Categories
Uncategorized

To be a tough cookie or NOT…

“Everything observable by the senses is subject to change and therefore in motion….there are interlocking cycles of change…. One cannot bid the winds and waves to cease, but one can learn to navigate treacherous currents by conducting ourselves in harmony with the prevailing processes of transformation…..and thus weather the storms of life.”

-I Ching (The Book of Change)

We are not always the same – at times, more dynamic and charged and wakeful, at another time, more static, steady and constant …a lull … sometimes there’s movement and sometimes there’s stillness… Living mindfully, calibrating an equilibrium, through the practice of yoga in my case. My intention is an offering to students who find me in a serendipitous ways, that space set aside, sometimes a hideaway to be left alone, other times a social place of connections. Different vibes dependent on many variables. I realize some classes are conducted with no music, no sounds… and that can be more relaxing at times. Sometimes that is what you need – that feeling of being under and in the water… submerged in “silence”… whatever the preference, they are all good. I cannot answer to everyone’s preferences and invite all to have an open generous heart … and be receptive. It might help lighten the load you carry if you loosen up. There’s no need to clutch onto things… There will always be a style and mood that suits you out there & it may not necessarily be my class and it’s all good. My intention is only to hold that space of safety and peace – a place where you just “notice” and “release”.

OM OM OM omcookieBe a chewy cookie, soft and rich in the center – sometimes a bit “nutty” … crumbling… but never a hard cookie, no. Aum, um, om, OM… yum Yum says the belly. I mean, YAM for the heart… Bija mantra for the Anahata chakra is … Yam … happy belly is a heart opener:) Noshing on a cookie for a treat today?

Categories
Beautiful People

Don’t Wanna Cry

My April 10th Amuro Namie video was taken down so here is another one to replace even though it’s not as nice as the one that disappeared …back then, amazing to see the diversity on stage when there was … a bit of racism even over there – maybe even more so in Asia. My parents probably would have freaked out if I were to hang out like that even though they were very progressive and looking back, pretty liberal, international folks…A talk from a grandmother before taking off to US on a tatami mat was to never marry inter-racially because, “you come from a good family – NO, I am not prejudiced” but “you have to think about the children – so never marry anyone with blue eyes, etc. promise, okay?” This is coming from the mouth of a sweetest, well educated, most refined lady … So if she were alive, she probably would have gone into comatose. Yes, Japan crowned a multi-racial “half (breed)” Miss Japan … and put in context that this video is aged – coming from two decades ago – it represents a rebellious stage for Namie for the time, that may have been upsetting to the common Japanese sensibility back then – today, I’d like to think diversity is embraced more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruE7p7Al_Mc
Why is the video on the internet in the first place if a blogger is unable to feature it, bring more attention to it to the segment of population who would never come across this song anyway (and be perfectly okay about that)? If it is not meant for the public to be shared then, don’t put it on the internet- I make no profit out of highlighting that video and
most artists thinks in the positive not the negative so obviously, it’s not the artist – but someone profiteering from keeping it from going viral (this is old stuff anyway).

Can’t imagine an artist actually wasting time to be policing the internet to take down her own images – rather, she would be happy to have her youthful days video revisited – rather than be forgotten – it’s such a throwback…where J-Pop wasn’t about just artificially cute girls like dolls – here’s substance.

& speaking of racial issues – it’s like a new age for this to happen in that old country – click here.

いつの日か (some day) I’ll be there…
I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
Because baby I don’t wanna cry
I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
Because baby I don’t wanna cry
そうやって　待っていても無馱だって
(We know just waiting “for change” is a waste of time)
みんな　わかってるけどね
じゃあ何で待っているのかって
(Knowing that and waiting, asked why we are just waiting)
聞かれた時に　氣がついた
(then I realized when asked “that question”)

毆り合う事じゃなくて ( Hitting each other and not wanting to get hurt)
傷つけられたくない
うずくまってガマンしてるのって (just kneeling down getting small, taking it)
痛そうで　　つらそうで　　後がない (seems so painful and tough, that’s no more)

今日が終わるたび (Stop just living each day with a relief that such a day is over)
胸をなで下ろすなんて　やめよう
あきらめること　許したら (if you permit giving up, you won’t even be able to say – hello)
ＨＥＬＬＯ　だって言えなくなるから

どこへでも　つどく道がある (there’s a path that goes on)
いつの日か　　I’ll be there… (someday – I will be there)

I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
急いだってしょうがないけど (there’s no need to rush)
Because baby I don’t wanna cry
止まってるヒマはない (but I don’t have time to stop)
I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
行くんだってば　もう (I’ve got to go now, so don’t try to stop me)
Because baby I don’t wanna cry

いろんな顏と心って (there are so many different faces and hearts)
世界じゅうに　溢れてるね (the entire world is just flooded by them)
敵味方に分かれ (we divide between enemies and allies)
殺し合いをしているね (and keep killing each other)

そういう事でしか (that’s the only way to ascertain security)
たしかめあう事が　できなくって (“but keep doing that” and you won’t be able to protect the loved ones, won’t be able to protect anything that’s really precious)
愛しい人　大切な何もかも
守れなくなるよ

I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
やめちゃえば　いいのにね (why can’t we just quit)
Because baby I don’t wanna cry
ツライ‧イタイ事なんか (quit the torment, the hurt)

La　la　la…
逢いたい人がいる　　I’ll be there… (There’s someone I want to see – I will be there “for him/her”)

I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
こんないいお天氣 (it’s a nice weather out there)
Because baby I don’t wanna cry
さあドアあけなくっちゃ (Le’t open the door and step out or you won’t be able to move so stuck)
I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
動けなくなるよ
Because baby I don’t wanna cry

La　la　la…祈るだけじゃ　もう　屆かない (Praying alone no longer delivers)
いつの日か　I’ll be there… (someday, I will be there)

I’ve gotta find a way, so let me go
Because baby I don’t wanna cry…

Categories
Yoga

You are the Center:)

This feeling came – it’s like staring at the Bindi right smack in the center of this intricate design … in a yantra artwork – sometimes there’s peace and quiet. Thank you Chanti Tacorante-Perez. (Aloha ~ If one is in Hawaii – I wish !, check out her classes:)

Close your eyes and feel the whole universe filled with sound. Feel as if every sound is moving toward you and you are the center. This feeling that you are the center will give you a very deep peace. The whole universe becomes the circumference and you are the center, and everything is moving toward you, falling toward you. The center is without sound, that is why you can hear sounds – a sound cannot hear another sound. The center is absolute silence. That is why you can hear sounds entering you, coming to you, penetrating you, encircling you.

If you can find out where is the center, where is the field in you to where every sound is coming, suddenly sounds will disappear and you will enter into soundlessness. If you can feel a center where every sound is being heard, there is a sudden transference of consciousness. One moment you will be hearing the whole world filled with sounds, and another moment your awareness will suddenly turn in and you will hear the soundlessness, the center of life.

– Osho, The Book of Secrets, Talk #25

For those who wonder why the space is not “quiet” enough for you to focus, it’s because I tend to think that sounds will allow you to find the silence within better. It’s the same in chanting … a prayer with sounds. True silence … not manufactured silence by suppression but true silence that’s delicious and luscious …tranquil. Instead of being so intent on shunning the disturbances, slamming the doors to shut out the sounds, have them just seep in…