The Rains and our Inner Well Being

In this part of the world, on many a day, if the year is good, and the weather is kind, we have a good drenching rain. Today and last night has been that way. Last night the wind could be heard wild and whipping and this morning on our wide front porch, even boots and gloves supposedly “protected” by the overhang, were drenched. This cut a little into this morning’s fun, since without the big waterproof boots, I can’t frolic and stomp and work around so easily in the wet and mud and rain.

This, a shame. Yesterday’s pushing of wheelbarrows full of compost and horseshit in the drizzle, not only kept my body warm, and gave me pure and free exercise, but lifted my spirits as well. Who can feel poorly when the full fresh wetness of winter is all around, and you can march and stomp through it in your high boots, like some happy child.

Children know that rain is fun. Adults think it’s a bother, as if the wetness will somehow dissolve us.

When did we learn to be so fussy and frightened of a little discomfort? And is this really discomfort, a bit of wetness in our socks, or around our knees, and even, seemingly the worst of it, dripping down our neck? We can tell ourselves it is a drag, or that it’s yucky, or that it’s whatever we like to label experiences we want to avoid, but much like the emotional discomfort we were examining in the first section, physical discomfort, at least short of real miserable cold or hot, is often a mental story, a set up in our mind to be unhappy about the way things are going.

So we have the dampness, which as an experience is just a little .., well, damp. And then we have the story about the dampness, about how we really are uncomfortable, how we have to get back indoors, how we have to “fix” whatever is happening right now. We use the dampness as an excuse to dampen our own experience, to clamp down on our joy in living.

And now, this now as I write, the sun has come up between rain showers, and the clothes that I washed and hung around the house to soak up extra house heat and dry that way, the clothes beacon: put me on the line, they say. And, of course, the story: that’s too much work. And the story: it could rain again and I’d have to go out and bring them in. And the story: why can’t I just be like everyone and put my wet/damp clothes in the dryer? Well, I could, and prefer not to use the electricity. And anyway, the sport of hanging up wash is one I enjoy.

So rain not only gives me a chance to get outside and learn the difference between the experience of getting a little wet (after all there are coats and sturdy shoes, even when the boots are down and out of commission) and real suffering. It also gives me the chance to play with my clothes, the see if the skies will stay clear of rain long enough for some drying to take place.

And by the time these last two paragraphs have been written, the clouds and grayness has come in again. The wind is still strong, and by the end of this paragraph, the rains could be back. Time to put on my boots and take a walk. Maybe they’ll still be wet inside and my feet will get a little wet.

Maybe it will start to rain on me. Maybe I’ll play part time gambler and hang some of the clothes on the line.

If I’m present, it’s all a gift, isn’t it?

the importance of fresh air

sweater on plant on piano

to breathe fresh air:
our bodies like to do this
and when riding a bike along
a beautiful road today
i saw some people taking happy walks

other people work
outside

still others
do chores
for their animals

others garden

some just go
outside
and sit

this is
all
a nice way to
live

and
does
it make
any money?

ah,
the big question

somehow: you can build gardens
and talk to people
and write books
and think useful thoughts
and think no thoughts in a kind
of enlightened
state

all this
you
we
i
you
us
can do
outside
breathing fresh air

How to Lose Weight, part 44:

Don't Wait to move around,
not "exercise,"
call it Life

>
"half backbend," (head under gap) from Chris' SUFIA yoga (Feldenkrais/yoga/tai chi) mix

Moving is fun

to lose weight:
take twelve to
twenty minutes
set a timer
and dance
or walk fast
or lift rokcs
or do push ups
or all of the above
in some mixed
and awaren
and fun
way

and then
eat

eat slowly
and in
awareness

but earn your food
by joyfully being
in the life
of movement
and awareness,
first

How to "Lose" Weight

stop waiting
to
be present
and
pay attention
to
the eating

the food
the tastes
what you put in
how fast
how you chew
shallow
what do you love about eating

how do you
know
when to stop

that's the start
and then:

eat lots of raw foods
maybe all

and then:
eat most
in the middle of
the day

and then:
combine starches with greens
and proteins with greens
and fruits alone or with raw protein

go slow
eat less
wait
and have
a snack
that has no
flour
no sugar

oh yeah:
drop flour
and sugar from the eating

lots to change

discover the thrill
of changing

why
wait???

Sufia Yoga Class

(no longer offered on
Mondays
instead:::
on Friday afternoon
and Saturday mornings
at the new
Waking Up
Cottage
on Carriger Road:

call for location
and times
and to reserve:
707-996-1437




Sufia Yoga=
Strength
Unification
Flexibility
Intelligence
Awareness & Anti-Aging

A new invention
an evolving and wonderful
combination of
yoga (I was certified at the 200 hour level this summer)
Feldenkrais (I have trained 183 days, not hours, beyond the required 160 days)
Tai Chi
Pilates
and
More

Anti-Aging?
Yes, using our brains
as we did when we were first learning
to walk, roll over, talk and crawl,
reactivates a youthful and discovery
oriented approach to being
that brings us younger in feeling, movement and spirit

Strength of many sorts:
arms, shoulders, backs, abs, legs
and most of all:
brains, awareness and delight

Following the patterns of life:
expansion and contraction
Rotation and lengthening of our spine
Balance, coordination, and novel patterns of moving and learning
Discovery as intrinsic to a spontaneous, joyful and creative life
Loving now as intrinsic to a peaceful, rich, creative and loving life

Just show up.
Please bring a mat, and one (or more) for a friend(s), if you have extra.
Thanks.

Questions???
707-996-1437
or
email me at: chriselms@sbcglobal.net

Feldenkrais® + Yoga + Tai Chi + Awareness
= SUFIA YOGA

Strength
Unification
Flexibility
Intelligence
Awareness & Anti-Aging

A new invention
and
an evolving and wonderful
combination of
yoga (I was certified at the 200 hour level this summer)

and
Feldenkrais (I have trained 183 days, not hours, beyond the required 160 days)

and
Tai Chi
(studied five years in Berkeley with
Lenzie Williams)

and
core work

and
turning on the learning switch
(see Anat Baniel Method,
where I have studied for 92 days)
applying body brain learning
to golf, tennis, baseball, skiing,
eliminating back, neck and shoulder pain,

and
More

......

Anti-Aging?
Yes, using our brains
as we did when we were first learning
to walk, roll over, talk and crawl,
reactivates a youthful and discovery
oriented approach to being
that brings us younger in feeling, movement and spirit

Strength of many sorts:
arms, shoulders, backs, abs, legs
and most of all:
brains, awareness and delight

Not just stronger,
but :
Get
Smarter ( using your brain, learning new and non-habitual ways of moving, and problem solving)
Sexier (connect to vitality, to the pelvis, to breathing, to loving yourself, to Life)
Stronger

Following the patterns of life:
expansion and contraction

Following the human construction:
rotation is what we are built to do most easily
being on two legs makes us uniquely unstable and capable of all sorts of mobility

Following the world in which we swim:
the ocean of GRAVITY: pelvis, legs, rooted, grounded, balanced, strong, back muscles to hold our head up

the ocean of AIR: torso, breathing, open hearts, rib basket not rib cage, flexible and aware ribs and sternum

the ocean of LIGHT and sound and smell and taste: free and mobile neck so we can turn easily and see the world

P.S.
We won't do this:


But if you could
this yoga would help you be even better at it



THREE TYPES OF CLASSES:

One: this mix:

Yoga, Feldenkrais®, Tai Chi
“Smarter, Stronger, Sexier;
More flexible, more aware.”
Fri 4:30 PM, Sat: 9:30 AM

Two:
tai chi, as I learned it in Berkeley
though
as it's never been taught:

Tai Chi (the Feldie way): Sat. 8 AM

Three:
on the floor,
easier movements
for greater learning,
ease
and pleasure,
though,
not strength
building

BRAIN ACCESS MOVEMENT
“Smarter, Sexier;
More flexible, more aware.”
Monday: 7 PM Fri 3:30 PM, Sat. 10:30 AM




see Current Class Schedule

Living Life is Good,
Even when you are tired

written by a tired
chris,
oh
well


to be healthy

walk

to be healthy

smile

to be healthy

try something
that you think is "hard"
to do

this could be:
being present when
unhappy

this could be:
making a phone call you are
afraid,
or reluctant to make

this could be:
loving someone who is
giving you a hard time

even yourself
if you are giving yourself a
hard time

this could be:
going to bed when tired

this could be:
taking a walk when
tired

this could be:
walking in silence
when you are wired

this could be:
writing
in the present
following the breathing
your breathing
me breathing
anyone's breathing
while writing
or reading or
reading (that's a hard one,
every tried it:
if not,
hey:
another hard thing to try)

why try to hard things:
like to breathe
and know you are breathing
when your chatter mind
wants you unhappy?

because
life is a rising up
through the muck
an exploration
of possibilities

any moment
in the
real
now
kind of place:
is impossibly wide open

even
this
silly
wonderfu
one

wonderful
one

won der full
one

one dear full
one two three

there you be

Waking Up Now

Friday Night wake up Group:


for some folks, Friday night
is pizza
or flake out
or party
or all three

for others:
what a grand party
to gather with others

and stay present

talk in the present
listen in the present
move in the present
sit in the present
to be silent
in the present

nothing fancy
everyday
magic
of waking
up to now

as we get "advanced" we will
talk of the immense topic:
How to Heal the Earth
and
staying present
as we speak and
listen,
we will experience
this discussion at a whole different
level than the usual
feeling frantic, cynical, distraught
or whatever emotional
habits grab us
when we aren't present

and,
it's possible to feel "bad"
when present
except
except that underneath
that
there is always a feeling of peace
and supportness

impossible?
no.
difficult?
perhaps.
Come and give it a try
of easy effort,
attention,
and delight
in the
Now.


Friday nights:

7-8:30 PM

$10-15 per person

$15-25 per couple


call for location
and to clarify
your wishes for yourself
in such a group

707-996-1437

Waking Up
in the New Year

January 5
First Saturday in
the "New Year"
2008
Saturday
1-5 PM

every moment is "new"
if we are "now"

easy to say
to write
to blah, blah about

easy to "do"
easy to forget
a delight
an absolute delight to
be there
and stay there
as long as we can

yes

Come together
to sit in silence
to speak from the present
to move with awareness
to learn about learning
to be present
to find the peace
that is
always there
when
we are now

$50 before Jan. 1
$60 after

Modified Head stand

Upside down
and the legs off
to the side.

Does this look
fun
or
hard
or both?

Yes.

Clear Skies
and the Waters of Inner Peace

Gurdjieff once said that most people's idea
of happiness

was to eat themselves
into a stupor

well,
tomorrow's a
good chance to do that

or to
go for the real gold:
awareness as we eat
awareness as we open
our mouths to yap, yap

awareness as others speak
and we are tempted to fill our
mind with what we are
going to say, "next."

all that next
stuff
next thing to say
next bite to gobble in

and food,
yum,
one of the few moments we
are
now
when that tastes hits our nervous system
yum
yum
and hey,
one bite
needs
another
and another
and another
and
the tastes in the mouth,
and that social permission to plunge
in
and take it in my the shovelful

and soon the now
of tasting
the deliciousness
has gone into the glog
of stuffed
stupor

ah, happiness

of a sorts

oh, well
it's a sweet life

wonder ful
to wake
up
any
moment

even
now

Healing and Enhancing our Relationships

From poor to good
from good to great

it's always fun to improve

Relationships are core to a happy
and sweet life

and we sometimes
either
go numb in them
or get so busy we don't see the other
or get locked into combat
or suffer in silence
or act in ways that are highly "asleep"

This work is for anyone who wants to
wake up to now,
to live with more pleasure,
awareness,
and love.

For themselves
and others.

Couples,
parents and teenagers
grown adults with issues still with their parents
anyone holding a grudge and having forgiveness hard to come to
anyone estranged from someone they once loved:

this work is
for you.

Sessions
last from one to two hours
and cost $60-120 per hour,
you chose the amount.

Eating Less

To become a sweet and fine
weight
just for you

sometimes
you have to wait
until you eat
again

do a little
something first
a Feldie lesson
a twenty minute walk
or yoga
or tai chi,
or meditation

it's good
to do
a little something
when we think
we "have" to have
something
just now

breaking fasts
means
to explerience
the joy
of letting the stomach
wait
a little bit

no big deal
to our body
huge deal
to our robot
mind

don't believe me?
Okay.
don't believe me

or come in
for hereandnow
consultations
and see
remember
learn what you once
knew as a child:

there is a food
much
dearer
and deeper
than
food

and
of course:
enjoy the heck
out of your food

and
of course:
eat slowly
enough
to
WAKE UP
whilst thou eat

What is Health

Resiliancy
and the
ability
to thrive
when setback
or set forward
or set down
or set up



love
is always
around the corner
and bursting
out of
real
health,

or so it seems
and
at any
moment
we
can be
healthy
and now

or something else

why not
be healthy

ciao
chris

Clarifying Standing on One Leg, #1

Human beings can do a lot of things,
many of them fairly stupid,
and some
marvelous and we don't even know it:
such as standing on two feet.

Lo and behold,
why stop there:
How about standing on one leg?

Turns out
yoga
in its quest to help us clarify what this
body thing
body mind thing
focusing and attention thing
is all about
has a bunch of one legged postures.

And great:
every time we walk
we are one legged
for a little while.

But
in yoga,
we hang on one longer.

So, let's take the simplest
and make one set of clarifications
this week
and some more next week.

The pose:
Tree
Vrikasana

How to do it:
You know,
but just in case:

Stand on one foot,
bring the sole of your other foot
to your ankle
or your calf
or your thigh,
or bring your ankle of the up foot,
across the standing up leg thigh.

Anyway: there you are on one foot,
and the hands?

In prayer pose:
at heart
or above your head.
Or arms parallel above your head.

Okay,
then you stay there awhile,
and if you want to get fancy,
close your eyes and stay there.

Good:
the affirmation:
"I am calm. I am poised."

Fine.

And to clarify:
try this.
First experiment with your two legs
and discover which side does Trikonasa better.

Then do it on the "second best" side again,
and see how it is,
and specifically notice:
where is your hip joint.

Then lie down.
Stand the foot on the ground/ floor,
of the "second best" balancing leg.
Leave the "first best" leg lying straight and
it will just do nothing for awhile.
So we'll call this "second best" leg,
the Leg.

Now: imagine where your hip joint
is for the Leg.
Hint: it's not at the outer edge we
call our hips.
Nor is it in the crease where our pants
make a fold, in the groin area.
So where is the hip.
Find out.

Move the Leg, with foot in place,
the knee to the right and left.
Slowly.
Search for where the hip joint is.
Really slowly.
Take rests.
Do this again.

Let the Leg down, and rest like that.

Now bring the foot of the Leg
to standing again, and do this interesting
movement:
once breathe out, and lift that knee, and bring it
closer to your head
and then breathe out,
and push your belly out and
press that foot into the floor/ ground so that
side of the pelvis raises a little.
Go very slowly.
Search for the hip joint
in all this.

Take another rest.

Do that again.

Take another rest.

Now combine:
Bring the Leg to standing,
and rotate that knee in a circle
in such a way that sometimes the belly
is going out and the knee is going away
from your body
and sometimes the knee is to the right,
and sometimes the knee is coming toward you,
and sometimes the knee is going to the left.

Slowly circle.
Rest.
Slowly circle the other way.

Search for the hip joint.
Rest.

Come to standing.

See now which leg stands
more easily in tree pose,
and what knowing about
your hip joint
has to do with helping this.

ciao,
chris

Marvelous Marlie

plan B

don't need one
yet

will post here
if we do

Yoga on a Monday:

Tadasana

This one is
"simple"

and oh, so beautiful

Stand with your feet firmly planted
on the ground

bring your eyes to the horizon
go a little below
and a little above


see if you can find a position for your neck
that leads your eyes to being directing parallel
to the Earth

horizon
horizontal
spine up and down
eyes at right angles to that

search
and
if you want:
play

play a little with eyes and nose:
eyes up as your nose goes down
nose down and eyes up
and then find the two together
and pointing to the horizon

horizon
horizontal,
directions we learn and learn and learn
as babies
and then forget about

how are we doing now
at the computer:
is the screen such that our backs
can be upright
and our eyes looking neither up
nor down at the screen????

okay
back to tadasana:

feet
rock a little forward,
feel what happens in your back


rock a little back
feel what happens in your front


notice the tension in your back
when you rock forward,
the tension in your belly
when you rock back

find the middle ground
neither forward nor back
(minimum tension, front and back)
and then
come back to your eyes and neck
and let them line up with the earth

this is good

try this, too,
which is a bit like the above
and a little more advanced,
and very toning to the brain
and the nervous system:
pull your belly in just a little
and rock your pelvis so the top goes back
and your tail bone (the bottom of the pelvis, in a way)
tuck under

alternate that with pushing your belly out
a bit (this can be done to sweet effect
at our chairs in front of the computer)
and rolling the pelvis so the top part comes forward,
and the tail comes back
as if lifting your butt in the air

back and forth

then make it bigger,
letting the arms come up and back when your
belly goes forward,


and the arms come a up and a bit forward
when your belly comes back


feel the rocking on your feet as you do
this

what is different
if you do this with your eyes open
and with your eyes closed

search for the middle in
all this
the place neither forward
nor
backward



and you'll have a sweet
tadasana

The affirmation here is:
I stand ready to... connect with my Highest Self
or
I stand ready to obey Thy least command
or
I stand ready to live in the Here and Now
or
I stand ready to live life to the full

you pick

enjoy

Parenting, and Love in Action

PARENTING: A GUIDE TO LIFE
Parenting is not something our children ask for. It’s something we do, and they live with. They suffer with, they put up with, they thrive with. Parenting is our job. In some systems, the soul decides to come back, chooses the parents, blah, blah, and maybe yes, maybe no, and most children have the complete right to say, “I didn’t ask to be born.”

So what’s our job as parents?

Easy.

To love.

That’s it, and on the “good days,” this is easy, and on the rest of the days, it’s a job.

A good job.

The best job in the world.

Have you stayed with me: on the “bad days,” parenting is the best job in the world. Why? Because when they are being little turds, then we have to get our …together and learn what loving really is.

You know the thing from the bible, where Jesus, almost with a sense of humor, says “Anyone can love really groovy people, but can you love them when they are sinners.” Something like that, and He has to drag in the old sinners thing, or maybe it’s just the translators. Over the eons.

Doesn’t matter.

The point: when they are good, they are very, very good, and when they are “bad,” they are horrid. (Little curl in the middle of the forehead, and so on.)

And when they are “bad,” we get to discover that “bad” is in the eye of the beholder, even if they are breaking our really great stuff, or hitting their innocent angle little sister/brother, or saying “No,” for the ten thousandth time to our Wise and Reasonable Rules, Demands, Requests, Pleads, and Barks.

So, how to do that?

Well, the Work of Byron Katie is the way to go at night, later, when we aren’t on the battlefield and we need to get clear about where IS the obstacle to love: in the little horrid child’s behavior, or in our mind that doesn’t know how to unconditionally love?

Loaded question, eh, and the Work, never posits one right way. It does allow us to get into our mess (Judge your neighbor/child), and slow down the mental mess (Write it down), and sort out the mess (Ask four questions), and bring the wisdom on home to our own hearts and minds (Turn in around).

But no rules: Thou Shalt Unconditionally love the little angels/beasts.

Nope, it’s all about understanding our suffering when we don’t love.

And then: back to the battlefield. What to do there, when we are ready to blow our stack, or at the very least, throw away love and get into Boss gear?

Same thing: Know what our habit is. Listen inside our minds to the voice and the words we are about to hurl out. Notice the habitual actions we want to take.

Slow down. Which is kind of already required, isn’t it: since we’ve slowed down enough to notice, instead of charging ahead in the old habit.

So, maybe way near the beginning is this: knowing we are going into the judge, anger, reaction mode. Then watching it.

Then, without the questions, raising the idea of the results of the questions: we have options. What else could we do than what we usually do.

But here’s the key, or one of the keys: follow our breathing. Look at the child without a story of how they should be different. Come to a calmness inside our own bodies, and look, look, look. And wonder: what is going on? Wonder, if I were this child, what steps could the Giant make that would make it easier for me to shift out of my doo doo? Wonder, about what the child imagines the world is and should be at that moment and see if you can help the child make sense of it’s anger or fear or stubbornness.

“If I were you, I’d want to stay here all night, too. You are really having fun. And it makes you angry when I take you away when you are having fun. And you really don’t like me when I take you away and you don’t want to be taken away. And it doesn’t seem fair that I get to tell you what to do all the time. Is that pretty much how it seems to you?”

Something like that.

Hmmm. Come to think of it, this wouldn’t be a bad way to be if a mate or parent of co-worker or friend got angry with us, would it? (Notice or don’t notice, that I stay out of the non-truth land that NVC gets you into when it starts talking about the “needs” of another. The child/ mate/ coworker doesn’t “need” to stay, or to feel in control, but they certainly “want” to.).

So, anyway: if we slow down, find peace in our own bodies, look at the child as someone who has real and valid and deeply felt reasons of their own. Maybe these reasons are understood, probably not, and that’s our job, too: to help them make sense of why they have good and righteous reason to hate us for a moment or a day or an hour.

So love is….

Something to learn. And learning how to slow down, give them their fury or “badness,” help them see what’s going on, work from a framework of listening, and paying attention and deep concern for “their side” of the deal: wow, that’s a long way toward love in action, isn’t it.

And if love isn’t in action, it’s probably not love.

Ciao, for this Wednesday’s parenting essay.

Yoga for a Monday

Warrior II
or Virabhadrasana II
or
Vira 2:

Ah, hello Monday,
and how about a little Vira 2
to start the week.
Let's skip the warrior name,
just go for the gusto,
eh?
Strength,
down and into the ground,
open heart,
up into the sky,
looking forward,
rooted backward,
tooted
to
life
and all its wonders.

And so,
yippie,
let's go:

slowly
and with depth
and exploration
and joy
and discovery:

DNA yoga, Discovery, Nature, Ananda/Awareness

In DNA yoga,
we are up to all sort of variations:
lean "too far" forward,


lean "too far" back



arch you back "too much"


fold and round your back "too much"


try it out
find what feels real
and good
and strong
for you

find the power of connecting to the ground
find the freedom and joy in the upper arms,
feel them floating free,
whether palms are oriented up


or
down


try different depths of the pose,



find what's right
and good
and strong
and happy for you,
for YOU,

find the power and the joy
and affirm
while in this pose
and then
in a resting pose before
the next one:

"I joyfully manifest the power of God."
or
"I joyfully manifest the power of Life."
or
"I joyfully connect with the power of my Higher Self."
or
something else
of your own chosing

have fun
go deep
be strong
clear
and present

that's yoga

you are yoga

Cow, belly down, ready to Moooo about:
Yoga for a Monday

Cat and the Cow

Cats, when they hiss, round up their backs, raising up their belly
and creating something like a half circle from
front feet to the back.

Cows, when they stretch out for a big old loud mooooo,
arch their backs, so the belly gets lower,
and the head gets higher.

Now, if a person did that,
we could have something like this:

1) For starters. Come to your hands and knees. Do this the normal mindless way, and then, hmmm, what would it be like to do it with awareness? Just how do your hands feel on the floor or Earth, and your knees? Are your feet flat to the ground or do you have your toes bent, in what they call the “for running” shape? Where are you looking? How does your spine feel? Are your hips over your knees, your shoulders over your hands? Fool around, play around, shift around, find what feels right for you today.

2) Breathe easily. Notice your breathing. Notice a happiness in breathing. See if there is any way that this simple act, the act of breathing can be easier and more pleasurable for you.

3) Now begin to arch your back and push out your belly as you breathe in. As you do this, lift your butt toward the sky, by tilting your pelvis so that your tailbone, too, is lifting. Do this each time you breath in, let yourself push forward with your belly, arch your back and tilt your butt to the sky. On the out breath, just come to “normal,” whatever that is.


4) Now try the opposite. As you breathe out, pull up your navel, lift the middle of your back toward the sky and tilt your tailbone under, as if you are going to tilt the front of your pelvis ( your sex) toward your face. Look down as you do this, so you are becoming nicely folded, with the center of your back being the high point of the curving you. This is the cat.


Cat, belly in, ready to hiss and ???strike


5) Alternate cat, with belly pulled in and back toward the sky, and cow, with the belly pushed forward and back arching so that shoulders and butt are the high points. Notice the tilting of your pelvis as you do this, and allow your head to come up when your butt comes up (the cow gives a big Mooooo), and allow your head to come down, looking between your legs when your pelvis tilts the other way.

6) Rest on your back and feel how you feel in your whole self. Notice your spine. Notice your breathing. Once again concentrate on being present and the happiness that comes from simple being at the moment with yourself.