Hey!
As to my begging not being dignified....who said I was dignified? I have tried mostly to conduct myself without dignity! hahaha.
I had a good day writing. I only needed 8 pages by Friday and I have 10 now. I am winnowing away the excess so I will probably end up with 7 by nights end. Anyway...this is my thesis I am writing, so it is about art. I am talking more about Zen Buddhism, and a few artists that I feel I may one day be a member of their tribe: Agnes Martin, Ad Reinhardt, and the Godfather of the object: Marcel Duchamp...who it turns out was a practicing Buddhist. The "Bicycle Wheel" piece he made in 1916 was really just a physical expression of the wheel of dharma.
All this reading and writing, contemplating, and remembering really does drive home for me that my meditation practice is a big part of my recovery. It took me so long to reconnect with my breath once I got myself clean...I was locked in fear that I had lost it permanently. I found it just when I needed it, and my work and my recovery have changed so much as a result of it.
I know you are experiencing the same thing with your yoga as well. I look forward to graduation, and the move out west...as a new beginning to reconnect with my body as well. That immersion is indescribable, isn't it?
So...I may let you edit, if you are seriously interested?
Have a good evening.
Sarah
Sarah,
Ten pages? You are having a good day. I won't be dignified either and beg you for the chance to read your thesis. I would like very much to learn more about these artists (and your HP, Marcel Duchamp) interpreted through Zen Buddhism. I doubt very seriously that you need me to make any stylistic suggestions though -- your writing is superlative.
Breathing is the hardest part of the practice for me and it's the part I need the most. I don't practice yoga for the exercise, though that's a nice fringe benefit, I practice to find the silence between the thoughts. I'm taking a pranayama workshop on Sunday and I really need it. I've been busy with the lawyer and my sister is in hospital with pancreatitis -- I catch myself holding my breath a lot. My teacher set "homework" for us. She suggested that while we do some simple task (washing dishes, for example) we focus entirely on our breathing. It's amazing how difficult that is to do, lol.
It'll be interesting to see how your art changes after you move. The southwest is overwhelmingly beautiful in a spare way -- sort of like your work. Your paintings aren't "fussy" at all.
Love,
Gina
Ten pages? You are having a good day. I won't be dignified either and beg you for the chance to read your thesis. I would like very much to learn more about these artists (and your HP, Marcel Duchamp) interpreted through Zen Buddhism. I doubt very seriously that you need me to make any stylistic suggestions though -- your writing is superlative.
Breathing is the hardest part of the practice for me and it's the part I need the most. I don't practice yoga for the exercise, though that's a nice fringe benefit, I practice to find the silence between the thoughts. I'm taking a pranayama workshop on Sunday and I really need it. I've been busy with the lawyer and my sister is in hospital with pancreatitis -- I catch myself holding my breath a lot. My teacher set "homework" for us. She suggested that while we do some simple task (washing dishes, for example) we focus entirely on our breathing. It's amazing how difficult that is to do, lol.
It'll be interesting to see how your art changes after you move. The southwest is overwhelmingly beautiful in a spare way -- sort of like your work. Your paintings aren't "fussy" at all.
Love,
Gina
Just wanted to say hey to two of my favorite girls....have a good night ladies, be good to yourselves. Gina, ygm and Sarah, it's your turn to write! xxxooo
I'm popping in too to say hello!
Sarah, did you get my e-mail? I sent it to to you the day before you sent me your new e-mail addy, so I don't know if your old addy was good or not. Is it out there in cyber space never to be read?
Its good to see you ladies.
xx
Hey there Lisa and Amy,
Well, this is a lovely gathering. (Sarah, you throw a nice thread party.)
It's good to see you posting, Amy. This board is not the same when you're not around. I'd ask you how you're doing but I just posted on your other thread and I think we're all feeling stunned at present. Give your kids a hug from their online auntie this evening. I've been hugging my boys a lot. Aidan goes to college in three years and suddenly NZ is looking pretty damn good again.
Lisa, YGM
Love,
Gina
Well, this is a lovely gathering. (Sarah, you throw a nice thread party.)
It's good to see you posting, Amy. This board is not the same when you're not around. I'd ask you how you're doing but I just posted on your other thread and I think we're all feeling stunned at present. Give your kids a hug from their online auntie this evening. I've been hugging my boys a lot. Aidan goes to college in three years and suddenly NZ is looking pretty damn good again.
Lisa, YGM
Love,
Gina
Hey ya'll....
Amy: I got it! I now owe you one...and will do that soon! I was glad to pop online one day and see your puppy thread! That made me smile!
Lisa: I was just thinking I needed to write you. I loved the one you sent me. Ha, I fell, completely!
Gina: There is a woman named Sandra (Sondra?) Summerfield Kozak, I have done a few workshops with her...Anyway, she has some breathing CD's that are excellent. She will get you there! I will say, she breaths in say 4, but exhales 8...or more as your breathing advances. I mean...really, start with in 2 and out 4, or in 3 and out 6...whichever. You will get it in your pranayama class.
I visualize the breath as a mystic fog. I breath in through the root, up through the upper lobes of the lungs, through the head, to the face...to the point where the tip of the tongue touches the back of the teeth, it swirls back there and down the back of the head, back of the spine and out throught the root. Sort of like a wave shape. In goes all the good, out goes all the bad!
Washing dishes is yoga! Why do you think all those beautiful little monks are always pictured sweeping. As they say, sweeping is honorable!
One of my favorite things in yoga was learning to consider the front of the spine! Crazy, isn't it???
Peace to you all!
S.
Amy: I got it! I now owe you one...and will do that soon! I was glad to pop online one day and see your puppy thread! That made me smile!
Lisa: I was just thinking I needed to write you. I loved the one you sent me. Ha, I fell, completely!
Gina: There is a woman named Sandra (Sondra?) Summerfield Kozak, I have done a few workshops with her...Anyway, she has some breathing CD's that are excellent. She will get you there! I will say, she breaths in say 4, but exhales 8...or more as your breathing advances. I mean...really, start with in 2 and out 4, or in 3 and out 6...whichever. You will get it in your pranayama class.
I visualize the breath as a mystic fog. I breath in through the root, up through the upper lobes of the lungs, through the head, to the face...to the point where the tip of the tongue touches the back of the teeth, it swirls back there and down the back of the head, back of the spine and out throught the root. Sort of like a wave shape. In goes all the good, out goes all the bad!
Washing dishes is yoga! Why do you think all those beautiful little monks are always pictured sweeping. As they say, sweeping is honorable!
One of my favorite things in yoga was learning to consider the front of the spine! Crazy, isn't it???
Peace to you all!
S.
Sarah,
I'll check into those CD's. In the pranayama class last time we breathed alternating nostrils. I don't know why that cracked me up.
I took my son to the Bodies Exhibition on Saturday. I now know exactly what the front of the spine looks like, as well as the sacrum, lol.
I'm turning in early tonight. Dr. M tomorrow bright and early -- I hope I can dream something interesting to tell him about. He's probably sick of hearing about my divorce. I know I am.
Have a lovely evening, ladies.
Gina
xoxo
I'll check into those CD's. In the pranayama class last time we breathed alternating nostrils. I don't know why that cracked me up.
I took my son to the Bodies Exhibition on Saturday. I now know exactly what the front of the spine looks like, as well as the sacrum, lol.
I'm turning in early tonight. Dr. M tomorrow bright and early -- I hope I can dream something interesting to tell him about. He's probably sick of hearing about my divorce. I know I am.
Have a lovely evening, ladies.
Gina
xoxo
Gina:
I know some of those things can be so funny. I think laughing is very yogic...I was always told to just let what emerged surface up and go with it.
A lot of teachers say that when you laugh during a yoga exercise you are awakening the "inner smile"! Sounds delightful to me! Laugh away! Sometimes students sleep, and we always honored that as someone who needed rest, etc.
There is another technique where you alternately close off the nostrils with the forefinger and pinkie on the exhalation, closing one or the other off in rapid succession . That one is pretty funny too. Is that what you were doing? Sounds like a room full of helicopters!
But you know, it is for balancing. (said in my most serious tone). hahaha
Enjoy!
Sarah
I know some of those things can be so funny. I think laughing is very yogic...I was always told to just let what emerged surface up and go with it.
A lot of teachers say that when you laugh during a yoga exercise you are awakening the "inner smile"! Sounds delightful to me! Laugh away! Sometimes students sleep, and we always honored that as someone who needed rest, etc.
There is another technique where you alternately close off the nostrils with the forefinger and pinkie on the exhalation, closing one or the other off in rapid succession . That one is pretty funny too. Is that what you were doing? Sounds like a room full of helicopters!
But you know, it is for balancing. (said in my most serious tone). hahaha
Enjoy!
Sarah
| QUOTE |
| There is another technique where you alternately close off the nostrils with the forefinger and pinkie on the exhalation, closing one or the other off in rapid succession . That one is pretty funny too. |
Yes, Sarah, that's the one that cracked me up.
The guy next to me in class this morning fell asleep during shivasana, so I honored that he was tired, but the snoring bugged me a little, lol.
How's the writing going today? I'm envious. I've hit a total writer's block, probably because I have an application essay sitting on my desk. I'll take a run at it this afternoon writing in the third person. Maybe that will alleviate anxiety.
Love,
Gina
