and when he is content, it shows from his paws to the tip of his tail. There isn't a part of him that wishes that he were more like our dog. That would be silly. So why do we spend so much time wishing that we were like others. 

Try to be more cat-like on and off of your mat this week!

t. hutch

Love, Patience, Practice

Love, Patience, Practice

Three simple/complicated words. 

Love and have Patience with yourself and Repeat (Practice). 

Trying to come up with an image to match these words wasn't easy. I was trying to think of a part of my body that I like. I came up with my bubbly toes. 

What is your favorite feature, of you? Don't let society dictate the answer.
Can't think of one, sleep on it. 

If you want, leave your comment below.

Listen to Your Body

Always listen to your body. It whispers, it never shouts....So listen to your body, and never compare yourself to anyone else. Never before has there been a person like you, and never will there be. You are absolutely unique -- in the past, present and future.
So you cannot compare note with anybody, and you cannot imitate anybody. 

- Osho

Many people come to yoga with the idea of becoming more flexible in their bodies. Hamstrings are tight, back needs to loosen up, etc... Even though the above Osho quote is about "listening to your body," the act of listening starts with your mind. They are connected.

This week, I'd like to work on those times that I feel stuck in my situation. Whether it is the person in front of me who isn't paying attention to the green light, or when I need to help my 6 year-old recover from another breakdown when his apple sauce touched his carrot on his plate, or his hat "feels funny."  I could look at it as a chance to come back to taking a few deep breaths and become more flexible!
-t.

Wet Paint - Week 9

I've been lucky enough to be doing a lot of yoga recently. Good thing, since this is what I call the "dog days of winter." I was feeling kind of blue when I wrote this, which may sound surprising. 

I do love to swing. The feeling of being weightless and weight-full and then weightless again takes me back to being a kid.

All of the troubles in the world melt away. 

I'd like to take this feeling into my Week 9. Going back to the here and now. 

Nothing to do, with nowhere to go. 

- t.

Orange is the new pink.

 

I obey only my own instincts and intuition. I know nothing in advance.
Often I put things down which I do not understand myself,
secure in the knowledge that later it will become meaningful to me. 

Henry Miller

Did I really say luscious? Valentines day must be right around the corner. 

I made a joke today in class, I said that "Orange is the new Pink. You know like the orange chakra?"

It was a tough crowd. 

This week I'd like to focus on finding that flow, as Henry Miller puts it, "secure in the knowledge that later it will become meaningful to me. " I like this. 

So much of what we do in this realm is so important. Give yourself a chance to take a risk this week and trust your gut- how about near your orange chakra?

Spinning World

Faith is taking the
first step, even when
you don't see the
whole staircase. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Week 4

So much of what we do takes faith.  

Faith in a world that will hold onto us as we go spinning through the space.

I remember stressing out for an Astronomy test in college thinking, "Wow, how does this little test mean much in the vastness of the everything that I am studying for?" Truth is it didn't.

So what is the "test" in my life today? What is really important to have faith in, and what isn't?

If you have insight to this, please leave it here. 

btw: MLK had it all figured out. It is best to take some risks even though we are sure of the outcome.

- t. 

Black-capped Chick-a-dee

This is a hearty little bird known for socializing and its communication skills. 

It got me thinking about communication in general. Most of it is non-verbal (gestures and nods) and so much of it starts with an internal dialogue first. 

I've been known to wear my heart on my sleeve and there have been a few times when I've had to really put my foot in my mouth. So this week will be dedicated to communication. 

Cheers to really listening like the little birds do so well!

t.

To be Snail-Like

Is to be here for generations - for 60 million years.
Rather than the measly 1/2 million that humans have been here.
Is to be slow, with patience unsurpassed.
Is to adapt- go into hibernation with it is to cold- or when it is too hot, to make things just right.
Is to be without an ego.
Just imagine how silly a snail would be with one... strutting his stuff saying, "Hey, look at me!"
Silly.

Take it to your yoga mat-- go ahead and take it off your mat too.

-t.

Creative Workshop 1

Creative Workshop Breathwork/Meditation (seated position):

Start by deepening your inhales and exhales -- Allow your mind to travel back in time to visit the moments when your yoga practice fumbled (where your mind wandered, or where a posture caused frustration). Breath into these feelings that come up. --Release-- Remind yourself about the reason that it is called a "yoga practice" not a "yoga perfect."

Thinking of your creative practice in broad terms - writing, drawing, singing, acting etc... Again, travel back in time to the past to a place where your creative practice fumbled. Whether it was from your own artist's block or from a harsh critique of your work from someone else.
Observe your feelings and take 3 deep breaths to release them. 

Now go back again in both your yoga and creative experiences and remember being in the "flow" (you know, the space where hours fly by). Remember the beauty of this space - breathe here. Remember what it was like to be a kid.
No hesitation, no worry about doing it right, just living in the moment.

Coming into the present moment now, imagine being open to your own creative energy- Take Risks -- Be Bold-- Reach into your intuition while resisting the urge to be the judge. 

As you create, allow your mind to come back to your breath. Be aware of the balance in your body- notice if you favor one side or the other. 

Most importantly make this your own practice!  

-t

 

 

 We have a home that's bigger than all our properties,
we have a knowing that's broader than all our knowledge,
we have a time that has never been measured by our clocks,
we have a vision that has never been contained in our horizons,

There is an us in us that's so much bigger than all those small personalities we have been wearing in the clumsy attempts to fit into the limited beliefs caging our awareness since we arrived here in this dream we call Life on Earth.✩

Giorgio Sergio

 Big ideas for a small Sunday cup of tea, but I like this a lot. I had a blast opening up my home/studio space yesterday. It was such an amazing energy that this group brought to my studio. We started with some yoga and dove into making art- the place was turned up-side down in no time. 

Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof.
Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work... abandoning any selfish desires.
Be not affected by success or failure. This equipoise is called Yoga.

-Bhagavad Gita 

So counter to much of what I've learned up until this point, yet so right on.
The less that I can get on that rollercoaster of ups and downs the better off I am.
You can ask yourself, "Am I doing my best?" If the answer is "yes" well then, there you have it.

The problem is that I really like rollercoasters.
-t