Power of the Pyramid

I didn't understand what was going on... the Goddess pose was simple enough, yet my body was shaking and vibrating like a car with a wheel out of balance... our local circus community has been getting more and more into multi-tier human pyramids, and this day I was fully engaged in the practice. In the next few moments we deconstructed the pyramid into its component parts, and by instructing my bases to tilt their pelvises by only a few degrees, all the shake was gone, and I was my rock-solid self again!

In the past I've strongly favored partner acroyoga practice over group pyramids, but this day, Christmas Eve in fact, I learned many many new things from my full participation in the pyramid construction gang :)

First, as a base, typically with the weight of 2 or more humans bearing atop me, it required really perfect form and bone stacking technique. I've always marvelled and taken some small joy in the fact that with acroyoga basing, pure strength can compensate for slight misalignments and imperfect technique. But as the loads increase (one person, two people, etc.), the required strength becomes excessive, and the only "solution" to these human puzzles becomes rock-solid, perfect alignment.

Additionally, when the mid-tier or fliers places their loads on the proper structural points (sacrum through to feet, shoulders through to hands), it absolutely re-inforces perfect form; its like having an awesome yoga teacher push and pull your body into the correct alignment.

Which brings me to the second realisation, which has been entering my practice more and more via acrobatics: the "active" nature of poses. Once a yogi has achieved a decent degree of flexibility and body awareness, most asanas can be held with a minimum of muscular exertion... now enter "tightness drills." Whereas previously I had achieved a "lazy headstand" with near perfect bone stacking and balance, now I was being asked to hold that rock solid while a partner pushed, pulled, and prodded my legs with significant force. This required a new practice, known to acrobats and gymnasts as "one piece."; i.e. making the body completely rigid so that any force exerted on it would move it as one might move a marble sculpture. Now, instead of simply stacking and hanging out, I am focusing on tightening every muscle in my body, from fingertips to shoulders to abdomen to thighs to toes. This is a whole nother form of asana practice; and it also is very much required in pyramid basing.

The final realisation I got was that of micro-alignment and communication. While doing a mid-level pyramid asana, I was in Goddess pose with one foot on the sacrum of each of two bases. By instructing the bases to alter their pelvis angles by only a few degrees, I was able to transform my pose from shakey wobbly to rock solid. Similarly, when Todd was performing a headstand atop my back, his instructions to widen my shoulder blades by about a centimeter made a massive improvement in his ability to achieve the inversion. These accurate anatomical communications between all levels of the pyramid allowed us to achieve some pretty spectacular structures.

Always learning, always growing.

Toxins 101

"So, what are the benefits of getting a massage?" she asked. I reeled off a list, ending with "and drink lots of fluids afterwards to help flush out the toxins that are released." To which she responded: "what exactly do you mean, toxins?" I found myself struggling for an accurate medical answer, especially since I have a very holistic view of the term.

After many days considering the question, I present to you, Toxins 101:

When one is confronted with difficult emotional issues, coping behavior can include overeating, junk eating, drinking, drugging, or shopping. Each of these coping behaviours creates a form of toxin within our bodies. How, you ask? In detail:

1. You have an un-resolved issue that you are angry about.
   
2. Intstead of dealing with the issue, you consume toxins (food/drink/stuff).
   
3. The consumption behavior helps you to numb and ignore the real issue.
   
4. The toxin binds with the emotional issue.
   
5. The toxin and the related issue are converted to fat, which is deep storage energy for the body.
   
6. Through either vigorous massage or vigorous exercise, those deep fat/emotional stores can be broken down, re-entering the lymphatic system and bloodstream as toxins.
   
7. When they enter the bloodstream, the original stored issue is re-released into the body, often causing unexpected emotional outbursts (crying while running, for instance)
   
8. This, then, is the path of the toxin: imbibed, converted, stored, and released.
   

You might ask, "how does shopping create toxins?" To which I respond: As above, so below. Or via the Greeks: the macrocosm (the universe) mirrors the microcosm (the self). In otherwords, when you purchase/acquire un-needed excess and place it in your environment (clutter), your physical body responds in an equal manner (toxin). The same for junk food.

On a personal note, I've also recently re-committed myself to sobriety; this radical step is really gifting me some laser focus on how these issues manifest in my own body. Sobriety is forcing me to confront my feelings and to create action around them, even when the tasks are emotionally challenging. But just like exercise, it sure feels better on the other side! :)

teaching the teacher

"Ready for class?" I asked cheerily as the gleaming sun rose across the water. Then I saw the grimace come across his face: "Um, my body kinda needs a rest day... maybe tomorrow?" Had my simple vinyasa really broken this god?

In my first group yoga class, I had the privilege of working with two tri-athletes with well-tuned physiques and strong frames. I put them through a fairly simple sequence whose climax was a full wheel bridge... but the real bodywork was the extended poses of Virabhadrasana (Warrior I and II), sinking them deep into their lunges, teasing out optimal hip, leg and foot alignments. Then right when the shakes start to hit, moving them into Vrkasana (Tree) and Natarajasana.

After class, my brother came up and said "you know, some of those alignments you were asking for were *really* hard, like grounding the heels in down dog... you might want to say "try this if you can, but its OK if you do this instead." That immediately reminded me of the advice from my yoga mentor, who said "its about finding the perfect pose for each individual's body". This morning, I meditated on this again, and came up with the following three guidelines for my future classes:

There is no such thing as "wrong form" for a given asana. There is only:

• The optimal human form for that asana. Recognize that you are not the optimal human; you are the optimal you.
• Visualize the best possible form for your body and strive towards that.
• Create the best form possible for your body as it is today & now.

As I was thinking this, I reflected on my own circumstances; I've spent the past nine months pushing myself into more and deeper physical extremes of yoga, gymnastics, and acrobatics. This has made my damaged wrist (see illustration) all the more evident... I've dealt with it in three ways: by ignoring the pain, by rehabbing it into health, and by adapting my practice to this altered state of wrist.

Following my own wisdom, and treating myself as my own student, I'm going to be focusing more and more on rehab and adaptation. This is the core of true yoga teaching.

Oh, and that breathing thing :)

Teaching

gave my first massage for money last night.
taught my first group yoga class this morning.

lessons:
- always get the money up front. no need to add stress post-event when everyone should be fully concentrating on bliss, relaxation, and breathing.
- always offer a passive alternative to a more agressive asana, thus embracing all levels at once.
- improvisation is key. have a general structure, a focus, and keenly observe your students; based on their body and verbal language, adjust the practice.
- feel the tempo, the peak... see the edge as you push your students, back off slightly, brief rest, and repeat.
- denouement: gentle
- pillows for savasana are a very nice touch.
- many guidelines, no rules.

moving into yin

3 minutes... 5 minutes... the third song began to play... 8 minutes... 11 minutes. Enlightenment was mine! Or so said the ancient sage: "The man who does headstand for 10 minutes a day will achieve enlightenment."

I have just begun reading Light on Yoga by the incomparable BKS Iyengar. To give you a feel for the flavor of the book, Appendix I suggests a detailed 300 week plan to hatha yoga mastery... 300 weeks! I thought, "what was the last time I checked out a book by a Western author suggesting that a self-improvement regimen be completed in a duration of longer than 6 months?!!?" Response: um... never!

All the poses list durations, like 2 minutes in plank, 3 minutes in paschimoto, 5 minutes in uttanasana... again, with most every class I've been in (Jivimukti being the singular exception), I can't remember ever having been asked to hold any single pose for more than 45 seconds.

So I followed the 11 minute headstand with a gentle 4 minute vrkasana (tree pose), and *boy* did that give me time to microalign the feet, the center of gravity, *and* to find a place of gentle stillness for breathing and meditation.

For the past 4 months (ever since Burning Man), I have been meditating on how to slow down... yin yoga is the perfect metaphor, and amazingly, I am very very happy with the results, in both life and yoga!

Tantra

excerpted from an article on aphrodisiacs (i.e., garlic, oysters):

As a tantrica, I feel that the most erotic and exciting aphrodisiacs are actually the most natural. Feeling healthy, eating a good diet, getting plenty of exercise and plenty of fresh air... these embodiments often make for the most attractive people...

A beautiful woman who is radiant, a man who is confident and has mastery over his sexual energy, a beautiful and sacred space to make love in, adornment of all kinds and, of course, sensual play and foreplay. All of these are aphrodisiacs that will entice, arouse, and excite your lover’s desire. As a practitioner of the Arts of Love, you become the aphrodisiac... and every gift that you bring to your lover can awaken their inner passions.

Amen. :)

Origins of the Universe

this story was gifted to me in 1986 by a 16 year old angel... and re-told to me, 23 years later, verbatim, by a beautiful yoga teacher with the voice of the goddess:

artwork by Android Jones

There is an old story from India about the God, Brahma. In the beginning, he was all alone. Nothing existed but Brahma, and he was completely bored. He decided to play a game... but there was no one to play with. So he created a beautiful goddess, Maya, just for the purpose of having fun. Once Maya existed and Brahma told her the purpose of her existence, she said:

"Okay, let's play the most wonderful game."

"Wonderful! What is it?" responded Brahma.

Maya replied "First, you have to promise to do exactly what I tell you to do."

Brahma agreed, and following Maya's instructions, he created the sun and the stars, the moon and the planets. Then he created life on earth, the animals, the oceans, the atmosphere, everything.

Maya said:

"How beautiful is this world of illusion you have created. Now I want you to create a kind of animal that is so intelligent and aware that it can appreciate your creation." 

So Brahma created Humans, and after he finished their creation, he told Maya:

"I have done as you asked. Now, when will the game start?"

"We will start right now," she replied.

Maya then took Brahma and proceeded to cut him up into thousands of teeny, tiny pieces. She then took little pieces of Brahma and placed one into each and every Human. Once that was done, she announced:

"Now the game begins! I am soon going to make you forget what you are. To win the game, your goal is to try and find yourself!"

Maya then created the Dream, and still, even today, Brahma is trying to remember who he is. Brahma is there inside you, and Maya is stopping you from remembering who you are.

When you awake from the Dream, you become Brahma again, and reclaim your divinity. Then if Brahma inside you says, "Okay, I am awake; what about the rest of me?" you know the trick of Maya, and you can share the truth with others who are going to wake up too. Two people who are sober in the party can have more fun. Three people who are sober is even better. Begin with you. Then others will start to change, until the whole dream, the whole party is sober... and awake... and real... and Free.... and all, all at once, remembering who you are. For you are Gods, each and every one of you, here on Playground Earth.

Live it.
G

Flying on the Wings of Yoga

Vairagya (detachment) and Abhyasa (practice) are oft cited as the "wings of yoga."

They act as complementary forces in our lives. Let's say we are trying to accomplish a goal, such as wishing to be able to touch our toes in a forward bend. Or perhaps we have a loftier goal, like learning to fly. The wings of yoga instruct us to:

a) determine to make a daily abhyasa (practice) to move us gently and solidly towards our goal, and

b) embody a state of vairagya (detachment) so that we release all concerns about ever achieving the goal, accepting whatever gifts we find along the path and embracing the present moment.

Humans who are too fixated on accomplishing a task inherently damage the result by being too dependent upon it. At the same time, like the tortoise and the hare, it is the solid and consistent dedication, one day at a time, that eventually brings us to the destination which we have envisioned.

So, in your goal setting, be determined and disciplined, and hold yourself accountable to move yourself some small amount in your intended direction every day. At the same time, detach yourself from all neediness and obsession with actually achieving your goal. Accept the natural flow of life, breath, and take joy in the gifts of the journey.

Namaste. Namaskar. Smiles :)

of Thai Metta & Flying Dogs

I've been doing a tremendous amount of work recently with my children's dogs, specifically a little Beagle Rescue puppy who was severely abused as a puppy. She is almost always submissive in the presence of other dogs, yet when cornered transforms into a fierce creature all claws and teeth. She was punished for defecating as a puppy, and so when on walks she finds the most ultimately private spot, either deep in ivy or behind a bush, to do her business. Then she comes home and might pee on the floor.

A few times recently I've realised that she is literally shivering from head to toe when she comes to me. That feeling is fear. And as I learned so long ago while doing entheogens with my older dog, Link, dog whispering can and does work. So today I took in a shivering and fearful beagle, and simply held her gently and lovingly for a long eternity, consciously focusing Metta (Thai for "loving touch") through my fingertips, just as I was taught in Thai Massage.

As I did this, I made sure to have a straight spine. And then the most amazing thing happened. Belle started slowly, cautiously, elongating her spine, gently climbing up my legs, knees, and torso until her head was even with mine. Only then did the shivering pause, and I got a big doggy lick kiss on my serene face.

In my studies of dog behaviour, I've realised it is almost 100% about the "alpha game," that is, who is the dominant and who is the submissive in any given interaction (eating, playing, walking, crossing thresholds, etc.). A key role in the alpha game is physical elevation of the eyes / head, where humans have a distinct advantage. This is one reason we keep dogs off of couches and beds. In elevating her head up to mine, Belle was cautiously asking if it was OK to say hello eye-to-eye.

Immediately my base/flyer eye contact play / trust came to mind, and I wondered with amusement, could I fly a dog? If I could fly a jiggly, squirmy child, then certainly I could fly a dog... and maybe the hyper-elevated head position would be just what the doctor ordered. Was it possible? Yoda's wisdom echoed in my head: "No try, only do."

In the next second, my hands firmly gripped Belle's humerii, and I gently placed my feet either side of her abdomen, and pushed. Boom! Beagle in Flight! She was amazingly stable and calm, presumably enjoying a vantage point of the room that few dogs have ever experienced. And... lo and behold... not a single shake! I kept her up there for a while, feeling out the possibility space, and then slowly let her down, where I got another sloppy face lick.

Who'da thunk it? We'll have to try cats next... :)

Believe in Yourself & Radical Self Reliance

What a shock it was today, as I was deep in aerial meditation, wildly flying through the multiverses, when I felt a familiar sensation, that of my nose smashing into my face, HARD.

Opening my eyes, I saw not the face of my base, but rather the wood of the floorboards. Shivering and stunned, indeed. It took a second or two to realise what had transpired, and then I tasted the blood. And then I simply laughed. And simultaneously flashed back to that day of skydiving...

When I first got into the Contact Improv community, I found that each and every participant was considered responsible for their own weight and safety, ready to fall at any time.

In AcroYoga, there is a much more pronounced dynamic; instead of constant yin/yang ebb and flow between masculine and feminine, lead and follow, base and flyer, it is quite concrete: a base connects to the ground firmly; a flyer's only contact with the ground is via the base. The flyer can really only perform to the limit of their ability, and the limit of their trust in the base.

As a flyer, I leapt heart forward into this equation, and gave myself up to the flow and the intention of the base. I closed my eyes often flying, enabling me to imagine vast cloudscapes and constellations that I was flying through.... leading me to, my bloody nose today. :)

The point here is, while much theory may speak to who is responsible for your safety, practice points to the cold hard fact of life:

you and only you are responsible for your actions, for your safety, and for the consequences of your own life. Be aware at all times. Even when you fly, keep at least half an eye open... even if its your third eye :)

This has been a public safety announcement.

And now, well primed and awaken, I head to San Francisco for my 5 day, 6-hour-a-day, AcroYoga Immersion.

The Joys of Planning

The plane would leave in 2 hours. I had a 45 minute drive to the airport, barring traffic. I leapt out of the shower. I hadn't even packed yet. I hastily threw a toothbrush and deoderant into my knapsack, grabbed a random book off the shelf, checked that I had my ID, and bolted out the door.

That pretty much described my routine for trip planning up until now. It had its joys, and its consequences.  I've always heard that half the fun of a trip is the planning that goes into it. Until last night, I had never felt that way. But suddenly I see. I see a path unfolding in front of me. And with that path and some lofty goals in mind, the planning has begun.

The first step was to choose a yoga school for teacher training. Thanks to a beautiful Belgian girl I met in an airport, I gained insight into this one. Asking her whether she thought I should train in New York or India, she looked at me quizzically and said: "Yoga came from India. If you have that opportunity, why would you go anywhere else?" That crystallized it.

Following that conversation, I realised that my original school of yoga was actually based in India: Sevananda. I found that they had teacher trainings all throughout the year. I examined all the schools. One is in the Himalayas, a mere 30 miles (a days walk!) from the Tibetan border! That settled it.

Let the planning begin.

Intentions are the Ingredients of your Reality

I had a wondrous dream last night where the meta of life was revealed.

Every intention we set, every dream we hold on to so tightly, every material object we cherish or desire or obsess about, every experience we choose to participate in, every destination we choose to travel to... each of these things is an essential ingredient of the reality we chose to actively create.

In other words, the greater reality of the universe is a manifestation of the energies we choose to focus. These energies can be categorized as:

• intentions (present motivations)
  
• hopes, dreams and aspirations (future plans)
• people we choose to share energy / conversation / food / love with
• places we choose to visit
  
• cherished material things (objects which we infuse with meaning, i.e. clothes, cars, toys)
• collected memories which we choose to share as stories (meme propagation)

Your life can be viewed clearly through the lens of these raw ingredients.

The question is, now that you have this wisdom, what Universe are you choosing to create?

Re-framing Pain

Excerpts from the Tale of Jure Robic, world-class ultra-cyclist:

4 time winner of the RAAM (Race Across AMerica) -- 3,000+ miles from Pacific to Atlantic, 100,000+ feet of vertical climb, in less than 8 days of nearly continuous cycling.

Stats from a recent race:

---

Miles cycled:          2,530
Elapsed time:           7 days, 19 hours, 20 minutes
Total sleep:              9 hours
Calories consumed: 100,000

In all decisions, Stanovnik governs [Robic] according to a rule of thumb that he has developed over the years: at the dark moment when Robic feels utterly exhausted, when he is so empty and sleep-deprived that he feels as if he might literally die on the bike, he actually has 50 percent more energy to give.

Some people ‘‘have the ability to reprocess the pain signal,’’ says Daniel Galper, a senior researcher in the psychiatry department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. ‘‘It’s not that they don’t feel the pain; they just shift their brain dynamics and alter their perception of reality so the pain matters less. It’s basically a purposeful hallucination.’’

Ultramarathoners, defined as those who participate in running events exceeding the official marathon distance of 26.2 miles, now number some 15,000 in the United States alone. The underlying physics have not changed, but rather our sense of possibility.

‘‘I am older now, but I have the feeling that I am stronger than ever before. Now I am reaching where there is nothing that is too hard for my body because my mind is hard. Nothing!’’

Extreme Core Strength

100 pushups in tight form, no problem. Backbends, check. Straddle to Press Handstand (a beginner move for gymnasts, mind you)... Oh. My. God.

When I first started my yoga practice, I remember the feeling of testing muscles that had literally never been used before, and thinking with awe and wonder: Oh, my body can do that? How cool!

Well, gymnastics is the new frontier for my body. And for someone who felt they had decent core strength coming into the practice, I have been (again) humbled.

Stay tuned for progress reports. And to try on your own, check out the Parallettes Training Guide on PanYoga.com

See the move: 

Killer Instinct

They jumped from the bushes, demanding my wallet and valuables. I began to laugh, a deep, maniacal laugh. Unbeknownst to these would-be predators, they had picked the wrong kid, on the wrong night. That night, as I ran through the pitch dark, I ran mad, I ran angry, and I ran, ran, ran, frustrated and wanted to hit something and throw a tantrum. So what better way to diffuse that energy than to run run run fight win run!?

Backing up a bit... there is a huge radio field near my childhood home, and I slipped deep into thought as I ran the edge path, winding along the circumference, dissapearing into dark thickets of tree and bush at several places. The night was dark, and there are no lights on the field. The thickets are pure inky blackness.

Initially I worried. I thought, those thickets would be the perfect place to jump somebody. Both my brother and I have been beaten up by gangs during our explorations, so it was not an entirely irrational fear. My reaction has always been simply to absorb the blows, give the robbers what they want, and wait for them to peacably depart. However, the last time I was beaten, in the long healing aftermath (going to work with a black eye and answering the inevitable: "how'd you get that" with "i got in a fight" is a fast way to get a rep, but that's a whole 'nother story), I vividly remember coming to the realisation: the next time I'm in a fight, I'm gonna be the one doing the beating.

And so I plunged into the midnight darkness of the thicket, determined to confront my fears and demons. And I visualized what happened next. Two men jumped out, and demanded my money and iPod. Where old Greg would have put his hands up and forked over the goods, wild Greg goes visciously and immediately on the attack, channeling all his anger and energy into punches, screaming at the top of his lungs and pummeling the largest like a bezerker. He falls, and I then topple the accomplice. They are on the ground, and I lay into them with full on soccer kicks, cracking their ribs as they crumple in terror, the roles reversed: attacker has become defender, predator has become prey.

Just visualizing this shot massive amounts of adrenalin through my system; my pace quickened and my awareness heightened.

The sea change has begun.

Greg's Modified Surya Namaskar

Good Morning Sunshine!

That's how my momma always used to wake me up. She's dead now, but her aphorisms still inspire me to this day. I've been getting back to my yogic basics as my wrist is in rehab right now, and its been a really good journey into alignment, energy, and form. Sun Salutation is the archetypal vinyasa flow for practice, and it has really begun to speak to me, opening up into a new sequence. So here it is, in its primordial form:

1. Mountain
- feet together strongly, toes forward
- reach skyward as far as possible with index fingers
- keep arms active
- bring biceps into ears tightly for maximum extension
2. very slight back arch
3. forward bend, exhale
4. fists to ground
5. hop back to plank
- rigid body
- arms perpendicular to floor
- active shoulders
6. reverse push-up to 4 legged staff, exhale
7. flip toes, pushing chest forward into
8. cobra
- straight arms
- active shoulders
- arch back as far as possible
- breath!
9. downward dog
- elevate hips as high as possible
- let head hang loosely with gravity
- step walk legs for stretch
10. raise right leg skyward
- as high as possible
- for extra stretch, try stagging it (bending at knee)
11. swing right leg under and through, plant between hands
12. lift up hands, wings out, then clasp over head
13. arch back
14. come back to spine vertical
15. straighten right leg
16. warrior 1
17. half moon
18. face forward
19. with slight bounce, levitate left leg forward, return to mountain
20. backbend, as deep as you can go
21. raise up, wings out, come in to closing prayer position

and repeat, substituting left leg for right.
do this is pair sets of 2, 4, 6, 8.

finally, what has really worked for me: the "10 minute a day rule". I was slipping in my private practice, until I read this. Just commit to doing 10 minutes of yoga a day. More often than not, that 10 will naturally extend into a full on practice. And when its just 10, thats cool too! :)

injury & why warm-up = juicy goodness

Just this morning I injured my neck again. For the third time in 2 months. I'm kind of tired of injuring myself. So I'm gonna do a little extroverted introspection here to get to the root of it.

So here were the sources of the injuries:

1. Extreme backbend partner yoga, from cold start
2. Swing dance backflip, cold start after 4 hours driving in car.
3. doing 40th (pushing muscle failure) rep of parallette dip / push-ups

The first two I will put in the category of "insufficient warm-up" and the third I will place in the category of both "insufficient warm-up" (those were my first exercises of the morning) as well as "pushing too hard."

As a child I had a body-building instruction manual co-written by Joe Weider and Arnold Schwarzenegger, which amongst its gems included:

1. "Never count your reps. If you need to count, just say in your head "one, one, one..."... all that matters is the last rep. You've got to push your muscles to exhaustion. Its in the last 10% of your reps that you get 90% of your muscular growth."
2. "If there aren't enough weights to load up the bar for your max squat, simply have a friend stand balancing on top of your shoulders to add that amount of weight."

Those have been words of inspiration my entire fitness career. The first part has, honestly, been a bit more useful than the second... though with my acro practice, I am starting to really see the wisdom of point 2... I would actually amend it by saying:

3. Drop all the weights. Add humans atop your shoulders and increase their weight and number gradually as you improve both strength and balance. Start with small children (40-80 lbs), transition into fit girls (80-120 lbs) and move up from there until you can comfortably squat supporting an adult male (175 lbs)

Oh, and to get back to the initial subject line of this blog:

ALWAYS WARM UP BEFORE PRACTICE!!!!  :)

Yours in health and play,

Greg

The List

Alison just asked me, post-completion of my first 10k run ever, what was next on the list... which got me thinking; there's a lot on the list, nows the time to prioritize it. So here's the raw braindump first :)

1. side splits
2. forward splits
3. install gymnastic rings and get started on those
4. 16 consecutive pull-ups
   
5. build parallettes and get started with those
   
6. sustained free handstand
7. full royal pigeon w/o assistance (eka pada rajakapotasana)
8. backflip
   
9. full grasshopper (viparita salabhasana)
10. olympic powerlift (clean and press) of my full body weight
11. New York City Marathon

So, I'm figuring that list should keep me busy for some time. xo, G

on basketball, children, and ambidextrousity

The doctor gave me a choice: "If you have discipline, I can give you this flexible brace, otherwise I'm going to set it in a hard cast."

I opted for the brace; of course I was disciplined. Silly me.

4 days after breaking my wrist in a snowboarding accident, I was back to 8 hours of day of typing at the computer, writing emails and books. It felt fine at the time. So good, actually, that I stopped wearing the brace alltogether after about 10 days. 45 days in, however, I wasn't so sure. Serious pain began to shoot up my arm, and my fingers curled in agony. At the 60 day mark, I went back for my checkup and explained the situation. The doc looked at me with a mix of compassion and sorrow: "You said you had discipline. I instructed you to keep off it. Now this may take a really long time to heal."

Doh.

Fast forward 6 years. The wrist is basically healed. And then I decide to get in a hellacious car accident, slamming my wrist right into the dashboard at an unencumbered 45 mph to dead stop. Unfortunately, my wrist did not break that time. Instead, it simply absorbed all the impact in the bones. The bruise was so deep it didn't even show up for another month, when all of a sudden this strange purple, yellow, and green coloration surfaced on my upper forearm.

And now, this wrist is my constant reminder to slow down and to be careful and gentle and enjoy some of the more subtle things in life. Which brings me to: children.

My daughter Alyson is a completely physical girl. When she's not playing outside, she's playing Wii Sports or wrestling or hooping. And naturally she wants me to share these activities with her. So the other day on the Wii, my wrist really starts to complain, and I beg out of the game.

Today, we play basketball, where by both height and skill she is woefully outmatched, and with pain shooting through my dribbling arm, I have a Eureka moment: I can play the whole game with my left hand lead!

Now, gentle readers: brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand is one thing. Playing basketball, dribbling and shooting is a whole nother story... and, a great education. It was some of the funnest basketball I've ever played. :)

a Yoga Instructor is Born

Today my father and I made a visit to the Dr. Anita Roberts Memorial Garden, a small garden and patio and sculpture dedicated to the memory of my mother on the NIH campus.

When we arrived, two Indian gentlemen were having a quiet chat. After some time contemplating and absorbing the environs, I asked them to snap our photograph, and we struck up a good conversation. They asked me what I did, and I stated: "I'm a yoga instructor." to which both their eyes lit up, and one asked me about Pranayama (alternate nostril controlled breathing) while the other quizzed me about a particular yoga school in the heart of India.

What was strange was the role reversal: I had simply assumed that since they were Indian, they would be yoga experts... when in fact they were looking to me for advice. Two Americanized Indians asking an Indianized American about the finer points of yogic breathing.

I did the best I could to transfer the knowledge to them about the core practice of breathing, about opening your heart and lungs with simple backbends, about the vinyasa of matching your breath to the movements, and about the most important work of integration into your daily life, so that you are in the mode of deep and clean yogic breathing all day every day.

We said our goodbyes and I realised, entering the lobby, that I had just given my first formal yoga instruction. And all I had to do was to say "I'm a yoga instructor." And so it was, and so it shall be. Namaste.

Galactic Girl in Flight

In my tender youth, I discovered that I had a talent for illustration. One of my very first drawings (there were three)
depicted my idea of an angel: an ample, athletic woman in full back arch, naked, flying through space, her hair flowing wildly in the wind. I entitled the piece Free Flight.

Max and I walked the dogs today, and engaged in a stimulating conversation about the imminent human colonization of both Mars and extra-solar space. We also had a lively debate about the flight-readiness of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. I recalled from the unveiling (at which I was present) at NextFest 2007 that they planned for first flights in 2009. So upon our return to the house, we Google-duelled until wikipedia provided an adequate answer: First consumer flights in 2011ish.

Upon studying the "artists renderings," I noticed a small graphic on the hull of the ship, and zoomed in with curiosity. It appeared to be a classic WWII pin-up girl! I am in genuine admiration of Branson's balls. The first consumer spaceship and he puts a pinup girl on the front. As soon as I saw her, I was shocked at the resemblance to my drawing, which has been present in my mind more and more since I've been basing and flying.

A little more investigation and I found out her name is Galactic Girl, that shes modeled after the Vargas girls of the early 20th century, and a natural evolution of the Scarlet Lady which graces the hulls of Virgin Airways fleet of Boeing 747s.

I posit here that Galactic Girl is no stranger to the art of Acroyoga. :)

center photo of Jake B & Kathryn U playing acroyoga

Early Rise & Ecstatic Dance

Yesterday was certainly the highlight of my time in the City so far.

It began with an early morning rise, 6am at the foot of Grace Cathedral. I motivated, called Albert, arranged to meet him for coffee at 6:30am, and rapidly packed my gear and headed down the street. The early rise and hot coffee kickstarted it perfectly. He gave me the key to his place so I could store my stuff and take a shower. I walked on over to Yerba Buena Park and did a 30 minute intensive calesthenic / yoga workout. Headed back to Albert's place, shaved and showered. Combined with the haircut yesterday and the shower last night, I was really beginning to feel like a civilised human. I put on my rave pants, a clean shirt, my new sunglasses, and went out to make love to the world. All that and it was still only 8:30 in the morning!

By 9:00am I was at the library, getting my list done of topics to research and photos to post. At 11:30am I left the library to meet Albert for lunch, and for the first time since I arrived, I was opened by two ravishing girls sitting on the steps of the Asian Art Museum. We had a pleasant little banter and I continued walking. Note to self: clean shaven, freshly washed, well costumed, with sunglasses is a good look for meeting people.

At noon I met up with Albert and got treated to a delicious spicy and mightily filling Thai lunch. Back to the library to wrap up some things, then walk/jog a brisk 2 miles to meet Rosie at Cafe Gratitude...

This place lived up to expectations, and then some. The Cafe itself is simply a genesis point of positive energy and intention in the universe. There are signs everywhere expressing happiness and positivity, there is good art, glowing people, and don't even get me started on the food. Rosie showed up a little after I'd gotten settled in and introduced me to Treasure, who I'd seen practicing handstands on the outside wall. Yes, free balance handstands are a big deal in our little community of yogis, acrobats, and circus performers. Even better is getting up into them in style, kick-free. But more of that later.

Rosie and I sat down and caught up on eachothers happenings, threw some thoughts around regarding a Burning Man art project shes involved with (a wonderful piece called The Heartbeat Amplifier, and found out we were both to be participating in the same dance celebration that same evening. We talked about what plans I had to live and work in the city, and shared intel about yoga / movement play and an upcoming yoga teacher training in Brazil. She ordered the Aloha juice and I the I'm Cool Milkshake.... which merits its own descriptor:

The I'm Cool Milkshake is comprised of all organic ingredients, fresh mint, ice cream, spirulina superfood for the green color, and crushed cacao nuts for the chocolate... making it just the perfectly sublime mint chocolate chip delight ever. I tasted it, Rosie asked me what I thought, and then she said "wait for it... wait for it..." and the delicate bitter of the cacao nuts hit me, a full 5 seconds after the sweet coolness of the initial sip. Galactic Yumminess!

Rosie introduced me to the manager of the Cafe for a potential job opportunity, with decent pay for the work [...and just as I was writing this, I met someone with a room to rent just 4 blocks away!] We parted ways and I enjoyed a nice breezy walk to the BART train. I bought a ticket and literally as my foot came off the escalator, my train arrived. I smiled and did a little jig as I headed East to Ecstatic Dance.

Historic Sweets Ballroom was literally a 2 block walk from the BART station, wondrously convenient. I walked in, where I was greeted by a gentle man who checked me off the guest list. Deep shamanic sounds and chanting could be heard from upstairs as I ascended to the ballroom. The energy felt good.

The ballroom was ginormous, and perfect. Massive hardwood dance floor, over two hundred and fifty feet to a side, with a stage. A few couples doing some nice flow contact improv. A girl in a purple dress setting up an altar by the huge two story windows. A cellist improvisationally playing, who I find out later is in fact Mystic Pete.

I flowed through the space a bit, then moved into some basic yoga and warm-up stretches. Soon, Alicia circled everyone up, and we began a series of loosening up exercises, alternating between silliness and vocalizations, animal behaviors and roleplay. And then it began time for the "formal" contact improv to begin. We started with about 15 of us in circle. Everyone was asked to emanate a tone of their choice with their breathing. A sublime harmony and strong vibration filled the room. I entered the contact theatre.

The rest of the night just got wilder and wilder. I had spent the day reading the "Art of Courtly Love" and the related "Code of Chivalry." That was good. It caused me some minor amount of restraint and allowed me to breath slowly and naturally through some very intimate contact movement.

By the time contact improv was wrapping up, there were about 25 people in the ballroom, and Alicia wisely encouraged us to welcome the newcomers. Someone had told me earlier "no talking on the dancefloor", which was awesome, because as a fairly well understood guideline of the community, it meant we could use only our bodies to communicate intention, or to invite another to dance with you. I had learned the magic of contact improv invitation a month earlier in Atlanta, which was basically to saddle up next to someone, and to either gently or vigorously (as the spirit moves you) come into skin to skin contact with them. That moves to eye contact, and with subtle pressure and a deep sensitivity to how hard the pressure is returned, a couple moves into contact improv play/dance.

The music transitioned as smoothly as I'd ever witnessed between the natural acoustic cello and a chill intro by Haj of Sub Swara, one of my absolute favorite dubstep/electronica bands who I first encountered during my tenure in NYC. The sun begins to set, more and more beautiful people come in, organic food and a big water cooler is set up, and the dance starts to move in full swing. Before I knew it there were well over a hundred people moving and gyrating and hooping and yoga-ing and acrobatting and contacting in fluid, graceful, ecstatic time to the seriously deep bass beats. It reminded me of the Hooper's Ball, without the hoops, and with far deeper pair contacting. I shared both deeply intimate and ridiculously fun movements with a series of rapturous partners.

Playing with different partners energies was a really wild exercise in humanity. Some had the strength of goddesses, some were hyper, some wanted strong lead, some were dramatic, some felt like equals, and there was every different style present. I was both fascinated and enthralled by the interplay between gentle, mutual touches, and strong, firm lead... it all depended on the partner. I learned through the course of the night how to deliver a firm, confident leading touch / handhold -- and how to emply a grip of steel when your wild partner decides to do a full backbend supported solely by one clasped hand and my counterweight.

The flow continued for hours as we danced and danced and danced till midnight, when the music finally came to a raucous close and everyone gathered in small groups for conversation and cool-down.

I chatted with some newfound friends, shared some hugs, and headed back to the streets of the City for a delicious slice of Italian Pizza.

Power

A wise woman told me many years ago that the foundations of yoga were:

• strength,
  
• balance, and
  
• flexibility.

For many years those three served me well, and I focused on finding balance within the triangle they defined. And then I started studying martial arts. And two more concepts were added to my movement arts vocabulary:

• speed, and
  
• power.

Speed is easy enough to define. But it really took hiking the Appalachian Trail to grasp fully what was meant by power.

While hiking the trail, I had many dreams where I was given tips and tricks on how to make my hike more effective and enjoyable. I also was able to observe many deer and bears very close, in their natural states. To see a deer bound gracefully through the forest is one of the most beautiful movements I can ever imagine.

The message I got, from both dreams and nature, was to reduce my movements to their pure essences. That all extra wobbling, vibration, or sloppiness of movement is, in effect, wasted energy. And this is how I came to meditate on the concept of Power.

I started really examining my stride, and working on perfecting its form. Keeping my spine erect, my head level, and my heart forward. Moving my feet one step at a time with conscious intent, and firm footing.

Within the timeframe of one month, my quads had been tuned into highly efficient machines with cables of steel. I knew how to walk solidly with a heavy load on my back.

Upon my return to civilization, I knew I needed to continue exercising, since I had really enjoyed the benefits while on the trail (calmness, lower heart rate, ability to breath deeply and fully, general feeling of wellness, ability to eat as much as I wanted and still lose weight :). So I put together a basic exercise program that I've been doing 6 days a week ever since.

Just as with the trail, I started to really slow down the exercises, and to focus on perfecting the actual forms. I found that this was making my workouts harder and harder without increasing the reps. For instance, doing sit-ups without jerking the head and arms up at the start, keeping the heart forward and spine perfectly rigid for the whole movement. Or doing push-ups in extreme slow motion, being sure to keep the entire body rigid, and coming *all* the way down until nose and pelvis are barely touching the floor, then up slowly. But after a while, I wasn't sure that these slow motion exercises were helping me at all.

Then yesterday morning, I was in a bit of a rush, and decided to do all my normal exercises as fast as possible, with no cool down breaks. I was startled by how easy it was! And then I understood what had happened: by training in slow motion, I had built tremendous amounts of power, while at the same time training my muscle memory in perfect form.

So, then, the definition of power: being able to inject a maximum amount of energy and intention into a movement, so that when and if it comes into contact with something else, it will literally pass through it because its force is so strong.

What really brought this all together for me was learning the guitar. I've applied the same concepts. To work on chord progressions, I practice at like one tenth normal speed... and be sure to let the chords resonate for the maximum amount of time; then, when I speed up to normal speed, the strumming patterns fit right in, because my body already has the perfect timing nailed down for the transitions.

gravity?

Meditating on three activities: hiking the AT, acroyoga, and contact improv... their relative merits, relations to gravity and partners.

Hiking the AT: mostly male, often solo, extremely grounded, weighted down with 50 lb. pack, 8+ hours a day of direct work with gravity, placing one foot in front of the other. Points of contact: pack to shoulders / hips, feet to ground. Basic goal as I realised it: to move the pack North. because the pack has become your base. you can run ahead without the pack, but eventually you have to go back and get it. The distance only counts when the pack moves with you. Goal is very simple: move north. Improvisation is conversational, but often participants simply reduced to: move North.

core value: reduce & simplify, discipline
strength: 8
flexibility: 2
balance: 5
mobility: 10

AcroYoga: fair male/female balance, requires partners, alternating of extreme grounding (supporting complete weight and responsible for total safety of one other human) and complete aerial freedom (when flying). Base is rock solid, glued to ground, fixed position of core. Flyer is completely gravity-free, often inverted, often with no line of sight to any ground plane. Partner points of contact are primarily hands and feet, hips and back. Partners maintain arms length distance. Bone stacking. Truly superb balance can compensate for lower strength. With added energetic balance of thai massage: physical manifestation of gratitude to the base. Here, the base is your support. Improvisation only comes between advanced and trusting partners; generally working within fixed vocabulary of forms and sequences. Some verbal communication in sequence. Typical session lasts only 3 hours, twice or three times a week. Wonder if anyone does Acro 8 hours a day?

core values: freedom of flight, metta, boldness
strength: 7 (advanced)
flexibility: 5
balance: 9
mobility: 1

Contact Improv: mostly female, requires partners, fairly grounded, multiple points of contact with partner and ground. In fact, all possible points of contact between partners (including breaks and re-connects), most flexible of all forms in that regard. Often on all fours with ground, or even lying / rolling. Partners get truly intimately close. Often feel strong pull of gravity. Inversions, catches and carries dynamic, trust-building when successful. Complete improvisation and real-time. Very little if any verbal language... all in body and eye contact. Each participant responsible for their own safety, even when aerial. Typical session 2-3 hours. Free switching of partners.

core values: improvise, listen, move, act
strength: 7 (advanced)
flexibility: 5
balance: 6
mobility: 5

---

I'm having fun looking at these in their metaphorical aspects. In the future, will have to add rock climbing, martial arts, and fire dancing to the matrix... so stay tuned for part 2!

at last!

At Burning Man this past year (2008), I got to make inroads into two communities near and dear to my heart: AcroYoga and Contact Improv. My entry into the world of Contact Improv was both spasdic and powerful; after multiple rejections using the naive and traditional technique of "tapping in" to a dance, I finally paired up with a fellow improver, a guy, closed my eyes, and we rolled, flipped, and flew powerfully through the core of center camp. After that, the kid who had rebuffed me earlier came up and gave me some pointers. Then a girl from Atlanta came up and said we just had to play like that back in the city.

I was so energized and charged up from this experience that I vowed that upon my return to Atlanta, I would facilitate and teach a contact improv jam at my favorite yoga studio, Jai Shanti. I immediately announced my intentions to Jeremy, and upon return home, contacted Bill about the possibility. He was enthused.

Somewhere along the line I googled Contact Improv, and found that there was a long standing group already in place at Emory University. I got on their email list and made plans to participate.

Fast forward 9 months.

I made the short drive to Emory, and arrived. Met a kind woman just outside who used her keycard to let us into the Dance Studio at the Schwarz Center. I was delighted to see that it was indeed a serious dance studio, replete with high ceilings, wall length mirror, and pro sound system.

The next three hours can only be described as being in complete flow... barely a verbal word was spoken, as we all let our bodies do the talking. I found the "care to dance?" language the most natural and intriguing of all... basically, just walk/crawl/dance/leap on up to your chosen partner, and connect by touching some part of your body to theirs... proceed with natural flow from there.

There were episodes of roleplaying, laughter, fear, strength, laziness, and everything else in between as we rolled and flowed through the space.

The only thing I can critique the general form for is a proclivity to be low to the ground... gravity is a real force, and often in the CI I've done, one or both partners are on all fours or rolling over one another in prone positions. This very different from my AcroYoga practice, where one partner is, by and large, completely aerial at all times.

I can imagine, however, that just as in acroyoga, as trust is built between partners, that more and more challenging aerials can be accomplished. To quote Louise Runyon, the local mother of CI:

Contact Improvisation is a dance form where two partners maintain contact of body surfaces - the shelves and ledges of the back, front, sides, hips, shoulders, and head. The giving and sharing of weight is essential to Contact, which often involves partners lifting and rolling over each other. In Contact Improvisation you entrust your full weight to another but are always ready to fall, to roll to the floor; the bottom line is that you have responsibility for your own weight and safety. The beauty of Contact is in the effortless conversation of two connected bodies in motion - more than anything else, it is about listening.

of note: "you have responsibility for your own weight and safety"... this is opposite from acroyoga, where the responsibility is primarily with the base, and secondarily with a spotter... the flyer is encouraged to make maximum risk poses in trust of those other two.

kundalini activation

Through Yoga it is possible to transcend the genetic code to complete freedom (svatantrya). After untying the Knot of Brahma [first chakra, muladhara] one moves beyond the attachment to the world of names and forms and after untying the Knot of Vishnu [heart chakra, anahata] one moves beyond the attachments caused by emotional ties to traditions and commitments that appear as loyalty to a particular order. The individual egodissolves here and the will of god prevails. One no longer feels responsible to the particulars of the world of names and forms, fully comprehending its illusory nature. One understands lila (divine play) and acts out his role without further creating seeds of karmas that will bring one back to this world of maya. One begins to hear anahad naad (anahata nada, the cosmic sound) and shrutis (cosmic frequencies); shrutis are heard by yogis and then delivered to the world in the form of mantras; organized as a unit, the shrutis constitute the body of the Veda.

buildings and bridges

all that steel and stone
are no match for the air my friends
what doesn't bend, breaks
what doesn't bend, breaks

- Ani DiFranco

वोर्द्प्लय

I often say something and then hear it as something totally different, somewhat like verbal encryption. This is how I gain some realisations. Here's a sampling:

original: I'm a UI designer.
transfer: I am a You. ID sign her.

original: 'Cause you've got the tie-die under the black. (referring to the fact that my partner should embrace peaceful values first, war values second)
transfer: the Thai die under the Black. (this may be heavily influenced by my current reading of a detective drama set in Thailand)

original: (old man commenting as I ascended the slopes of mount fuji): may as well just go for it and get to Tibet
translation: get to Thai bet

adult hooping

My brother visited from up North with his children the other day.

As with most kid visits, the hoops soon found their way into the playspace, and my brother decided it was time to give it a shot.
K is a very accomplished athlete, a triathlete, golfer and competitive basketball player. So he was adequately frustrated when he couldn't keep even my adult-sized hoop up for more than a few revolutions. He asked me what the motion was and I made several attempts at explaining both a side/forward rocking and a basic front/back... he still couldn't get it.

Finally, I said "Karl, just pretend you're fucking. Pump, back, pump, back, always pushing against the hoop." The next time he picked up the hoop, he went for over a minute, with a look of pure glee on his face.

So now, grown-ups, you know the secret of good hooping. :)

learning from animals

Animals have talked to me ever since I took mushrooms with Link (the family dog).

One of the more powerful experiences I had was when I was deeply suffering about the impending death of my mother (who had stage IV gastric cancer at the time, with a prognosis of 2 months to live). I found myself wandering naked through the brambles of the backyard, following the wind. I crawled through bushes and bramble, getting poison ivy and nasty welts all over my body, but I didn't care. In fact I was mostly immune to the pain, my soul was hurting so badly. When I emerged from a particularly tight bramble, dripping blood, I came into a clearing and there stood a stag and two does. I stood erect. And instead of running, the oddest thing happened: one of the does approached me. I spoke to them with my heart, and they spoke to me with their bodies; ear and nose movements, pawing of the hooves, etc.

The doe who approached then dipped her head, indicating a lone rusted Budweiser can on the ground. She then raised and shook her head vigorously, and stepped on it.

I interpreted this as a demand from the animals for me to stop drinking, to cleanse my system. Excitedly, I returned to the back porch of the house... to be greeted by my wide-eyed mother in law. I explained to her what the deer had explained to me, and with her stunned, I took all the beer out of the fridge and threw it over the balcony, and instructed her to place all the liquor in a box which we would dispose of or give to the neighbors.

The alcohol was poison, it was clear as day now.

Two years and three DUIs later, I am finally sober. And as I travelled to my DUI drug evaluation session today, I looked upon my forearm, saw the permanent scars from that day in the brambles, and reflected on what the deer were trying to tell me all along.

a compulsive-protein society

just this phrase alone merits thought.
courtesy of Tonya Kay.

its all coming together now...

movies:
- what the bleep...
- the last mimzy
- hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
- shirley maclaine's 'out on a limb'

books:
- way of the peaceful warrior
- illusions
- the celestine prophecy
- one (bach)

all these memes really inform me about whats going on in my life, about how it is simply a wonderful playful mischievous present waiting to be opened.

TV show that began it all:
- sid & marty krofft's vegetable soup??!?!

and then the bonuses:
- The Matrix
- eXistenZ
- the Animatrix (even more so than the trilogy)

and, mushrooms, natch.
it is getting so clear now... :)

butterfly, finally

I'm going to Costa Rica in March to play with some of my NYC jedi kula. Funny enough, Nick of playpoi fame is going to be in CR the week prior, teaching his classes on advanced poi spinning. The pre-requisite is "The Basics". I consider myself a fairly decent poi spinner, so wanted to see what "the basics" consisted of, in Nick's opinion.

To my astonishment, it included some fairly advanced moves (behind the back weaves, anyone?). I've been playing inside the Weave for almost a year now, and its time to incorporate some new moves. The one that I *do* consider basic, that I was struggling with, even after classes, was the Butterfly. This morning, in between sets of pushups, I decided to tackle it.

With good music, anything is possible!

To my own amazement, I had the butterfly within 2 minutes of attempting it. Just like when I first learned the weave, it was a really high energy schping moment! The important thing about new moves is to train your body to unconsciously complete them. In otherwords, so you can transition into, play freely within, and out of the move without so much as a conscious thought. This is the nature of flow. So I stayed within the move for a mighty long time, and played with the internal possibility space, seeing where all my hands could go, where I could relax, where I could exert force, where the beats and rhytmns were. All the while the chakras were unlocking and energy was flowing freely up and down my spine. It felt so good to be opening up to new moves again!

After 20 minutes or so of left over right (which seemed very natural for the butterfly), I heeded CMs advice: for every move, practice your weak side twice as much as your dominant. So I painfully reverse engineered the move and finally got my right over left working. It *almost* felt like (which means, there is) a way existed to swicth dynamically between the two in real time while still maintaining butterfly. But every time I tried it I either wrapped a wrist or konked myself in the head. We'll get there... something tells me its related to that move I hear about called "thread the needle" :)

I've got it now where I can actually interlock my hands and still keep butterfly going... that's fun! Also tried it bending over backwards and essentially doing helicopter overhead and then reverse butterfly over the head. Fun fun fun. :)

Kundalini

The practices enable you
to merge with
or "yoke" with
the universal Self.

This merging of individual consciousness
with universal consciousness
creates a “divine union” called
"YOGA."

The practice that leads
to this state of self-mastery
is also called
"yoga."

So the road
and the destination
have the same name,
"yoga."

There are many different kinds,
or schools
of yoga.
"Many Paths, One Goal."

Those who practice yoga
are called "yogis"
and those who master yoga
are also called "yogis."

In Desperate Gratitude

I am thankful for:

Ten Fingers
Ten Toes
Good Health
Clean Air to Breath
Cool Water to Drink
Two precious Children
A Happy Little Puppy
A warm bed to sleep in
A fireplace to burn things in
The ability to create
The freedom to travel
Forgiving family and friends
and, of course
Hot Shower and Canndlelight

adventure beckons

I'm not quite sure where this came from, but organically over the past several years I've been drawn to the Appalachian Trail. And somehow, in the past month, I have committed to the intention of thru-hiking the trail, all 2100 miles, Georgia to Maine, this summer. Even as I write this I am having astounding deja vu. The adventure begins...

"Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, it beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind, and soul of man."

-Harold Allen