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

Flying through the eyes of Rilke

Angel!: If there were a place that we didn't know of, and there,
on some unsayable carpet, lovers displayed
what they could never bring to matery here -- the bold
exploits of their high flying hearts,
their towers of pleasure, their ladders
that have long since been standing where there was no ground,
    leaning
just on each other, trembling, -- and could master all this,
before the surrounding spectators, the innumerable soundless dead;
    Would these, then, throw down their final, forever saved up,
forever hidden, unknown to us, eternally valid
coins of happiness before the at last
genuinely smiling pair on the gratified
carpet?

Antigravity Perfect Balance

Twice in the past month I have gotten, playing base, to this magical place of perfect balance with my flyer... once with Saki and once with Sally, once in shoulderstand and once in pashi. So, both have been with my partners full weight on my arms, and my arms stacked perfectly through the shoulders, all the way to the solid ground. And when that perfect moment of lateral balance is found, literally, the asana takes absolutely zero effort to maintain. In fact, it freaked me out so much both times that I thought something was wrong, and I intentionally pushed each of them back off balance so that I could exert some muscular control over the situation. I mean, its very strange when you are using strong muscles to bring something into manifestation, and then all of a sudden, poof! its like God just came in and lifted the whole weight of the flyer right off of you, like they are really *free flying*.

*next time* it happens, I will recognize it better, and just begin to blissfully laugh at the perfect balance. Soon, soon...

placegolder: Dog-walkin and Poi-spinnin

to be concluded