You're going to do what?

A good friend and fellow teacher mentioned she was going to go try aerial yoga in New York at the end of April... I'm trying to decide if I'm jealous:

Click Me: Crazy Hammock Yoga

Listening to the tones around me

(from www.frommyheart.org)

From Khalil Gibran's The Prophet


And a youth said,
-Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love
and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger,
and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear
not the "nay" in your own mind,
nor do you withhold the "ay".
And when he is silent your heart ceases
not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts,
all desires, all expectations are born and shared,
with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most
in him may be clearer in his absence,
as the mountain to the climber
is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship
save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure
of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth:
and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend
that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need,
but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship
let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things
the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

What makes a good day?

Any day that includes a great haircut AND lunch (starting with martinis!) with your best friend is just heaven...

The rest is details.

Spring Cleaning Projects

Last year around March or April, I read a decent article in Body+Soul about Spring Cleaning. The object was to rethink how you feel in your living space. There were several good tips...

For example, in your bathroom, you go through your cabinet and dispose of your old medications (safely, please). Why hold on to memories of old ailments? When cleaning out your closet, aside from donating clothes that no longer fit, the article suggests that you really consider how you feel in your clothes. This one struck a chord for me, since I do associate certain articles of clothing with good and bad memories. Then, in your work space, the article suggests you think about what sort of work you want to do. That sounds a little goofy maybe, a little too touchy-feely, but I definitely made a cleaner, more efficient work area with that thought in mind.

I feel that Spring Cleaning is upon us again... the weather was about 5-7 degrees warmer than it has been lately, so, I followed the example of my favorite, perpetual Spring Cleaner, and made a quick evaluation of my closet and some dishes. All those items have already been dropped off at the local donation site. While that feels pretty good, on this bland, dreary day, my windows are open and the warmer air calls to me for more improvements.

They say that Spring Cleaning is a symbolic ritual for de-cluttering your mind. Things pile up around our houses just as unresolved issues or omens distracting us from peace collect in the corners of our brains. I have several little piles of books, magazines, forgotten articles and sheets of paper that really ought to be sorted. It's not as overwhelming as last year, the clutter, but the call for a new feeling my living space is sounding.

We don't usually take the time to consider how we feel in places. We know where we feel comfortable, but we don't always consider why. If I look at my life, one of the most comfortable spaces I know is Anya's home... Naturally, the company helps, but she has a neat, cozy space. The walls are a warm color, she has a big comfy couch, and there's a place for every little thing in the room. Her bathrooms are great, too. Fun things on the walls and just an efficient, use of a small space.

So, I think of my own place...

It's tough, because I might be moving soon, I might not be. Moving would give me plenty of new energy to refill a space and really consider what I want out of every room. I could consider paint, wall dressings, new lamps, etc. I moved into this current apartment during college, so, I didn't put a lot of consideration into my "feelings" at that point in time. I didn't bother with painting the walls (knowing I'd have to paint them back to white when we moved out) or hanging more than our ketubah and a few things in the kitchen (knowing that would be more holes to patch up whenever we left). We have reorganized this space a few times, moved the furniture around, threw away things we no longer needed... but I guess I never made it "my place."

While I'm no closer to recreating what I would have if I had made the time in the first place, I'm trying to think of the little things I can do to make this apartment "home." I already know I need some updated pictures of family and friends... and I think I need to redo my bathroom. I've started by reorganizing parts of my closet and my hope chest. I love watching the pile of things to discard grow... though not as much as the pile of things I think other people I know might be able to use.

So, how do these Spring Cleaning projects reflect what's going on in my brain?

Oddly enough, I think I'm sorting. Putting feelings and relations where they belong in my mind, in my heart... maybe I'm also trying to find a place for myself... things need a place in which they belong...

Check In Point #2 of Lenten Experiment

I think I'm going to have to do this again next year... I definitely don't have the hang of this whole "routine" thing. I like holes in my day...

My weekend of birthdays and fun threw me off schedule. I knew it would, but, it was important to me to support the special people in my life. I thought I would just try to be up before noon on days that I needed to be up late. That worked out okay... but, I'm learning the truth now behind all of those things people say about catching up on sleep.

Has anyone told you that when you try to catch up on sleep, it's not until the second night that you actually feel the benefits of it? Frustratingly, I think this is true... as true as the other saying that you really can't catch up on sleep. I'm so groggy and confused by it all, however, I might just go with those who say, "I'll catch up on sleep when I'm dead."

The one thing I have completely failed to do is include a moment of quiet and reflection every day. It is much easier to take something out of your life than to put a really new component into it. When I gave up coffee, soda, sweets, TV, etc, my day was open to everything else. There was no new task that had to be included. With no more major events in the foreseeable future that would keep me up to 3AM, I think I need something more literal, less loose, to help include this new aspect of my "routine." I need to pick different music to wake me (I never switched out the Seal cd and, though I love him, he's driving me bonkers)... something that would put me in the mood to rise and face the day. Maybe I need to pick up my Morning Pages again... but, that can take hours on a really sleepy morning. I think I'll do something similar to ritual journal writing, but simplify it. Maybe I'll sit by the window and meditate... not that I was ever accomplished at that. Well, maybe this can be seen as practice.

Well, I've give it a new go one way or the other...

I hope everyone else who participates in the Lenten Experiment is making the most of the experience.

(from http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com)

Breathe

You will have to slow yourself down...


Feel your lungs expand

Long and slow



The exhale should be a few seconds longer than the inhale
Close your eyes
(not now)
(when you breathe)
No one has to see

Feel the lungs- feel the heart getting dangerously close to the surface
Gradually let the air out
and the heart is lodged again as close to you as it can be
You fill it and empty it to keep it strong
To be less afraid of it


In and out through the nose,
Draw the air to the back of the throat
You can hear it
a little like snoring
You hear it talk to you
Counting to you
to calm you down
and bring you back to Center


Work toward Numbers
At least 5 seconds in
At least 8 seconds out


If you have to keep your eyes open, focus on the area between your eyes
breath in and out into that area
that's your Third Eye chakra

If you can open it, you can... well, "see"

"Breath is Spirit. The act of breathing is Living."

Define "pointless performance"

The results of the Oscars came out today... and what did I do? Did I watch Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin cut up on stage or giggle at Ben Stiller's hideous Avatar costume? No- (well, I did laugh at Charlize Theron's dress... what was she thinking?) I went to a birthday brunch for Dennis (Happy birthday, Mr. Perreault!) and saw my Uncle Jay and Aunt Cathy perform at a cruddy little pub in Newport News.

I did check up on the results... I was happy to see that UP won Best Animated Feature (though, I was even more thrilled that Coraline was nominated) and I was highly disappointed to see that Food Inc. did not win Best Documentary Film (while it's a kick in the teeth, I think it's an extremely important message). If Sandra Bullock was going to win Best Actress, her role in The Blind Side was the most deserving. And, if I recall correctly, this year was the first year a woman won the Best Director award... so, that's fun...

...but, ultimately, pointless.

I spent my evening at Manhattan's listening to my uncle play for a Disaster Relief performance collecting money for the victims in Haiti. Aside from the fact that my uncle is smart and talented, that was an act worth viewing. We gave donations to people who need the help while being entertained by Jay and Cathy's witty banter and fearless renditions of classic rock songs.

My uncle and his wife started out with some goofy, fake British-y accents, making some jokes about the softer side of life... and started their routine with Cheer Up, Sleepy Jean by the Monkees and Rainbow Connection (my uncle even brought his stuffed Kermit the Frog on stage for the gig). Of course, then they dove into stuff you weren't expecting from a well dressed lady and her long haired guitarist husband... like The Ace of Spades by Motorhead, Rainbows in the Dark by Dio, and Pinball Wizard by The Who. The progression from sweet little songs to harder sounds was really amusing.

But, what sticks with me the most now are the moments just before the performance. My uncle was sipping some liquid courage, so, I took my hand to the middle of his spine. I'm not sure why I had the impulse to scratch his back... guess I just felt sympathy for those performance jitters... he purred and thanked me as he said, "Hey- you've got some elbow grease. You get that from your grandmother."

She's been gone for 12 years... and I wanted to hug this bear of a man for bringing her back to me for just an instant. It's nice to know what parts of her live on within me...