The Yarn in the Lotus

But we did not get any pics of the moon. First, some other thoughts.

I am getting ready for the Open House on Saturday. To get ready I am going over my outline for the seminar, listening to old class tapes, and doing a bit of research online. I hope to record the seminar and post it online so those who couldn’t make it can still hear it.

Also, I am currently designing a new website for Jason Sands. It’s Sarasota Acupuncture Massage or Life House Health Clinic. Both links go to the same place. I surprise myself in that I actually enjoy making web pages, even with my limited skills. Even to say I have “html skills” dates me as most people don’t even write in that code anymore, right? I can work with css templates and xhtml….but basically I download templates that can be modified with html and work with those. They wind up looking nice, being mildly customizable, and fun to make. The website is not done yet, so don’t make any final judgments! But I do think it looks good. I also like making images. I can use photoshop a bit, but if I were a Photoshop !POWERUSER!, I could make some kick-ass images.

Also, I am eating a lot of sprouts. It is good.

So for Big Moon Night we drove up on a high cliff overlooking our property where we’d have a good view to have a picnic. We neither waited long enough for the moon to actually come up, nor was the moon unusually large. It was beautiful and golden-orange when we finally did see it on the drive home, though.

View to the East, where the moon would come up, if we got a picture (which we didn’t):

View down towards where our property is. You can see the place with the blue roof. We are down in the picture from them:

View of Sierra Blanca:

Me eating dinner!:

Filed under: Adventures, Massage School, Work on June 20th, 2008 | No Comments »

So everyone is gardening. It’s summer time and time to grow your own food. I am notorious for killing plants. I have several dead plants scattered about my house. In addition, I have 3 live plants, one of which is a cactus, one is “mother-in-law’s tongue” (which are hard to kill, hence the name) and one that is not looking too healthy, though it is still technically alive. But still, dammit. I want to grow some plants, preferably food that we can eat! I had a rosemary bush last year and that died quite easily.

So I will try my hand again soon. I have some pots already and I plan on getting some dirt and peat moss and either already live plants (seems easier) or seeds and have at least a few plants on my porch. Maybe some basil? Zucchini? I need to find out what will grow round these parts.

In the meantime, I am growing sprouts in my kitchen. I got a sprouting jar and bag of mixed seeds and began this venture several days ago.

Basically all you have to do is put your seeds and water in this here jar and let them soak over night. After their first night you must rinse them several times a day, which is why the special jar has a wire mesh lid. All you have to do is run the water in the jar and then turn it over and let the water drain. So after the first night you just keep them freshly moist in a relatively dark place. On my counter out of direct sunlight and kind of shaded behind the microwave seems to have worked fine. The 3rd or 4th day you take it and put it somewhere that is kinda bright, but still not in direct sunlight so the chlorophyll can bust out. On day 3 I had this:

I had a slight casualty on day 2 when I went to dump the water out and the lid wasn’t screwed tightly on and I lost about half my seeds. Boo. I guess I yielded about half of what I should have. And those suckers grow! I used two tablespoons of seeds and produced about a cup of spouts, maybe more. Today after I finished my massages I promptly doused them with goddess dressing and ate them all in one sitting. I’ll have to make a bigger batch next time. Good snack.

Update: Here’s the bigger batch! 4 Tablespoons of seeds and no causalties:

Filed under: Home and Garden on June 17th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

There is something really great in Kundalini Yoga called a 40 Day Meditation. This is neither arbitrary nor specific. You choose your 40 day meditation based on what you want to accomplish. They cite that 40 days is a special period of time, as in the Bible and other sources, which I’m not recalling at the moment. In order to talk about my interest in this meditation, I must do a flashback.

I have been taking part in something called ITP. I may have talked about it a bit. It stands for Integral Transformative Practice. This is a practice which consists of 8 commitments. It includes committing to 3 hours of aerobic exercise per week (20 minutes minimum at a time), 5 Kata (stretching) sessions per week, and 2-4 affirmations that you make and spend a few minutes during your Kata meditating upon them. You also meet with the group once a week and discuss it and support each other. So, I have found these commitments fairly difficult to do. I didn’t particularly like their Kata. Being a yoga teacher and massage therapist, I found many ways to improve upon their sequence until about none of their sequence was left and I only wanted to do my yoga practice. Additionally, I have a problem with discipline and schedules and in general have not found a benefit in keeping to their schedule. I have found a benefit to making the affirmations and focusing my energy in a concerted way towards achieving something particular.

Which leads me to the Kundalini 40 Day Meditation.

This seems like really the perfect form of focused goal-setting, focused surrender, that I have seen. There are no guidelines except for the 40 days. And since you are doing Kundalini Yoga, you choose some Kundalini Yoga to do that meshes with your goals for 40 days. For instance, you might choose a particular Kriya (set of exercises, from 10-60 minutes long) along with a Kundalini Meditation (3-62 minutes long) and maybe some affirmation type stuff to go with it. And you do this self-made exercise for 40 days, preferably before sunrise, but when I do it for the first time I will not set that as a commitment. Doing it at anytime of day for 40 days will be a big enough accomplishment.

This appeals to me because it is shorter. The ITP comittment was for 6 months. That is a long time to commit to so many things. I would prefer to commit to 1-3 things for a shorter period. Therefore, the commitment gets more focus and attention, though a shorter period of time.

What I hope to do my 40DM on is something to do with truth speaking and opening my throat chakra and realizing my true identity. Kundalini Yoga already has many meditations and kriyas based on this so it shouldn’t be hard to put something together. I am already liking Ravi and Ana’s Kundalini Yoga for Beginner’s and Beyond, the video I just reviewed in the last post. It’s a 60 minute DVD that has a spinal Kundalini yoga set and the five Tibetan rites, along with a bit of deep relaxation and meditation, based on the mantra “sat nam” or “my name is truth.” I think if I could do that DVD for 40 days that would be a big accomplishment, and paired with intent could be very transformational in itself.

Filed under: Yoga, philosophy on June 15th, 2008 | No Comments »

A Review

My first thought upon seeing their videos (first I saw Fat Free Yoga, and then Dr. Yoga House Call. This was the third video I’ve seen by them and so far my favorite) was that they’re kinda cheesy. She has this grin on her face the whole time and is uber-happy. He says things that are sort of cliche new-agey. But I was really interested in Kundalini yoga and I liked the music they used. Basically I wanted some variety with my Gurmukh videos so that I could have many things to choose from if I was needing some motivation that day.

Low and behold, after doing these videos I feel REALLY GOOD! The exercises are so effective and really do change your state of mind as well, that it becomes a moot point. So what if she is grinning? That’s GREAT! So what if he is telling me to connect to my higher self? I can use all the encouragement I can get! The more I do the videos the more I like them. The high energy that’s created by the breath of fire and repetitive Kundalini Yoga movements just seemed to wipe my jaded attitude away.

This particular video has a variety of exercises, some easier, and some harder. So there is definitely an element of challenge, and also some nice meditation, but not so much meditation that I feel like it’s a meditation video. It’s definitely a yoga video. The meditations are placed at strategic points where you have just finished an invigorating exercise and the moment or two of meditation is used to really bathe in the energy you’ve created. It’s quite a magical feeling.

There are some warm ups and two main segments to the video - 1. Basic Spinal series and 2. The 5 Tibetan Rites. The 5 Tibetan Rites have become quite a popular series lately, but they do them with a Kundalini twist. They are more challenging than the first series, which almost anyone could do. I can do the Five Tibetans fine (mostly) but I do wish they had modifications for those who are less flexible or strong. There are some aspects of those portions that could be impossible or painful if you have certain injuries or disabilities (mostly low back, wrist, or neck).

It’s an invigorating workout that definitely makes me work up a light sweat. And as always, you get more out of it the more you put into it. The first time I did the video I did not get as much benefit as the following times. The more I get to know the poses and the more I can focus on my body (instead of listening to them or looking at the video to see if I’ve got it right) the more benefit I get from it.

Here is a sample from the DVD. She is dancing here, but you don’t do any dancing with the video. And the exercises she shows are mostly The Five Tibetan Rites:

Filed under: Reviews, Yoga on June 13th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Click to see a bigger picture. There is a dotted line on the inside of the brochure that appeared while I was editing the images but did NOT go to the printer, I assure you. I will be adding an insert to the brochures which contains all the nuts and bolts like the start date (sept 29th!) the price (@$5500) the location (High Mesa!) and etc. Things that could feasibly change in the coming years so that I can continue to print out this brochure.

The file below is a rather large PDF (4MB), so beware. You probably don’t want to download it or look at it unless you want to print it out, and it does still have the giant “PROOF” stamp on it. But in the spirit of being Thorough:
proofbrochure08.pdf

I got these done at Vista Print and I payed like $60 for 100 cardstock full color brochures. I used their template and added all my own images. I actually got this idea from Angela England who posted on the Bodywork Forums that she made brochures and found them very useful. I used the same template as her, which I did feel mild guilt about, but we are so far away from each other and I changed the images enough that I don’t think it matters. That template really was the best one bodywork related on Vista Print.

I want to make a larger catalog eventually for the school, but for now I will do this and see how it goes. I consider my website to be my full catalog as it can contain much more information and be changed at anytime. Though it is nice to hold something in your hand.

Filed under: Massage School on June 11th, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Well, I know ya’ll thought I was just making jokes about the Gong (with a capital G) but I liked the site so much that I decided I had to get one. Now there is some buying logic for you. Their trick totally worked on me. Make funny jokes and I will buy whatever you are selling, even if I need it less than I need a GONG, cause you know I was wishing almost every day for a gong. At regular intervals I’d think to myself “Now, if I just had a gong, this moment would be complete, but alas…”

There’s a blurry Gong picture for you. I had some other pictures that were not so blurry, but believe it or not they did not give a good representation to the Gong. I bought this from the aforementioned Gongs Unlimited. I like the gong a lot, it sounds good. I will use it at the end of yoga classes, during Savasana, and perhaps at the beginning or end of massages. I’ll have to get some feedback on that and see what people think.

I also bought their Automatic Chimese Gong which is basically a windchime that is a gong about 6 inches across. The concept is great and it looks cool, but the little piece of wood that hits the gong is just hard wood. It’s not like a mallet that is solid but soft to give a soft resonant sound. It sounds more like banging pots and pans. So I will have to see about it. I may try and rig the piece of wood, or I may try to return. Those guys are so funny, I am confident they will try and help me. I’ll let you know what happens.

Also, I painted my toenails.

I hope that picture is not so big that my feet are grossing you out! My toes actually look misshapen here because I had those toe separators in for about 2 hours and lemme tell you: THEY DID THEIR JOB! The polish looks blue but it is actually purple and I don’t know why I’m blogging about my toenails, when they are such a mundane item, except to say that I almost photo documented the whole process (which was a long process that included soaking, scrubbing, filing my caluses, removing old polish, massaging with creme, a base coat, two color coats, and a top coat), but I convinced myself that it would not be a worthwhile venture to post on the blog. Hence, you just get a picture of the finished product.

Filed under: Gongs, Nails, Yoga on June 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

I have been designing a brochure for the Massage School. When I get it made I will post some images of it here. I’m using a template from Vista Print and adding my own pictures and text. I think it’s looking pretty good. I’m right now trying to decide whether the brochure should be mostly describing the classes, the teachers, and the philosophy…and maybe have an “insert” listing price and details like dates and requirements etc. OR if it should be a little philosophy, a simple list of classes without descriptions, nothing on teachers, and then lots of details and prices and nuts and bolts type stuff.

Now that I’m writing it out, I think it should be all the information about the experience of the school and what students will take away from it. In other words, the former choice of mostly class descriptions, teachers, and philosophy and then direct them to the website to find out details about price etc, and I could make a little insert with prices and dates and stuff. This way I can order a bunch of then and use them for future years as well, even if the “nuts and bolts” change.

I am also trying to decide which quotes to put on the brochure - something inspiring and having to do with bodywork. So here are some of the quotes I’ve been considering. The first two I’m pretty sure will go in. There is only room for two, the others are just here for your enjoyment.

“The unity principle states that the universe is fundamentally a web of relationships in which all aspects and components are inseparable from the whole and do not exist in isolation” - Ron Kurtz - Body Centered Psychotherapy

“Touching hands…are like flashlights in a darkened room. The medicine they administer is self-awareness. And for many of our painful conditions this is the aid that is most urgently needed.” - Deane Juhan, “Job’s Body”

If you take care of the present,
The future will take care of itself.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.”
Richard Moss

“Emotion always has its roots in the unconscious and manifests itself in the body.”
~ Irene Claremont de Castillejo

“By touching a body, we touch every event it has experienced. For a few brief moments we hold all of a client’s stories in our hands. We witness someone’s experience of their own flesh, through some of the most powerful means possible: the contact of our hands, the acceptance of the body without judgment, and the occasional listening ear. With these gestures we reach across the isolation of the human experience and hold another person’s legend. In massage therapy, we show up and ask, in so many ways, what it is like to be another human being. In doing so, we build a bridge that may heal us both.” ~Tracy Walton  ”The Health History of a Human Being” Massage Therapy Journal, Winter 1999.

job’s body
“The skin is the outermost level of the brain or the brain is the innermost level of the skin, you can not touch one without touching the other“.

Filed under: Uncategorized on June 8th, 2008 | No Comments »

I have updated my Yoga page on my website. I updated the prices and schedule, and also reorganized the links and added more links to include Kundalini information.

Best of all, I have added some yoga videos from YouTube so that you can see and perhaps experiment with yoga before you try it with me.

Again, see the page here at Presence Massage Ruidoso Forrest Kundalini Yoga.

Filed under: Uncategorized on May 31st, 2008 | No Comments »

Okay, so I found a picture of the yoga teacher from Santa Fe. His name is Guruchander and I had such a hard time remembering his name and figuring out how to pronounce it (which is silly because it’s pronounced JUST how it looks) and he was very nice to me. When class was over and I needed help deciphering my printed out Google maps to figure out how to get to downtown, he spent a few what I imagined to be frustrating moments for him trying to figure out how to give me clear directions in the criss cross of streets that is Santa Fe. He helped me get to downtown, AND to Whole Foods, which I thoroughly enjoyed visiting. He was also a great teacher. I got this picture from: YogaSouthwest’s Teacher Training Photo gallery. So I hope they don’t mind.

I am definitely looking into the teacher training. I wouldn’t be able to do it this year, but maybe in the future. It looks like it would be a transformative experience. I am still enjoying doing Kundalini yoga with Gurmukh and Ravi and Ana. What I like about Kundalini yoga is the breathing and how the repetitive movements can actually get you high. And I do believe that it is probably working on your energy body and meridians in a very specific way.

What I don’t like about Kundalini Yoga is that it doesn’t seem very precise in alignment when “standard” asanas are prescribed. For instance, downward dog has so many little adjustments that can be made while you’re in the posture to really perfect it and get the most out of it, and never have I heard a Kundalini Yoga teacher give the proper verbal adjustments for it. And I’ve had that same experience with many other poses. So I am grateful that I have such diverse and extensive yoga training, especially with Ana Forrest because I can then apply the correct alignment to the poses, whether or not I am instructed to do so.

Also, Kundalini Yoga is fun because they use a Gong. A gong. Yep, a GONG.

Filed under: Adventures, Yoga on May 28th, 2008 | No Comments »

Mountain Meadow Massage School

On Saturday June 21st, from 12pm - 3pm there will be a free informational Pre-Orientation Seminar for Mountain Meadow Massage School held at High Mesa Healing Center. You can find out the full details on our website and I will tell you a little more right here.

Many potential massage students have wrong ideas about the massage profession. I obviously believe that it is really one of the best jobs on the planet. It’s relaxing, I get to help people, and it pays pretty well. But it is still hard work, especially during the busy season, which is starting NOW. HELLO MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! My hands are tired. It’s a good tired, but they are tired.

This informational seminar will be a chance for potential massage therapists to ask questions and to be educated on the realities of a career in massage. There are a lot of schools out there that tell half-truths in order to get enrollment up — they make it look like a really easy profession where everyone makes big money. The reality is, it’s a lot like any job. You’ve got to love it in order for it to be fun.
Massage is a rewarding, fulfilling profession where you can make decent money with a relatively small investment (6 months and $6K) compared to other jobs. If you love helping people and are interested in health and wellness, it might just be an ideal career for you.

Here’s where class will be held! (click for big picture!)

And, High Mesa Healing Center’s own….ZUNI!

Filed under: Massage, Massage School on May 26th, 2008 | No Comments »