Day 208 February 28, 2011

On this last day of February we had another winter storm.  It was brief but intense.  Ice pellets, blowing snow, terrible visibility, slippery road conditions, police warning people to stay off the roads, the full deal.  It lasted about four or five hours.  Now it is still again.

That storm is a little bit like our life.  We'll go along with our life and then wham, something will hit us full force and we'll have to really deal with it, if we are to survive.  Then things will quiet down again and we get to put things back into place, literally and figuratively.

It is our job to sail through the storms we are presented with in our lives, and accept them.  Even more than accept them, laugh along with them.  Embrace them.  Celebrate them.  It's our life after all, so why not celebrate?

This is when I talk about being an optimist.  Did I mention that before?  I am an eternal optimist.  That is how I get through the challenging days.  Try it yourself.  You  might be surprised at how much it helps :)

Day 207 February 27, 2011

 Ah, there is no feeling like having just finished a ten hour yoga intensive.  Your body sends you all kinds of signals, like:

a. this is a new body, I haven’t been in this body before

b. lightness

c. awareness of imbalances in your habitual posture that you now feel a strong sense of being able to address in your home based practice

and of course,

d. inner calmness

On another note, I can feel spring approaching.  Can you?

bleeding heart

Day 206 February 26, 2011

detail of birch bark

Today I was supposed to be in Fredericton, NB at a yoga workshop with Pam S.  She is a brilliant Iyengar yoga teacher with a studio in PEI.  With her guidance the lucky students she will lead will do ten hours of yoga asana practice between Friday at 8pm and Sunday at 11 am.  There will be lots of time for laughter, good food and friendship too, for this group has been studying together in workshop settings for a few years now and after the yoga asana work we often share a meal together. 

A serious winter storm forecast prevented me from going to Fredericton for this yoga workshop.  I just erred on the side of caution and decided to stay put instead.  A little over a week ago David and I narrowly avoided a collision on the highway due to bad driving conditions. Eight other cars weren't so fortunate that morning; the good news is that there weren't any fatalities.  Sometimes you just have to listen to those weather forecasts to avoid a dangerous situation.  Despite the change in my plans, I will focus on a lot of yoga this weekend anyway.  I will do a long home based practice and see where it takes me.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend too.  Spend some time doing something that you just love to do, whatever that might be.  Let that love of your work nourish you.

Namaste.

Day 205 February 25, 2011

Cape Breton Island

One of my dearest friends from Cape Breton, Carolyn, once brought me to her favourite comfort spot.  We walked and walked up a narrow trail that wound its way through a dense forest and then followed the cliffs that overlooked the ocean.  It was a bit mucky down low on the trail due to recent rains, but up high the forest floor was resilient and dry. We came upon a tiny cleared space near the trail and sat facing the ocean. 

The ocean's nearly blank surface, except for the line of breakers that hit the shore, appeared quite far away and the entire view was so vast that it made me feel very small in comparison.  We were so high even the sound of the waves breaking on shore was muted.  Sitting there, as we faced the blazing sun and the wide blue ocean our lives were put into perspective.  The worries we expressed to each other seemed tolerable for we both offered each other support, just as all good friends are apt to do for each other.

It was the breathtaking view that calmed us both and centered us.  We were only two very small animals on a very large beautiful planet called earth.  The air and light offered us a pure moment that was worlds away from traffic, noise, and any other human obligation.  This respite held us deeply until we realized it was time to go.  To return.  The trip back was much lighter, even though the sun had started to drift towards the horizon, for it was our full spirits that carried us down the steep trail and our memories of the sun glinting off the water and the hazy clouds whispering through the sky.

Day 204 February 24, 2011

Holland Tunnel NYC

Are there days when you feel like you'll never get out of the tunnel?  Just head down, nose to the grindstone, and you're not sure if you're going to make it out the other side?  Breathe.

Perhaps you need to look up and inwards.  Embrace the fact that yes, there is something called tunnel vision and that is where you are right now.  Recall that there were moments in your life when you were not in this tunnel.  Breathe.  

Consider that if there were moments in your life when you were not in this tunnel, then the chances are  good that this will happen again.  Breathe.

The only thing in life that you can really count on is change.

Breathe.

Day 203 February 23, 2011

The highlight of my morning was to walk the doggies out onto the dykes on snowshoes.  Both dogs were excited to be out there for it had been a while.  Since we received so much snow, it took a few weeks and a few days of above freezing temperatures for the snow to compact enough for the dogs to stay on top of the now hardened snow surface.  Recently our dog walks have been on the pavement which meant the dogs were leashed.  They much prefer running free out on the dykes.

The snowshoes worked like a charm.  I breezed right along on top of the surface of the deep snow, perhaps sinking only a few inches every so often in a drift of powder soft snow.  The sun was brilliant and the wind strong, especially once we cleared the trees and entered the vast flat stretches of the dyked pasture lands.  My winter gear protected me perfectly.  The depth of my hood kept my face completely protected from the winds that otherwise would have created instant headaches on bare skin.

The dogs held their tails high, a sign of their happiness.  Being Labrador retrievers, they barely noticed the cold and wind, but the older dog kept looking back at me, to check that I was doing all right.  Such a sweetie, that Mr. Bear.  It was an exhilarating walk.  I loved the patterns in the snow, the blankness of the white fields, the solitude of being in nature.  Nary another human in sight.  It is good to get away into nature and it is good to return home.

Do you have a favourite getaway in nature that rejuvenates you?  A favourite spot that lets you feast on its beauty and calms you all at the same time?  Or perhaps your favourite spot in inside an art gallery?  Or inside a vast library?  Or aboard a boat, or inside a car?  Or upon a yoga mat?  We all have our comfort spots.  Spend some time in your comfort spot today.  It will feel great.

Day 202 February 22, 2011

porcelain 'Paix'  moon flask

Is it just me, or are there an awful lot of number 2's today?  It's day 202 of this yoga and art blog journey  [yes, dear Denise, we're getting there].  It's the 2nd month, the 22nd day and the year 2011.  Lots of 2's indeed.  Is there any meaning to grasp from this obvious repetition of the number 2?  Gee...  Maybe not, at least not right at this moment, the moment of my writing.  I can hear the laughter out there from you, oh delightful readers that you are. 


Maybe the only apparent meaning is that I'm the kind of person who notices patterns.  As you know, I am an artist.  Currently part of my art practice focuses on decorating square plates with acrylic paint.  I  create patterns and designs on these plates.  No conceptual issues at all, at least if there is any conceptual content, it is so subtle I'm not too aware of it yet.  So I've taken a technique that is new to me and used it to recreate a very old fashioned idea, a potter's plate.

Perhaps you can see that I am the kind of artist who works backwards sometimes, meaning, I work intuitively and then stand back to see what I've done.  I derive the meaning of the work after it's created.  Then there are the times I work with great intention on an idea I've already fully realized and then I simply execute it.

Just thought you might enjoy peeking inside an artist's mind.  Now I wish I could peek inside of your mind today, oh gentle reader.

Namaste.

Day 201 February 21, 2011

New York city

What do you see when you look into a mirrored glass?  Here in an image I've posted from New York city  you see the mirror like reflection of a building across the street on the exterior of a high rise condo.  Since I live in a rural setting, there are no mirror like exteriors of high rise condos nearby, the only mirrors nearby are inside my house or attached to my car.

Mirrors reflect a sense of yourself back to you.  They let you know where you are and what you see around you.  But how about looking within yourself?  That is something a mirror cannot do.  When you look inside yourself it is always a new journey, it is always a surprise.

In art, you are sometimes inspired by your inner vision.  In yoga asana practice you contact your inner awareness of the self.  A different kind of mirror is used here.  Your life experiences, filtered by your senses, present themselves as raw inspiration for new visual creations, or for new bodily movements.  Sense, exploration, it's a new world today.

Trust yourself to lead the way.  Try something new today.

Day 200 February 20, 2011

Day 200  sculpture clay, acrylic paint

Today is day 200.  Hurrah!   As I unplug my iphone after charging its battery I notice the time is 5:55.  Does this happen to you?  Several times a week when I glance at the clock it is 3:33, 4:44 or 11:11, or some other repetition of similar numbers.  I make sense of this repetitive co-incidence and think that the numbers play with me, to cheer me up about their very existence.  

Okay. This is when I tell you that in grade 9 I had a verbally abusive teacher who humiliated me daily in math class.  I have math anxiety.  I get blocked using numbers.  I can balance a budget and do simple numerical things but alegebra and beyond makes me fearful.  Did I remember to say that I cried every day in grade 9 math class?

So now, many, many years later, it seems that numbers try to convince me to lighten up.  I'm grateful for this.  And I think it might be working.  The reason why I'm telling you this story is that it has a happy ending.  Surprise, surprise, I worked for 18 years as an educator teaching in the middle school mostly.  English and art.  I was one of the nicest, kindest teachers I could possibly be.  So the moral of this story is that sometimes when difficult things happen to you the difficulties teach you to make a new way for yourself.  I definitely knew how important it is to not humiliate a student.  I'd already lived through that lesson myself.  So if you find yourself in the middle of a difficult situation, hold on to the idea that you will become stronger from that challenge.  You will prevail and things will get better.

Day 199 February 19, 2011

Connection.  Would you agree that the foundation of a building is crucial?  Especially if the building wishes to stay upright, you might say.  So here I post an image of the roots of a corn plant.  Notice the strong roots that encircle and connect to the stalk and pin it down into the earth.  So too is your foundation important in yoga asana practice.

And not just your foundation is important.  In each yoga asana you practice you must feel a connection to your skeletal framework in order to find the strength to acheive the asanas.

Today in class with David we learned the importance of shoulder blade connection to the back body and the connection of the arms firmly extended in the asana Virabradhasana III.  In this pose you end up standing on one straight leg, while you stretch the other leg straight behind you and the arms straight ahead of you.  The lifted leg must extend and not interfere with the position of the hips.  The hips remain as level as possible.  Of course, none of this is possible without the strength of the standing leg firmly rooted to the floor.

So in your own yoga asana practice, if you feel a bit of a challenge as you attempt a pose, check your foundation.  Check your connection.  Are you hanging out and relying on your inherent flexibility?  Do you feel connected to your entire body?  If not, where does your connection stop?  If you are in a standing pose, are your feet firmly rooted?  Become aware of yourself, and take this feeling with you as you walk out of your practice space and enter the rest of your life.