Everybody in this world has a big “but”. I wanna talk about your big “but”. I wanna talk about the thing that keeps you from committing fully, from living fully, from speaking your truth; the thought that keeps you hedging your bets and hemming and hawing.

Chris Chavez is finished Vancouver’s Teacher Training level 1 and the teachers-to-be are DEADLY good. It’s going to get wild up in here, I’m telling you. Authentic, hilarious, creative. I’m kind of surprised I still have a job.

There is a thread that occasionally runs through their discussion and it came up today during the difference between active and passive language. Active commands, of course, tell people to do stuff [not something we're generally very comfortable with], and passive language invites people to feel/investigate/notice stuff. Passivity sneaks in teaching in other ways, by way of using infinitives as commands in disguise ["lifting your arms overhead, extending out through your arms" &c.] or even describing the actions of the pose as if they’re happening to somebody else ["the back leg straightens, the arms reach overhead"]. PARENTHETICAL BLOG READER EXERCISE: If you practice yoga, notice the way these different sorts of language work on your body.

Generally speaking we’re not comfy with active commands, because, ew, commands. We don’t want to be bossy. And we know what it feels like to arrive on the mat after being told what to do all day long. I get it, I do. Women especially don’t want to be bossy and so many of us have raised passive-aggressive behaviour to a high art: “You may notice that the back leg loses some power if it is not fully engaged. If you wish to, consider engaging the back leg more fully. A little bit. Sort of.  Never mind, I didn’t say anything.” As opposed to: “Straighten your back leg fully”. What is the difference, if there is a difference? Is one way of speaking ever appropriate for teaching….anything, never mind yoga?

(more…)

Quoted for Tantric contemplation and truth, from a Pandagon commenter on a thread about fashion-model Photoshopping:

Hmm...Matsyendrasana?

The perception of the female form is warped and turned into an inhuman image. Those attracted to the female form will then see normal, healthy women as being grotesque. The women will also consider themselves grotesque, and will look at themselves only with pain. They will tend to want to rectify the reality of their body, and change it into the idealized image that they see.

If perception of the female form is always skewed, then women (the bearers of the female form) and those attracted to the female form, will be always off-balance, always dis-satisfied. In western art and myth, the female form can symbolize the world. If perception of the female form is skewed and unbalanced, then is perception of the world likewise skewed and unbalanced?

Is it a salad?  Is it a stir-fry?  Who can say, in these challenging pre-Olympian days?  Alls I know is, it’s good, and it’s not expensive.

You will need:

1 bunch coriander, washed and de-stemmed

om nom nom nom nom

1 block extra firm tofu cut into 1 cm cubes [w00t metric system]
1 red pepper in 1 cm dice [I'm-a roll with it]
1 bunch bok choy, sliced
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp Bragg’s [Tamari would work but might be a bit oppressive]
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 packet broad rice noodles, soaked in boiling water, rinsed and set aside
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
Sesame seeds

In a blender, purée half of the bunch of coriander with the rice vinegar, Bragg’s, and chili-garlic sauce.  A bit of water can help it “flow” a bit better.  In a bowl or Tupperware, pour this blended mixture over the tofu cubes and set aside.

In a wok or stir-fry pan, heat the canola oil over medium-high.  Sauté the red pepper and the substantial parts of the bok choy for a couple of minutes.  Throw in the rice noodles, tofu cubes and dressing.  Stir thoroughly.  Add the thin parts of the bok choy leaves and the rest of the coriander, coarsely chopped [you can keep some aside for garnish or if you're all coriandered-out; my feelings on this fine herb are well known].  Keep stirring until the leaves are wilted and the mixture is heated through.  Toss with dark sesame oil.  You can serve now with sesame seeds on top or set it aside to cool and it’ll be most excellent the next day.  Also.

Tastes best when you watch it with the football episode of Glee.

People keep asking
“What was it like?” I say, “It
changed everything”.

The spiders appear
much smaller here in darkest
Canuckistan.

Remember: Be Here Now.
Even if you are, sadly, not
still in Maui.

What am I doing writing Haiku Haikus when I’m on the ol’ futon back in Canada’s frosty autumnal clutches? I had some pics left on the camera and I also wanted to synopsize [if possible, criminy] the insights of the week in some sort of intelligent way without gassing on and on about the fruit and the scenery. Not that it isn’t rad to do that but some people started to narrow their eyes at me a little and I realized that if you can’t *go* to Maui, for whatever reason, it’s not exactly equivalent to just have your hippie friends TELL you about it.

(more…)