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.