Slow, gentle and conscious are the themes for this week's somatic awareness. Use these words to prompt your movement exploration. Focus on spine (flexibility and support) as well as pelvis (creativity, receiving and vulnerability). Notice where these two connect, support each other and provide mobility.
As Vasant Navaratri approaches, as well as the thick of spring, it is an ideal time to plant our seeds- literally and metaphorically. Intentions are powerful things, especially when we put some action behind them. Come to your drawing pad. Using the experience from your movement exploration, draw your garden in full bloom. What textures, colors and shapes are present? What images are alive? What are you cultivating and growing? What seeds did you plant? This garden allows us to work backwards so to speak. Look at your garden in full bloom. What are the pieces alive in your garden and your life as you look at it? What desires have blossomed and what efforts have come to fruition? Write them down. Write down the desires that are in bloom, the actions that are alive and visible in your garden. Then put some thought into what has to happen in order for the full blooms of summer to take place. What action steps need to take place before you bloom. What seeds must be planted in other words. There may be multiple seeds that have to be planted, what are they? Use your garden as a visual map and a reminder of what is coming; what is growing within you. The beauty of this garden is that only through time, nurturing, and letting go of the outcome, can we truly enjoy this cultivation process.
0 Comments
As Sun Moves to Satabisha, ruled by Varuna and who can bring an essence of judgement to us, it is a good time to check in with our critic. The critic is a part of ourselves that feels neglected, small, under served. It acts out and badgers us because it is seeking attention. It has some need or want usually. If we can attend to the need and the want, we often can befriend our critic. Creating a relationship with the critic is essential for artists, creators and those wishing to have more harmonies connections to Self and others.
Mask work is a great way to address the critic "head on" quite literally. Mask work helps us address the layers of ourselves, our personalities and all that we encompass. On a large piece of paper, create a face drawing. This will be your "critic mask". When you think of your critic, what comes to you? What colors, textures, expressions arrive? Let your mask express your experience with your critic. Does your critic have a name? Does it have a message for you? Let your critic be heard. Let it voice it self and share it self with you. Harvesting. Ask your critic these questions: What do you need? What do you want from me? I am ___ I feel____ *Extra credit for taking your critic mask into a dance. Dance, play, sing with your critic. Then, return to the harvesting questions. What, if anything, has changed? From this week's Horoscopes and Transit report:
Similar to exalted planets in that they are "full" and can't be "added to", a Full Moon (or Purnima) means that it is full to capacity, there's no more room for it to expand and grow; it is complete. In this way, we can interpret the Full Moon as a "New Moon" in that it marks the beginning of a new cycle of emptying itself and refilling itself (mirroring our internal process). Beginning a lunar month at the Purnima is called Suklanta and differs from starting the count from the New Moon (Amavasya) which is the point when the Moon is empty and is waiting to be filled by the Sun. Purnima is in the middle of the Lakshmi phase of the Moon cycle whereas Amavasya is the moment during the cycle where Kali and Durga meet. Clearly, the energy is quite different; mirrored in our internal experience as well. These different methods of starting the lunar calendar remind me of the saying "is your glass half empty or half full?!" When do we start our "New Moon" calendar and begin our new lunar month? When we are full and satisfied or when we are empty and needing to be nourished? It is with this question in mind that I came up with this week's Creative Engagement Activity. Read more about the importance of the Moon. Often for a New Moon or a Full Moon, I like to work with the image of a mandala. Mandalas help us to create and express fullness, to fill empty space, to work with what is. Mandalas are a container, filled, with our visions, creativity and desire- much like a metaphor for life. With this idea of "creating within a container" as well as half the image of full/empty, I invite you to draw a large shape on a piece of paper. Divide this shape in half. Cover up one of the halves with a sheet of paper while you create within the other half. The theme for this half is "being filled". When you feel complete, look at both halves. One is "full" and one is "empty". What thoughts come to you? What feelings? Write a few notes down. Then, begin on the second half. The theme for this half is "being emptied". When you feel complete, write a few notes down about this half as you look at the entire piece. Then harvest your thoughts on this process. Circle ten words that leap out at you. Form these words into a three to five line poem. (Adding extra words is ok). Extra credit for dancing (embodying) your poem at some point this week. As per this week's horoscopes:
Mars moves to Libra on 2.04 and will join Rahu and Saturn there. He will be sandhi this week (in weak degrees transiting the gap between signs). This will bring experiences on the inner and outer levels of stops and starts- with a bit of chaos and shadow mixed in. Think: lurches. Lurches feel frustrating so I've created a special Creative Engagement activity with this in mind. Pick a body part. Don't deliberate; let it be an impulsive choice. Set a timer to chime every two minutes. Let this body part be your entry point into your dance. Start small and with great intention. Move and be moved- paying attention to your breath. When the chime goes off, freeze. This is your "freeze frame". Hold for five counts or five breaths. Then resume your dance. Every time the chime sounds, pause exactly where you are. Do this for several rounds and then begin to interject slow motion into your dance. When the chime sounds pause as before. Then after five breaths begin to move but in very slow, molasses like movements. When the chime sounds, pause and take your five breaths in "freeze frame" then resume with normal or even fast forward motion. You can continue to play with speed each time the chime sounds and after you pause with your five breaths. Here are some other elements to play with as well: Repetition of a movement Repetition and speed of movement Utilizing surfaces (focus on just floor, wall, ceiling etc.) The "third" or space Balance Expand/contract and open/close Harvesting: Bring your dance to a close with eyes closed. Lay on the ground or stay standing but find a sense of closure. What is the "take away" from your stop/start dance? What did you learn about your reaction to the chime? Did you notice resistance, relief, surrender, a sense of flow eventually? Name your dance and let this title capture the essence of your experience. *Try this dance again and set your timer to a shorter or longer time frame for a different experience. Notice your response. Also, you can use this "score" with your yoga practice for a different type of "dance". {When the colors merge within the chaos} A mandala exploration with craypas. In lieu of this week's New Moon in Sravana nakshatra and Vishnu's "three steps", we will play with pattern and rhythm this week during our dance- while using legs and feet as our entry point.
Legs and feet are grounding, support and bring movement- both forward and backward momentum as well as side to side, up and down. There are metaphors with this connection to direction but legs/feet also symbolize the planetary movement and momentum as well. This week, Venus goes from retrograde (backward) motion to direct (forward) motion. This movement can inform our creativity, our dance, our own actions. Begin with slow, calculated steps walking in a circle. Find a rhythm, a beat, as your feet connect with the floor. Keep moving. Find your momentum and find your dance. Notice a movement that is returning. Are you swinging your arms and legs in a certain way more than once? Are you bending and lifting your leg a certain way over and over? Are you rolling and lifting off the floor continuously? Be a witness to your movements and notice your movement cycles. Then hit the pause button and stop. Recycle the movement. Step once again. Then pause. Repeat this cycle several more times. What do you notice? How does it feel to repeat this movement and what body parts are being used? Go back to your fluid dance and then try it again. Notice your movement patterns. Then pause and stop. Recycle the movement. Step once again. Then pause. Take some time to harvest your findings. What body parts were used in your movement sequence? What feelings came to you? Colors? Textures? Emotions? Sensations? What was your connection/relationship to the floor or other surfaces? What was your connection to space (the third) in this sequence? As I step forward in my life, I need____. As I move forward in my life, I want_____. What is the missing piece(s) in my life dance____? |
The Dharma BlogThe Dharma Circle FB GroupPodcasts
Archives
March 2017
Categories
All
|