THROW THE HATRED OUT

Chogyam Trungpa: If we are capable of smiling, we have goodness in us,
always. Whether young or old, very old, or very young, still, there are
always possibilities of a smile. In fact, people do smile, at least three
times a day. That is goodness. So keep smiling. Enjoy your being.

Student: On a world scale, I see incredible alienation, exploitation, and
class oppression. How can what you're saying change the world?

Chogyam Trungpa: We can change the world, definitely. The problem is that
we don't smile when chaos occurs to us. When chaos occurs, even within that
chaos, we can smile, which cures confusion and resentment. Do you understand?

Student:: When you say to smile, are you saying that we should throw the
hatred out?

Chogyam Trungpa: Absolutely. Yes. You got it.

Calle admits that she is given to introspection when unhappy. Grief is inevitably a better subject than joy, she argues. "When I'm happy I don't photograph the moment to share with people on the wall of a museum. It doesn't translate so well. Do people like hearing someone's story about how happy they are? Not usually," she says. "I was happy with someone for seven years recently and all my friends were very worried about what I was going to produce in this pink period. I did produce a lot but mainly it wasn't about me; I didn't feel like I needed to use my feelings."

'The worse the break-up, the better the art'

Your bad feelings, you didn't need to use your bad feelings. Why is it that people think that sadness is more interesting? That their darkness is more compelling than their light? Perhaps sad feelings are easier to identify (with). Or that if we have a problem, then there is more validity in sharing. It's incredibly odd, really. It's not that I don't want to explore darkness, or share someone's sorrow, but to say that the best art comes from suffering ... Perhaps we need to practise listening to the good, and sharing the good, instead of brushing it away as too much cake.

OMG Productions

Someone I know from waaaay back. He's a hit!

Organ Workshop 101

Sunday I spent the afternoon getting in touch with my organs. Let's be serious about this please.

Yes, it was warm and squishy. We began with an anatomy lesson and passing around balloons filled with hot and cold water. If you hold a water-filled balloon and tilt it, you can feel the water shift and roll inside. Much the same for our organs, when we move around, our organs are shifting and rolling all of the time. Funny that this should be taught, but it's true, we lose this innate ability to feel our insides.

We spent time lying on our bellies (downward-facing savasana) and experiencing the sensations inside. It takes a while to bring down the activity of the body, and let the abdomen relax. We were given the image of a baby's belly, how it rolls into whatever position the child takes. I will practise this position, because I think there is so much more to get in touch with. I do know that there is a link between this posture and the sensations I feel in Uddiyana Bandha.

We walked around the room with ears plugged to hear the vibrations our organs hear as we walk. Unbelievable the pounding! You want to walk more softly after that experience, to protect your belly from the sharp vibrations. Poor organs, all of the noise and force they are subject to.

We did partner work to help connect to our organs, each person laying on hands to focus attention and breath. Quite illuminating. When I would breath with intention, drawing breath in with my muscles, the breath was quite hard and tense. By inviting the breath in and allowing the lungs to do the breathing, it became effortless, with no tension. I am quite eager to see how this works in asana.

After spending a great amount of time focusing on moving from our organs, everything slowed down. Voices deeper, steps softer, an appreciation for these vital (!) parts moving three-dimensionally, rotating, moving. Ideally, I will eventually move from inside, from my organs, and they will support me, instead of the musculotual-skeletal systems doing so.

I was deeply impressed by this workshop, no one has ever taught me about my internal organs in this way. This is what is so interesting to me about yoga - how is enables me to know my body and care for it. I look forward to passing these knowledge to my children, and drawing on it to care for my family.