“There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”

― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

friday cartoon

"In the cathedral of the wild, we get to see the best parts of ourselves reflected back to us." Boyd Varty, a wildlife activist, shares stories of animals, humans and their interrelatedness, or "ubuntu" — defined as, "I am, because of you." And he dedicates the talk to South African leader Nelson Mandela, the human embodiment of that same great-hearted, generous spirit.

"Skeletons are a sort of "living story" you are continuously writing. bone robusticity is a result not only of genetic data, but of data created via behavior. It is through your choices of movement and the cellular loads these choices create that your body becomes your autobiography."

 -- Katy Bowman: Move your DNA.

star swagger

I am shy. I also have a big ego. Practically speaking, that means everyone is looking at me, and it makes me uncomfortable. Actually, "big ego" has a negative connotation. I'll say "healthy ego." Which, sadly, for women, still has a negative connotation. We aren't supposed to have an ego. It's unseemly. It's arrogant. It's not ladylike. Serena Williams was called cocky when she said she wanted to be the best in the world. Well, what the hell is she training so relentlessly for, to be the 37th best in the world? (No disrespect to the 37th best in the world.) A poster of Serena in mid–epic scream should be required on every little girl's bedroom wall so they can be reminded daily how beautiful it is to be a badass....

Click HERE to read on and find out how Sports gave Director Gina Prince-Bythewood swagger...

(image and quote form Lenny Letters)

Sarah and Joshua

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Sunday Tune

Saturday Cartoon

Once

On a summer trip to Norway, I jumped in to the Arctic sea.
I did it because everyone else was doing it (yup) with what looked like ease...
And, as I have mentioned before, I've been swimming since I was a tiny...one of the only things my parents were adamant me and my brothers stuck with...so I figured I'd be strong enough.
The cold was such a shock to the system I had to be pulled back out, gasping and numb.
When I swim in the ocean now, I step into the water slowly and with great care and although I rarely think about that time in Norway, it always feels as though I'm absentmindedly touching a scar.

Once

As a kid, I ran down a hill so fast I couldn't stop myself.
Momentum took over and I lost all ability to command my legs.
My body just kept propelling itself forward.
I still vividly remember the feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach as I lost control.
I tumbled straight into a bush and a pile of rocks broke my fall leaving a permanent scar on my right knee.
I remember not wanting to leave the shelter of the bush, I was boiling with embarrassment.
It was some time before I let myself loose control like that again.
And it took an even longer time to learn that mistakes aren't good or bad, they're just mistakes.
And you clean them up.
And you go on.

Once

When learning how to dance with a partner my teacher told me
 '"The highest technique is to have no technique. Your movement should be the result of his movement and his the result of yours."
It took me a long time to understand what that meant.

 I've since found out he borrowed that quote!

 "The highest technique is to have no technique. My technique is a result of your technique. My movement is a result of your movement." -- Bruce Lee

  (thanks again for sharing the video David!)

what moves me

"My mother loved walking barefoot in the snow. And also having snowball fights with me, or building igloos. She also liked climbing trees. And she was tremendously frightened during thunderstorms. She would hide in the wardrobe behind the coats."

-From a speech held by Pina Bausch on the occasion of the Kyoto Prize award ceremony in 2007.

You can read it in full here Published by courtesy of the Inamori Foundationu ... I really recommend that you do!

(found *****here*****)

"She"s stuck I"m not Stuck I"m waiting."

Cycle of a Sari from Legs Hernandez on Vimeo.

Wish I could have seen this!

"There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.”  

--Pema Chödrön, The Wisdom of No Escape

Your story.

All yoga postures are there to help us notice how we are as we act and we can use the practice to change from working/feeling/responding from our own histories to creating new, more helpful patterns, which ultimately gives you choice.

"If we take yoga seriously we will practice it alot. It makes sense, then, that what we practice has a positive effect on the body.

We repeat patterns not to limit us in life, but as the musician practices their scales, we practice basic patterns so we can move freely in life. Working with fundamental patterns in yoga helps to clarify how we move and what habits we have built up.

We need to learn to distribute patterns evenly throughout our bodies. Poorly distributed forces create stresses and strains at joins, which invariably lead to pain of discomfort and increased likelihood of layering protective patterns over causative ones. When we take this approach, yoga becomes an inquiry into the way we engage through our bodies. It helps us to notice when we do unhelpful things, and, once noticed, we can gently set about letting them go." --Peter Blackaby

Working with your own narrative is essential. That is where solutions are. YOUR solutions.
Now take the rest of your life and practice.

Narrative

ˈnarətɪv'

noun

noun: narrative; plural noun: narratives

1. 1.

   a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

   • the narrated part of a literary work, as distinct from dialogue.

     
     
   • the practice or art of telling stories.

     
     
   • a representation of a particular situation or process in such a way as to reflect or conform to an overarching set of aims or values.

     
     

adjective

adjective: narrative

1. 1.

   in the form of or concerned with narration.

   "a narrative poem"

Love

Q&A from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

By Yumi Sakugawa for The Rumpus