Month: December 2014

Categories
Anything Cute Beautiful People Beautiful Places

Joyful

じょいふる：）Girl POWER in Japan … Cute and … “JOYFUL”, From LOUD crescendo to hushed … diminuendo and then the volume goes up again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsvNsfPZPiE

They are just having fun being … JOYFUL in “matsuri” mode. Their idea of an idol might be a little different from a standard set here so wanted to share. No cleavage necessary, no high heels, no revealing skin showing or tight clothing basically needed to sell yourself … to be an idol there:) What a relief for moms of daughters…

I miss the participatory group energy – love the caller-response exchange and the comic touch. It probably looks a bit odd to the Westerners how the fans have a cheering section who dance along (same movements kind of like bon-odori at a festival…) – anyway, I don’t know why I am posting this (so unrelated to … yoga) I must be getting home sick… last year New Years and Christmas was in Tokyo but this year … not. sob.

No matter how long I have been here, I still consider where my mother is, where my father is buried, my home. But this adopted home is lovely too – in gratitude. America is a beautiful country too where the girls can truly shine, not just on stage but off the stage. I respect so many of the women around me who are so beautiful here.

America is a country of immigrants – If you can’t jump on the plane to go back to the old country to see your mother or your sister or ….. Then create a family here & be the seed … you can get “there” (where?) through the practice of yoga.

So sorry this post is not very ZEN:) but wanted to debunk Asian women’s stereotype of shyness (its dependent on a person not race) abroad and share this study in contrasts, where the opposites – the loud and the hushed silence (shh…) are … separate and one.

Categories
Uncategorized

Different styles; different genres…

Ah … I hear everyone talk about how many genres (she dabbles in) like classical, jazz and others, but personally, I don’t divide music by genre when creating. I don’t create by saying, ‘I must create a classical piece here,’ or ‘I must create a jazz piece here.’ When I create music, I don’t consider at all which genre I like best, but what the scene or the anime calls for, like a love (theme) or a mood. There isn’t one genre I like more than the others. I find all of them satisfying and all inspire me in different ways.

– Yoko Kanno (excerpt from wikipedia)

It’s unrelated but related in terms of embracing diversity – and that I appreciate all different styles of yoga … depending on where I am when I am off the mat. “All of them satisfying and all inspire me in different ways.” yes. It’s the vibration – of consciousness. I resist labeling but at the heart is the sun and the moon.

Most of us who love yoga came to yoga not purely for physical reasons – if you want the physical stuff – get sweaty and burn calories (yes, a slice of cheesecake is so rich…), there are plenty of other activities in many forms of exercise, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be yoga but then, why? There are whole hosts of other options – simply go out and walk, jog, hit balls, dance …some of us may even engage in a more extreme and challenging forms of fitness – climb Mt. Everest ? be a Triathlon, ski, golf, even, wrestle – whatever you love – it’s all good. What then, drew us to yoga?

Reflections at the year-end.

Categories
Uncategorized

White Light – Karaoke time?

Hearts call, hearts fall
Swallowed in the rain
Who knows, life grows
Hollow and serene

Wandering in the winter light
The wind can act the same
They’re witness to salvation
And life starts over again

Now the clear sky is all around you
All around
Love’s shadow will surround you
All through the night

Star glowing in the twilight
Tell me true
Hope whispers and I will follow
Till you love me too

– Linda Ronstadt
*****************************************

Soft and earthy – breathy Teshima Aoi…


vs.

the spectacular & heavenly – crystal clear – wanted to say Sarah Brighten who hits the most amazing high notes but here’s another version by

Linda Ronstadt, also rich but deeper…

Same song – different style, delivery based on your range and what’s true to you … it’s like a yoga class – same sequence, same teachings but depending on who is teaching it, it can be completely different. We are lucky to have such diversity.