Felipe Adan Lerma

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

dVersepoets Prompt : Open Link Night 37 – Late Winter Watch(ing) in Vermont (yoga-adan.com)
dVersepoets dVerse Poetics – Sculpting a Poem, “The Shape of Gratitude” (yoga-adan.com)
Undercurrents, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: Awareness, Buddhism, Mindfulness, Poetry, Yoga

Comments 12 Comments
Categories Arts Area, dVersepoets, inspirational poetry, Philosophy/Metaphysics, poetry, Prose Poem, yoga poetry

dVersepoets Prompt : Open Link Night 34 – Writing Alone

6 Mar

Nice Thing 'Bout Getting Old(er) - Articles, Reviews, Creativity Pictured, “Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)” -

Post is in response to Open Link Night ~ Week 34 prompt from dVersepoets

***

“a beginner’s view: the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

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we write alone, we speak together : original inspirational poetry

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

dVersepoets Prompt – Open Link Night ~ Week 34

hosted by joseph hesch

open link night is a favorite, cause one can write anything, topic wise, within reason i assume

tonight’s essay by the host at dversepoets pub does talk about the loneliness of a writer’s life, the interior-ness of it, and has some great quotes from hemingway and henry louis mencken

the latter says,

“while we are conversing and laughing with ourselves, we manage to shed our loneliness . . . to scatter it as we go along”

while the old man of the sea, adds,

“he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.”

so i of course have decided to play both devil’s advocate and confound’er meaning i meander ’round what “alone” might mean, and if it’s ever really avoidable, even when among everyone else…

it’s a tough question

yoga says we’re all one, yet many schools of yoga say the ego must be dropped behind, along with emotions and thoughts – not too appealing, i thought we were all one

maybe, we’re meant to transform what we come in contact with, best we can anyways

so my challenge, was to create something entertaining, spark some interesting imagery, roll some pleasing word-rhythms, and yet intrigue the question of do we really create our best work when most alone, or are we alone anyway, and aloneness is just an excuse…except when we really are alone and must cope with that -

it all confuses me

which is probably as clear as i can be about it!

poetry, at least, can entertain and provide diversions of form and sound and pace and image – we can at least feel good about leaning towards knowing, all along knowing, even sometimes proudly acknowledging, we really don’t know…

but we know we’d be cowards if we didn’t at least try

so here’s my go -

***

We Write Alone, We Speak Together…

great literature, like
all things moving and
pounding our hearts, like
the rounded moon striking
our earth, changes everything
*
is it truly only possible to create
such impact, alone?
*
are we not alone when we
breathe our own air
among a stadium
of screaming
fellow fans or
among a dance floor of
studied looks from glances
shrouded as distance checks
on tiny turns around the
floor?
*
or
is it degree-of-aloneness like
the size of the moon that
strikes the oceans
making macro-
looks of drops of milk
drops
making crowns when splashed?
*
but what of the Iliad or spoken centuries of
korans and bibles and testaments of
moons striking whole peoples’
dreams of survival
*
were not those words whispered ’round
campfires sized like buildings
warming thousands
not
alone?
*
did the utterances in public minimize
the force on civilizations germinating freedom
in ancient greece or royal rome?
*
or can it be argued, posited, positioned,
speculated, post hoc, someone, a
man, a woman, a child,
first
wrote the words
into the air
alone
*
to be spoken on the ancient widescreen
of burliness and wild hair spun to
whip the air with callings
unconcerned with
aloneness…
*
can we ever not be alone
yet be with one
with
everyone?
*
or
do we really speak in most
aloneness
when we hope
to be with that
someone
always with us when we’re alone…

***

blessings everyone

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

dVersepoets Prompts Series - on yoga-adan.com

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

dVersepoets Prompt : Poetics – Awareness of the Experience : PhotoPoem (yoga-adan.com)
Poetics: Poetry & Philosophy, Poem Prompt via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: dVersepoets, Open Link Night, Poetry

Comments 14 Comments
Categories Arts Area, dVersepoets, inspirational poetry, Philosophy/Metaphysics

Open Link Night ~ Week 33 – Recycling “Evolution of a Yoga Pose”

28 Feb

Nice Thing 'Bout Getting Old(er) - Articles, Reviews, Creativity

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***

Pictured, “Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)” -

Post is response to Open Link Night prompt from dVersepoets

***

“a beginner’s view: the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

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evolution of a yoga pose : original yoga poetry

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

Open Link Night

Open Link Night, Week 33 ~ from dVersepoets, hosted by joy ann jones (hedgewitch) is a more than usually welcome prompt for me this week

i’d been debating, whether to, “jump in” with an article on the latest twist of yoga headlines, these from another scorcher from the nytimes, “yoga and sex scandals: no surprise here,” or to instead, do a poem via one of dversepoets’ many fine prompts

open link night, and the recycling of one of my yoga poems, “evolution of a pose,” gave me a chance to merge the two, save some time, and let me go out dinner with my wife for a beautiful sunset here in burlington vermont

Yoga and Sex

my intent, if i’d done a “pure” yoga article reviewing the hubbub, was to link to the more interesting and comprehensive folk, such as :

yogadork’s “William J Broad on John Friend Scandal: Yoga is a Sex Cult and We’re All Ignorant Minions” -

and carol horton’s “Back to Basics: Yoga as I know it, 101” -

and an article i first saw from nancy alder, and is also linked to by yogadork, “Christopher Wallis addresses “Factual Errors” in NY Times Article: Yoga and Sex Scandals“

My Take

my own take is, depending on your view, either too simplistic, or too involved or maybe just right

for what it’s worth, this is where i stand regarding yoga

1) my understanding of yoga is, like most things in my life, except for a few constants, an evolving understanding – so i’m open to change, have changed (some), and expect i’ll have a few adjustments still along the way

2) my favorite (short) quote about yoga i’ve seen several times, and saw again today on the mindbodygreen site :

it’s from the dalai lama,

“There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.”

3) many of the ideas feelings and precepts in yoga, i learned and heard growing up, so yoga is not a sole depository of human wisdom

4) people argue constantly about something with a big “Y” yoga and a little “y” yoga; i default to dalai’s quote above if you need an authority, i’d still think it’s a needless debate if you don’t

5) getting rabid about sex not being part of yoga is as wrong as being rabid that it is

sex is part of and responsive to eating breathing sports art dance music literature gazing into your lovers eyes and eating a delicious meal, oops, i’m back to eating, now that’s where there’s no real surprise

6) arguing about the history of yoga, in detail, is like pointless – we don’t even know if JFK was killed by a lone gunman, or in cahoots with others – generalities is the best we can do

i currently write a daily morning poem, and a later-in-the-day gratitude poem, and when i re-read them, i’m shocked at what i remembered vaguely, and what i didn’t remember in detail at all! – though i know whatever it is that happened, i absorbed

7) my physical and, by unavoidable natural connection, emotional mental health is enhanced by physical activity -

as my emotional and mental health enhances my physical health -

yoga does this, as does dance and music and writing and good company and, oh, yes, eating eating well anyways

there’s more, i’m sure, but it’s close to time for my wife and i to go eat, with a great coupon of course from living social - they don’t pay me to say that, i say it because i am grateful for a decent deal from a company i’ve had fair dealings with several times

just like the yoga ladies i mention above as reference probably don’t always agree with my take on things, but i admire them and what they offer for discourse and pondering

and that’s how i feel about yoga, it doesn’t agree with all of me -

i can’t do headstands, hold myself afloat with one hand, or twist the same both directions, but i admire what it does for me, in my breathing, in my stretching, in its (usual) compassion toward self and others, and its advocation of awareness

with that in mind, i offer you a poem that deeply fit me as it creatively came out, ala dalai’s words, of brain and heart – renamed only slightly to clarify it’s a “yoga” pose i’m writing about

my thanks to dVersepoets for offering a poet’s-option open mike prompt

it’s like offering an open-pose session of yoga -

the yoga of poetry

***

Evolution of a Pose

As a tiny child

(I am told)

liked to lift

my chest

off

the floor

and peek about

and smile at those around me.

As a quietly raucous teen

(i’ve been reminded)

i’d lift my chest

from the

hot

beach sands

that are galveston

to peer around

at my peers.

As a young man intent

on learning asanas

i’d lift prone from

the mat

the third chakra

i knew must be in there

…somewhere.

cobra

i was, i was told.

Maybe, with smiling fangs?

i wondered…

In the service

i’d lift my chest

with my breath as

i pressed my finger

on the trigger.

I was a

cobra

now

i thought.

As a dad

i’d lift

my head

as my children

learned to lift their head

then their chest,

core muscles moving

them

to the crawling mobile stage -

and i recall

(i would tell them)

they’d lift their chest

off

the floor

and peek about

and smile..at all those around them.

The cobra pose is but

a stage of skin

between

the playful peeking child

and the grateful mom and dad.

The pose

is the peeking child

within.

Nothing more. And never nothing less.

***

blessings everyone

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

Yoga Poetry Series

dVersepoets Prompts Series - on yoga-adan.com

Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

dVersepoets OpenLinkNight – Week 32 : What Would Walt Whittle (yoga-adan.com)
Undercurrents, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
dVersepoets dVerse Poetics – Sculpting a Poem, “The Shape of Gratitude” (yoga-adan.com)
Prose Poem – Poetic Objects, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: dalai lama, dVersepoets, Poetry, Sex scandal, Yoga, yoga poetry

Comments 7 Comments
Categories Arts Area, dVersepoets, Philosophy/Metaphysics, yoga poetry

dVersepoets OpenLinkNight – Week 32 : What Would Walt Whittle

21 Feb

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“And The Idea Is…” : Original inspirational poetry, linked in response to dVersepoets.com site’s prompt post, “OpenLinkNight ~ Week 32.”

***

“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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what would walt whittle : original inspirational poetry

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

The Prompt, “OpenLinkNight ~ Week 32“ from dVersepoets

natasha head, hosting dversepoets’ openlinknight has some wonderful commentary about why those who write, well, write -

it’s inspiring to read, as a writer or a reader…

she mentions writers who write “daring to post their hearts” -

she writes of how “Through this community, and on through the ether of cyberspace, brave spirits venture forth, hear my words, and encourage me to keep at it….” -

and she quotes walt whitman’s words, “To have great poets…there must be great audiences” then proceeds to tell us we are that great audience, and how much it means to her…

it is, as i’ve mentioned, inspiring…

i don’t know what the title of this work will be, it’s topic, or tone, but, here goes

***

What Would Walt Whittle

tired

in the way the wind wears stones down

naturally

confident

in the way a bird rests upon thin limbs

whistles, and knows there’s food

for the spotting

angry

that i get so angry

sometimes

glad

i know this is

refreshed

when i breathe reminders of the good

things i can feel, the colors i can see, the

touch of my wife’s hand tapping

my thin remaining hair in

place

i feel i’m always finding rocks

i like to turn over, just to see

what crawled under

always finding croppings in the wide open

spaces

i can use for photo-poems, art, word

prompts

there’s so much land

we love crawl-walking over

bike paths, trails, patches of clearing

roadsides and byways with rails

cause they know we know

we’re gonna walk them

anyways

i found my poem’s title tilling time with words

i must’ve absorbed the poem prompt

and grew a new beard of thought

from pondering walt’s wise

words about my

audience

are there really still holiday lights in trees

downtown a week past valentines?

i like that lopey optimism

that assumes there’s

folk who’ll fawn

over every tree

lit like

firefly nests

walt whitman lives

where living’s lived

whether paper ether music or cries of voices

the living…is always felt…

***

g’nite everyone

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

Yoga Poetry Series

dVersepoets Prompts Series - on yoga-adan.com

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

Poetics: Poetry & Philosophy, Poem Prompt via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
Prose Poem – Poetic Objects, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
Undercurrents, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
Wild Music – Original Arts & Love Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
I Heard You Sing – Poetry for Lovers (yoga-adan.com)
Playfulness in an Ageless Christmas – Original Inspirational Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
dVersePoet Prompt : OpenLinkNight – Week 25, Did Someone Mention Charles Bukowski? (yoga-adan.com)
Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana) – Original Yoga Poetry (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: dVersepoets, inspirational poetry, Philosophy, Poetry, Walt Whitman

Comments 8 Comments
Categories Arts Area, inspirational poetry, Philosophy/Metaphysics

Poetics: Poetry & Philosophy, Poem Prompt via dVersepoets

12 Feb

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“And The Idea Is…” : Original philosophical poetry, linked in response to dVersepoets.com site’s prompt post, “Poetics: Poetry and Philosophy.”

***

“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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and the idea is… : original philosophical poetry

a “journey of thought”

subtitle inspired by comment from susie clevenger

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

The Prompt, “Poetics: Poetry & Philosophy,” from dVersepoets

charles miller, the host for this particular prompt at dversepoets, writes, in my view, a super interesting essay-intro into the how and why of poetry and philosophy

included, are these two tidbits,

“Since Plato, poets have used philosophy for both inspiration as well as a greater and deeper awareness of reality. From Lucretius (Democritus) and Dante (Aquinas) to Borges (Schopenhauer), Stevens (Bergson), and Eliot (Hegel), poets have sought and found inspiration in the rational explanation of reality provided by philosophy.”

and

“Poets express the reality of the world in its emotional grip of the soul; thought in the form of an ecstatic awareness of ourselves in the world, so to speak.”

so i in turn wrote the rambler fun poem below

and feel i’ve paraphrased the last sentence into, “thought in the form of an ecstatic awareness of ourselves within ourselves within ‘a’ world, and so must speak….”

couldn’t have said it without charles’ essay prompt!

***

And The Idea Is…

a priori

of course

is the route that

begins

yet ends

with questions

did i not exist before i believed

i thought i heard a sound

within my heart?

i am i said and thought

i felt i’d said

with

conviction

my marriage

my tested thought

and

survivor’s sentiment

i am

therefore

i am

i repeated

will life have lifted me from clay and dirt

and recycled litter, merely to place me

back on the heap to be another’s

treasure, myself now junk

do we raise a consciousness in ourselves and thus

all others

and thus all things

and then back into the universe

the expanding big bang cosmos coming

out to play among the dark with self made stars

and spirals that smile when called by their maiden

name, galaxy…

just to one day unseen it’s too far we’re too small

re-contract into the primal black hole of a new

unscheduled big bang breathe

are we but a breathe in time’s wheezy ways

of wishing walls were wet with tiny

spring time buds that birds

in bands break into the

seeds we think are

thoughts

but feel

are more…

do we really stop

when we are

buried

merely wake to choose

again

if to join the dance of tag

called

a priori…

***

Yoga

these are the fun stuff to do when i don’t really know, play the possibilities…

play my heart’s edge

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

Yoga Poetry Series

dVersepoets Prompts Series - on yoga-adan.com

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana) – Original Yoga Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
Prose Poem – Poetic Objects, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
Wild Music – Original Arts & Love Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
I Heard You Sing – Poetry for Lovers (yoga-adan.com)
Playfulness in an Ageless Christmas – Original Inspirational Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
Undercurrents, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
Poetics: Poetry and Philosophy (dversepoets.com)
Press Release – - Three New Original Mini eBook Series : A Month of Mornings ** Everyday Gratitude ** Everyday Inspiration – PhotoPoems (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: dVersepoets, Philosophy, Poetry, Yoga

Comments 10 Comments
Categories Arts Area, dVersepoets, Philosophy/Metaphysics

The Indie Spotlight : “Poems for Lovers Loving & Being Loved” – for Valentines & Everyday

7 Feb

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The Indie Spotlight Feature : “Poems for Lovers Loving & Being Loved” by Felipe Adan Lerma. A Valentines Day ebook choice.

“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

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Available at :

Amazon Books ** Barnes & Noble ** Google Books ** Smashwords

***

my collection of love poems “poems for lovers loving & being loved” is being featured by “the indie spotlight” whose motto is :

The Indie Spotlight – Where the Independent Author Shines

what the indie spotlight offers, is a chance to have one’s independent self-published work more widely presented, especially to the growing number of people with ereaders, such as the kindle and nook among others

a variety of in-depth questions were presented to help the reader know the writer and the work presented a bit better

i figured with valentines day coming up, “poems for lovers loving & being loved,” among more than a dozen i’ve epublished so far, was the perfect choice

indie spotlight’s submission page provides a downloadable questionnaire, and that can be submitted to one of the founders, gregory bernard banks, a published writer and graphic artist

if you are an “indie” writer, i’d highly recommend this opportunity; it is free, easy, makes one think about one’s work a little more broadly, and is potentially good pr

***

Yoga

i think my ending “yoga” segment in my writings is replacing my previous “final thoughts” section

change is about adapting and enhancing, at least for us, people

even if the universe is random, which i lean toward doubting it is, maybe it’s our job, as people, to invest it with some purpose!

and if love is the driving force of our universe, as many believe, maybe our awareness of it, and infusion of that love, into our daily lives, is that purpose -

if nothing else, it sounds and feels good

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

Also Available at Amazon Books

Please Click Image for Link

***

Prose Poem – Poetic Objects (My Beard), Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets

5 Feb

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***

“The Object Is…” : Original poetry, linked in response to dVersepoets.com site’s prompt post, “The Object is Poetics.”

***

“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

the object is… : original poetry

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

The Prompt, “The Object is Poetics,” from dVersepoets

prompt introduced by mark kerstetter

“This week’s task is to focus on an object in your environment, preferably an object from the natural world, to really examine it, to try and see it with utmost clarity, and to wait for the word, that first word or phrase that seems to capture, for you, the essence, in language, of that object. Then use that word or phrase to construct a poem that gives a voice to that thing.”

the article has several pen and ink like illustrations visualizing the idea

plus prose poetry examples are nicely provided, including excerpts and links for more by the french writer francis ponce

it’s very much like what i try to do in “parts” of my little series writings on waking and my daily gratitude musings

my own slant, thinking about this because of the prompt, is i see that idea, yes, i really like doing this sort of thing, finding the words to “voice” an object, but i also wish to then float that voice and see what else it calls from me, what connections of any kind, feelings, thoughts, memories -

sometimes there’s much, sometimes just a tidbit…

but that’s how everyday life is anyways

***

The Object Is…

not shaving for a day or two too

long

isn’t in my best interests,

when i’m interested -

thick white hairs are rapidly

crowding their younger darker heirs

at times one thick bright stump out alone

along the olive skin waiting like crop rotation

nearby three thin wires each a differing shade of

unshaven, cluster inside a pore patiently paring bets

to see

who will survive -

tilling the hairs with thin steel blades

in the direction they tend to grow

means more hairs escape

the cut

but so does a skin beginning to burn

less pimpled now at sixty

more skimpy in

willingness

to heal

i’d think the bristly beard hairs

and

my prissy aging ancient skin

would compromise

they don’t, so

i do it for them

shave only when i have to, once

every few days, morphing me

from satin saint to prickly

pear bear man every

few days -

my man’s face is a seasons of its own

it seems

in just the time it takes to view a few looks

in the morning mirror

***

Yoga

so much is said in yoga of the objects in our lives, including our thoughts and emotions, as being something to just let slide by, unvalued as “lasting” -

though it certainly wouldn’t be prudent to remain obsessed with a thought or feeling to the point of incapacity, i’ve never thought it was possible we would only be on this earth to simply endure being here…

it makes more sense to me that, whatever we can infuse with consciousness, much like the poetry prompt exercise from dversepoets, gains from our existence -

and we in turn, absorbing an objects own inherent essence, allows us to likewise be infused…

my guess is :

our connectedness is, and our awareness is becoming

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

dVersepoets Prompts Series - on yoga-adan.com

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

Creativity and Yoga, Thoughts

Press Release – - Three New Original Mini eBook Series : A Month of Mornings ** Everyday Gratitude ** Everyday Inspiration – PhotoPoems (yoga-adan.com)

Undercurrents, Poem Prompt Response via dVersepoets (yoga-adan.com)
Wild Music – Original Arts & Love Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana) – Original Yoga Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
New Beginnings – Bookmarks in a Larger Book (yoga-adan.com)
Playfulness in an Ageless Christmas – Original Inspirational Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
I Heard You Sing – Poetry for Lovers (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: dVersepoets, Philosophy, Poetry, Yoga

Comments 10 Comments
Categories Arts Area, dVersepoets, Philosophy/Metaphysics

Scarcity & Intent in Creativity, Thoughts

30 Nov

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***

pictured, “Everyday Gratitude Vol 1″

Series volumes on finding the small things to be grateful for each day.

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

scarcity and intent in creativity, thoughts

***

Article Outline

Intro

Uh Oh
About My Selection Below
“Trance of Scarcity” – Review on Magazine of Yoga
Teachasana Article – “Creating a Pre-Class Ritual”
Active & Passive Creativity / Intent
Emmanuelle – Plans on a Comet, Daily Intentions

Excerpt from “101 Sports Poems Vol 5″

From the Creative Poetry Writing Workbook Project
Intent
Setting Up – Winning
Scarcity
Sports
Creativity

Back to My Blog

Final Thoughts

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

***

Intro

Uh Oh

i hadn’t been able to get to this, an article i’ve been wanting to write, because i’ve so much else i also been wanting to write, and need to, such as my series of ebooks, the ability to finally, as with a blog, post one’s collective self out to share

in this case, several decades of creative work, especially written work (vs paintings & photos)

i’d been so intent (my choice to focus on my ebooks so significant for me) i’d forgotten this article was already scheduled for today, and went up for viewing early this morning -

like the skeleton of a bldg set up for sale without word on the signage, that the shell of a building was still in-progress and not yet fit to be lived in

yes, my time, by my choice, was scarce, but i should’ve been more attentive

was it ironic that scarcity and intent were my chosen subjects in this article?

or just plain crazy? serendipity?

both? all three?!?

also ironic, if not equally crazy and serendipity! is my image above – of a bird on a fence, its body facing toward one field, its head turned toward the field opposite?

just lucky i think

About My Selection Below

below is an excerpt from Vol 5 of my “101 Sports Poems” series

i do have all the sports poems in one simple volume now, “The Poems” and offer the mini volumes (and eventually another full edition, but with all the “stuff” in the mini’s) as an alternative with commentary, personalizing templates, and (becoming) most important to me, the creative writing workbooks (on poetry) -

where i blab even more about creativity and things yoga and fitness

“Trance of Scarcity” – Review on Magazine of Yoga

below, as i started to stay is an excerpt from Vol 5

i’d been thinking about this as part of the continuity of my series of creativity writing projects in the ebook series, and how i’ll eventually also just publish an ebook of the creative writing sections, when i came across a nice little article on the magazine of yoga

“the trance of scarcity” reviewed by tali koziol, written by victoria castle, has a lot of ideas i like

the book itself, is about unlearning our thinking that “we are not enough” -

as tali in her review says,

“I think like all good plans the changes will have to be subtle, take it one day at a time as it were. More specifically I will need to start incorporating this shift from feeling inadequate or out of time and energy into different areas of my life, one at a time….”

scarcity, as a reality, is something i speak to below in my ebook excerpt, and yet also, i maintain that things aren’t as scarce as they need be

my feeling is, scarcity is not a necessity, for something (or someone) to be valued

creative value can be found repeatedly, with confidence -

and, that intent is instrumental in that process…

plus, choices must happen…

will happen…

Teachasana Article – “Creating a Pre-Class Ritual”

linda nutter snay has a nice article, with lots of concrete suggestions, of the desirability of creating some sort of pre-class routine or ritual, that focusses the (yoga) teacher and thus helps create a better class for students

can’t really argue with that, so i posted a comment, saying,

“can only add, that -

“from my experience, if even being or becoming centered, esp in both mind and body, doesn’t feel firm, don’t fret, just setting myself into the idea of ‘intent’ – seems to eventually find me a way to an intent

“anyway, thanks again, great ideas on pre-class breaths, asanas, music, etc; helps in many creative endeavors, and yoga’s definitely creative “

in my creative writing workbook projects, in my sports poetry ebooks, i basically advocate something similar, though with a progression that, near the end, leads into more writing specific ideas, such as idea-pov, and 1st vs 3rd person

the idea of a pre-anything-important-to-you routine or ritual crosses into many aspects of people’s varied activities

learning about it one area, makes it easier to learn to apply those ideas to other interests, whether in fitness yoga or the creative arts

linda’s article on teachasana, i believe, could be useful for most anyone in any field

Active & Passive Creativity / Intent

if one chooses to believe one is a passive yet receptive creative person, like a channel of some sort, that’s fine with me, but it’s not a requirement or only way for creative choices to happen

one can, i believe, actively set oneself to be creative, passively or actively

and that :

determining that scarcity is not necessary for something to be valuable, is active
deciding there is no scarcity in one’s creativity, is active
focussing oneself “as” intent itself, is active

at least in my experience anyway -

as able, i like both, to give and receive

a good example is the title of this article, and the image i chose for it -

the title includes the word “intent” and so kinda obscures my point, but if the title had “just” said “scarcity” this would still be as true – that here, my intent was there from the start

yet, with my “bird on the fence” photo, it had been left in a folder for another article, unused, but was literally haunting me, with its diagonal split of the screen and colors, lights darks and greys reaching into each other, the budding vines on the chain link, and that bird!

it could well have become aware of me watching it with my camera and mind-heart’s eye, breathing myself to wait for maybe a moment like that!

well, that image, was a “holding of intent” without a specific conscious intent -

this is something very important to me, and most of us, i think, that try to create art (or moments) -

the faith that simply holding a space-holder of sorts, of intent for intent, works -

i explore some of this in my creative writing project excerpt below

Emmanuelle, Plans on a Comet, Daily Intentions

if you’re interested in a creative approach to developing daily intentions, you might want to check out emmanuelle’s interesting new project, “Little Guidebook of Daily Intentions“

check out how she puts it,

“you will have pretty tools for mindful living to awaken your awareness in 5 minutes a day, beautiful pics, and a lot of fun. Inspiration doesn’t have to be boring”

this from a young lady in europe who also writes “music matters” posts for the magazine of yoga

***

Excerpt from “101 Sports Poems Vol 5″

From the Creative Poetry Writing Workbook Project

please note: a bit of formatting has been changed to better fit the blog format

Welcome, to our fifth and mid-point Creative Poetry Writing Workbook project.

I decided to place the volume about inspiration in the middle of the nine sports poems ebooks, as both a pause and re-start of our creative writing efforts.

Previous projects had pre-writing exercises involving a three minute breathing routine, limbering, and a mobility. Today’s starter will involve intent.

Intent

We can “do” creative writing without a conscious or dedicated intent, and we can “find” intent in the doing. Here, we will allow a few moments, minutes, however time each person needs (in a class setting, a set time would be given) to sit quietly.

If possible, and if the reader knows the previous pre-writing exercises, they can be done before or after today’s focus on intent. Sequencing is important, but in this case, not the end all. Here the creative process is our end-all.

Also, don’t worry about having a specific intent during this exercise. My own experience, in writing or painting, is that yes, having a specific intent is certainly helpful, but many many times I don’t have or maybe I don’t know my intent yet. Sure, it may be there, deep in my soul and combined experience, but part of the creative process itself, is just finding that intent.

So if you don’t have or know an intent you might want for your creative process, then a gently loosely comfortably held intent of “finding” your intent, is more than good enough. Literally. Finding your intent may be necessary. And may come quickly, or slowly.

I’ve read of authors who find their plot line or story from focussing on some one key, a character, a spoken line, a descriptive passage. And from there, by staying in process, solutions and discoveries are found.
*

Setting Up

Winning

“Winning” is our chosen poem for today’s project.

The act or desire of winning has many connotations in our culture. Both positive and negative.

We can and will choose to focus on how “winning” will be positive in our lives. Win-win would be a good way to think of it.

Other tidbit phrases might be, “we are all winners” – “my winning harms no one” – “my winning benefits all” – the idea is to phrase the feeling of winning as positively as is humanly possible within our personal frame work of values.

Winner-take-all is not a necessary attitude. Neither is “survival of the fittest.”

Being creative, is not a zero sum game. And surviving being creative does not mean others aren’t or can’t be creative also.

Scarcity

To be clear, yes, there have been and are instances of true scarcity. During emergencies where supplies are cut off. When a new medicine or technology is being ramped up and doesn’t met necessary or even life-saving demand.

When we humans hadn’t gotten full control of our living environment, away from competing fellow creatures, animals, without the capacity to live peacefully with us, there was scarcity via the threat to our existence, a scarcity of live survival.

As we eliminated threats from species outside ourselves, we seem to have carried the habit and fear of scarcity into do-or-die raids by one civilization on another, or a perceived scarcity of co-existence of peoples, such as with the nazis.

Regardless of desirability or practicality, there’s little question we can grow enough food for everyone on the planet. Which, though, doesn’t address the issue of distribution of and labor of creating that food. Or housing. Someone has to cook and clean and grow and build things. We haven’t solved “how” to do that, but physically, it’s doable. But we also seem to realize, not at any cost, such as forced labor, or caste systems, or slavery.

The scarcity of scarcity, so to speak, will be the underlying most important driving force in human culture, i believe, through the rest of my lifetime.

Sports

Sports, as I’ve mentioned in other portions of these creative writing projects, are a wonderful creative invention by humanity. No one has to die, or not be able to come back, if they wish and are able.

Non-winners of the “top” prize or of being the “final one standing” are not exempt from benefiting from increased public exposure, applying their experience to lateral or new ventures, or even benefiting from “just talking” about their experience.

Creativity

And nature seems to have “built-in” the necessary feeling of scarcity right into our bodies and minds through time – we age. We get injured. We get tired. We feel resistance to being able to be creative.

This internal “game” of creativity arises in two ways at least.

One, there is the felt resistance to finding the right word, right sequence of those words, their intonation and rhythm. Their beat and pulse.

Success comes as one finds the creative solution. One’s creative solutions also “create” a sort of muscle memory within our integrated selves that work together to get to our fun solution. This makes it easier to create along the same lines next time, which in turn, “can” lead to a second type of internal creative resistance.

Two, this second form of internally felt block to feeling creative, of being in a “rut” arises from doing and feeling and creating the same “thing” over and over.

In the muscle memory article above, I linked to another article on my site where I found and noted references and information via fitness theory and practice, that varying one or more of three components, time – intensity – frequency – helps one regain improvement in one’s physical exercise programs.

Applied to creativity, as most things within us in one activity are connected to other activities we do, several things seem to emerge for me.

One, practice will eventually produce results because the effort to create satisfying creative results builds roads I can more easily and confidently travel on.

Two, those roads can become ruts if repeated too exactly each time they’re traveled.

And three, the roads can still be traveled productively, if efforts (conscious or intuitive) to vary time elements, intensity points, and frequency intervals, can be carried out. Singularly or in any combinations.

There are folk who, without boring themselves or others, seem to produce the same style or type of work, over and over. They must’ve found the solutions. The variations. Minute or as grand as they might be.

We will do a mini-intent-practice below, after reviewing the poem, “Winning.”

If you haven’t had the chance to read “Winning” yet, please do so now.

It helps, I believe, to get a non-analytical “feel” reaction first.

***

Back to My Blog

“winning” – the poem, is posted separately today in a second article

my excerpt above continues in Vol 5 with a series of short writing projects meant to help one experience the emergence or awareness of intent -

and, that “winning” is something built into how we live every moment -

that winning doesn’t mean a comparable loss elsewhere -

though there are choices, and time constraints

as i’ve experienced writing this post

***

Final Thoughts

Adan Lerma intent, whether in yoga or sports or simply getting up in the morning (as if that’s always simple) -

can, i believe, be already present, as a conscious need or want, right from the beginning of a practice or creative session -

or it can be discovered during the process…

and doing so, is a “win” for us – a playful positive win that doesn’t have to hurt anyone

or deprive anyone, or deplete anything…

the bird on the fence may not be sure which way to fly, but it won’t “run out of songs” chirping its tunes all day

fitting each song to the moment at hand, or wing

and neither will we…

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

Winning – Original Sports & Inspirational Poetry

29 Nov

Click for Listing

***
Pictured, “101 Sports Poems”

Poetry for baseball, football, volleyball, bicycling, yoga, and much more.

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

“winning” – original sports & inspirational poetry

featured in “101 Sports Poems – The Poems“

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

Winning

In the long long course

of a life fully lived,

the process of

the game

of daily doings,

making a living, loving another,

is ample reward onto itself.

But

in the short haul, when

you’re down in the mud, a foot

on your face – on your last strike -

down to your last penny or check

with no credit in sight -

the wind in your face, the seams

pulling apart…well, then -

winning’s a whole

night’s shooting stars

of a lot better.

***

Final Thoughts

i’ve written another article, also for today, “scarcity and intent in creativity, thoughts” and felt, as the essay is bit involved, the poem would present better on its own page

my bird on a fence photo is used for both postings, and has a much more “involved” meaning once the other article’s also read

but as with most things, at least when dealing with people, that’s us! there’s more than one interpretation and use for most the things we observe, much as we like to think and feel there’s “only one way”

the bird, here, in this instance, in relation to this poem, is simply determining which direction to take, where he’d “win” the most, survival, food, environmental enjoyment

but then, i’m just projecting this onto this cute bird

i do believe, though, ultimately, there is only one way, only that it’s too big or complex or maybe even holy for us to more than grasp at it, though grasp we must

if people perish without a dream, there’s no dream, i believe, without the grasping…

and winning the small doings of each day, is huge…

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

Poetry Series

Photo-Poem Series

eBooks Information

Photography Plus : Digital Photos, Photo-Poem, Photo Essays, Artist Commentary

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

Wild Music – Original Arts & Love Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
First Snow – Original Inspirational & Places Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
“Art and Yoga” – Original Arts & Yoga Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
“The Creative Person” – Original Arts & Inspirational Poetry (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: 101 Sports Poems, Arts, National Poetry Month, National Sports Day, Poetry, Yoga

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Categories Arts Area, eBook Area, inspirational poetry, photography, sports poetry, Thoughts

Creativity & Yoga, Thoughts

9 Nov

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***

“creativity & yoga aren’t similar, they are of the same breath” – and so begins an exploration of creativity and awareness and yoga; wordpress’ new gallery images feature is included for the first time

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

creativity & yoga, thoughts

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

***

Article Outline

Intro

Definitions

A Thread
Implications
Assumptions and Beliefs
Mind, Heart, and Intuition – Yoga & Creativity
Creativity and Awareness

The Artist as a Creative Example

Intro, Kindred Spirits
Emmanuelle, Plans on a Comet
Brija, StableRoots
Kara-Leah
YogaDork
Studio Mothers
Himalayan Institute
The Magazine of Yoga

Final Thoughts

Yoga-Adan, What About Me?
Preparations, Again
“101 Sports Poems” a Series
Details

***

“creativity & yoga aren’t similar, they are of the same breath”

Intro

i came up with the idea of having a “thoughts” article category, sorta as a way to have an easy way to write about something, and not have to research it so much, ha! – yea, right, l0l !!

i ended up just fooling myself into having to think harder

Creativity & Awareness in Yoga v1, Original Digital Art, Adan Lerma

i figured, point out a few times i felt i’d gotten creative, maybe point to an article, well, ok, maybe two

heck, i have at least a painting and a couple of poems that could fill in some color and tone

maybe a photo, and i even have some digital art up now

like a piece of organic low-sugar cake with coconut!

well…

a funny thing happened on the way to the “send” button

i couldn’t think what to say…

what follows, has been “working” since my first saved draft as recorded in my wordpress acct,

“12 August, 2011 @ 9:02 by yoga-adan”

***

Definitions

A Thread

ok, so what is creativity?

Creativity & Awareness in Yoga v2, Original Digital Art, Adan Lerma

obviously i can point to examples, my own and others, of creative efforts, whether pleasing or not

merriam-websters says creativity is,

” 1 : the quality of being creative

2 : the ability to create“

and further defines “creative,” at least in part 2 of 3, as,

2 : having the quality of something created rather than imitated : imaginative <the creative arts>

and while the further definition of “create” is similar, i thought the info on the “origin of create” further down the page, was particularly interesting :

“Middle English, from Latin creatus, past participle of creare; akin to Latin crescere to grow…

First Known Use: 14th century”

Implications

“akin to Latin crescere to grow…”

“something created rather than imitated”

“being creative…the ability to create”

there’s much here, it seems to me, with huge implications -

it’s obvious that our current state of being in bodies, is a result of a creative effort, growing something new that’s not merely an imitation

so how’s that fit in with an unchanging soul, immutable and at one with the universe?

not easily it seems

yet, the paradox of duality may be more an answer than just a perplexing condition of our lives

Assumptions and Beliefs

i accept that there is oneness in the universe, unchanging, at least from our perspective

yet that oneness allows or wants or initiates diverse creations of changing living and inorganic objects

is it infusing the more-dense less-aware parts of itself it knows it will never lose, with more awareness of itself, as we are all contained within it?

a larger macro of what we attempt to do in breathing and awareness during asanas or other, more off the mat movements?

is it simply what we would perceive as breathing, naturally pulsing with its own life, and we are an expression of that oneness?

maybe some combinations of that and much more?

i don’t believe it’s possible to know the answers fully, or in a way of thinking or feeling we know all there is – we have to rely and be satisfied, at some point, with faith with what we do think and feel, and thus with what we assume we know…

are the words yoga or art or music or religion or god the things themselves?

maybe parts of that which they are themselves, being signifiers

being details, parts of the whole of what they point to

so, in that respect, i’ve come to believe :

“creativity & yoga aren’t similar, they are of the same breath”

so far, my reasoning, which is an expression of both my feelings and my thoughts, is not only simplistic, but riddled with assumptions and a priori starting points, any of which could be wrong or the views of someone who, if not touching one isolated part of the proverbial huge elephant, is maybe touching one tiny portion of a huge global canvas or sculpture

but so it must be…

i have to function, i have to live, and i have to go by what i know, right now…

Mind, Heart, and Intuition – Yoga & Creativity

the gentleman i first learned about meditation from, known as william david before reclaiming his birth name, way back in the early 70s at the esoteric philosophy center in houston’s montrose area (then a hotbed of new age stuff)

he pointed out to me a few things, as i was free-thinking out load about an image,

“that’s your intuition”

“but all i’m doing is thinking…”

“the faster your thoughts, the more they bundle themselves into intuitions”

“i don’t get it, i was just putting ideas together…”

“when you slow down, they are thoughts, ideas…when you leap and jump, they’re intuitions – and when they are tied to your heart, they’re your truths”

i’ve never needed to go past that yet, just understand it within myself better

yoga, creativity, the arts, fitness, life!

they’re like thoughts and intuitions and heart-felt feelings – all of a kind…

Creativity and Awareness

as i mentioned in my article, “Creativity & Awareness, a Conscious Response to Adaptation in Fitness & Yoga,” i feel creativity is kin with awareness, maybe a conjoined twin in essence -

awareness of…

* the rustle of air filtering past leaves and limbs and hair and eyes

* the now-you-see-it-now-you don’t stars of winking light

* the first smiles of an infant who knows you’re near

* a hand touch when you’re in thought, by someone who thought of you

* an eye blink from star to stars and twinkles in your eye

* words that aren’t the thing but bring them wrapped in language to your heart

* sounds with pictures pulsing in them

* being alone in a mass of others and feeling joined

* knowing each moment would have to be said thought felt but can’t, not yet…

maybe awareness and creativity are similar to the continuum expressed above, between reasoning and individual thoughts, with intuition

it seems, at times, there’s too mad a rush to condemn the mind and thoughts, and yet rush as madly to express, whole-heartedly, that all is one

that appeals to me as little as the scientific-like person who disparages the values of emotion and the heart

neither extreme of being seems to reflect the notion of being more holistic within oneself

so, for now, i’ll continue to value both my mind and my heart, with awareness the mediator and messenger to creativity…

and maybe messaging between my heart and mind

***

The Artist as a Creative Example

Creativity & Awareness in Yoga v3, Original Digital Art, Adan Lerma

Intro, Kindred Spirits

artists, of all stripes, have always been an odd necessity of humanity

even folk not doing typically thought of activities of art, when they are exceptional, or unique, or certainly odd enough to qualify, as if by default are thought of as artists :

con-artists, beguilers, shamans, dancers in the infield in baseball, great lovers -

below, knowing i’m not beginning to scratch the surface of the artistic talent to choose among, i’ve listed a few of those i’m currently or recently been following, that in the near term, have struck an artistic chord in me, in my integrative efforts

in addition, they tend to be, like me, working both yoga and an art related activity into their mix

so these are currently folks of a kindred spirit for me

Emmanuelle – Plans on a Comet

a young lady in europe (brussels and france) into music and yoga and art and photos and dance and teaching

browse her articles, check back on her, do a google search, she’s got a lot to offer

music and yoga seem to be her favorites right now -

with an inquisitive playful turn of mind

if there’s a comet on the site -

it’s emmanuelle!

Brija, StableRoots

a disarmingly charming interestingly tortured soul near the coast of england, who likes to paint and explore yoga as an awareness toward healing and merging more with her art

honest in turns haunting and humorous

there’s a raw point of emergence visible in her words worth watching

should i admit i see some of the-me of long ago in her words?

i guess so

wordpress provides some convenient “category” codes for bloggers, and brija has notated some of her articles under her “art category”

Kara-Leah

based in new zealand, but heard worldwide, i’ve reviewed one of her bio-exploratory-yoga articles on her flagship site, the yoga lunchbox

my byword-feeling for kara-leah, is authenticity

exploring her sites is exploring an authentically articulate voice

it can be unsettling, and it can be inspiring -

she also has a self titled site focussing on her creative writing work

both sites have featured articles where she’s explored how music is entwined with her yoga

kara-leah’s musings about her creative process, also strike me as familiar

she recently posted a typically good article on the creative process

YogaDork

not the typical creative activity most people thing of, like painting or writing or singing -

ms yogadork, as i privately like to call her works in the creative coal mines of humor

irreverent and broad in scope, yogadork is a welcome reminder of how silly we can all get about yoga, and all other things human

one of my first ever introductions to this site was very early thing year, to a video spoofing yoga via a production number from the play, “Chicago”

as the article puts it, “ If choreographed yoga has your nadis in a twist, prepare yourself for the Bob Fosse-fied Broadway Musical! It’s Yoga Tango! All jazz hands and breathy ujjayi to the tune ofChicago‘s “Cell Block Tango.”

and still one of my favorite ever!

if you crave a little humor with your yoga once in awhile, then check these guys out

Miranda, Studio Mothers

a creative website i’ve only recently come across, miranda is currently in the midst of a project of creating a work of art every day for the month (aedm)

her project for day 5, about herself as a young girl and her father, is exceptionally touching

her site focusses on helping busy mothers be the creative selves they want to be

though of course anyone, including us guys, are welcome

into painting and collages and more, miranda adds, “And breathing. Breathing is good.”

if you know some of my yoga writings, you know i very much go along with the belief that breathing is fundamental, including creatively

miranda’s site seems a great place to check out if you’re a busy mom – or anyone else

Himalayan Institute, “Awakening the Artist“

the himalayan institute has provided countless exceptionally clear articles on important aspects of living, such as “Aging Gracefully” -

“Awakening the Artist” follows in that strong tradition

written by karen macklin, who writes, “Artistic expression can be deeply fulfilling, but accessing creativity isn’t always easy” -

with an article subtitle that reads, “Tap into higher inspiration and refine your artistic skills with yogic tools and teachings that empower creative expression”

i gotta agree! mostly

the need for concentration, and how to develop it if needed, are discussed

as are the needs for “stillness and presence” and awareness and inspiration, breath and discipline, dealing with distracting negative emotions, “to feel free to have joy again in their performances” -

- Quibbles -

and yet, as a practicing artist, i’ll have to quibble

the author, quoting respected yoga teachers :

1) yes, maybe, at first, “The task of the yogic artist is mostly just to get out of the way” -

yet, i believe, eventually, the more fulfilling task is to be in and of “the way”

2) and yes, optimally, “Word, color, or movement choices don’t come from practical considerations—they come from intuition and a deeper place of seeing”

and again, the true solution, for me (an on-going process) is not to disdain practical considerations, but to merge them with intuitive processes (easier said than done)

but don’t think the author is for having the creative person put themselves in a cave, away from others, rejecting recognition

““If you want to really change the world with your work, you may have to make a spectacle with it, and that can be very beautiful. It may be your dharma to be really out there”

– Bottomline -

even with my quibbles, if i need to return to roots and re-ground, which happens then i do need to “get out of the way” and “come from intuition”

so with this, i recommend “awakening the artist” whole-heartedly

Susan Maier-Moul, The Magazine of Yoga

i’ve left the magazine of yoga, “an online journal which promotes engaged everyday life as the key principle of freedom” for last -

they have been my first and best lasting stand-by for all things articulated about yoga -

fascia, trainings, interviews, music, poetry, art, and food -

susan the editor-in-chief presents a smorgasbord of ingredients that satisfies, nourishes, and leaves me eager for more (after digesting my current portion of course)

it’s hard to further articulate the vastness of appealing work on the magazine of yoga

i recommend you go to the main page, and cruise down the right side of the page

topic categories with numerous links within each group currently include:

On the Lit Mat * Conversations * 3×5 Practices Index * The Iconic Susan Blood * West Coast Bureau * Four Words * Bodies and Voices * Book Reviews * Poets * Really Healthy * Is Anybody Else Hot? * Music Matters * Written in Pencil * Studio Life * Curvy Literacy * Magofyoga

whew! yes

***

Final Thoughts

Yoga-Adan, What About Me?

i have lots of plans up ahead

my texas to vermont series usually still has a good bead on short, medium, and long-term projects

the trick is, on my part, shifting the term-length of a given desired or needed project, from short to long or vice-versa

the fun is, also for me is doing exactly that

Preparations, Again

in my first texas to vermont post, “preparations,” i needed to prepare for, and accomplish, my wife sheila and mine’s move from to vermont from texas

you may have heard the expression, about things incredible, “that’s a trip!”

well, this was that literally and symbolically

right now is similar – though my move this time, is from the state of having decade’s of creative content t0 share, from earlier this year back through the last 40 years -

writings, poems, photos, paintings -

much…

and now move, kicking and screaming, but with eagerness! to a new state of available sharing, courtesy of the new digital age of opportunities

so, like that time period earlier this year, i will continue my site, posting each week, but again, as back then in that may-june period of moving, post more of my creative work (poems, images) and less time-necessary “thought” work

“101 Sports Poems” – a Series

Click for Listing

the move in-progress right at this moment, specifically, is that of organizing, formating, and presenting, a collection of mini sports poem volumes, comprising 101 original works

this is an important and major move for me

i’ve already presented two ebooks, one representing a sampler of mostly written work, the other an over-view presentation of visual work

now, i return to words, but specifically poetry, and even more to the point, sports poems

sports have been important to me most my life

sports now blends with yoga and thought

it’s an interesting project

Details

i intend to concentrate and finish the work necessary to publish the full nine mini sports poem volumes, and the larger full collection of sports poems in those nine segments

kinda sounds like what the article from the himalayan institute was talking about huh?

told ya this stuff was interwoven

what i also intend to do, as part of my creative postings, these next necessary number of weeks, is create poetry speaking directly to my interest in yoga in fitness and the arts -

the work i will be preparing for epublication is sports related in poetry form, gently infused with yoga and fitness

the work i’ll prepare and create for postings on my site will be, to start : yoga related to the arts

it’s be a busy creative time, just in time for the holidays

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

“The Creative Person” – Original Arts & Inspirational Poetry

8 Nov

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***

Unique opportunity to explore what creativity means to me, in 1994, and now 17 years later in 2011. Re-writing and presenting both versions, and “feeling” the difference, has been very interesting and helpful for me.

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

the creative person – original inspirational poetry

Facebook

***

sometimes a poem is perfect, as is, decade after decade – probably “angel baby” and “music” fit those best that come to mind

and i like “the creative person” but not enough to not change it, just a bit

the first entry is the original, from ’94; my current revision follows…

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

original 1994 version:

The Creative Person

Vague generalized acts of

universal longing compressed

into human movements

mimicking gestures of random

winds scattering seeds of our gestation.

Seeds of golden husks hurled

through barren barriers of drought

and soul. Seeds of hope

lined with tendrils green

with envy, green with growth

and tiny roots caressing

down the waiting earth. A hush,

and in a secret moment

the first break-

through to the sun

fed air and the artist’s

heart feels a vacuum

fill, feels the hard pebble

of doubt dissolve, feels the tear

swell of creation bring a

finely etched, faint, oh

ever so faint, quivering

smile to those

softly waiting lips.

***

revised 2011 version

The Creative Person

Vague…

generalized acts

of universal longing

compressed

into human movements

mimicking

gestures

of random winds

scattering seeds of our gestation.

Golden husks hurled

through droughts of soul.

Seeds of hope

lined with tendrils green

with envy’s last breaths.

Tiny roots caressing

the waiting earth…

In a hush,

in a secret’s moment

the first break

through to the sun

fed air and the artist’s

heart feels the vacuum

fill,

feels the hardened pebble

doubt dissolve, feels a tear

swell of creation

bring a

finely etched…faint -

no longer fading

quivering smile

to softly felt softly waiting lips.

***

Final Thoughts

Versions of My Poem

my original version struck me that i must’ve been sorta melancholy when i wrote it, something i only rarely felt over-whelmed with, those years in the mid 90s

my creative “feel” since the start of the new millennium has gone through a strong powerful transition -

i switched to impressionism then from acrylics to oils in painting, began jazzercise in 2001, lost significant weight around 2006-7, started learning about fitness in 2009 from AFAA (and became certified), returned (more fully) after many decades to yoga in 2010

early this year, 2011, i began integrating all those interests, by writing and expressing those interests, in this blog, yoga-adan.com -

Transitions and Balance

sometimes, a transition is more of a time arc than one realizes -

new balances within are required, like the balancing on a moving high-wire high above clouds that part and merge and move, giving glimpses of what’s below

the signal i sometimes get, recognizable to me since i was little, is like when one is holding a child, and it has reached a satisfaction of comfort or food, and the newborn or child breaths deeply, suddenly, in deep inhalations, and is visibly at peace -

it seems almost an involuntary-automatic-natural drawing-in of the deepest breath that fills the soul, settling the body with satisfaction…fullness…rest…

on the rarest of times, and richest of rewards -

i still feel this…

Upcoming

this week, i try my hand at the question of creativity again, with a look at creativity and yoga

i can feel my eyes light up just thinking about trying to get a hold on this

Feedback

did you like the first older version better than the newer one?

there’s still things i like in the original poem

but the new version also appeals

it’d be interesting to hear

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

Poetry Series

Photo-Poem Series

eBooks Information

Photography Plus : Digital Photos, Photo-Poem, Photo Essays, Artist Commentary

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

Tags: Arts Advocacy Day, National Creativity Day, National Motivation & Inspiration Day, National Yoga Month, Poetry, Yoga

Comments 5 Comments
Categories Arts Area, arts poetry, Creativity, inspirational poetry, Philosophy/Metaphysics, poetry

Nice Thing About Process – The Day After the Birthday Day

20 Oct

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***

“Everyday Gratitude” is a series about finding at least one gratitude, each day, in the course of the every day. Three volumes were available in mid March.

***
“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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nice thing about process – the day after the birthday day

***

Article Outline

Intro

Process

Reflections

Tidbits from Yesterday

Final Thoughts

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

***
***

Intro

yesterday was quite a day!

it was my birthday of course

Adan & Sheila at Class Lunch

which i took full advantage of by saying so at the beginning of my balance and yoga article yesterday, having a second glass of wine with my wife in the evening, going to lunch with the folk in our morning senior class, publishing my first ebook on amazon, and getting more calls emails texts facebook replies and hugs than i usually do in a month!

today, as is my wife and i’s custom, i’ll “extend” my birthday

after all, life, and birthdays, are a process

***

Process

it’s not much a secret that “most” yogic traditions, and really most spiritual religions i’m familiar with, portray life and any road back to god or heaven or oneness, as a process

even lightening moments of enlightenment wouldn’t mean one didn’t then have to live whatever was seen or gleamed, each day…every day….ohhhhh……

and birthdays are, i suspect, no exception

but this can be a good thing!

the “tradition” of extending birthday celebrations is, i think, a reflection of that

and reflections, thoughts, is what today’s post is really about

i had the great fortune of having a great day yesterday, and i’ve mentioned many of the highlights in the intro, so what does all that mean, today?

***

Reflections

* that it was so nice to have so many friends and family, many many miles away, reach out

* that modern communications mitigate “some” of being away from loved ones and good friends, but those same exchanges also whet my appetite to keep those folks close

* that there’s a flow to process, ups and downs, speed-ups and slow-downs, and each is necessary for the other to happen

* that celebrating is good, but sure does lead to a lot of reflecting

* that feeling good carries the seed memory now that “this too shall pass”

* that the ebbing of a great feeling, in yes, inevitable, but can also be a relief and return of the flow back into the banks of the river of one’s life

* that, like muscle memory, great memories are easier to accept the next time around, and less threatening when the energy diminishes, knowing that, with rest, more good stuff of life can be enjoyed

Youngest Granddaughter's Frig Art!

i was so exhausted by 10 pm est, i missed the last call of the night from the three youngest granddaughters, but now have calling them back today to look fwd to

***

Tidbits from Yesterday

** my son asking me if i felt stronger and better now than 10 years ago when i was 51, and being able to, with a tiny bit of surprise-remembrance, “yes!”

** sheila writing in one of my cards from her, “congratulations on your ebook sampler – creativity from the past made contemporary!”

** sheila and i joking that i am now in my “e-career” !!!

** sheila and i, thinking about communications now, deciding that “significant other” and “better half” should give way in today’s world, to my “24-7″ – we liked that one a lot

** my middle sister (i’m the oldest) writing on fb, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVEN MOM REMEMBERED SOMEONES BDAY WAS TODAY BUT COUND NOT REMEBER WHOS!!!!!!!!! LOL”

** xxxxxxxxxx

***

Final Thoughts

the nice thing about something being a process, with bumps “up” and bumps “down” is -

process lasts longer

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

Balance & Yoga – a Tidbit Post, # 8

19 Oct

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***

Pictured, “Everyday Gratitude Vol 1″

Finding one gratitude each day, in the every day living of life.

***

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balance & yoga – a tidbit post, # 8

***

Tidbitstidbits are, by definition, tiny bits*a google search indicates further elaboration -qualities such as “pleasing” and “choice” are mentioned -”small” and “bite-sized” also come up…*thus, this series of tidbits, of small bite-sized posts, are both my choice, and, hopefully, pleasing

if this tidbit comes from, or leads to, a much longer, more complex post, a link will be provided, thank you much***

“balance is the effort to entertain our personal tilt without falling”

***

Article Outline

Happy Birthday to Me!

Being a Libra
Balance, Then
Balance, Now

Examples

Physical
Balance is a Living Act

Yogic Balance, Out in the World

My Favorite Moment of Balance

Final Thoughts

Prioritizing Balances
Back to Innocence

***

Happy Birthday to Me!

Adan at Table with Light from Window

sheila captured this image with the light coming through the window at skinny pancake here in burlington

the decorative bottle must’ve brought us good light

it might seem silly to have an article with a title that includes both balance and yoga, and yet be a “tidbit” post

but this is my tidbit birthday gift to myself

today i crack into the 60′s!

i’m 61! today!! yay!!!

Being a Libra

i’ve always told myself my astrological sign didn’t “really” mean anything, and i long ago quit buying libra calendars and reading my daily horoscope in the paper

but the idea of libra, of balance, weighing pros and cons, desires and aversions -

that has remained with me, and lately, i’ve come to embrace it -

though, to tell the truth, more like an icky thick sweat shirt hug with hands not pressing anything to tightly

Balance, Then

ok, here’s the main course

since i can remember, before i’d heard about astrological signs, or even spoke english, and thought “libre” meant “free” rather than balance, i was always searching for the counter-weight to ideas -

this led to a running raucous dialog with my dad, who i realize now, entertained my endless questioning and back & forth arguments with a patience i just didn’t understand (but now quietly thank him for)

equality was a driving force in my feelings and thinking, i even searched out and read the constitution of the united states when i was about 12, but that immediately led to my literal application of my inherent right to happiness, and that didn’t sit too well, with either of my parents

Balance, Now

oh, i still like to argue sides, many a patient blogger has given me patient leeway in my thoughts -

but rather than feeling that “balance” is the equal positioning of the wheel in all directions, forward & backward plus side to side, so that it may roll without wobble, i now (recently) view balance differently

balance is now the counter effort thought activity feeling intent movement that allows me to maintain the “leaning” i’m more favoring at any given time

notice i’ve given myself lots of wiggle room to change my “leaning” and thus what and how i’d need to balance

Examples

Physical

if i’m gonna enjoy dancer’s pose, playfully, i still first have to find that day’s – “today’s” balance, which may mean i need to wear shoes, or use a chair, or hold a lower center of gravity, or stay stretched upward and leg-curled longer

so, if i’m using a chair with a one-hand balance at the back of the chair with one hand, and my free hand holding my free-hand-side foot, if i need to feel gravity, my weight, or a grounding, i’m not so much concerned with pulled my lifted left up or outward -

my “balance” that day is a sort of hunkering down, probably to regain or reset my physical balance (and maybe my mental or emotional balances too, depending what’s been going on)

then say i’m feeling playful, kinda light hearted anyways, and wanna play -

ok, now my balance is staying “hunkered” yet allowing myself to still be playful in this less stretched less reaching posture -

my emotional playful-need balancing has to counter-weight my gravity-grounding-need balancing

Balance is a Living Act

balance then is not simply a set ratio of extended and curled limbs, unresponsive to heart and mind urges for creative expression of being alive, and yet centered -

balance is the counter-weighting of multiple concerns that can vary day-to-day, morning to evening, year to year even

core and back may need more tensile input into the length and duration of the pose’s dance

mind and heart may have other needs – as may a child or significant other

balance is a living act -

in essence i must find, or discover, or allow to appear, that which will balance my intent -

did i want to stretch in dual directions and feel the sky touch the soil?

or did i want to feel my core fine tune my limbs like time touching a sunset?

so much is possible in dancer’s pose just balancing interests!

***

Yogic Balance, Out in the World

much has come up recently about what essentially is a question of how does one balance one’s life between personal and social good

yoga modern, via an intriguing article from carol horton, just this week, asked just, “has yoga created a culture of escape?” with a subtitle on the site’s opening page, of, “refuge and renewal vs. escape and denial.”

it’s especially intriguing to me, because i remember standing at the front doorway of the esoteric philosophy center in houston at the beginning of the 70s with the director, bill dimitri, the two of us watching a large group of hari krishnas chant on the large long front lawn (that i’d mow occasionally in exchange for being to attend meditation classes there) -

and i remember distinctly saying how those kids (folk my own age then of course ) were just escaping from having to think!

and bill smiled, waited a bit, and said, “they’re still just innocent…”

another look, but at those at the occupied zones helping bring up conversation about the balance of individual and social action, is nicely written by caryn mirriam-goldberg, poet laureate of kansas, in her article, “What Democracy Looks Like Today at Occupy Wall Street: Everyday Magic, Day 426“.

images and vignettes are given and the sense of the innocence and well-meaning of the people there seems authentic and real

my comment posted there is as i’ve voiced regularly recently, that some media attention to the historical perspective to the 60s and earlier movements, would help people see this is a continuing effort stretching back way before my time

and hopefully provide some buffer to probable inevitable backlash, which is natural, since nothing moves in a straight line, even light evidently

this is the same concern, i’d been voicing “back in the day”

and anyone with some historical and media grit, could probably point out the countless recurring times just since the last 1800s, that it was questioned as to whether yoga was inducing escapism

the split among the new world colonies in the 1600s, between those who were stringent believers in hard work and no play, vs those who thought a little time in the new world sun might do a body good, probably ended up in a similar “face off”

and didn’t the greeks sport a similar divide among themselves? apollo and dionysus?

my point, regarding yogic balance, isn’t that the whole question of which type of potential escapism, social involvement or self involvement is “the” escapism, but rather that neither is -

yogic balance, for me, as i mentioned in the beginning, is the tilting of the scales of one’s activities, so as to maintain balanced enough to continue the main activity one wants to do

so, maybe, wanting quiet time to write or paint or sing or simply sit and watch the sun and clouds, alone or with a significant other, might require some approving of the tweaking of the tax code or how our elected representative “represent” us -

and yet, wanting to be intimately and intricately involved in the day to day operations of how people can get along, the law, might just as well in turn require reflection and a responsiveness to one’s internal needs

yogic balance, it seems, is as much a spiritual-mental-emotional act, as it is standing on one foot with the other curled behind and held by the hand not stretched out reaching for the not-so-low-hanging-fruit of inspiration

it’s hard to express, and maybe caryn’s ending words in her article noted above says it best,

“The rest of the world, just as I had left it, wasn’t configured the way of the occupation, so no wonder that the main criticism everyone has about this movement has to do with how little of it translates into clear soundbites. But then, that’s why there is an occupation in the first place: to be the change so many of us seek.”

and of course, being the change, can, and must be doable, well, anywhere…

eventually

***

My Favorite Moment of Balance

my mom had gone to the museum of fine arts in houston with sheila, my middle sister, and myself, to see an art show and give her a chance walk somewhere’s different

mom’s quite a walker

anyway, we’d seen the impressionist exhibit traveling through town, and were meandering among the renaissance work where i knew there’d be religious art she’s always enjoying standing in front of

we were in a particularly long room, the west side of an upper floor of the newer wing of the museum, and i noticed mom had stopped wandering from painting to painting, and settled herself, arms crossed, feet planted, in front of what looked like a last supper rendition

the painting was sebastiano ricci’s 1720 “last supper”

[ image not currently accessible to show, but may be seen on the mfa houston site ]

one by one, the three of us “younger folk” made our way to my mom’s side and peered to see what she saw so differently she was magnetized there

“you like that one, mom?”

“si”

sheila chimed in, “it’s beautiful isn’t it?”

then my sister, “a lot like the famous one”

“mira,” says my mom, “la mujer tiene ropa para limpiar”

i looked and looked and saw it, the woman to the left from our view, holding a laundry basket of wash, watching the goings on of the last supper

then my mom pointed to the plates of food, and added, in english, grinning and chuckling, “somebody has to do the cleaning”

we all have a part to play in making / creating / being creative change in our world

my quote from the end of my article i posted about this, “my mom at the museum,” shortly after her 84th birthday, still holds for me today,

“if yoga is, partially at least, the development of a balanced sense of the importance of all facets of our life, then my mom, devoutly catholic, has made that attribute her own

yoga, it seems, like oneness, as part of oneness, is like the air -

no one owns it, we all need it….”

***

Final Thoughts

Prioritizing Balances

i was intending to make a short video about dancers pose, to add to my just budding youtube channel of, for now, “playing around” videos

but have come up across several self-imposed deadlines :

finishing this article for my birthday -

finishing my 1st epublishing project, also for my birthday

creating a video would jeopardize one or both of the “finishings”

the video can wait, and be a looked-forward-to project for me, hopefully in the near future

choices have to be made -

and we do what we can that best balances what is needed, for us and for others

my mom knew this

Back to Innocence

and maybe the psychological point of balance, mine anyways, is when, somehow, through the balancing of the tilts and sways and seesaws, the “the effort to entertain our personal tilt without falling” as i put it at the beginning of this post, is finding and keeping a point of innocence

much as i concluded in my post on baseball and yoga

much as i saw in my child in “angel baby“

much as i hope we retain each day

balanced-ly of course

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

Tags: Balance, Libra, National Yoga Day, Thought, Yoga

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Fitness, Fitness Area, Foundation Posts, Teaching, Thoughts, Tidbit Post

Evolution of a Pose – Original Yoga Poetry

10 Oct

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Pictured, “Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)”

Fitness and Creativity while aging gracefully.

***
“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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evolution of a pose – original yoga poetry

featured in ”Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)“

***

Facebook

***

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

Evolution of a Pose

As a tiny child

(I am told)

liked to lift

my chest

off

the floor

and peek about

and smile at those around me.

As a quietly raucous teen

(i’ve been reminded)

i’d lift my chest

from the

hot

beach sands

that are galveston

to peer around

at my peers.

As a young man intent

on learning asanas

i’d lift prone from

the mat

the third chakra

i knew must be in there

…somewhere.

cobra

i was, i was told.

Maybe, with smiling fangs?

i wondered…

In the service

i’d lift my chest

with my breath as

i pressed my finger

on the trigger.

I was a

cobra

now

i thought.

As a dad

i’d lift

my head

as my children

learned to lift their head

then their chest,

core muscles moving

them

to the crawling mobile stage -

and i recall

(i would tell them)

they’d lift their chest

off

the floor

and peek about

and smile..at all those around them.

The cobra pose is but

a stage of skin

between

the playful peeking child

and the grateful mom and dad.

The pose

is the peeking child

within.

Nothing more. And never nothing less.

***

this week i follow my new yoga poem, evolution of a pose, with a review of a lecture sheila and i attended recently, at the university of vermont, titled “it’s a stretch: is connective tissue the link to yoga’s benefits?“ -

this lecture led directly to a merging of my long-standing idea, that some poses with names like “cobra” might be better named closer to their more probable origin, people – with some developmental data presented at that lecture -

from which this poem emerged

longer than most my poems (though not all, like “when it ended” written in ’81) – my goal was to see if i recognized this one pose, from beginning to present, in some form or other, in my daily life

i found the exercise unusually satisfying

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

***

Other Yoga-Adan Links You Might Like

poetry series

poetry ebooks information - all published titles

***

did this poem feel like it conveyed an emotion or idea you could relate to?

would you like to see me read this poem on a video on YouTube?

please feel free to leave a comment, thank you

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

poetry ebooks information

“Art and Yoga” – Original Arts & Yoga Poetry (yoga-adan.com)
“Galveston Island Nights” – original poetry (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: Aging Gracefully, Evolution of a Pose, National Poetry Month, National Senior Health & Fitness Day, National Yoga Month, Yoga

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Aging Gracefully, Arts Area, Asanas, Fitness, Fitness Area, Philosophy/Metaphysics, yoga poetry

“Aging Gracefully” – Original Inspirational Poetry

28 Sep

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***

Pictured, “Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)”

Inspiratonal poetry and video on aging, looking back at the stages in one’s life. Video rendition is in readers theatre style.

***

“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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“aging gracefully” – original inspirational poetry

featured in ”Nice Thing ‘Bout Getting Old(er)“

***

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

Aging Gracefully

Aging

gracefully

starts with being

loved

as a child.

The scrapes and hugs

blend into a smoothness of

being in the world.

Aging gracefully

continues

a young person

respecting

both that yes more

is to be learned and seen

but willingness is taking the road

with firm steps of faith.

Steadiness

in the middle years

adds grace

to meals and car rides and

nights spent sitting by a child’s side

while

the old(er) years

finally see that

being in the world is

being in our world

of changing

leaves

and rising clouds with

passing winds in changing

lights of days and nights.

Aging gracefully

the breathing of the passing of our seasons.

***

Video

Commentary

as i mentioned yesterday, in the commentary to my poem, grandma, this week, i post a review of an article from the himalayan institute on aging

the article is titled, “aging gracefully” and the title has seemed like a pesky if beautiful butterfly refusing to be content with flitting around and about me, til i penned this poem

[ note added 032012, "aging gracefully" article currently only available in "nice thing 'bout getting old(er)" ]

just goes to show, as the article tomorrow will point out, emotionally internalizing our intellectual leanings, is, a challenge -

and, as i often like to remind myself, a process

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

poetry series

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

dVersepoets Prompt – Poetics: 1999 : “In Movement, I Am the Tide” (yoga-adan.com)
dVersepoets dVerse Poetics – Sculpting a Poem, “The Shape of Gratitude” (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: Aging, National Senior Health & Fitness Day, Poetry, Poetry for Inspiration, Popular Posts, Yoga

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Aging Gracefully, Arts Area, Felipe Adan Lerma, inspirational poetry, Philosophy/Metaphysics, Popular Posts, Seniors

Texas to Vermont – Have Yoga, Will Travel (New Beginning)

5 Sep

Everyday Inspirations - PhotoPoems Vol 3

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***

Pictured, “Everyday Inspirations Vol 3″

All images original from Vermont, each an original verse.

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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texas to vermont – have yoga, will travel (new beginning)

Texas to Vermont – Have Yoga, Will Travel (Transition)

***

Article Outline

Subtitle

Intro

New Stuff

Videos
Zumba®
Line Dance
Sequence Classes
Vermont
Art Hop

Video from Lake Champlain Vermont

New Future Plans

Ebooks
Online Studies
Website
Meanwhile

Final Thoughts

My Integration of Yoga, Fitness, and the Arts is a Great Unknown
Biggest Surprise – Continuity in Vermont
Yoga 2.0 – “threads of yoga : a remix”
Yoga Provides Me Continuity

***

Subtitle

How We Escaped the Texas Heat Wave of 2011, We Moved

***

Intro

after experiencing both an earthquake and a hurricane this past week here in new england, i figured this would be as good a time as any to declare a new beginning, in this, my third of my series of texas to vermont posts

unlike my preparations and transition articles, where i saw where i was and how things were changing in mine and sheila’s life, the material of our new beginning is only now beginning to show itself more fully

i’d expected that the new beginning would simply be a setting up of new classes, and start again -

but it’s been much much more…

***

New Stuff

Videos

Sheila & Adan in "Pause" video 1

oh boy, never would i have imagined that i’d make a solo music-dance video, and that sheila and i would then follow that with one of us together -

much less to submit to a zumba contest

the learning curve, just for these basic creations, was fairly steep for me, but in time, these’ll get easier, and more fun stuff should begin to show up, gradually

Zumba®

sheila and i are in process of learning, creating, and practicing enough routines to eventually offer a zumba gold express class

we are also looking fwd to a future specialty zumba is preparing, currently being called “sentao”

sentao means seated in spanish, and a fully functional chair class is something our main target group (seniors, de-conditioned adults, folks coming back from illness or injury or inactivity) needs very much

i’ve mentioned in various posts how chair work is good in so many ways, even very fit individuals -

it’s great as a recovery routine -

and as something to learn to share with someone one cares for but, needs “company” to feel comfortable doing an exercise

the awareness and body-mind connection engendered by yoga, i’ve found, helps tremendously in learning new ways to move, and being more expressive – so we see a nice synergy here

Line Dance

the same type of synergy and continuity of motion and awareness exists in enjoying doing line dance

the (usually) repetitive, more melodic moving and breathing patterns in line dance are, i’ve felt, even more quickly enhanced by yogic breathing exercises and poses

because of the smaller amount of choreography involved, and the smaller range of motion (rom) usually involved, more seniors seem to bridge the pose work of yoga to movement to music

for the same reasons involving choreography, sheila and i feel line dance will probably be our first aerobic-dance class we’ll feature to go with our yoga classes, and will be an extension of the sequence of classes we currently offer at the fitness center downtown in burlington

the line dance class, like our projected zumba gold class, is being planned as an express class, approx 30 minutes

we’ll of course post an article (and more) when that comes about

Sequence Classes

we’ve been fortunate to develop a series of classes that offer a progressive sequence of activity and awareness, from very basic gentle longer held yoga poses, to chair based functional fitness work, to aerobic dance basics

all the classes begin with three yogic breath exercises, to promote a fuller calming breath and a stronger core

both our zumba express and line dance classes will also include one or two short yogic breathing exercises, plus a warmup and cooldown

all these components, breath work, warmups, and cooldowns, are too important and too beneficial not to include -

as i expressed in “teaching limitations is teaching awareness (a beginner’s view)” -

“from the start of my yoga-adan blog, i began my earliest posts with the intent to present and demonstrate the disarmingly simple idea that :

- each person is unique, yet similar to other people”

that idea has only strengthened over time…

Vermont

being in burlington, and vermont in general, has so far been a real treat, a very new treat, for me

even sheila, born and raised here, a graduate of the university of vermont, feels “almost” new here – she has spent the last 30+ years in texas

the terrain and the climate are an incredible new experience (beyond visiting for a week or so)

coming from the texas gulf coastal plain and even from the hill country of central texas, this is much more varied in terrain, and unbelievably cooler!

what hasn’t been as new, is the type of people here in vermont -

they are as close to what i consider texans as any place i’ve been -

very independent, proud of their history, and yet collective in spirit

during the recent impact from hurricane irene, the local and state news sources provided the kind of care and newscasting any community could hope for

without the following consistent twitter contributions, following the state’s impact and response to the storm would have been nearly impossible

@keithmontpVT - @Seven_Days - @vermontweather

my deep and sincere thanks to all three…

there’s a growth in the integration of my interests in yoga, fitness, and the arts, that i believe directly benefits from the energy of the land and the people of vermont

Art Hop

My Art Hop Px Pic 1

art hop!

though i didn’t have new art (vermont art) to bring art hop last week, the venue is new, very new, to me

hugely spread out over the south end of burlington

it feels, when sheila & i attended it last year when we visited her brother, like a combination of the ruckus-ness of the westheimer arts festival of the 80′s in houston, melded to any two days of sxsw in austin nowadays -

that’s saying a lot of good things ’bout art hop

***

Video from Lake Champlain Vermont

sheila and i quickly caught sight of several 1/2 price and 2 for 1 offering companies here (as in texas), jumpon-it and livingsocial

when $7 tickets for a northern lights 1 1/2 hr sightseeing tour on lake champlain came up, we grabbed them, and i was able to shoot a bit of what we saw

the video is very experimental / learning-curve for me

so my apologies for the lack of polish

no original audio – ‘cept for a chuckle at the end of a surprise cameo by sheila

but did put in some soundtrack from some selections that imovie provided

i also played with various styles and types and durations of captions

so kinda a hodge podge finger painting like mud paddy cakes kind of video fun!

i’ve created a clickable link on the video image, but just in case, below the image, is the link for copy / paste

did i mention i’m still sliding ’round the learning curve?

Lake Champlain Boat Tour August 2011 Video Still

Please Click Image for Video

one of the sights on the video, is of rock point, of which i did a painting back in the 80′s

sheila’s dad had requested it, and had it for many years before he passed away

today we have it hanging in a great spot in our dining room

[ the image of "rock point, vermont" will be included in an in-progress ebook of one year of images from this site ]

Rock Point, Vermont - Original Painting by Adan Lerma 1986

the tour above provided commentary and information about the lake and surrounding landmarks -

evidently, the forestry around rock point is original to the time of first settlement, and has been kept from being harvested

the land is owned by the episcopalian diocese of vermont, and provides free passes for entry to the park there – “though donations are greatly appreciated fair enough!

***

New Future Plans

Ebooks

ahhh, another new technology i’m looking into

my first ebooks planned, at this point, will be of my original poetry

i’ll still post poems online, though, with commentary, and with nearly 1000 poems between sheila & myself, i could post one a week for 20 years, and still not be fully online!

what this means is, waiting for a subject collection, rather than the ebook, will be a hopefully pleasant process, but also a long one – something i kinda like myself anyways

so the ebook will provide a subject collection right away

but this is going to take time

the format to successfully upload onto platforms, like the kindle, requires a shift in how to create page breaks, an index, etc

the ebooks planned will have the poems presented by subject matter, and i will have more info in future posts regarding which subjects will be first, how many titles will be included, and what sub-topic-headings might be included

additionally, one or more features would be included not available or appropriate for the blog, and better presented via the ebook

some sites i’ve been getting what appears to be useful info about this are :

one spoon at a time, tristan higbee, and threepress consulting

all are new to me, but again, seem very useful so far

Online Studies

this is more vague in my mind than the ebooks project, but something that keeps coming to mind when i’m in a held pose, or moving in a particularly enjoyable aerobic dance step

my son has suggested several instructional ideas that have promise

but i know less about how to develop this than the idea before or that follows, so currently i feel this is further down the learning curve, and thus the time-curve, than some of the other projects

time, though, as usual, will tell – this seed need more time yet in the ground

Website

Battery Park Burlington, Vermont Lake View

first and most importantly, no changes in current content or availability would or will change

second, i have no ads, visible or hidden, affiliate or prepaid, anywhere on my site [1]

“if” and when that changes, i will be letting everyone know, ahead of time…

and still, as per my first point, no content would change

i would not and will not charge for articles

or poems i choose to post

or images of art work

or photos

nor my fabulous yak yak commentaries

plus, if i decided to have some affiliate ads, i would never email them to anyone

the ads would only be on a site page, and be fully appropriate for the topic

an example would be ad to amazon for topic related books etc

both roseanne at it’s all yoga baby, and nancy at flying yogini, have written about this, moving to or having a blog format/host that allows and enables more creative freedom, including the ability to have appropriate ads and/or affiliate links

integrity is number one with both the folk above on their sites, giving me positive examples of generating income on their sites

also my previous art site had google ads, and i didn’t have any problem with the ad types

so a site with even more control over which type ads, and for what type product or person or company, would be a fairly natural, even welcome, extension for me

as nancy has blogged about, she experienced transition pains in moving from an ad free dot com address, to that of a more creative-allowing dot org home

that awareness is, for now, keeping me from adding video and other features to my current dot com site; new video, as it comes out (beginning with my very beginner feature on our boat trip on lake champlain above) i’ll probably post on youtube

audio would be interesting to play with too

so one day…

Meanwhile

my attention must remain on continuing to learn, continuing to present as best of material i can understand and present that integrates having fun and staying healthy via yoga, fitness, and the arts

that, after all, is what my life is about

it’s what i think i model…

***

Final Thoughts

My Integration of Yoga, Fitness, and the Arts is a Great Unknown

my integration-effort to understand and experience the underlying oneness i’ve always sensed in yoga, fitness activities, and the arts, began simply and easily enough

i’d write about yoga, and it’d easily remind me of something similar in aerobic dance movement, or painting, or poetry, or writing, or music – you get the idea

obviously i’m leading up to saying it’s no longer as easy a process as i once believed -

not because it’s harder to see or feel or sense the connections…

but because the connections have become so dense!

the pathways of discovery are everywhere

they lead me down shortcuts

across new main roads

deeper into openings

of surprise sunlight

i no longer know where i’ll end up

or, more accurately, think i know where the road curves

what is fiddling with video splicing into my ideas ?

how does that affect teaching poses in class ?

when are brush strokes and touch adjustments alike ?

why does the sound of words on paper feel like breath on hands upon the keyboard ?

am i listening to the murmurs of caring i am hearing?

my mind and heart together know the map

but life is new everyday

new places, new roads, new rivers, will be explored

some updates will map instantly

others, not so quickly

Biggest Surprise – Continuity in Vermont

i expected a lot of unexpected surprises in moving to vermont

i’d visited a bit, here and there, for a week or two, throughout the years since i met sheila

intellectually, i knew the air would be drier (most the time)

and cooler

that the land would rise and fall more continually, at times abruptly

hills would be small mountains back in my part of texas

and i knew experiencing this would still be…new

rumpled land tossed across yards and streets like morning blankets left unmade til evening

the big trees would hold the wind and shake themselves with it in a yogic-fire breath of release

i haven’t even made it out of summer yet!

what will my first full autumn colors bring to my heart’s eyes ?

winters ice and sand-dunes of snow ?

i expect all that -

my surprise, is how texan the people of vermont are

and how vermonty my texanness is

staunch in freedom

free in fairness

valuing

wealth in people

there’s a continuity with my kind of people -

i should’ve known, with a wife from vermont

Yoga 2.0 – “Threads of Yoga : a Remix”

special thanks to carol horton for her shared link on facebook

threads of yoga, a remix, from the folk at yoga 2.0, Matthew Remski and Scott Petrie, is the kind of contemporary re-look at enduring ancient thought that greatly appeals to me

i, literally, don’t know if i agree with all these guys have come up with – i say literally ’cause i’m not completely familiar with their line of thought -

a remix, as per the authors’ words, differs from a translation :

“The purpose of a remix is equal parts homage, adventure, reclamation, and pleasure. It collects the raw beats and hooks of the past and brands them, transparently, with the pulse of the present…

“In the yoga 2.0 idiom, this pulse says a few key things:

relationship is more important than private bliss,
metaphysics distracts from presence,
consciousness is evolving new questions, and –
yoga is always changing, because its practitioners are”

the quality of their continuity of effort will probably keep me returning to their line of thought

Yoga Provides Me Continuity

Gratitude, Sheila, Finding - Original Photography Adan Lerma

renewed continuity

enhanced continuity

i’ve always been aware of, and been good, with connections

seeing continuities, similarities, attachments

yoga has helped me refine this

sometimes with my own brain-smile humor

heart-bone is connected to the mind-bone is connected to the ankle-balance-bone is connected to the core-bone is connected to my art-bone is connected to my word-bone

yes, it was time for a new beginning

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

eBook Updates

Texas to Vermont – Have Yoga, Will Travel (Preparations)

footnotes

[1] i believe wordpress does reserve the right to post occasional content appropriate ads on my site, and the few i’ve seen haven’t bothered me, nor has anyone written to me to complain

an interesting history about the lighthouses is available from lighthousefriends.com

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

My First Yoga-to-Dance aha! Moment! (yoga-adan.com)
Teaching Yoga – Preparing a Class (my beginner’s view) (yoga-adan.com)
Teaching My First Yoga Class – One Month Later (yoga-adan.com)
Yoga Teacher Immersion Experience with Lex Gillan – A Look Back *original Tweets* + new Commentary (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: Texas, Transitions, Vermont

Comments 2 Comments
Categories art, Arts, Bio Updates, dance, Fitness, Fitness Area, Foundation Posts, paintings, Philosophy/Metaphysics, poetry, Teaching, Texas to Vermont, video/film, Yoga-Adan

“Little Dancer” – Original Arts & Inspirational Poetry

24 Aug

Everyday Inspirations - PhotoPoems Vol 1

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***

Pictured, “Everyday Inspirations, Vol 1″

Original Vermont images matched with original prosepoem verse.

***

“a beginner’s view : the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

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“little dancer” – original arts & inspirational poetry

Facebook

***

if the words endure, they do so because they link the links -

***

Little Dancer

Your tiny dancing movements are

the most innocent of all.

They are the first fun steps created

both for you and your loved ones.

Everyone is watching you

with open eyes and

an open heart.

So enjoy.

Raise your rounded arms.

Sway and move your little feet.

Clap and move and keep on smiling.

For life is smiling through you.

And we can’t but smile back

remembering.

***

submitted to dVersePoets OpenLinkNight #60 : 090412

***

i always liked this poem, so sweet and yet also so true

looking at most my poems i’ve posted, most of them from the 90′s, i like to look and see if there’s something unique to learn i didn’t see or sense a decade and a half ago

sometimes, though rarely, the changes scream at me, such as with “athletic training”

many, most, like “music” and “angel baby” and “heart beats” remain as they were, needing no further work, finding ways to still please, still teach, still reach…

and then some, like “little dancer,” verge toward the latter, it needs no re-wording that comes to mind, none that would satisfy me further than then, but -

what it offers me, as a glimpse into this mysterious life we live, is a new angle, a different vista, a fellow path of understanding, from what i saw then (and still see now)

what i saw then, was of course, the sweetness and innocence of creation coming to life with more and more grace and oneness with itself…

how fun was already a part of what i considered natural, even then!

and how valuable that vision of budding wholeness in life is for those of us, older now, who’ve forgotten some of our own same divine-ness…

but now i also see, how our recognition of ourselves, in this other, in this case this tiny other, reflects the young soul’s pureness back to her or him, providing an imprinted image of the look an adult has when it’s seen itself as before…

by recognizing the divine in the child, or infant, or young person, we provide a wake-up seed of recognition to that person -

how else would the three phrases below (among many in the world) have retained their meaning?

words -

they may not be the thing named, but ring the bell of life’s liberty they do

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

poetry series

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

My Dancer’s Pose – Original Yoga Poetry
Lovers Loving & Being Loved – eBook - Press Release
Press Release – Poetry for and Celebrating Teachers Students & Education Specialties (yoga-adan.com)
Press Release – - Three New Original Mini eBook Series : A Month of Mornings ** Everyday Gratitude ** Everyday Inspiration – PhotoPoems (yoga-adan.com)
National Poetry Month April 2012 – Free Poetry : ProsePoems PhotoPoems ArtPhotoPoems (yoga-adan.com)
Everyday Inspirations, PhotoPoems Vol 4 (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: Dance Poetry, dVersepoets, Little Dancer, National Dance Day, Open Link Night, Poetry

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Arts Area, arts poetry, dance, dVersepoets, Felipe Adan Lerma, Fitness Area, inspirational poetry, Philosophy/Metaphysics

Memories, Baseball & Yoga – Thoughts

11 Jul

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***

Pictured, “101 Sports Poems”

Sports poetry for baseball, football, volleyball, and much more.

Site Areas

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memories, baseball & yoga – thoughts

***

related work: “Baseball” – original poetry

when i was five or so, my dad took me to my first live baseball game, to see the then houston astros as the houston colt 45′s, i remember being surprised the seats were long wooden benches and not seats like i’d seen in pictures (little tv back then), and how strange it felt sitting outside under a night sky with so many people i didn’t know, and that balls could actually be hit to our area and we could keep them if we caught any!

when my dad took me to my first houston astros game in the astrodome, i missed most the game staring and studying the overhead dome gridwork, eating too many hotdogs, and being amazed by the distances i could see across to the other sides of the field where huge amounts of other people sat

i applied my first eligible year to peeewee league at our neighborhood park, and answered, when asked if i knew how to play baseball, “of course! i’ve seen the colt 45′s play!” – and i always felt the smile i got from the umpire-coach meant i was right

then promptly admitted i had a “few” things to learn about baseball though, when, as we were all asked if we were right or left-handed, i figured that meant the hand i caught with (rather than threw with; weren’t they asking to give us gloves after all?) and got the wrong handed glove!

remember, after playing my first three years on a winning team as a sub on the bench, my fourth year (age 9 or ten?) got on a solid losing team, was told we couldn’t “win them all” with which i responded, “but do we need to lose them all?“

the answer? it was up to us!

what?!?! what about the coaches, and angels, and being good at home and to my younger brother and sister?

nope, up to us!

ok….

i couldn’t catch balls in the far outfield very well, and often balls got through between my legs in the infield, but i seemed to be able to pitch at times, especially when i started slowly (warmed up) and got into a smoother grove

but i was small, and couldn’t get the ball to go as fast or hard as the other kids, hard as i tried with practice and by mimicking the older bigger kids

so i learned a little trick

i could wind-up from a tight tense ball of a person, and kick my leg high, and follow-through off the hill in a ferocious figure of power -

but release the ball with a twist and only enough strength to get it to the plate, where the ball would drop from lack of speed

we won our only game of the season at the end, and was carried off the field

ok, so maybe my sport career peaked at pre-puberty, but we didn’t lose them all, and i learned things i’m still processing five decades later

i was home (mildly) sick most the 1960 world series, and watched the yankees and pirates play one of the acknowledged most exciting championship series ever played

the yankees would clobber the pirates by huge margins (16-3, 12-0) and the pirates would squeak out close wins

names like vernon law, elroy face, roberto clemente, and of course bill mazeroski, created an image of individual greatness playing as a team i can never forget – the imprint, to this day, triggers my taking a huge (3 part natural yogic) breath

Adan Lerma

i’d long ceased playing baseball, though i still followed it with thin hopes for the astros, when, as a late teen, freshly married and with one child, a prof at the junior college i went to at night introduced me to a few people my age who were studying esoteric stuff, meditating, and learning about the theosophical society and alice bailey

my first group meditation, in chairs formed into an oval that fit us all into the hall-room of the old house in montrose in houston, was satisfyingly similar and familiar to me, reminding me of rituals i’d grown up with and loved in the old latin based catholic church, mantras incense bells pomp and circumstance

we’d sit and breathe and meditate and oohhmmm our way into closed eyed pathways of visualized sound-waves of colors not yet seen on displays not yet invented

the sound, our sound, would rise and fall like a river flowing over beds at times hard and fast, and others glowing slowly in a texas summer night’s cooled air

we could sense, we’d say, notes felt secretly familiar to each of us, and chase or follow those notes like birds swaying in wisps of air only they could feel

we’d wake starry-eyed and grinning, knowing we’d climbed and sprung the fences round yards of being we could only quietly pass through unseen

it was magical for a while, for a good while -

but like the days of childhood baseball, our circle of cosmic cousins went our own ways as we continued to grow and know more of what we’d be, if we would, if we followed our hearts – while it seemed our minds were still just watching, wondering what we were up to

*

my first asanas were about that same time as those now-it-seems-so-brief few years of yogic innocence

a couple of people in our “group” also had air time on a now long gone public radio with a tiny office in the basement of an old now also-gone downtown houston bldg; one of them was this kinda hefty (it seemed) ultra quiet guy who offered yoga classes for a buck (which was worth a lot more then!)

i was super curious what a class would be like and finally talked myself into asking if i could drop in, and did

the address was a little disappointing, a garage apt with thick wood steps needing paint leading to the promised exercise nirvana; and the space was a tiny living area, already nearly filled with blankets and mats laid out when i arrived

this was the end of the sixties, start of the seventies, and incense and background music that sounded indian was no big deal, standard fair at most the clubs and party houses

but the host, the quiet radio-hour meditation group member was also heavily into classical music, so when it was time to begin, a tiny bell chimed, a bit more incense burned, and the music shifted into something dating closer to mozart

the poses were all slowly created, then held for what felt a few reincarnations; my breath eventually eased, and i melted into the motion of stillness

like a truly wonderful massage, i wanted more than just an hour

so i returned a few times, but the guy had stuff going on in his life, and the garage apt yoga meeting spot broke up

friends recommended a few “gurus” around the montrose area, but no one had been to any of them: too expensive, too demanding of allegiance, or too highly regimented to appeal, so i left my taste of asana at the door of my future, and went back to just our meditation groups for the next few years

i never did return to playing baseball, preferring to enjoy something my smaller size allowed, dancing of course, running and jogging, before falling out of fitness for over a decade, until i rescued myself with jazzercise valentines day (my wife’s birthday) 2001

and i never returned to yoga, until i came across a denise austin dvd with a ten minute stretching segment filled with pose after pose

so what does, that it’s summer, with beer baseball and the all-star game on tap, have to do with yoga, and all these memories?

i wasn’t really sure, but knew if i wrote this piece, and worked through the memories that kept coming up when i asked myself how baseball and yoga could be related, i would find my answer

they share my innocence -

the scent of suddenly sensed flowers on a patchy sidewalk binds my memories of yoga and baseball

i have nothing else, a scent - baseball and yoga evoke the same pleasant reminder-feeling that there is something good i won’t lose -

even when i pay no mind, even when my heart is elsewhere

something good beyond my thoughts and feelings

it’s me, somewhere

somehow

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

Adaptation in Yoga Fitness and Nature, Thoughts

6 Jul

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***

Pictured, “Everyday Gratitude Vol 1″

Small gratitudes found in the day to day living of daily life.

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

adaptation in yoga fitness and nature, thoughts

***

Intro

Why

recently, i posted my comments, with further thoughts, to an article written by j brown on yogadork

the question of adaptation by the body, was brought up, and, in many circles, keeps coming up

ie, we get used to doing what we’re doing physically, especially exercise of any sort, and it becomes easier and more of a maintenance of our fitness than a further enhancement

should we do more reps - should we be pushing or playing our edge?

if so, how, or should we, deal with that?

Definition

adaptation, or being adaptable, as teachers, students, or with ourselves, in an emotional or mental or spiritual sense, is a different application and definition of the term, as provided by merrian webster online :

“the act or process of adapting : the state of being adapted“

in fitness theory, one’s body adapts to the level of exertion placed upon it, and needs further increases in duration, frequency, or intensity, to feel further benefits in fitness

so, again, how, or should we even, deal with that?

***

Suggestions

i suggest two things :

Re Maintaining

1) maintaining one’s health or fitness status, is not bad!

Adan Lerma

depending on my own circumstances, there are times when this is a darn good achievement

depending on any one person’s individual circumstances, this could be necessary, barely doable, or just plain desirable – there should be a time to just enjoy what one has learned, or a level of activity one has gotten to be able to do, i think

it’s also true, that at some tipping point of aging, doing the same level of exertion will actually, even if slowly so, become harder and harder! thus negating some of having to worry about increasing one’s routines or efforts to gain further fitness

j brown, in his article mentioned above, also addresses whether an unending improvement in one’s fitness is even desirable in yogic terms; it’s a good read

*

Re Enhancing

2) an unending upward curve in improving one’s fitness may not be natural, even if desirable, which i kinda doubt

for instance, even professional sports athletes have an off-season!

but my role model that seals the deal for me, is nature -

nature might be considered an “all-season” affair, but the way i see it, each season is also another season’s “off” season

*

Re Nature (and us)

seems kinda obvious now to me, but really hadn’t thought of it much til my wife and i were walking along lake champlain recently

while waiting for summer’s official start in texas is like trying to tell a teenager they’re not in love til it’s officially declared and accepted, summer here in vermont is like pacing oneself through a good breakfast and lunch, accented by a few nutritious snacks, and knowing a treat of a supper’s gonna be ready at 5

Vegetation Along Stone Wall, Original Photography Adan Lerma

pour in plenty of rain, and the vermont landscape is lush and bursting with green – beautiful

but i don’t believe nature has any plans at present to continue without pause, covering every spare inch of earth or vermont, with growth

even if growth were unimpeded by hostile temperatures or lack of needed moisture and nutrients, excess growth itself would choke some of its own growth, preventing itself from becoming self-consumed, and destroying itself

space is left for variety (plants & people)

that seems like a good model for myself as well

***

Following Nature

But…

i suppose it could be argued that the human mind has no “seasons” -

and that neither does the soul; though the latter, my soul, is too unknown in terms of completeness, for me, to say my own soul doesn’t have a seasonal equivalent

but either way, our bodies we must live in, do have their own seasons

we must sleep, we must breathe, we must eat and drink, and we must love and be loved, or die -

recovery, is a human necessity, even if, with cross-training, we can delay the need for a full rest

But Nothing!

but…i choose to follow nature – it’s not nice to fool mother nature!

1) i can choose to coast when it’s a treat to enjoy the fruits of achievement

2) i can choose to test my edge, yoga’s loophole, to increase my capacities

3) i can choose to adjust my exertion levels, down-sizing to create a respite cool-front in summer, or revving up a short warm-up in winter

4) i can choose to down-size significantly, for a set period of time, allowing my body to recover, and reverse some of its gain in fitness (knowing the re-fitting into fitness, will generally be much quicker than previously; our muscles and brain and nerves, unless damaged, usually have a memory path to skip along on)

5) i can even choose to exert into a sharp or rounded peak before a significant down-size in exertion

i can choose to create my own seasons

and i can choose to mimic tiny minor seasons each day, each session, each pose, if i wish

it’s a choice, it’s doable, it’s good…

even my dear heat-stoked texas will cool eventually maybe by christmas

***

tomorrow, i post a new tidbit post in that series, this on muscle memory, extending the thoughts here on adaptation

namaste – con dios – god be with you

thoughts series articles

***

INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS

dVerse ~ Poets Pub : Patterns Pictures & Poems, PhotoPoem “Diving” (yoga-adan.com)
Open Link Night ~ Week 33 – Recycling “Evolution of a Yoga Pose” (yoga-adan.com)
Press Release – - Three New Original Mini eBook Series : A Month of Mornings ** Everyday Gratitude ** Everyday Inspiration – PhotoPoems (yoga-adan.com)

Tags: Fitness, Nature, Yoga

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Categories Fitness, Fitness Area, Philosophy/Metaphysics, Seniors, Thoughts, Yoga-Adan

Wellness and Yoga, a Family Resemblance – a Tidbit Post, # 3

29 Jun

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Pictured, “Everyday Gratitude Vol 1″

Small gratitudes found in the day to day living of daily life.

***

“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

Site Areas

Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

wellness and yoga, a family resemblance – a tidbit post

# 3

a google search indicates further elaboration -

***

Tidbits

tidbits are, by definition, tiny bits

qualities such as “pleasing” and “choice” are mentioned -

“small” and “bite-sized” also come up…

thus, this series of tidbits, of small bite-sized posts, are both my choice, and, hopefully, pleasing

if this tidbit comes from, or leads to, a much longer, more complex post, a link will be provided, thank you much

***

Intro

studying afaa’s personal trainer material, has some overlap with that for group fitness, and afaa’s starting point with the concept of wellness is a vital instance

Adan Lerma

i knew immediately, when sheila and i began our group fitness studies, that the idea of wellness as presented by afaa, appealed tremendously -

since then, nearly a year later, i can also see why yoga appeals the same way for me

yoga and wellness are, in starting premises, hard to pry apart

and i won’t try to do so

my tidbit today, is merely to show their commonality, which substantiates my feelings regarding the continuity of so much of human movement and fitness

***

Definition

afaa, in their personal trainer study material, defines wellness, in part, as :

“Many people associate wellness with fitness, nutrition, or stress reduction; but it is much more. It is the self-empowered practice of prevention and full development of all the dimensions of life. But remember, wellness is a process, a way of life; it is not a state that can be achieved once and for all.”

there’s much more of course, such as identifying components like physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual [1] , but what a wealth just in that one paragraph above

i can see substituting “yoga” for wellness in that paragraph above

Concern

my concern, in feeling the similarity of wellness and yoga, is, how many people may or may not become embroiled in the question of whether wellness is simply yoga re-named for western consumption -

or if and how wellness, in today’s society, may or may not differ from yoga…

and my heartfelt sense is, for my purposes, any differences are like the differences between schools of thought in yoga, fitness, art, and even politics and peoples of the world :

the commonality is much more important

both in the short and long term

Commonality

my wife and i just (finally) got to see “mao’s last dancer” on dvd at home

yes, it was beautifully filmed, the main character was brought from childhood through the teen years to adulthood, and the political process of engagement between the u.s. and china was developed from the cold war to talkin’ to give and take -

plus, the love story (stories) and dancing were fleshed and flush -

but the scenes that took my heart, and mind, a rare combination accomplishment, was the thread that heard the fearful warnings of li’s family about the dangers of western influence and strangers “not like us” on their young child, echoed by taunts of “chink” and “but he’s chinese,” all lost in the merging of characters from each culture falling in love, despite all that

why?

because the only strangeness of the strangers, was the fear of the unknown

li’s family was like my own family, the same concerns for each other and need to survive…

yoga and wellness are sorta like that for me, the same concerns for each of us, and our need to survive -

in this case, as the best people and souls we can be…

Final Thought

the value of this for me is, yoga doesn’t need to fear wellness, nor wellness fear yoga

the two realms are vast families, much like each other

with characters like :

fitness, nutrition, choice, process, balance, integration, oneness, individuality…

namaste – con dios – god be with you

***

tidbit series

footnotes

[1] as per John Travis, MD, MPH (2004) - this is a great bio on dr travis

his answers to the question, what is wellness? emphasis things like choice, process, balance, integration, and more

disclaimer: i am not an affiliate for any of the above links or services in this footnote

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INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS