60-Second Intervals

Big assignment? Portion by portion.

Great distance? Step by step.

Hard workout? Rep by rep.

But what about Life??? Just panic and rush through at warp speed.

In reading “One Minute Mindfulness”, I am learning about taking life in 60-second intervals.

Makes sense. Life is THE most important thing we will ever do – it’s challenging, confusing, full of way more than we can absorb so why not break it down into manageable chunks. I am working on taking life in 60-second intervals.

ASIDE: And seriously??? Used the word “boobies” in my last post and not a single comment???? Totally wasted opportunity people! Wonder who is reading this stuff other than the few dedicated readers. Thanks ladies for your great feedback!!!!

http://sharidactyl.wordpress.com

Zee Plan

First off, my shoulder is much better, head fog is gone, and I am feeling much more myself. It's amazing as to how food totally does impact our bodies and minds, for better or for worse. I have punted oats from my diet and have heightened my awareness as to how I feel. I must say that this one snuck up on me. Dairy allergy reactions for me are quick and painful and I was using those as a guide and that was my mistake.

I have been reflecting upon the advice given at the meeting in regards to my focus and my training as to how to best proceed and heal my shoulder as well as get me out of my frustration pit. Sifu Michael Playter advised to focus on what I CAN do and immerse myself in that. Still continue "North", but detour about 30 degrees. I am also looking at what I  am doing already in regards to being active. I wasn't considering that showing up is being active and part of the team. So now I'm being more compassionate with myself, looking at what I AM doing in regards to participating and immersing myself in what I CAN do that will still take me in the direction of "North."

After a conversation with Sifu Kichko, who herself has had shoulder issues, and being inspired by Sihing Chervenka's blog, I have set a plan as to how to proceed from here. I will be immersing myself in my energy (chi) studies as well as Tai Chi. Even though I'm very rocky with the actual form, I will be practicing what I know as well as bringing Tai Chi into my regular forms as well as my techniques. For now, I am letting go of the numbers and focusing solely on how the movement feels within my body and how grounded I am in the process. Of course I will be doing the task at hand more than once, but  if I am thinking about numbers, I am not connecting in and right now, the latter is more important.

So here is my plan: pushups will be set aside until my shoulder heals 100% and then some. Kicks will replace the pushups as the daily "anchor" focusing on flow and technique. Situps/core work will still continue. Tai Chi will be brought into my forms so that each movement is done with intent, connection, and flow. Therefore my forms will be done Tai Chi speed and in the same manner that I am in Tai Chi class. Instead of counting, I will be cuing in as to how my body feels, how it flows, and where's my center. Where am I, what am I doing? For accountability, as well as to partner with Sihing Chervenka, I will be posting what I did as well as what I noticed during my daily training. There is a saying that keeps revolving in my head right now that even though it grinds me,  really does apply, "Patience, Grasshopper, Patience."
Sherri Donohue
My Blog

Bootcamp coolness

I'm excited for bootcamp this year. It's so cool that Master MacDonald is probably going to come. It's such an opportunity. It's gonna be sweet.

Basic numbers: 4 reps of tai chi, 4 reps broadsword, 204 pushups, 208 kicks, 202 crunches.

Acts of kindness: filled up my husbands car with gas, waited patiently while a guy blocked the road (I consider that an act of kindness because I didn't freak out...I even waved back when he waved an apology) and I made my husband lunch.

Today I consumed: 3 waffles, a tomato and cheese sandwich, a cookie, 2 little candies, a pastry, a banana and some beef and biscuit casserole. I drank a cup of coffee, 2 cups of tea and 8 glasses of water. 

permaculture and kungfu

Ok quick blurb to try and explain some of the many thoughts that are roiling around in my brain at any given moment... I was doing some pre-reading for my master gardeners course this Wed, and this quote I had to give you: "As Bill Mollison explains in Permaculture - A Designer's Manual: "Permaculture is a philosphy of working with rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems and people in all their functions, rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolution. A basic question that can be asked in two ways is: "What can I get from this land, or person?", or "What does this person , or land, have to give if I cooperate with them?" "Of these two approaches, the former leads to war and waste, the latter to peace and plenty.The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children". I do agree with this ideal--the bigger things get, businesses and things, the more the first option seems to happen. I'd like to see the second option in more businesses, neighborhoods, towns. This also reminds me of how a team works too--do we just think of what we can get out of each other or do we see what develops as we allow each of us to develop in our own way? I have learned alot about myself in these 3 years in ubbt/I Ho Chaun, and seen lots of growth in my team mates. I'm learning where my teammates strengths lie, where i can lean for support and what I can give. Kinda cool how everything we learn can be connected--just like kung fu is in everything.

Trust Issues

We had a good turnout for practice tonight. Thanks to everyone who came out! We are making progress and it's nice to see. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but if people stay committed we will pull through.
One issue I've noticed at practices lately is the lack of trust. Not so much amongst the dragon dancers, but more-so in regards to taking direction from Sifu Rybak and myself. Everyone wants the dance to be spectacular, and everyone has good points about how to make it that way, but you can only really follow one vision at a time. Following the choreography of another takes trust. You have to trust that they have the experience to know what looks good, what doesn't and a sense of timing. You also have to trust the process. Rarely do things in a dance stay the same. If you've ever been involved in a Chinese New Year dance, you know things usually change all the time, even the night before. One of the most important things lion dancing has taught me is to be adaptable. You need to be adaptable as things change and progress. That's how things improve. Being adaptable is one of the key qualities of a black belt.
A lack of trust is dangerous because it can lead to an increase in ego. Before adding a comment during practice, consider if it is truly necessary at that moment. Most likely, if it's an issue with the dance, it's already been noticed but hasn't been brought up because the focus is on getting the basic sequence down for now. I'm not saying don't bring things up, but I am saying that maybe a better way would be to bring the comments up at the end of practice instead of during, or just bring them to Sifu Rybak or myself and we'll pass them on when appropriate.

But, I think it was a good practice and I'm proud of our progress so far. I think Canada day will work out. Everyone is working super hard and it's showing in how well everyone is coming together.

Basic numbers: tai chi reps: 4, broadsword: 4, pushups: 204, sit-ups: 202, kicks: 208.

Acts of kindness: let someone ahead of me in traffic, let a car pull out in front of me in the parking lot, bought my brother breakfast and took Julia with me to the dog park.

Today I consumed: 2 pieces of peanut butter raison toast, a cheese burger (not fast food!), a porkchop with mashed potatoes, gravy with wild mushrooms, carrots and asparagus (thank you mother-in-law!) and a bit of left over pasta. I drank a cup of coffee, an ice-cap, 6 glasses of water and a beer.

6 Harmonies & Forms

So I have been staying very focused on the 6 harmonies in my forms ... its been frustrating to say the least.   It does not seem to matter which form I do I am like a light fixture thats shorting out.   I will go thru parts that flow really nice and I am feeling it ... grounded ... feeling the power moving thru the movement and then pfft, the light goes out and nothing!  Mostly it happens when I am not in a horse stance or bow stance ... there is something not 100% correct in the cat stance and when I do things like attacks to opponents behind me or I am retreating.  Maybe its just my visualization/interpretation of what is happening that messes me up but I crash and burn badly in those types of moves.  Sifu Brinker yet again explained the harmonies in the cat stance ... so the plan is start with the move before a cat stance and the move after in a number of different forms and hopefully I will be able to establish the connection/flow throughout.  Wish me luck!

Mr. Donahue's Challenge

My voice recorder seems to be working today.  I've already done 10 acts of kindness and its only noon.  Hopefully I've finally figured out this logging thing.  I'm going to try to make a habit of taking it wherever I go, along with my cell phone. 

I find Mr. Donahue's challenge interesting.  I didn't realize but I rarely do anything nice for myself and feel bad when I do because I feel like any money I spend on me or time I spend on myself feels selfish.  I also do not receive nice things or compliments very well.  I always think someone has some sort of alterior motive when they're really nice to me.  Why?  What's  wrong with me that I shouldn't receive?  I'm actually pretty awesome once you get passed my bs.  I think I'd better start being nicer to myself.

I would also like to say that I have successfully not flipped anyone off in traffic for 4 continuous months...

Anyway, I will leave you with this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTbbYLvhDSM

For the record, the dog approach works better with me...