In these times, we want to reconnect with nature — using a stick to connect with heaven (aspiration) and earth at the same time (“tenshijin” in Shintaido). And I add a tip on working from home while staying active.
Getting Outside: Exercise with a Stick
So many of us longing to get out of the house. Thought I’d show a few simple Shintaido exercises you can do with a stick and connect with nature.
Ecstatic Dance and Shintaido, Connecting Heaven and Earth
I had the pleasure to lead the intro/warmup section to FreeDance in Natick last week, connecting some central ideas from Shintaido with free form dance movement. (FreeDance is the “high energy freestyle dance experience” with live drumming by Drum Nomads). A central idea: use our movement to connect with nature around us. Even if we’re dancing inside a building, we … Read More
Global connections at sunrise
Half a dozen of us around the globe decided to share the moment of sunrise together, lifting our swords in shoko — a salutation — as the sun rose for each of us on the last day of the year. And though it turned out to be a cold rainy morning for me, the global peer pressure got me out … Read More
Solstice Haiku, 12/21/19
Gets dark so early — go run around with a stick / and catch the last rays (There’s a feeling I get looking at the sky, and especially such a beautiful sky, that is more expansive than whatever is currently bothering me. Looking at the sky can be a way of taking care of myself. And the staff extends my … Read More
The turning leaves: Shintaido Northeast fall retreat
Just got back from our fall retreat (gasshuku), and some of the powerful elements: the theme “Gratitude and Grace” as we work through with our longtime instructor and friend Joe Z. his experience of chemotherapy and our mutual support…The image of the muntjac deer on the gasshuku brochure with the theme of “encountering” the world and the interdependence that can … Read More
First time with fire sword
This weekend had my first experience swinging the blazing fire sword, as they say, my “virgin burn.” I hadn’t planned on it, had just mentioned to friend Jessie Jewels, who teaches “flow arts,” including the fire hoop, that I’d like to try the fire sword sometime. “Let’s do it now!” she replied. So there it was, my first time with … Read More
More post-election: taking care of ourselves and others…
I won’t mince words, Donald Trump won by appealing to fear and anger, and that doesn’t bode well for our path forward. I just returned from the NEMA museum conference, where we watched the election unfold in shock and disbelief. A friend reported someone felt this negated her life’s work in the museum field. But if anything, it’s a call to burn more … Read More
“Jewel words shining in the world”
When you get most of your exercise running around through the woods with a stick, you start to notice changes over time. And now, here in New England in the Fall, I’m aware of leaves…the way sunlight can fall on them through the trees and light them like jewels — golden, red, brown, green — shining beyond me as I as … Read More
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