MINDFUL EATING, published first at SlowSonoma.com
 and included here, as a compendium of the food/ health/ weight loss/ yoga / tai chi postings


The tongue has the biggest representation in our brains compared to its size in our body.
Why?
Eating.
Talking.

And, guess what? If you are in the mood to “wake up” in the enlightenment sense, and are on the pathway to being present and aware at every moment, you might or might not have noticed that these two times are times when we often go back to “sleep.”

So here is today’s game, so simple and so deep and so off the normal track as to appear almost impossible.

And in the words of Moshe Feldenrkais, the goal of an amazing life is to “make the impossible, possible; to make the possible easy; to make the easy elegant or pleasurable, or both.”
The end is a bit of a paraphrase.
Oh, well.

Eating.

Look at your food as your prepare it. Find your feet on the ground, and your eyes bringing in light and images, your fingers touching the food, your breath coming in and out.

Notice your arms and legs and spine.

Breathe.

Prepare your food so that it looks and smells good to you.

Sit somewhere that is conducive to feeding yoru body, and your heart and your spirit.

Sit up somewhat straight.

Take three breaths before you take a bite. If you live with other people, hold hands with your eyes close for many breathes, and then look around at each person before letting go. Maybe say something meaningful to you. Listen to what anyone else has to say.

Before the first bite, follow three breaths.

After the bit, put down the eating tool, or the bowl or the cup. Down, hands free.

Chew and savor and taste.

Take a breath when the food is “gone.”

Then pick up the eating tool, cup or bowl, and resume, one more bit, again setting this down while you chew and savor.

If others are there are you going to talk?

I don’t know.

Find out, and if you do, see if you can put attention all on eating and then all on listening and/ or talking, but make them separate.

Make the attempt.

Slowness and awareness will feed something deep in you.

Try it and feel, see, experience;

Good.

The book can be purchased over the internet as
a pdf that I'll email you.

You pay pay pal, they email me,
I email you your pdf.
You can print it up,
or read it off the computer.

This unique collection
of 108 games/ actions/ learning practices
costs
$54
fifty cents a game.
Do one activity a day for ten days
and the book will have paid for itself.

108 Paths to Awakening: $54

Move, Feel, Think, "soul"

LOW COST OPTION:
This book is about changing your life
by doing AT LEAST ONE NEW ACTION A DAY
do this
and see if it changes your life.
Meanwhile, here's the honor roll book.
Pay $27 now
and after the 108 games you feel so transformed
you feel like buying it again, go right ahead.
For now: get involved.
Do 1 a day,
or even better four: moving, emotional learning, thinking and "soul"
Change makes for change.
Have fun.
Wake up.
Meanwhile, I'll send you the pdf.

$27 Honor Roll Low Cost Book

Here's the struggling and wanting to transform option:

108 Wakings for $13

And here's the full fair fare,
go for it,
you are this valuable,
signal your value to both you and me:

108 Wakings for $108

Tai Chi for learning, amazement and deepened meditation
AND
improving your brain
balance
and
sense of humor


If you know tai chi,
and want to radically improve the awareness/ mindfulness
benefits
try this:

start the form as you usually do
with extra attention on whether your weight is on
your left foot
or your right foot

gradually expand your awareness
so that each time you weight is on your left foot,
you add on as well
attention to your right hand,
and vice versa

do this as fully as possible:
all fingers, all toes,
the meat of the hand, the fullness of the foot
the wrist, the ankle

and in the foot
attention to where your weight is being placed

keep doing this and then add on:
selecting one digit of the "lit up" hand ( which is the
hand opposite the foot pushing down into the Earth)
select one finger of the "lit up" hand
and put attention on that finger and the equivalent toe
of the opposite/ weight bearing foot

And switch in the next posture
as your weight shifts to the opposite foot

Like this:
left foot on ground, right hand lit up: chose the thumb and the big toe
right foot bearing weight, left hand lit up: choose the little finger and the little toe

toward the middle of the foot,
those toes are "harder"
but that is the fun of it
in a way

and you'll forget to keep this
awareness game going,
maybe,
and just come on back
and "light up" your brain
as you do tai chi

Going Beneath and Beyond Feeling Bad

How to lose weight, by realizing that your unhappiness doesn't have to run and or ruin your life.

I'm going to start posting almost weekly in this blog, too.  To the right you can find a list of my other blogs and the days on which they are published.

This blog is going to return to it's original aim: Tai Chi:: Yoga::Health:: Weight Loss

And I'm starting my return here by talking to the core of overeating:
Using food as a way to cover "feeling bad."

In later essays, we can talk about eating mindfully, and shifting radically the "kinds" of foods that you eat.

But if you can't begin to shift out of slavery to "getting rid" of unhappiness, the freedom that can come from real health and healthy eating will always be just "beyond the beyond."

So here's the essay, a chapter in my new book on Real Health:

 

The Importance of Feeling Bad

Sometimes, and with awareness

Sometimes we feel bad. Or, we could say, sometimes we feel like shit, or poorly, or unhappy. Mad, angry, depressed, worried, stressed, overwhelmed, sad. Bad.

We don’t feel good.

Now, this book is about waking up to real health by being present to whatever is going on.

If we feel bad, the “normal” way of reacting is:

Oh no, help. I feel bad. Get me out of here.

So we call a friend to rescue us from our loneliness, or going to a bar or a movie to distract ourselves, or even do something “good for us,” like jog, or write in our journal.

Some of these modes will move our life forward. Some will leave us stuck. And this book is about creating a life of ongoing happiness, health and learning. Of creating conditions where we can be helpful to ourselves, and to others and to the planet.

So, how can we “use” a moment, or a day, or a period of unhappiness to create a life of ongoing happiness, to create conditions where we can be useful to ourselves and to others and to the Earth.

Good old Earth. What does that have to do with being unhappy?

A lot, it turns out, since we can look around and see how much destruction is being melted out to our planet by the ravages of people rushing out to buy all sorts of stuff they don’t need, to coat and cover and “bad feelings” that might be creeping up.

That “shop until you drop” is considered sheik and cute rather than the ethical ecological equivalent of obscenity is testimony to how “normal” the habit of consumption is. And consuming stuff, consuming the Earth, here does the “stuff” come from?

Okay, okay, eco preaching yeah, yeah, but what does that have to do with unhappiness?

When unhappy: A. Don’t shop. B. Don’t get in a car and go somewhere. C. Don’t shop online.

When unhappy, don’t speed up.

Slow down. Slow down to the present.

Don’t avoid.

Feel, in the sensory sense, whatever sensations come up with “feeling bad.”

In your chest, breathing, jaw, neck, ribs. Wherever you constrict and contort yourself when you feel mad, afraid, weird, angry, sad, bad, notice as pure sensations.

There is almost always a bunch of words accompanying “feeling bad,” and try this: shift your attention to the present.

If you feel something in your stomach feel it. If you are sitting on a chair, sense that. If you are sitting upright, or walking, or lying down, sense your five lines (two arms, two legs, one spine) in whatever position you find yourself. Unhappy, let that be the background noise to this job, this job that pays a huge dividends, the job of being present.

Sense your five lines, and let the sensations of your unhappiness add to that.

And listen to the world. If the world outside you is saying, “You poor thing, Mary Lou should have been nicer to you,” then listen. But if those words, and any other ones that carry and justify and fuel your unhappiness are coming from inside your brain, pay them as little attention as you can.

For now.

Later in this book, and always to be recommended is to write down what the “should” and “shouldn’t” statements that are throbbing underneath your unhappiness and “doing the Work” on them. The Work is the work of Byron Katie, and that can be found online at http://thework.com, and she, Byron Katie’s her “stage” name, has books out with titles like “Loving What Is,” and “I Need Your Love, Is that True,” and “A Thousand Names for Joy.”

Also, in my previous book, available online, “Happiness in 4 Modes: 108 Ways of Moving, Feeling, Thinking and ‘Soul-ing’ to transform your Life,” I have a number of sections giving step by step pathways to take advantage of the Byron Katie work.

And for now, we are practicing giving so called “unhappiness” a bigger container by coming to the now.

And a specific set of ways of coming to the Now.

1)            Sense the “feel bad” sensations that go along with your unhappiness, without the words, just as sensations

2)            Sense your five lines

3)            Pay attention to real sound in the “real” world outside of you

4)            Pay attention to real light coming into your eyes from the world outside your body

5)            Follow your breathing

6)            Feel the totality of your experience in the present

7)            Find the happiness that is always there when we “wake up” to ourselves in the present.

So, this is subverting “unhappiness” by going Big and going now. Sure you are suffering, but is your big toe suffering? Is your breathing? Is your right elbow? How is the sound coming in your ears? The light coming in your eyes?

Your unhappiness can stick around, if it wants to, but your Life is bigger than that. Can you remember that the next time you are unhappy?

And guess what? Except for “sensing the feel bad” sensations in the list above, all the other avenues toward the Big and Present and Real you can be jumped into and enjoyed, right now.

And will that be good for the Earth?

Yes.

And will that be good for others around you?

Yes.

And will that be good for you?

Start practicing now, either six or seven of the above list, and find out.

All you have to lose is your slavery to
1) Feeling Bad
2) Fear of Feeling Bad
3) Having to "get rid" instantly of Feeling Bad

Good.

Cheng Man Ching
decided that he didn't want to do the "long" form, so he invented the
short form

Through some charming mistake somewhere along the way
this is called the "shot form."

Oh, well. If we watch this for a bit
(and in this day or Internet rush, rush, do we actually
have 7:41 minutes?
But surely we can hang in there for 3:33,
so let's see what we can see....
Be back in 3:33 (notice the simple minded rhyme scheme
creeping up on us.
Good, eh?)

Well, actually, he moves a bit fast for my taste,
kind of like I do on days I want to "get the form over."

However, he wasn't rushing, more like moving
seamlessly from one pose to the next
with no
"look at me, I'm here now"
feeling.

His weight shifted slowly and completely
like sand going from one foot to the other.

His hands seemed to float,
and knowing what I do of the form as taught
by his pupils, I'll guess that he had a great deal of
attention
in his hands

and feet

and spine

and feeling of soft arms

and knowing exactly where and how
his feet where.


Have you ever noticed that tai chi is a lot like walking,
weight on one foot and then weight on the next.

Unlike walking, but like some of the work we do in the Feldy/ Anat worlds,
his arms don't have a stable pattern vis a vis his legs.
In walking left leg forward pairs up with right arm forward.

In tai chi, many of the moves are like that:
in the punch (here right handed), the right fist is forward and the left foot

in brush knee, left foot and right hand and then right foot and left hand

However, many are right right and left left

the single whip is such a move

the kicks, which come later

and fair lady shuttles, again later, has same foot and same hand forward

And so it goes;

move slow

put attention on gravity and both arms and both legs and spine

create variation in patterns of arms and legs

It's a dance, don't you think?

And what's the other half of my roots for the Feldy/ Anat work.

Well, maybe I should have been dividing into thirds
with one third good old fashion NOW

and one third the Gurdjieff meditation of keeping attention
all day in both arms and both legs (plus light and sound)

Or maybe four:
add to Tai Chi
and Now
and Gurdjieff
a love of nature, and how natural can we get by being attentive to slow and novel and delicious movements
movements
learning
awaring
in the so called "body"

Waking us to Now.

Tai Chi can do that,
and it can be a "thing" we do.

So can reading.

So can writing.

It's all the dance: am I awake now,
and if so what is my experience.

Is that a good question for you?

I hope so.

Chris

 on Wednesday in Austin, where the cold was last week
and then it got warm and toasty this weekend
and now the cold is back.
Cold means 40s, sissy winter for most of the county,
and "too cold" for the spoiled Texans and all the immigrants.

In May I'll be back in the Northwest,
and in March visiting No. Cal.
If you are interested in connecting,
let me know.

INDEX OF ALL the POSTINGS IN THIS BLOG: 130 so far

You might enjoy re-reading some of these or perusing them for the first time.
Good.

MAY 2011

130. May 30, Monday: Mindful Eating, originally in Slow Sonoma,   SlowSonoma.com, over a thousand postings there, if you are energetic and don't mind practicing reading in wakefulness

129. May 18, Friday:  Tai Chi made "harder" and even more amazing with a foot/ toe connection to the opposite finger/ hand

128. May 16: Going beneath "feeling bad," essential to weight loss, and happiness


DECEMBER 2010


127. December 22: Tai Chi and Potency:
Wake up,
push out your belly,
thrust into life
smile, get off the computer: live, it's the solstice


NOVEMBER 2010
126. Weeds and Seeds: Wild Amaranth in issue of Edible Austin


APRIL 2010


125 April 17: movement with attention in a chair


124. April 13: "Getting older" = turning 65, blah, blah
MARCH 2010

123. March 8, Orcas Island and a year later:
every day is a good day to restart everything
How to Be Healthy, a less sure but hopefully useful compendium

FEBRUARY 2009

122. February 5, 2009: back to some thoughts on tai chi and yoga

NOVEMBER 2008

121. Nov. 28, Friday, 2008: Day after Thanksgiving, Time to change Habits???

120. Nov 22, Sat. Essentials of Real Health, My take

119. Nov. 14, Friday, Maybe raw, maybe more greens, maybe healthier

118. Nov. 7: Friday, finally got to it: Learning, failing: Real Health

OCTOBER 2008

117. Oct. 24: things ending is a chance to live more fully

116. Oct 3, 2008: 3 L's for a Good Life

SEPTEMBER 2008

115. Sept 26, 2008, third blog of day: what to say: loving all of life

114, sept 19: how to eat better, simplified:

113. Sept. 12, 2008: losing weight is easy

112. Sept. 5, 2008: happiness and heat

AUGUST 2008

111. August 29, 2008: Health, Stress and Undoing the Marlie/Chris thing

110. August 25, 2008: Fall Classes, Sept 6 thru Oct 9

109. August 8, 2008: Thoughts toward health and anti-aging

JULY 2008

108. July 18: have a wonderful day, it's good for your health

107. July 12: bee sting and sweet healing and the joy of gardens

106. July 6: what is love? an approach to discovery

JUNE 2008

105. June 28: Upgrading Your Life, Private Sessions, expensive

MAY 2008

104. May 8: Lose Weight, Get Smarter, Be Happier

103. May 2: Tai Chi, Yoga, Health, Weight Loss: Beyond Boredom, a beginning

APRIL 2008

102. April 21: Class Times: Wake Up Tai Chi/Yoga Brain and Learning Fun; Waking up to Movement and Flexibility and Learning; Waking up Thursday Nights

MARCH 2008

101. March 31: Loving Yourself More, Undo Emotional Pain, Improve Emotional and other skills

100. March 22: tai chi for non-dummies

99.March 10:Recovering from Surgery

98. March 7SOUL AND SOIL, sort of?? Maybe: health is...

FEBRUARY 2008

97. Feb. 24: rains and reality

96. Feb. 20: importance of fresh air to health, mental and otherwise

JANUARY 2008

95. Jan. 5: How to Lose Weight, part 44, or is it 7?


DECEMBER 2007

94. Dec. 31:
how to lose weight and stop waiting for..

93. Dec. 20: Free New Years Day Yoga Çlass

92. Dec. 20: Sufia Yoga: Strength, Unification, Flexibility, Intelligence, Awareness & Anti-Aging

91. Dec. 10: Life is good, even when you are tired

NOVEMBER 2007

90// Nov. 29: Waking Up on Friday Nights

89. Nov. 28: Workshop in Waking, Jan. 5, 2008

88. Nov. 21: Clear Skies and the Waters of Inner Peace

87. Nov. 9: eating, waiting, real food, souls of life

86. Nov. 6: What is Health, and Love is just around the Corner

OCTOBER 2007

85. Oct. 29: Monday Yoga: Clarifying Tree Pose, 1

84. Oct. 22: Tadasana, Mountain Pose

83. Oct. 15: Yoga for a Monday, Vira 2

82. Oct. 8: Yoga for a Monday: Cat and Cow

SEPTEMBER 2007

81. Sept. 28: Waking Up to the Call of Health in the Moment

80. Sept. 21: Season's Change, Now is always

79. Sept. 17: Benefits of DNA Yoga

78. Sept. 12: Eating Less, and Habits, Ahhhhh

77. Sept. 11: Nine Eleven, did the Bad Guys get to Heaven?

76. Sept 6: Global Happiness

AUGUST 2007

75. Aug. 30: Joy to the Word, Joy to the World, Joy to the Weird, Joy to the Now

74. Aug. 23: Weight Loss and the Ongoing Sleep Or, to robot, or not to robot. This is the REAL question.

73. Aug. 21: How to be healthy with windfalls and weeds and a good hearth and mind

72. Aug. 18: Shitty Food

71. Aug. 13: Transformative Yoga, DNA Yoga, Feldie Yoga, Yes Yoga, Yes

70. August 12: Classes for Fall 2007: Transformation and Illumination

69. Aug. 8: An experiment in regaining Break Fast each morning

JULY 2007

68. July 21: What is Yoga?

JUNE 2007

67. June 13: Weight Loss, Water Increasing, Gout routing Diet

66. June 4: Body Ecology Diet for radical healing

MAY 2007

65. May 23:

64. May 4: Real Health is Ours to Be Lived, Each and Every Day

APRIL 2007

63. April 26: FDA up to their usual tricks

62. April 21: Relationship Improvement and Movement Waking Up

61. April 9: Wonder Full Relationship, Workshop, and Private Sessions.

60. April 7: Health is our wealth


MARCH 2007

59. March 30: Eat in Season, or On Sale, and Go Cave Person for the Yum of it

58. March 18: Save your back, save your neck, breathe easier: Raise your computer.

57. March 7: Green Drink, Plus Organic Fruit = Nutrition and Fluid to Start the Day

56. March 3: Food and Fat: Loving Life vs. Self-Dislike, and 4 things to do, if you want to experiment.

FEBRUARY 2007

55. February 28: Eating in Three Levels.... Yes

54. Feb. 27: Walking in Three Levels....Ah

53. February 22: Walking, and the beginings of Heaven

52.5: Feb. 20: Currently Offering These Classes

52. Feb. 19: Get in Shape, Race a Bicycle, or Less, and have Fun

51. February 16: Beautiful Day

50. February 13: The Importance of Happiness

49. February 10: Soaked Seeds and Nuts , a good idea.

48. February 6: Raw Chocolate Smoothie Porpoise of Life

47. Feb. 3: Jokes, Good for Hearth, Health, Soul and Brain

JANUARY 2007

46. Jan. 31: Cave Man/ Cave Woman Diet::: A Possibility?

45. Jan. 28: Differentiation and a Headache 'Cure'

44. Jan. 25: The Joy of Healthy Eating, and Thinking

43. Jan. 22: To be Human, to be Healthy: Make Choices

42. Jan. 19: Enzymes and real Health

41. Jan. 16: On the fear of being cold

40. Jan. 13: Supper to end the day, as in... making it light.

39. Jan. 10: Food Combining, Healthy Lunch, Main Meal = on the way to health.

38. Jan. 7: Start the day off right with a Super Smoothie

37. Jan. 4: Food and Health


December 2006

36. Dec. 31: The Glory of Today

35. Dec. 25: Talking with Jesus on Christmas Day

34. Dec. 22: Overeating and Choices: Self-attack, self-love, curiosity

33. Dec. 19: Unconditional Love. What a concept, eh?

32. Dec. 16: Full Spectrum Lighting, for Health, Mood and Happiness

31. Dec. 13: Beyond Sugar: Raw Fat plus Raw Sweet = Great Taste, Great Health

30. Dec. 10: Food is Good

29. Dec. 7: Offerings, Classes, Workshops, Fees

November 2006
28. Nov. 26: The Glories of Feldenkrais

27. Nov. 22: Eating Healthy

26. Nov. 21: Functional Integration®: Amazing and Transformative (and feels great, too!)

25. Nov. 18: Raw Foods and Feldenkrais

24. Nov. 17: Learning by Healing, and Healing by Learning: Deep Tutoring for Real People

23. Nov. 15: Healing by Learning

22. Nov. 14: Tai Chi and Feldenkrais

21. Nov. 13: Super Wheatgrass for Your Health

20. Nov. 13: The Imortance of Sky

19. Nov. 12: Enhancing Excellence, Learning Acceleration and Waking Up

18. Nov. 11: Fitness, Health and Weight Reduction

17. Nov. 10: Mindfulness and Stress Reduction

16. Nov. 9: Neck, Shoulder and Back Pain

15. Nov. 8: Gifted and Athletic Children

14. Nov. 7: What is the Feldenkrais Method?

13. Nov 7: Who Was Moshe Feldenkrais?

12. Nov. 6: Longer Lists of Movies and Books

11. Nov. 4: Tuesday Night Mindfulness and Health and Stress Reduction

10. Nov.2: Children and Learning Difficulties

9. Nov.1 : Parent and Teenager Communication

October 2006
8. Oct. 26: Walking is Good for You

7. Oct. 24: Ericksonian Hypnosis

6. Oct. 21: What is Wake Up Feldenkrais?

5. Oct. 19: Ten Week Radical Health Improvement and/or Weight Loss Program

4. Oct. 18: About Marlie Wesner and Yoga and More

3. Oct. 17: Wake Up Feldenkrais Offerings

2. Oct. 16: Byron Katie work, Happiness Work, Relationship Work

1. Oct. 15: More Bio

TAI CHI AND POTENCY
Or: the joy of two arms
two legs
a smile
a spine
a pelvis
ten toes
ten fingers
a belly
two eyes
two ears
and
AWARENESS

On November 22, 2008, I  wrote in my Life Potency blog
about tai chi,
and had some nice pictures
of going through the tai chi form
as a series of tucking in, coiling and rounding
as a pulling in and getting ready to strike

alternating
with
arching the back, pressing from the ground through the
lengthened spine,
uncoiling
striking


Here's the link: Tuck and Coil, then Unfurl and Strike

So what more is there to say?

Tai Chi is fun.

I have another essay on why Tai Chi is grand for you,
with the usual suspects:
going slow,
connecting to yourself,
finding and knowing the use of all four limbs in space,
use of the pelvis,
use of the spine

And here I must interject that tai chi,
like yoga,
is often taught as rigidity
in the sense of demanding a "tucked in" pelvis,
which requires a tightening of the abdomen muscles
which feels like "strength"
and isn't

its a tightness that prevent injury
sort of
by preventing any movement

but, the minor problem
is
preventing movement
is preventing life

(he says, rigidly sitting at a chair
typing into his computer,
okay,
okay,
life
is funny:

and hey you: reading at this computer,
get up now
and do a little tai chi
make it up

any position will do,
just know where your arms and legs are
and then have an idea of the next position of your arms
and legs
and move there

hint:
tai chi is fancy walking
it's always shifting
from right to left to right foot

okay
up,
you and me and all of us and
play the tai chi

game

))))

okay
this is life: moving the legs,
moving the arms

and life is nothing
without being awake

and this is the real trick in standard tai chi
with its obsession with the form

perfection is death in a way
getting better and better and better
even by taking the detour of making it worse for awhile
is life

so how to be awake in tai chi:
feel the power from feet to finger tips in each
pose

feel the coiling in
and preparing for power in each transition

feel the softness in the power
feel the power in the softness

this could be mumbo jumbo
or
it
could be a lot of fun

shut down your computer and do tai chi
or pretend tai chi
for the next half an hour

treat it all as a breathing
and skeletal awareness meditation
and
be aware of everything you see
and hear
as you do
all this

good

and maybe this as the final treat

round,
breathe in,
get ready



breathe out
push out belly
push into ground and hands

brush knee this is called,
one hand pushes forward
one by the other knee

Waking up in Austin, One  TURNING AND LEARNING, AGAIN, SURE, WHY NOT??

A bit of bio and a sweet turning while sitting opportunity to “wake up” to spine, life, movement…and more.

From October 17, 2009 to October 16, 2010 I lived mainly on an amazing island in the Pacific Northwest by the name of Orcas Island. I will write about it again in April when I go back for the summer.

Now it is fall, turning into winter. I am in Texas and a supposedly magically part of Texas, by the name of Austin. Austin was reputed to be the Berkeley of Texas, and many people said it would be amazing, and I came knowing two people who couldn’t get back to me and stayed three nights with a wonderful couple who didn’t know me but where willing to take a couchsurfing chance on me. This was Bridgette and John. We liked each other and I weeded their garden and gave the Bridgette “lessons” I teach, a form of gentle and awakening body brain movement from the Feldenkrais Method® and the Anat Baniel Method.

She and her husband found me my next stranger with whom to stay and marvelous raconteur and permaculture activist and Texas good old boy if someone who was an MD and PhD and threw them away because of wanting real healing outside of allopathic medicine can be called a “good old boy.”

Anyway. That was Ted. I cleaned Ted’s refrigerator, a more daunting process than you might imagine, and gave him some lessons and he was grateful and pleased and we turned out to be kindred and brotherly friends.

And Ted led me to Sonora, a bright transplanted star from Missouri, who raised four children in Austin and teaches voice and piano out in southwest Austin right next to the Waldorf school (where she sent all her kids). And Sonoma has room to store me for the winter, a teenagers’ house with the teenagers gone and some land we are going to turn into a garden and now I’m ready to stop talking writing about me and let the focus be on you and how you can wake up to your body and ease and pleasure and learning in the moment.

That’s our life. This being in the moment is our life, whether we notice it or not.

Many enjoy noticing it and find freedom and pleasure and ability to love and forgive and be creative and discover the joy of the new when they are present.

We’re all going to die, and each moment is a gift and a miracle, and moving slowly and with attention can wake us to that miracle. And if the movements are designed to pattern and reawaken natural “functions” that make our life full and vital and easy, as the movements are in the Feldenkrais Method and the Anat Baniel Method, then this waking up can be not only a coming to the present, but an upgrading of your whole nervous system so that we feel younger and taller and lighter and more at home in our “bodies” and brains after the little lesson.

And here’s one.

Here’s a game in which you can begin to come back to you.

What a gift.

One: sit at ease at the forward edge of your chair. Feel your arms and legs and spine and pelvis and ribs and head. Sense yourself. Sense your breathing. Be aware of being alive. Be aware of being aware.

Two: turn your head to the right and to the left, slowly and easily and less than the limit Go for pleasure and learning and awareness. “Range of motion” is a strange and awful trap. Don’t fall for it. Slow into the delicious present of each time you move being brand new. Notice differences in turning right and turning left. Notice differences as you slow and ease into paying more clear and curious attention. Notice the moment.

Notice being alive.

Rest. Feel what slow and attentive movement can do for your mind and body.

It is good.

Three: turn your head, in sitting more or less upright, just to the left and back to the middle. Several times. Each time slowly and with pleasure and learning.

Rest.

Four: put your hands each under the opposite arm pit, so you feel your ribs. Now slowly turn to the left and back to the center. Sometimes just turn “the head.” Sometimes pull the ribs to the left so that your torso and head are a team.

Go slowly. Gently. Pleasurably. With learning.

Notice your spine in all its 24 vertebrae glory.

Notice the difference in “just head,” and head neck and torso and ribs as team.

Rest. In the middle. Eyes closed. Sensing the all of you experience: head spine arms legs pelvis ribs feet hands breathing.

Five. Take the hands the same way as above and rotate your ribs to the left, not to the gosh darned “limit,” but over there comfortably, and leave your ribs and torso and sternum facing that way.

Now like this, rotate slowly your head back toward the center, and then a little to the left of where your chest is pointing.

The usual: slow, gentle, pleasure, learning.

Come back to the center and rest.

Six: Take your head and eyes to the left and let them rest comfortably there. And now, hands on opposite side ribs as before, rotate your ribs to the left and back to the center, keeping your head to the left.

Slow, gentle, pleasure, each time new and a learning.

Rest in the center.

Seven. Tilt side to side as you sit, so that your weight is sometimes on your right “sit bone” and sometimes on your left. Enjoy this. Think of the “sit bones” as the two feet on which you stand when you sit.

Enjoy this.

Slow, gentle, etc.

Rest.

Eight: Tilt to the left sit bone and stay there , and with your weight over there, begin to bring your right knee forward, by pushing your right hip forward. Go gentle. If you don’t get it, just imagine something, anything. But go slowly, and keep your right foot on the ground, and slowly push your right knee a little bit forward and then back and then forward again so you feel your hips rotating to the left.

Go really slowly. Go really gently. Don’t demand you “get it” if you don’t. Find the pleasure. Find the learning.

FIND THE PLEASURE. FIND THE LEARNING.

Rest.

Nine: Take your hands to the opposite arm pits and rotate the torso to the left and when there, tilt to the left sit bone and bring the right knee forward, and stay rotated in both hip and torso, and now bring your eyes left and right while your head stays pointing where it’s pointing. Many times. Slow and easy.

Rest.

Ten: sit in ease and awareness. Turn your head to the left with maybe knowing your ribs can help, maybe knowing your pelvis can help, maybe knowing your eyes can help.

Take lots of time to enjoy this.

Take a mini rest.

Turn both right and left and notice the difference.

Rest.

Eleven: stand up and walk around and see if somehow life isn’t lighter and brighter and more clear and happy and easy for you.

Good.

One of the healthiest ways to eat

is to harvest wild greens:

On Orcas,

I had an abundance of Nettles and dandelions

In Sonoma,

pigweed and mallow where in glory

Coming to Austin,

things have been slim

except that one garden plot at the Sunset Valley Community Garden

was full of my old friend:

pigweed,

aka,

wild amaranth

Imagine my surprise and delight to discover a magazine

called Edible Austin

in the summer issue of which

had a full page spread on the glories

of eating wild amaranth;'

Here's the link: Eat Wild

And here's the glorious "weed" itself.

Mix in some soaked sunflower,

pumpkin,

almond,

flax seeds

and a little Celtic salt,

and sweetener:

honey, fruit, stevia, agave

and you have a high powered,

super nutritious feast in your hand,

soon to be in and nourishing

your body