Thursday, December 22, 2011
Preparing for the journey
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Hand/Face Study post
Check out my most recent post in my movement blog HERE!
I'm allowing the creative juices to flow and I don't want it to stop. We'll see what comes tomorrow. Maybe a video!
In this particular post, I'm exploring hand contact, gestures and facial expressions. It's something I always use in my performance and movement art. Hope you enjoy!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
(REALLY!) Receiving what the Universe provides
I can't believe just in the past 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days what's unfolded. I have to thank and bow to my supportive and loving community for their positive vibes, but also to the Universe. Although, there are times when I want to tell it, "Fuck You!", I still end up thanking it.
Why is it when we ask for things and/or certain people or relationships, that when it actually is presented, we may want to run the other way? "Be careful what you ask for" is a saying I've heard ALL my life and I used to connect it ONLY to the negative things that happened to me. But actually they weren't really negative, they just felt unpleasant at the time. When I look back, I can still say how unpleasant it was, but also ask, what did I learn from it?
As I have been asking for certain things throughout the past three months, it's been a trip to find myself awe-struck, amazed, and, even, aggravated. I say, aggravated, because it's the stirring of the pot that causes that feeling. But when I'm present and just feel it, I realize that this is EXACTLY what I've been asking for and it's been given to me, so why not just play? Why not go for the "ride"?
Now, I can ask, do I want this?
What I've been enjoying about this experience is the power of CHOICE.
I've been playing with choice in a way I never have.
I feel the freedom of saying "yes" or "no" in such a powerful way that once the choice has been made, I can move on.
I feel happy and peaceful with it.
I'm not attached.....
Why is it when we ask for things and/or certain people or relationships, that when it actually is presented, we may want to run the other way? "Be careful what you ask for" is a saying I've heard ALL my life and I used to connect it ONLY to the negative things that happened to me. But actually they weren't really negative, they just felt unpleasant at the time. When I look back, I can still say how unpleasant it was, but also ask, what did I learn from it?
As I have been asking for certain things throughout the past three months, it's been a trip to find myself awe-struck, amazed, and, even, aggravated. I say, aggravated, because it's the stirring of the pot that causes that feeling. But when I'm present and just feel it, I realize that this is EXACTLY what I've been asking for and it's been given to me, so why not just play? Why not go for the "ride"?
Now, I can ask, do I want this?
What I've been enjoying about this experience is the power of CHOICE.
I've been playing with choice in a way I never have.
I feel the freedom of saying "yes" or "no" in such a powerful way that once the choice has been made, I can move on.
I feel happy and peaceful with it.
I'm not attached.....
Monday, November 14, 2011
Witness me delve into the creative unknown!
BARE BONES BUTOH PRESENTS: SHOWCASE #23!
(Adventurous Shows for an Adventurous Audience)
WHEN:
Friday Nov 18, 2011, and Saturday, Nov 19, 2011
Both performances are at 8:00 pm
WHERE:
Studio 210
3435 Cesar Chavez St (at Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Studio 210 is located in the former Sears Building, inset from the corner of Cesar Chavez and Valencia Street. Accessible by: BART - 24th St Station; and MUNI - #12, #27, #14, #49. Plenty of on-street parking.
TICKETS:
Performances: $5-$20 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Additional donations are graciously accepted and gratefully appreciated.
WHO:
This time around, the performers are:
Ronnie Baker, Christina Braun (Saturday only), Darya Chernova (Saturday only), Ron Chornow, Michael Curran, Mark Deutsch (Saturday only), Coicoi Duncan, Liz Filippone (Saturday only), David Flaig (Friday only), Wolfgang Heinle, Luku (Friday only), Martha Matsuda (Saturday only), Ri Molnar (Friday only), Jeffrey Mooney (Saturday only), Angela Newsham, and Bob Webb.
Quite a line-up, wouldn't you say? Should be a couple of VERY GOOD SHOWS!
Surprise guest artists may also be performing as well. There are often last minute additions (local, national, and international artists) to the programing, it's that kind of show.
WHAT:
Bare Bones Butoh Presents is a performance Showcase for local, national, and International artists working in the areas of butoh, performance art, and/or ritual performance. It exists for artists to try out new material, show works in process, hone improvisational chops, and redo or revisit previous material. Bare Bones Butoh Showcases employ the grassroots ethic of working together to sustain an artistic culture. We are community building and performance all smushed together into two evenings.
Thank you for your time, and we hope to see you there.
Further info:
Bob Webb
bobwebb20@hotmail.com
510-284-7025
(Adventurous Shows for an Adventurous Audience)
WHEN:
Friday Nov 18, 2011, and Saturday, Nov 19, 2011
Both performances are at 8:00 pm
WHERE:
Studio 210
3435 Cesar Chavez St (at Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Studio 210 is located in the former Sears Building, inset from the corner of Cesar Chavez and Valencia Street. Accessible by: BART - 24th St Station; and MUNI - #12, #27, #14, #49. Plenty of on-street parking.
TICKETS:
Performances: $5-$20 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Additional donations are graciously accepted and gratefully appreciated.
WHO:
This time around, the performers are:
Ronnie Baker, Christina Braun (Saturday only), Darya Chernova (Saturday only), Ron Chornow, Michael Curran, Mark Deutsch (Saturday only), Coicoi Duncan, Liz Filippone (Saturday only), David Flaig (Friday only), Wolfgang Heinle, Luku (Friday only), Martha Matsuda (Saturday only), Ri Molnar (Friday only), Jeffrey Mooney (Saturday only), Angela Newsham, and Bob Webb.
Quite a line-up, wouldn't you say? Should be a couple of VERY GOOD SHOWS!
Surprise guest artists may also be performing as well. There are often last minute additions (local, national, and international artists) to the programing, it's that kind of show.
WHAT:
Bare Bones Butoh Presents is a performance Showcase for local, national, and International artists working in the areas of butoh, performance art, and/or ritual performance. It exists for artists to try out new material, show works in process, hone improvisational chops, and redo or revisit previous material. Bare Bones Butoh Showcases employ the grassroots ethic of working together to sustain an artistic culture. We are community building and performance all smushed together into two evenings.
Thank you for your time, and we hope to see you there.
Further info:
Bob Webb
bobwebb20@hotmail.com
510-284-7025
Friday, November 4, 2011
Heart Spirit Therapy
“Embrace Your Anger.” This was just one of the many powerful workshops I attended at the Heart Spirit Therapy Symposium, facilitated by The Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center in San Francisco on Saturday October 22, 2011. The event was free and open to all healing professionals--psychotherapists, yoga teachers, massage therapists, holistic practitioners, doulas, chiropractors, and lots of others. The day consisted of ten 30 minute sessions with a smorgasbord of topics, exploring the ways we connect with the heart and spirit to allow ourselves to heal. I was overwhelmed with joy, excitement, and eagerness to soak up as much information as I could, as well as connect with the amazing healers around me.
Being a yoga teacher and bodyworker myself, I attended “Yoga for Emotions” by Lexi Frank, and “Yoga for Trauma Healing” by Raia Kogan. These workshops really opened my eyes more to the “languaging” required when teaching and working with individuals, who have suffered from severe trauma. I learned how people who have suffered from severe trauma have little or no connection to their body, and a simple, but effective exercise to do in a yoga group is to let them feel their feet on the ground.
“Embrace Your Anger”, by Yael Melamed & Jyoti Kalmar, took me back to my Non-Violent Communication training days, which had both triggers for me, but wonderful insights to how I respond to anger, feel/experience it, and the strategies I use in a situation.
All the workshop facilitators were bursting with knowledge, wisdom and passion for their fields, that I wanted the workshops to be longer in length. I felt like it was a tease, but a great way to give a taste of what each individual is working on and contributing to the world. I hope Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center holds another event like this soon.
Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center offers quality, affordable counseling on a sliding scale basis and is a counseling center of the California Institute of Integral Studies (www.ciis.edu). Contact them today, www.goldengatecounseling.org.
Being a yoga teacher and bodyworker myself, I attended “Yoga for Emotions” by Lexi Frank, and “Yoga for Trauma Healing” by Raia Kogan. These workshops really opened my eyes more to the “languaging” required when teaching and working with individuals, who have suffered from severe trauma. I learned how people who have suffered from severe trauma have little or no connection to their body, and a simple, but effective exercise to do in a yoga group is to let them feel their feet on the ground.
“Embrace Your Anger”, by Yael Melamed & Jyoti Kalmar, took me back to my Non-Violent Communication training days, which had both triggers for me, but wonderful insights to how I respond to anger, feel/experience it, and the strategies I use in a situation.
All the workshop facilitators were bursting with knowledge, wisdom and passion for their fields, that I wanted the workshops to be longer in length. I felt like it was a tease, but a great way to give a taste of what each individual is working on and contributing to the world. I hope Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center holds another event like this soon.
Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center offers quality, affordable counseling on a sliding scale basis and is a counseling center of the California Institute of Integral Studies (www.ciis.edu). Contact them today, www.goldengatecounseling.org.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
How do you make yourself small?
This was the first question I read from my favorite blogs and websites, The Daily Love or TDL. Wow, what a way to stir the pot! Mastin Kipp, founder/author of TDL, talks about how we make excuses for why we can’t get what we want in life. Even when we allow ourselves those moments to dream about that dream job, house, car, vacation, relationship, business, etc., we make excuses as to why it can’t or never will happen. In the past, I always had an excuse for why I couldn’t do something.
While I was in Yoga Teacher Training, we had our Teaching Methods class, which was very challenging for me. I got so nervous standing in front of my teacher and classmates teaching a pose, that I started to shake, speak too low, sweat, and forget the main actions of the pose. I had a tough teacher, who would chime in A LOT to correct us, and I know now, all she wanted was for us to be the best teachers ever.
But I took it so personally, that I created the belief that I was a failure at everything and wasn’t good enough.
I also had a need to be understood, heard and loved, but my negative self-talk (aka Mind Chatter) would make me wrong for the way I was feeling (frustration, sadness) because I had another belief/story that it’s wrong to feel frustration, anger, or sadness.
Although I got teaching opportunities after my training, this belief (which affected everything in my life) still hung over me to the extent that I almost quit teaching. However, I know these beliefs started a long time ago, and through lots of personal growth work over the years, I realized these beliefs were not me and not true.
What we say and think about ourselves matters. I learned this through Marshall Rosenberg’s amazing process of Nonviolent Communication, which teaches us to openly and honestly express our feelings and needs without judgment.
He says “Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic expression of an unmet need.”
In other words, we tend to make ourselves or others wrong for feeling angry, frustrated, or sad, when really it all stems from a need not being met and that we may not aware of.
So what beliefs do you have? What statements/excuses do you tell yourself why something is? The ones I have heard myself say and others say are: I’m too old; it’s just too hard; I’m not good enough; I don’t deserve it; they won’t like/believe me.
These are the beliefs that hold us back from getting what we want and are needs met. But what we forget is that the Universe provides everything; and when we ask for those desires through affirmation or prayer, we need to feel that light and joy of possibility when we put it out there. That we are worthy and deserving. That we are not our thoughts, stories or beliefs. We are love, light and apart of this world.
So I invite you to track these thoughts or beliefs that you tell yourself. Write them down throughout the day, and then see what feeling or emotion is attached to it.
For example, my past story was, “I’m not good enough. I feel sad and depressed because I have a need for acceptance, to be heard and understood.”
So be aware of the challenges in your life, but don’t let them stop you. We all have challenges, but we also have choices.
While I was in Yoga Teacher Training, we had our Teaching Methods class, which was very challenging for me. I got so nervous standing in front of my teacher and classmates teaching a pose, that I started to shake, speak too low, sweat, and forget the main actions of the pose. I had a tough teacher, who would chime in A LOT to correct us, and I know now, all she wanted was for us to be the best teachers ever.
But I took it so personally, that I created the belief that I was a failure at everything and wasn’t good enough.
I also had a need to be understood, heard and loved, but my negative self-talk (aka Mind Chatter) would make me wrong for the way I was feeling (frustration, sadness) because I had another belief/story that it’s wrong to feel frustration, anger, or sadness.
Although I got teaching opportunities after my training, this belief (which affected everything in my life) still hung over me to the extent that I almost quit teaching. However, I know these beliefs started a long time ago, and through lots of personal growth work over the years, I realized these beliefs were not me and not true.
What we say and think about ourselves matters. I learned this through Marshall Rosenberg’s amazing process of Nonviolent Communication, which teaches us to openly and honestly express our feelings and needs without judgment.
He says “Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic expression of an unmet need.”
In other words, we tend to make ourselves or others wrong for feeling angry, frustrated, or sad, when really it all stems from a need not being met and that we may not aware of.
So what beliefs do you have? What statements/excuses do you tell yourself why something is? The ones I have heard myself say and others say are: I’m too old; it’s just too hard; I’m not good enough; I don’t deserve it; they won’t like/believe me.
These are the beliefs that hold us back from getting what we want and are needs met. But what we forget is that the Universe provides everything; and when we ask for those desires through affirmation or prayer, we need to feel that light and joy of possibility when we put it out there. That we are worthy and deserving. That we are not our thoughts, stories or beliefs. We are love, light and apart of this world.
So I invite you to track these thoughts or beliefs that you tell yourself. Write them down throughout the day, and then see what feeling or emotion is attached to it.
For example, my past story was, “I’m not good enough. I feel sad and depressed because I have a need for acceptance, to be heard and understood.”
So be aware of the challenges in your life, but don’t let them stop you. We all have challenges, but we also have choices.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
October Treat ~ $20 off any MASSAGE!
Long day at work? Stressed? Tired of the cold?
Here at Yoga Garden, we don’t think Halloween treats should only be for kids.
Combine the stress-reducing, healthful benefits of yoga with a relaxing and revitalizing massage.
Take $20 off any 60 minute or 90 minute massage (including prenatal massage) offered in our tranquil Wellness room.
Buy here or book an appointment now.
For more information on individual therapists - View Therapists here.
Use promotion code fall2011 when checking out to receive your discount.
(No limit. Must purchase before October 31.)
Here at Yoga Garden, we don’t think Halloween treats should only be for kids.
Combine the stress-reducing, healthful benefits of yoga with a relaxing and revitalizing massage.
Take $20 off any 60 minute or 90 minute massage (including prenatal massage) offered in our tranquil Wellness room.
Buy here or book an appointment now.
For more information on individual therapists - View Therapists here.
Use promotion code fall2011 when checking out to receive your discount.
(No limit. Must purchase before October 31.)
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