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Saturday, December 5, 2009
Living Metaphors in SHE Caribbean
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Some Living Metaphors articles are posted here only after they have been first published in SHE Caribbean.
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Better Watch Your Contents! Try "Remembering".
In my twists and turns of exploring so called "Holistic" lifestyles, I have discovered the balance and ease we yearn for actually arise spontaneously. They are natural consequences of an accumulative effect of: Remembering.
Remember, the whole.
Remember, the whole.
"Holistic" is such a popular word these days. From holos, the Greek word meaning all, holism is the idea that the whole system determines the way the parts behave, and that the entirety cannot be explained solely by the sum of its parts.
When we hear that we instinctively detect that wholeness is something good, so we reach for it. Now "holisitc", like "organic", is slapped on every label and marketing spiel. As consumers we may swing back and forth between the old choices and new resolutions in an effort to improve ourselves and our lives.
The flip flopping is so frustrating though, because we keep putting so much emphasis on changing WHAT we do and not HOW we do it.
I for one can bicker a good lecture about the 'do's and 'don't's of good nutrition, but whether we are "meat mouths" or "grass eaters" or "grass fed" meat eaters, the labels are far less important that one vital ingredient - Remembering.
I for one can bicker a good lecture about the 'do's and 'don't's of good nutrition, but whether we are "meat mouths" or "grass eaters" or "grass fed" meat eaters, the labels are far less important that one vital ingredient - Remembering.
Remembering, Mindfulness, Presence - it all means simply paying full attention in the present moment.
Easier said than done.
But sincere effort will afford any individual, without exception, more than enough instruction for true transformation.
Easier said than done.
But sincere effort will afford any individual, without exception, more than enough instruction for true transformation.
I have watched a friend struggle with her weight for many years. Though trained in nutrition and sports science, she remains frustrated with her inability to translate the intellectual knowledge and advice for others, into mastering herself. By her own admission, indiscipline, stress she knowingly takes on, and a range of emotional issues unrelated to diet continue to sabotage her best efforts.
One day she excitedly showed off a new product that would serve her attempts at healthy eating. “100% LEAN!” the decal declared.
It was still corned beef; the lowest grade meat, highly processed and stuffed into a can, not for nutrition but for convenience and extended shelf life.
It was still corned beef; the lowest grade meat, highly processed and stuffed into a can, not for nutrition but for convenience and extended shelf life.
The food wise living metaphor could not be ignored. Superficial inner changes heralded by the splashy renaming and labelling pretty much sums up why our efforts are not the best efforts we pretend they are.
In comedic Trini-Sprang-a-lang speak: You better watch yuh contents!
True wholesome transformation becomes obvious for each of us according to our willingness to pay attention, make connections and respond by remembering our intention for growth and change.
If you do sit ups every day your neighbor won't by association get a great rack of six pack abs.
The effort may be inspiring but effective action, both inner and outer, really is an individual one.
In comedic Trini-Sprang-a-lang speak: You better watch yuh contents!
True wholesome transformation becomes obvious for each of us according to our willingness to pay attention, make connections and respond by remembering our intention for growth and change.
If you do sit ups every day your neighbor won't by association get a great rack of six pack abs.
The effort may be inspiring but effective action, both inner and outer, really is an individual one.
Here is the Remembering experiment I propose:
Do one thing only: Remember.
Without hounding yourself or engaging in mental force, intend to remember all that you are and all that you truly desires.
This is the way to engage "holistically".
Do one thing only: Remember.
Without hounding yourself or engaging in mental force, intend to remember all that you are and all that you truly desires.
This is the way to engage "holistically".
The reality is that with or without our conscious intention, all that we now contain: the good, the bad and the ugly, is contagiously magnetising more of the same.
Life's inherent benevolence, is rich with instruction when we Remember: pay attention.
We are all, to varying degrees, walking billboards of our hidden desire for wholeness. This is most apparently expressed in the marketplace through the fusion of East meets West in our popular “Lifestyles” culture: gyms add yoga classes to their rosters, consumers trade the fabulous logos associated with high fashion for sacred symbols of higher consciousness, Soca stars seek soulful hooks and meaningful sidelines then hype them with the same carnivalesque bacchanalia.
Price tags are not more socially conscious nor mindful of the whole however, and we buy "Organic", go "Ital" (the Rastafarian word for vegetarian), and recycle, often with the same religiosity, pride and exclusivity that trademark our other " -isms".
I recognize this blind spot in my friend, as a reflection that points me to my own areas of resistance. Her story reminds me of my own unwillingness to make connections between patterns of thought, attitudes, feelings and behaviors.
With practice in Remembering, I am learning that the tools of holistic living: Yoga, meditation and breath awareness practices - are not goals to be achieved, nor lifestyles to be pursued and acquired.
These are tools of nourishment and nurturance; useful, practical rituals.
We can do the same too with our existing, daily rituals. Remembering can help us deepen into life by attending to the way we do what we already do. From the way we prepare or purchase food, to brushing our teeth, bathing, walking heel to toe.....
Most of us leave some kind of authentic inner practice unattended. Instead we compartmentalise time - time to do yoga, time to go to church, time to pray - we neglect the true problem. Incrementally, in between those designated times, we forget. We forget to eat well, nourishing the temple and honoring Creation in our choices. We forget to drive with a consideration for those who walk, or earn a living providing transport to others.
Choosing one thing, Remembering, may bring about an increased awareness of that which most needs our attention in each moment.
Simply practice Remembering:
Pause. Feel. Listen. Breathe.
Feel your feet on the ground/ Your bottom on the seat/ the clothes on your skin
Place your attention where your hands meet the key board, the fork, the sandwich, the can of corned beef.
By my own experience I am convicted that by remembering to pay attention, we eat with less compulsion. We awaken from the dream of automatic habits. As we Remember to pay attention we begin to notice our choices more and more acutely, yet with less and less judgment and forcefulness. Wiser choices arise more organically, to uplevel or even replace poor ones.
These are tools of nourishment and nurturance; useful, practical rituals.
We can do the same too with our existing, daily rituals. Remembering can help us deepen into life by attending to the way we do what we already do. From the way we prepare or purchase food, to brushing our teeth, bathing, walking heel to toe.....
Most of us leave some kind of authentic inner practice unattended. Instead we compartmentalise time - time to do yoga, time to go to church, time to pray - we neglect the true problem. Incrementally, in between those designated times, we forget. We forget to eat well, nourishing the temple and honoring Creation in our choices. We forget to drive with a consideration for those who walk, or earn a living providing transport to others.
Choosing one thing, Remembering, may bring about an increased awareness of that which most needs our attention in each moment.
Simply practice Remembering:
Pause. Feel. Listen. Breathe.
Feel your feet on the ground/ Your bottom on the seat/ the clothes on your skin
Place your attention where your hands meet the key board, the fork, the sandwich, the can of corned beef.
By my own experience I am convicted that by remembering to pay attention, we eat with less compulsion. We awaken from the dream of automatic habits. As we Remember to pay attention we begin to notice our choices more and more acutely, yet with less and less judgment and forcefulness. Wiser choices arise more organically, to uplevel or even replace poor ones.
Every day there are opportunities for increasing an holistic awareness of the body. Rather than meeting your embodies self with judgment and hatred, Remember. During grooming rituals why not pay attention more deeply to yourself. Deeper than summing up what you see with mental labels, why not let go of the visual dominance and self criticism that mirrors can cultivate? Be with yourself in Remembrance of this life what you have and all that you are. Practice simply being with your body as you cream it, brush it, wash it.
Feel into, feed into the experience of yourself with all your senses. Meditate on the beauty of an unseen world that breathes life into you, a heart pump that circulates life without your direction and countless other mechanisms making up your mysterious, glorious whole.
Don't repress old habits of fear or judgment. Allow negative self talk to arise. You can handle it. There is always something to learn. Consider these voices with curiosity and then, Remember to let them go.
Feel into, feed into the experience of yourself with all your senses. Meditate on the beauty of an unseen world that breathes life into you, a heart pump that circulates life without your direction and countless other mechanisms making up your mysterious, glorious whole.
Don't repress old habits of fear or judgment. Allow negative self talk to arise. You can handle it. There is always something to learn. Consider these voices with curiosity and then, Remember to let them go.
To live holistically there is no need to make new purchases or add anything new to your "To Do" list. Whole health is not an external cloak for masking some struggling aspect of ourselves. No amount of relabelling what is with positive thinking will convince change at the deeper unconscious layers.
And, no negative discovery we make about ourselves can ever undo the essential innocence of our wholeness.
And, no negative discovery we make about ourselves can ever undo the essential innocence of our wholeness.
To embrace life holistically we need only Remember to ask, "What in this moment is sacred?” and Remeber, "All."
“Living Metaphors: Holistic Living”
First published in SHE Caribbean 2009
Joanne blogs her everyday insights.... Other Busy Scribes are invited to respond.
Highly recommended for Re-membering practice: Travelling Inward guided relaxation CD check www.innerfeeling.com for availability.
Recommended reading:www.pathwork.org Free downloads on lectures.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Feeling ALONE? Add Love...
We feel alone because
we have omitted to author
the other L -
Add that L and A Lone becomes:
ALL ONE.
That 'L' of course can only be the LOVE of loving kindness.
Be it.
Have it.
Give and receive it, so that your store is always full.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
" Stumbling On and off the Yoga Mat : WHY I YOGA"
“He is in the sanctuary and the stumbling stone” (Isaiah 8:14)
When people ask how long I’ve been practising yoga I like to respond with, “I’ve been a beginner for fifteen years.” I have practised very frequently if not always daily but still cannot tuck my shoulders under my knees while squatting like a frog and some days toppling tree is more often what results of my tree pose than rootedness. BUT - Whether standing like a mountain, aiming like a warrior or spreading into triangle, while engaged in any personal version of the yogic prescription, I have grown increasingly aware of my own energetic presence.
I have come to call this presence my “ Beloved Inner Guru”. This presence guides and heals, comforts and corrects my alignment through yoga poses and through daily life. So "What then?" I ask my B.I.G. self, if I could present myself like a yoga pro but fail repeatedly say, to be patient with my fellow man or my five year old? What of our inner attitudes which we often hide even from ourselves, but which inevitably create and colour our living postures off the mat as well?
Through sincere practice, I discover more often than not, that so called “failures” hold keys to personal transformation.
The fall out of hand stand can be the revelation, more so than getting it ‘right’: “Hey! I’m OK! I can survive a fall!” at one workshop, served me far more than the well intentioned, encouraging applause when I did manage to execute a more “successful” attempt. Through experiencing my limitations, I recognised my resistance was against the action of falling, the fear of getting hurt; and was not so much related to the actual posture. This insight empowered me to engage handstands again with open curiosity - if not full confidence.
With my next attempt, and in the presence of a safe teacher, as I opened to Grace, I ventured to stack my body onto my arms and hands. In moments I was crumpled on my mat in tears and the teacher was supporting my seeming failure: “You are a powerful woman. Right now you are not merely pointing to courage, you are being it.”
Something had gone righteously wrong! My “Beloved Inner Guru” had prepared the circumstances. Every preceding moment in life seemed to lead to this one in which pure Fear and Fear alone existed within me. By shifting my attention from the goal of standing on my hands to the feeling of Fear, I received an invaluable gift: a palpable awareness of a resident belief that I was powerless. This was not a psychological analysis through recounting traumatic personal stories, but an actual awakening, without words, of a Dead Zone, a Blind Spot. I could feel, smell, taste, and be in the lie so fully that it dissipated and I was transformed.
Through witnessing my inner body collapse helplessly I could observe that it followed logically: my physical body, unsupported, could only crumple in response. The grand gesture of a handstand was futile against that emotional wall of self alienation. I had had before a vague awareness of this block within me, but in that moment the impostor was fully detected, experienced and articulated specifically in the context of my own being. I could feel compassion for myself replace the old psuedo-belief and with it freedom; Freedom to fail; Freedom to fly. And that’s what I would call a “successful” handstand!
Without preference or prejudice, every feeling and failure is essential to experience, observe and investigate; and worth our efforts to do so sincerely. I am blessed to have a true Teacher who by example mostly and verbal instruction sometimes returns me faithfully to discover and consult my own inner authority; my own B.I.G. self. With the greatest ease she points me not to a rigourous asanas regimen or schedule, but to my own natural rhythm and inner enthusiasm: Let the mat invite you.
And on the mat I discover that the final pose of yogic postures may be sought after with the same automated, competitive bustle of vain accomplishment and fanaticism of pop-culture lifestyles. I also encounter the pride of perfection and fear of failure that avoids any risk taking; inner postures that can keep one in child’s pose for a very long time both literally and metaphorically. My B.I.G. self reveals time and again that it is not so much that I am for the yoga, a mannequin to strike perfect poses, but the yoga (which most simply put means union) - is for me.
Why I yoga, has to do with learning an intimate process of living fully, each present moment. Whether stumbling with alien inversions or waking up in the familiar habit of standing upright, I am finding my life off the mat shows up in the practice on the mat and vice versa. Each moment, without exception, has the potential to spark into consciousness a seemingly sudden mind-body awareness which is essential to my growth. Once earned, the benefits of this integration are never spent, lost, stolen, broken or revoked; they are unconditional. And it is this genuine attentiveness and joyful discipline that bears fruit in the experience of stumbling stone and the sanctuary, both on and off the mat.
END
“Living Metaphors: Stumbling On and off the Yoga Mat”
By: Joanne Gail Johnson
© Joanne Gail Johnson December 4, 2008
First Publication Rights: She Caribbean
Word count: 878
“He is in the sanctuary and the stumbling stone” (Isaiah 8:14)
When people ask how long I’ve been practising yoga I like to respond with, “I’ve been a beginner for fifteen years.” I have practised very frequently if not always daily but still cannot tuck my shoulders under my knees while squatting like a frog and some days toppling tree is more often what results of my tree pose than rootedness. BUT - Whether standing like a mountain, aiming like a warrior or spreading into triangle, while engaged in any personal version of the yogic prescription, I have grown increasingly aware of my own energetic presence.
I have come to call this presence my “ Beloved Inner Guru”. This presence guides and heals, comforts and corrects my alignment through yoga poses and through daily life. So "What then?" I ask my B.I.G. self, if I could present myself like a yoga pro but fail repeatedly say, to be patient with my fellow man or my five year old? What of our inner attitudes which we often hide even from ourselves, but which inevitably create and colour our living postures off the mat as well?
Through sincere practice, I discover more often than not, that so called “failures” hold keys to personal transformation.
The fall out of hand stand can be the revelation, more so than getting it ‘right’: “Hey! I’m OK! I can survive a fall!” at one workshop, served me far more than the well intentioned, encouraging applause when I did manage to execute a more “successful” attempt. Through experiencing my limitations, I recognised my resistance was against the action of falling, the fear of getting hurt; and was not so much related to the actual posture. This insight empowered me to engage handstands again with open curiosity - if not full confidence.
With my next attempt, and in the presence of a safe teacher, as I opened to Grace, I ventured to stack my body onto my arms and hands. In moments I was crumpled on my mat in tears and the teacher was supporting my seeming failure: “You are a powerful woman. Right now you are not merely pointing to courage, you are being it.”
Something had gone righteously wrong! My “Beloved Inner Guru” had prepared the circumstances. Every preceding moment in life seemed to lead to this one in which pure Fear and Fear alone existed within me. By shifting my attention from the goal of standing on my hands to the feeling of Fear, I received an invaluable gift: a palpable awareness of a resident belief that I was powerless. This was not a psychological analysis through recounting traumatic personal stories, but an actual awakening, without words, of a Dead Zone, a Blind Spot. I could feel, smell, taste, and be in the lie so fully that it dissipated and I was transformed.
Through witnessing my inner body collapse helplessly I could observe that it followed logically: my physical body, unsupported, could only crumple in response. The grand gesture of a handstand was futile against that emotional wall of self alienation. I had had before a vague awareness of this block within me, but in that moment the impostor was fully detected, experienced and articulated specifically in the context of my own being. I could feel compassion for myself replace the old psuedo-belief and with it freedom; Freedom to fail; Freedom to fly. And that’s what I would call a “successful” handstand!
Without preference or prejudice, every feeling and failure is essential to experience, observe and investigate; and worth our efforts to do so sincerely. I am blessed to have a true Teacher who by example mostly and verbal instruction sometimes returns me faithfully to discover and consult my own inner authority; my own B.I.G. self. With the greatest ease she points me not to a rigourous asanas regimen or schedule, but to my own natural rhythm and inner enthusiasm: Let the mat invite you.
And on the mat I discover that the final pose of yogic postures may be sought after with the same automated, competitive bustle of vain accomplishment and fanaticism of pop-culture lifestyles. I also encounter the pride of perfection and fear of failure that avoids any risk taking; inner postures that can keep one in child’s pose for a very long time both literally and metaphorically. My B.I.G. self reveals time and again that it is not so much that I am for the yoga, a mannequin to strike perfect poses, but the yoga (which most simply put means union) - is for me.
Why I yoga, has to do with learning an intimate process of living fully, each present moment. Whether stumbling with alien inversions or waking up in the familiar habit of standing upright, I am finding my life off the mat shows up in the practice on the mat and vice versa. Each moment, without exception, has the potential to spark into consciousness a seemingly sudden mind-body awareness which is essential to my growth. Once earned, the benefits of this integration are never spent, lost, stolen, broken or revoked; they are unconditional. And it is this genuine attentiveness and joyful discipline that bears fruit in the experience of stumbling stone and the sanctuary, both on and off the mat.
END
“Living Metaphors: Stumbling On and off the Yoga Mat”
By: Joanne Gail Johnson
© Joanne Gail Johnson December 4, 2008
First Publication Rights: She Caribbean
Word count: 878
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Two Creches: where love lives
For Christmas 2008 my son was five. Having made his wish list at school he asked me what I wanted for the holidays. If I could have anything I told him, it would be a creche as a reminder to keep Christ in Christmas.
When school closed for the holidays, he brought home from his Arts and Crafts class a beautiful creche made of clay which he had painted the same sunshine yellow as our apartment. He also brought, from Senior Kindgarden, a beautiful creche made of construction paper sprinkled with glitter. Both were creative and depicted the precious Christ-mas scene of a baby Jesus born in a manger.
While packing his little suitcase the night before his big holiday trip with his Dad he felt a little weepy and asked for a hug. He snuggled into my lap and we sat silently feeling the tenderness, not only of the moment I think, but of our life situation.
With a burst of inspiration he got up and said, "Wait!"
He returned with the little yellow creche which he placed gently before us on the floor where we lay, and then snuggled back into our hugfest.
Only a moment passed before he got up yet again and returned with the second creche which he placed beside the first.
As he nestled into my arms again I felt profoundly inspired:
"Son, which do you like better?"
He paused. He hemmed and hawed. He listed what he liked about each.
"It is almost impossible to choose isn't it?"
"Yeah."
He sounded torn between loyalties - I could feel him thinking of the different teachers and friends involved in the creation of this one and then the other. I could see him assessing the effort and result of each. I allowed the moment to come to its fullness before speaking.
"We don't have to choose do we? It's not a competition. We can have them both and we do!"
"We can love them both and we do! Yes!" he agreed triumphantly.
"Well son I want you to remember that Mum and Dad are like your two creches. We are very different but you can love us both. You do not ever need to choose. You can have us both and love us both and you will always find a special home in each of our hearts where love lives. Thank you for your love, son."
I could feel his knotted heart releasing. There was a joyful buoyancy now in our preparations for his trip. We would be physically separate for a few days, but a profound bond beyond that of even mother and child was enlivened. An essential knowing of Truth grew in my inner most Being and between us. It was palpable. I knew person to person, we had transcended in that moment any one specific role or relationship. I felt it with clarity. More than our personal, familial relationship, I could and would consciously intend for this child of God to feel safe; to love as freely, fully and as widely as he chooses.
Time and again Life authors Living Metaphors. This time the symbol of the creche as a human heart, where Christ consciousness; eternal Truth and Love are born. Such gifts arise spontaneously through the flesh and blood experience of our everyday situations. It is up to us to claim, witness and share these opportunities when heaven and earth are truly one.
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