Yoga,

A new opportunity arose, and the prospects are actually exciting. I've decided to start teaching a few yoga classes at Kanopy Dance Studio, on State Street. At the moment, I am trying to come up with a schedule. It will be a couple of classes, very affordable, either in the morning, at 7:00 am, or at noon, Monday, Wednesday, and there is a possibility that a week-end class might be added. The classes are expected to start on the third week of March. Until then, I'd love some feed-back on the schedule, the location, and if you don't mind pass the word around.

Be well and enjoy the rest of your week.

Busy making flyers

Wonderful sunny...

moments are not to be missed. If you can, stop what you're doing and get out there, greet the sun, and, welcome the simplistically magnificent beauty that is inherent in all of creation. Life is truly miraculous, in its every detail, from the breeze that awakens your senses, to the scents and sounds that compete for the attention of your pleasure buds. Awaken, awaken. Seek to rejoin with the sunshine and the soft breath of today's wind, in a dance of renewal, in a silence of appreciation.

Be well and, if there is a need in you for joy, I think it nearer than we might suspect.

On the path of Harmony, I slip, fall, bruise myself, but never lose hope.

Somedays are...

harder than others, don't know why, just the way it happens, from the onset, before even setting the wrong foot on the ground, I'd say the feeling grips somewhere above the body's center of gravity, and it is tempting to say very close to the third Chakra -if you believe in Chakras, and so I could easily try analyzing this sensation of great unease, of being so totally out of center, with an inkling that so much of what is done, pursued, embraced, doesn't really fit the individuality that is floating within, as the body cringes at the taste that accompanies the sudden realization that whatever path one has been on is in fact, and obviously, so, so, incompatible with one's natural aspirations.

Then the body becomes a binding cage, from which one can see the light, but is unable to reach, and be one with it. Silly though that such as feeling should arise when the foolish master, for years on by, spent many hours patiently whispering to my skeptical ear, "The light you seek is already within, so brilliant and so close to the source of everything that is, was and will be."

The message is there, a seed taking its time to germinate. Perhaps, it needs watering and tending, believing and allowing... I don't know, but I sure am investigating.

Be well and stay on the path you feel is closest to your heart -only you can tell which on that might be, and if you stray don't be too hard on yourself, please don't, it's pointless, could be construed as a waste of time and energy. Do a little dance, laugh at your mistake, retrace your step, and rejoin the path of your journey.

Lost again and again.

P.S: On icy lake Mendota, I meandered long enough that my footprints drew a Yin and Yang symbol, a sinuous wave, a circular labyrinth, an infinity sign. That was yesterday. This morning, I stopped back and found all of it still there, and so I followed my own steps, seeking to meet myself, within, wishing for inner-unity, completion, forgiveness and awakening, in the name of Love and Harmony, the four elements, Air, Light, Earth and Fire, my guiding energies, melding within a center that is in Harmony with the Whole.

Be

yourself, no matter the price tag, and as the saying goes, "Only truth can set you free." Denial is a human condition that takes lifetimes to overcome. Buddhist selflessness is a slippery ideal. What are we but dreamers with choice-making affectations? Life is a grand show of illusions bent on eluding us into believing that it is moving towards the next moment. Perception is faulty and the mind is lacking in openness of vision. Who shall we trust then, when there is no solid point of reference to stand on? Some say that meditation is the way to meeting with that Higher self that sees everything at all times. "Ask and you shall receive," said that wise master in a time of inebriation. Apparently, Spirit is there, awaiting an honest, genuine, and heartfelt gesture from the lowest I. Take the step. Fear not falling. Then I, and I, shall finally meet, see eye to eye, and there might even be some learning imparted in the process. Wishful thinking? Maybe... All I can say is that someone is trying.

Be well and if you have time, get to know yourself.

Looking for the gap

Lost inside my monitor...

for hours, moving at the velocity of a tired snail, too aware that the sun is out there, that beyond these digital highways there is life to be met and enjoyed. But that is the price of being a professional this and that. Responsibilities abound.

As for escaping, forget about it, I'm not that naive anymore, unless the cause is really worth it, then I'll gladly throw common sense off board. My ship is yearning for the sight of distant shores, undiscovered beaches, the sound of hollowed drums, birds taking flight like a locust cloud, and spicier than anticipated foods...

The sun is out there and I am getting ready to leave, so be well and enjoy whatever playfulness you can get your teeth on.

less caffeine...

makes the world go slower, believe it or not. There is a certain peacefulness of the mind to be noticed and experienced. Otherwise, there is also, naps and too much sleeping, a sense of no-urgency-needed, and then one begins to wonder, and questions pop inside the mental furnace, and the thinking processes fire up, here and there, willy-nilly, and so there might also be a resurgence of a newly lost sense of urgency, and maybe a desire to stay up late at night to figure things out, meditate, which somehow, is very close to contemplate.

Cycles within cycles, lived from different perspectives, even when all of it is happening within the confines of one single individual, a morphing self that like a river is never the same as time does its undoing -and aren't we all this river?

Be well and seek all that you are here to find.

Lemons and lemonade...

But before I start, I'd like to confess that I am a bit shaken by today's tragedy -I never liked airplanes. So if you're feeling any sort pain for those who were involved and you can't do anything about what happened, make sure you turn off the news and take some time to nurture yourself.

This said, let us head back to the issue at hand... You've probably heard the saying about lemons and lemonade, you know, making the second out the handed first. I presume that we all have. It's in the books, in the tapes, in the cds, and just about anywhere else.

Well, my lemon was a migraine, for which, by the way, some bright doctor thought I should take a strong narcotic, but I'm digressing. At any rate, it was just one of those head colds/sinus infections kind of thing, except for the monster migraine savagely pounding inside my right temple...

Too weeks later, and only a few hours ago, I started thinking about lemons and lemonade, and it was right then that I realized I had somewhat done just that with my lemon -the migraine.

Now, and just to cut to the chase, I'll just tell you what kind of lemonade I was able to make. Drum roll and dramatic pause. I cut off my caffeine consumption. Yes. I turned off the spicket, gradually, and in a matter of days, stopped drinking coffee -meaning lots of sugar, dairy and caffeine, and since I already had a migraine, I didn't really notice the caffeine withdrawal headache.

Is this a good example? I'm not sure. It sure makes me happy... But, I'll let you decide.

Be well, and seek Light even in the heart of darkness -esoterically speaking, of course.

Stuck in the office...

A beautiful sky teasing me through the window, and a download that is taking too long to be over. How I wished I hadn't started the application, but the deed is done, and no matter how much wishing I put into the cause, the outcome is bound to remain the same.

Now, surprise, surprise, instead of resisting, I'm coming to terms with what needs to take place. This is a great lesson in patience, and there is nothing better than working in little strides. "Pace yourself," said that pain in the neck of a wise teacher. So, pacing myself in learning is exactly what I plan on doing.

As you can see, I have some time to kill.

Be well and treasure your time.

Yesterday's unexpected gift...

makes the world feel a lot more compact, with everything we might want at very close reach. It came in the form of a CD, of mostly enjoyable content. Consequentially, as of today, the ocean has materialized, right inside my car, at least in sound, so as it happens, I have become, incredibly enough, a slower driver than usual.

Naturally, I cannot go without extending truck-loads of gratitude towards the good friend who did the giving -it is after all the very least I can do. Truthfully, I am as always awed by the way events seem to crisscross and intersect in this gloriously conducted manifesting universe where we are but a tiny part of the whole.

Some say the whole is a hologram of sorts, and therefore, each part no matter how small and insignificant, contains within it a complete reproduction of everything else. Clearly, there is no valid scientific foundation to support this statement. Yet, I still like the idea as it settles inside my brain and tickles my intellect. After all, as a species we have been in the habit of, as the historical record can attest, believing in the strangest of things -wouldn't you agree?

Anyway, on a closer, or at least less esoteric, front, the political world is making the headlines, with Obama's bail-out/stimulus legislation package, among other globally stretched and intertwined issues. Otherwise, it's clouds and a bit of clear sky overhead, a bit sunny, 30s, in Madison, Wisconsin. And that is about it...

I have to get out of WholeFoods cafe, where I've been crashing for the last hour. There a bit of inspiration to tackle that mess of a story I have been wrestling with for the last couple of months. But before I get there, it is to the ocean's rhythm that I will be moving for the rest of the day.

Be well and enjoy whatever it is you wish to enjoy.

Rain and Drizzle...

Give me the Blues, and so I revert to music, and find a tune I can catch to be carried out of grayness into brighter and lighter spaces.



Enjoy the beat, and if you feel like it, stomp those restless feet.

Be well.

On a warm February day...

beneath the sun, I sat at a green table outside WholeFoods, ready to ponder my present condition, in relations to that special song, which from within some slippery center, has been and remains a guiding source of inspiration...

I watched hundreds of faces walk in and out of the store, each a unique rendition of a specific someone, and I wondered what makes this one more appealing to others than that one, what features strikes us as pleasing to the eye... A matter of taste, some might offer. But even that isn't a clear cut answer.

I heard it said that it's a matter of style, confidence and presence, as opposed to nervousness, uncertainty, low self-esteem, the scent of fear, of inadequacy. Maybe, it's a bit of this, a dash of that, and here you have it: a highly attractive persona.

Since I am not really searching for an answer, I'll just leave it to that, hoping that you too got to spend some time beneath the sun on this warm February day.

Be well, and if you forgot, remember to be comfortable around yourself.

P.S: Where have the good-friends gone? Why have their smiles dried along my side of the river? One day here, and the next gone. No farewells needed. Cut the line and simply move on, not realizing that for some of us, the connection lingers on. But, whom am I to blame, anyone else but the main protagonist of this story that is I? After all, we might just be as helplessly lost as Autumn's fallen leaves when caught in a mean September whirlwind.

Antibioticis...

work best when prescribed. Three visits to the HMO clinic later, thank you. Doctors would rather have me on some narcotic, so instead of a quick recovery, the malady made itself cozy inside of me. But persistence has been know to come with its perks, and so, here I am already on day 2 of treatment... and these are the news on the physical front.

Otherwise, as a pseudo-writer, I haven't been doing much writing, and so maybe, I should just go ahead and drop this self-anointed appellation...

From Madison, I can tell you that I am lost -it is free-fall time, and has been so for quite some time. Did I hear someone mention therapy? How about a chute instead?

Anyway, this is as much as I can share today, so be well and enjoy the sun if you can feel it where you are.

Out-of-the-box ideas...

pop inside the restless mental circuitry contained in my fertile cranium. Migraines or no migraines, when the light bulb is turned, the dreamer has no other alternative but to be sucked into whatever machinations are being carelessly concocted by, I am compelled to guess, some demented part of the whole that represents me.

Far-fetched schemes that will not go unfulfilled, that will not be denied, or taken lightly, seep into the forefront of consciousness and demand to be heard and, lets just say it as it feels, obeyed -and yes, I am contemplating mental therapy.

Admittedly, there is always an enticing aspect to my pushy reveries. And let us not forget, that element of uncertainty that turns the whole deal into a fun adventure, worth living, or at least exploring. Remember, years of surfing, have made, amongst other more nefarious things, an adrenalin-rush-seeking junkie out of me.

So there you have, straight out of the patient's mouth -or, and in the sake of being more accurate, fingers. I've seen a journey -again. I've seen a sturdy and light bicycle and the road stretching in front of my eyes.

Now, I need a good bike, and so I am asking if there is anyone out there with a good used bike forgotten in their garage, attic, basement...

I have two bicycles, (one is a Fuji mountain bike, and the other, a Trek, multitrack 7100 is too small for me, and I would trade them for one that is my size and travel-sturdy -how about that?

Besides this completely insane deal that I have the intuition of considering, all is well in this globe of ours, at least on my side of this almost-oval whirling and spinning ball of solid composition, where happiness is nothing but another moving cloud in the sky.

Enjoy it when it comes your way,
Hope for its return when it is nowhere to be spotted.

Be well and stretch your spines -it will do you a lot of good.

incapacitated...

by a sinus infection, my right temple is screaming in agony. Meanwhile, my HMO's doctors stare at me with a certain-I-don't-know-what-you're-expecting-from-us kind of look besmeared on their unaffected mugs.

A special day indeed, a potently transformational celestial configuration, astrologically speaking, in case you're wondering -and I'll spare us the tediousness that comes with details. Energies are shifting, and there is no way around what's coming, and as they say in Monte Carlo, "Les jeux sont faits."

Amazing how weak a body can be. One day in top form, the next a hapless wreckage. I missed my yoga class last evening, as I was beaten into submission by a lousy and admirably determined migraine. But I'll be teaching from sunset to eight tonight, and that's how far I'm planning my life today.

Winters are cold up here, and my brain, and let us not forget my resolve, seem to be straining in this formidably alien setting, a bit like the blue Focus which was doing much better down where parrots hang in groups atop skinny bodied palm trees. Such a large country, yet I do not see myself in it. How do you plan a future when almost everything seems so far off center? Can fish leave their waters? And I am not discussing evolution here. Can frogs croak in the heat of a dry desert? Oh, I know this all temporary, believe me, there is no need to remind me... really. And as far as flexibility and adaptability go, there is a point when bone finds bone, with a little sticker on the side to remind us that natural limitations are set for good reasons, and that's all there is to the story.

Writing requires inspiration, and inspiration, in my case, and to each his/her muze, is a festive tent. Now, the last time I checked, there haven't been too many sightings of tents in the Midwest -and I am sure FoxNews wouldn't miss that.

Be well, and don't forget to cover your heads, and to wear your seatbelts -remember what I wrote on the first paragraph about the explosive transformational shifting of energies.

A mere migraine

Music to enjoy...

I came across this artist and couldn't resist sharing... Enjoy, maybe.
Be well, et dance jusqu'a ce que le matin te rattrape.
Hopping fan

Shelling and bombing news...

are no way to start the day, but that is how mine began, courtesy of NPR. Well, of course, I am not blaming anyone but myself for the kind of radio programs I choose to listen to every day, and as soon as I'm ready to get my daily dose of information, which usually is very early in the morning.

Otherwise, I took a moment to face East and the rising sun, allowing myself to be basked in that spiritually-imbued time of awakening and great transformation, and in the process almost burning a hole into my retina -live and learn.

Positioned on Observatory Drive, so as to be surrounded by all the primordial elemental energies: air, earth, wood, water and fire, next to a few solid boulders, a receding hill of old and wizened trees, lake Mendota frozen and white, and the sun just as it was visibly rising between a couple of trees and rooftops, I sought to welcome this microcosmic representation of universal fluid unity, with Love and Harmony in mind.

To the best of my abilities, and perhaps reenacting a ceremonial ritual belonging to my indigenous ancestry, I greeted all these elements and offered myself as an empty vessel hollowed within to receive their teachings and wisdom.

Between being and doing, knowing and wondering, seeking and finding, giving and receiving, universal transformation takes places on a spiritual level, in the name of Love and Harmony.

It is said that in this sphere of being, no ego-centered desires exist but those in alignment with the spirit's will.

Be well, Be love, Be Harmony.

Moving with the universal energies to an indigenous step and rhythm