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June 02, 2006

Centering and Mind Like Water

I recently joined an intermediate pottery class at Firehouse Pottery with Frank Massarella here in Ojai, California. I must say it is SO refreshing and wonderful to be committed in an ongoing way to something that is purely relaxing for me. I was partly inspired by the weekly "creative nights" that my brother and his wife schedule weekly, and suddenly I find myself setting aside time for something totally wonderful.

I got into ceramics in my senior year of high school and later did my senior project teaching hand building techniques at an orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico. Ever since then I've been seeking ways to stay in touch with the clay, it's one of those things that just opens my heart in such a big way. In college I particpated in a pottery cooperative, and took handbuilding classes that taught me to form pots as native Americans do. So here I am just getting back into one of my favorite hobbies.

My new class is going well so far, and teaching me a lot beyond just the physical techniques of throwing pottery. I've always been interested in how the centering process requires a significant amount of calm, focus, and attention. I highly recommend this book, Centering, In Pottery, Poetry and the Person by Mary Caroline Richards. Centering clay is a powerful metaphor for being centered in yourself.

I had a fun experience with centering last week in my class. I have always held my breath during the centering process as a way of staying totally focused on the motions of my hands and arms. It's been a conscious choice for me to do so, but when my new teacher strolled by me last week she said, "Breathe, Lisa, breathe!!" And I did. I gave it a try and found that I am perfectly capable of keeping a steady rhythmic breathing going while I center even large pieces of clay. It was so relaxing! I'm sure that taking yoga has something to do with how peaceful it feels to be aware of my moving breath right in the midst of attemping to create a perfect stillness in the clay. It's always fun to discover a deeper level of relaxation.

Then as I was leaving the studio, I overheard a beginner in the class say, "It's so weird, I can't even think about all the things I have to do while I'm in this class. It's great!"She had her first taste of mind like water!

I'm so thankful for GTD and all of the techniques and tools I've picked up over the years that allow me to get totally emerged in creating and playing, letting time disappear altogether.

Posted by at 01:54 PM | Comments (3)

June 13, 2006

Getting Clear with Agendas

As I've integrated GTD into my life over the past six years, most of the methods have seemed pretty natural and common sense to me. But one area that has always stuck out as a challenge for me is keeping and using a complete Agenda list for each key individual in my life. Creating the lists is no problem, but for me actually remembering to look at the list at the appropriate moment has been, shall we say, somewhat lacking. Particularly with business items I need to handle with my friends and family.

A while back when the bulk of my work was customer service for our products department, I received some telecoaching from Meg Edwards. She assisted me with setting up a low-tech system so that I could very quickly process the many voicemails and scraps of paper that were rapidly flowing into my world. Since then I've navigated back to a high-tech digital system because it suits my needs and my personality better, but the one element of a low-tech system that I still love using is Agenda folders. I like to write each item on a separate piece of paper and stick them in a plastic folder labeled "With Rick" or "With Robert".

Now here comes the trick- I use a transparent file folder for each Agenda folder, and I place the folders in a standing file organizer, putting them in plain view. That way when a key person walks into my office, I can literally glance up and know if I have anything I should handle with them in person. It also gives me an instant sense of how much time I need- if the folder is getting bulky, it's time to call the person and setup a meeting, pronto. If there's one little scrap of paper in there, maybe we can handle it quickly while the person has a moment free between meetings.

I've grown to love these transparent folders, and probably couldn't do without them. For people who are highly visual like myself, transparent storage devices can make a difference. It's a nice hue to choose for folders that transport items between the home and the office, and it's also handy to have transparent organizers within a purse or a piece of luggage so you know what you're reaching for. So here's to getting clean and getting clear.

Posted by at 09:37 PM | Comments (2)

June 20, 2006

Waking up the body

I've been reflecting quite a bit lately on the topic of letting go. It came up several weeks ago when I discovered that holding my breath while creating pottery was hindering my performance, not enhancing it. After that experience, I began paying more attention to the ways in which I either "let go" or "hold on", or said another way, I am observing how every moment is an opportunity to either relax/surrender or tighten up.

One of my current working theories is that people in this day and age have become extraordinarily disconnected from our bodies. This is not to say everyone, but looking around my nation I see a lot of inactivity, desk-jobs promoting inactivity, and obesity as evidence of this inactivity. It seems to me that people are identifying more and more with our minds and emotions, and quite a lot less with our physical, bodily experiences.

One of the most interesting implications of this theory was presented to me in a course on Feelings and Emotions, taught from a cognitive perspective. If we are so disconnected with our bodies, this explains the research that shows that we often misinterpret our own emotions. Feelings, which usually stem from bodily sensations, are often mislabeled when our heart rate is up, we have a stomach ache, or our some other physical symptom awakens us to how we are interpreting external events.

How amazing that we seem to use our minds to systematically interpret both our bodily experiences, and what they imply about our emotional state. I speculate that if we can get more directly connected to our bodies through mindfulness, we won't have to go through so much grunt work to be aware of what is present for us in the moment. This is my theory about why yoga is so popular lately- people are pleasantly surprised by how awareness coupled with physical activity wakes us up.

So for those of us sitting at a desk all day long, how can we reconnect to our bodies?

I found this interesting site on stress management that includes 13 exercises to relax your muscles. I recommend picking one out that targets an area of your body that is particularly tense. Email it to yourself, or drop it into your inbox.

There is nothing like going along processing your inbox when you find a treat, some sort of relief from front-end decision making that will take you two minutes or less. I often drop into my own inbox a reminder to participate in a worldwide peace prayer. Whatever it is for you, lighten up your processing experience by building something pleasant right into it. I've often heard of folks practicing positive-self-reinforcement (also know as rewards!) during their weekly review. I am certainly not above those tiny little tricks that keep me on track, motivated, and physically relaxed. If your time at work represents a significant portion of your waking hours, why not make those hours as healthy and fun as possible.

And one last thought, when you do your weekly review consider adding this question to your checklist:

How am I doing about taking care of my mind, body, and emotions while I work?

Posted by at 09:25 AM | Comments (6)

June 25, 2006

Surfing Lesson #1

I had the most wonderful early birthday surprise today... my first surfboard! An 8' soft top perfect for a beginner of my height, and it came with my first lesson so I had a chance to try it out.

The first thing I learned is this: the ocean is a whole lot bigger than me. Sure you always know that looking at the ocean, and sure you get some sense of that when you swim or boogie board, but there's nothing like a good wipeout to humble you. It was such a joy to be out there, an experience of surrendering to the waves. Now it's up to me to get into better shape so I can make good use of this board.

Isn't she a beauty? (That's the electric blue one, of course.)

Posted by at 11:31 PM | Comments (5)