Dance, Baby Dance

Easter, 2010

          Want to stay young? Keep the mind vigorous? Stave off Alzheimer's?  Everyone recommends taking up a new hobby.  I say look to your past for something you have stopped doing.  This year I've found what's old is new.
       Over the years, somehow I learned to sit down and shut up.  Talk about giving up on my gifts.  I remembered to walk, but forgot to dance.  I remembered to talk, but not to sing.  Somehow I became embarrassed about it all.  Who knew?  It seems like the free person on our left only comes out for the holidays like a good dress, then goes back into the closet until the next festive event.
       As I write this, I'm at church and the preschoolers are practicing for their Christmas program.  It's adorable, but they are also learning to conform.  Now this is a big overstatement, but there is this feeling of sit down and shut up (except when I tell you to stand up and perform).  It's important to society that we learn how to be polite and respectful of others, but it can be taken way too far.  Turns out, that's just what I did.
       As we approach the new year, it is a great time to look at our lives, maybe see a few things that we have given up, some of that zest for life that has been lost.  Now, identifying the problem is not nearly enough.  To remedy the situation, we need a plan.  Make a regular, public commitment that will restore the smile to your face.

this is about what I sound like now...
(clip art from Fiddler's Crossing)

        I had never made a New Year's resolution before, but last January I chose 3 areas of my life that I felt I had "given up" on.  I resolved to be a better friend, learn how to sing, and remember how to write.  All things I had given up in the pursuit of being a great parent.  Totally unnecessary, but if you watch What Not To Wear, apparently it is quite common. It was time to become a beginner again.
       What is so cool is that I have made progress in all of the areas.  For me the key was to make the commitments public.  If you set a weekly date to meet a friend, she is likely to make you stick with it, just like an accountability buddy when you run.  I also joined the choir. Even when there are 10 other people singing your part, it is important to the group that you show up for practice and church.  Peer pressure works. As for writing, this is my 127th post. I'm getting somewhere on that promise too.
        It's time to begin thinking about this next year.  I've been tossing around ideas- learning to improve my website, committing to dancing and playing games, I'm not sure yet.  Right now anything is possible for 2013 and I'm so excited.

Ta-Da! -sana: Opening to Grace

     Does it ever feel like God is trying to get you to understand something?  The longer you don't get it, the higher the volume goes?  I have been having that month. It all began with a song....

      For my next song in voice lessons, I was assigned My Soul is Thirsting (Psalm 63) by Steve Angrisano.  This is a video of the author teaching a group the refrain.  Now I just love the psalms.  They express every emotion from love to rage to hate to envy to longing.  There is a psalm for every situation.  It makes me feel a little less alone in the dark nights, others have been here long before me and found a way out.
     I played around with the song.  First just learning the tune, then practicing different aspects. But, I didn't really think about it much. So, God ups the ante....
    Two weeks later I took a great weekend of yoga from Sianna Sherman (posts about her video and some of the lessons learned).  One of the things she mentioned several times is that with each inhale the body is healing (in reiki we would say 'releasing blocks').  It stuck in my mind.  I just could not make sense of it.  If I get better with each inhale (and I have quite a few inhales under my belt), why am I ageing? It feels more like I am creating blocks rather than releasing most of the time.

Window at Peaceful Meadow Retreat.

    I ruminated on the thoughts about thirsting for God and healing with each inhale, turning the puzzle pieces over and rearranging them in my mind.   On Saturday they suddenly came together.  It reminded me of this picture.  We had taken several pictures in a row of this window.  Most were fairly dark and did not capture the feelings we were looking for.  This one was the third of five exposures.  The interesting thing is it was the middle picture.  In this one photo, you can see the grace that is always there.

source

     Our souls thirst until we open the doors to let God in. He is always there waiting. Each inhale heals the body if it is made with an open heart.  Each inhale in anger, hurt and shame creates ill health or dis-ease.
     I spent an hour on Saturday going through my computer, trying to find a picture of someone with an open heart.  I couldn't find a single one.  We all see the camera and shy away.  People cross arms in front of their bellies or round their shoulders to hide.  When I mentioned this at the Reiki Share on Sunday, Lorna Barrett,  a fellow yoga teacher told me how she teaches this to her students.  In your mind imagine that you are a gymnast who has just completed a major routine.  Spread the fingers and toes and open your heart up to the grace all around you.  Stand tall and Ta-Da! in tadasana.


P.S. If you want to experience this great teaching style first hand, Lorna's classes are at the R.C. Durr YMCA in Burlington, KY Monday and Wednesday at 11.

Reiki Music and the Wonders of Nature

Woke up this morning out of sorts and behind the power curve already.  What great music to set me straight!  Brought to my attention by Starfloating at Tumblr