http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/
Neat graphic showing the uses and popularity of various supplements as well as their efficacy.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I Me Wed
Creating A Marriage With Yourself
The above article is interestingly enough similar to a concept that I was struck by last year. I was experiencing a great deal of uncertainty about who I was and my abilities to handle life and relationships. I decided to make myself my priority, not just in words but in actions. I started to take a look at the way my inner critical voice treated me, it wasn't very nice. In fact it was a tone and manner that I wouldn't tolerate from another person, let alone someone I was in an intimate relationship with. It was a bit like being bonked in the head with an "ah ha!"
At first it felt awkward and unwieldy, but it was solidified for me that I NEEDED to do this when a few people I'd encountered were very vocal in their support of this process.
After reading the above article I feel like I have even more language for saying, "Hey Nancy, you are pretty awesome and I'm going to treat you that way."
It feels like the start of a beautiful relationship. :-)
The above article is interestingly enough similar to a concept that I was struck by last year. I was experiencing a great deal of uncertainty about who I was and my abilities to handle life and relationships. I decided to make myself my priority, not just in words but in actions. I started to take a look at the way my inner critical voice treated me, it wasn't very nice. In fact it was a tone and manner that I wouldn't tolerate from another person, let alone someone I was in an intimate relationship with. It was a bit like being bonked in the head with an "ah ha!"
At first it felt awkward and unwieldy, but it was solidified for me that I NEEDED to do this when a few people I'd encountered were very vocal in their support of this process.
After reading the above article I feel like I have even more language for saying, "Hey Nancy, you are pretty awesome and I'm going to treat you that way."
It feels like the start of a beautiful relationship. :-)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Escaping Fear's Gravity
A year ago I could barely dance on stage, I would get overwhelmed by stage fright and my body posture was not open. I was too scared to share anything about myself, I didn't trust myself to show it properly and I was afraid of being rejected. Scary stuff at a normal performance, even worse at a competition. It wasn't just fear of the audience, it was deeper than that but I didn't know how to access that...I was not willing to go there. It took several months of mindfulness about how I was dancing and "faking it" before the ease and confidence I was looking for started moving through me. It also coincided with several personal events where I was moving away from old habits and ways of being. No longer was I leaning on a dance teacher, relationship partner, or friend to figure out who I was, I'd started doing that for myself. Facing my world with my head up, heart open, palms up, and not hunching away from it. It was as if someone had flipped a switch inside me, changing the way I was wired. Its not easy to stay that way though, old demons come back, they lure, taunt, and try to coerce me back into not trusting myself to be who I am. I'm ok with it being a back and forth for the forseeable future, I know it will get easier to manage each time it comes up.
All of this is what inspired my piece for the Breakthrough Fusion Competition. It was the ideal venue for me to show my fear exactly who was in charge (didn't hurt to have that acknowledged by the judges). This is the most real dancing I've ever done and I want to keep exploring this sort of thing.
http://www.vimeo.com/8876654
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Dance, Dance The Fears Away
This Sunday is the 2nd annual Breakthrough Fusion Competition its a chance to take whatever style of bellydance that one does, bring in some other styles and see what happens. No two acts are the same. Last year I fused elements of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. I also dealt with a heavy dose of stage fright and boy did that show.
This time around my goal is to be emotionally wide open on stage, intense, messy, expressive, and have the audience and judges along for the ride. Yes I'm nervous but I'm not scared at all. I'm using a blend of my bellydance vocabulary with elements of ballet and contemporary dance. The veil is my partner and not being used in the traditional sense of being "pretty pretty princess".
I'm not going there to try to win, I'm going to show myself that the old fears, the old problems have no hold on me any more,I'm using dance to heal myself ,and want to eventually help others do the same. Let the movements bring to light whatever lies under the surface and let it out through the heart, toes and the fingers. When its all said and done the no longer useful energies will be left behind, on the floor, and the spirit will be strong.
This time around my goal is to be emotionally wide open on stage, intense, messy, expressive, and have the audience and judges along for the ride. Yes I'm nervous but I'm not scared at all. I'm using a blend of my bellydance vocabulary with elements of ballet and contemporary dance. The veil is my partner and not being used in the traditional sense of being "pretty pretty princess".
I'm not going there to try to win, I'm going to show myself that the old fears, the old problems have no hold on me any more,I'm using dance to heal myself ,and want to eventually help others do the same. Let the movements bring to light whatever lies under the surface and let it out through the heart, toes and the fingers. When its all said and done the no longer useful energies will be left behind, on the floor, and the spirit will be strong.
Closing Out The Year
On various social network sites there have been many posts today from friends and family about the past year and what they want different for next year. Its interesting to note how many give great weight to the idea of a resolution.
I don't do resolutions, I never have. I'm more about a constant process of evolving and discovery rather than creating a hard and fast thing. I don't mind being honest with myself and setting realistic goals, but I do that all through the year rather than saying "ok on January 1st I'll REALLY try this time." No time like this exact moment, December 31 at 4:20pm. I'm going to continue my plan of living my life as fully as possible. I'm going to continue learning about what I want to pursue spiritually, getting myself out there more as a pro bellydancer, love more, have compassion for myself and others, keep stretching physically and emotionally, and continue writing as much or as little will spill onto the page.
Looking forward to 2010, 2009 was pretty great overall.
I don't do resolutions, I never have. I'm more about a constant process of evolving and discovery rather than creating a hard and fast thing. I don't mind being honest with myself and setting realistic goals, but I do that all through the year rather than saying "ok on January 1st I'll REALLY try this time." No time like this exact moment, December 31 at 4:20pm. I'm going to continue my plan of living my life as fully as possible. I'm going to continue learning about what I want to pursue spiritually, getting myself out there more as a pro bellydancer, love more, have compassion for myself and others, keep stretching physically and emotionally, and continue writing as much or as little will spill onto the page.
Looking forward to 2010, 2009 was pretty great overall.
The Illusions Around Us
Had this saved for a while and still can't really put into words how much impact this video has on me. Its what I feel whenever I talk to someone who's tired of feeling lost. If nothingelse I want to just hold out my arms and give them a hug!
We are all walking various paths in life and when it gets to the point that you realize your path is no longer your own it can be very scary to break loose to try for something else.
Raising Healthy Children
I'm not just meaning that they eat all of their vegtables, goodness knows mine sure do. But are they completely healthy and happy from the insides of their minds, to the smile on their face, way down to the tips of their toes?
I'm trying on a daily basis to teach my two girls (ages 6 & 8) about different ways of being healthy. That expressing anger is ok, expressing it by screaming in your sister's face...not so much. Instead introducing the idea of meditation and journaling. Its on a very small scale and more "monkey see, monkey do" at this point but its creating some great spaces and conversations.
Its a chance for me to learn about not just teaching them but to take care of my own little child who's got her own scars. We've started tackling the conversations about Spirituality and I try and include them in what I'm learning in school. My oldest and I went on a "date" to the coffee shop the other night and she very maturely asked me about what I was learning in school, did I like my books, my classmates, and my teacher. She wanted to then talk about things that "were going on with her", she recently experienced the loss of her pet rat and had been writing about it in a class journal. It was about her feelings, her being scared to love her new rat, being angry and taking it out on her sister, wondering if she did somethign to cause the tumor to grow. Pretty heavy conversations to have with an 8 year old and I think many parents don't encourage that level of discussion with their children. She'd been trying to talk to friends about it but hadn't gotten very far.
I'm really eager to not only experience my own growth as I learn in the Holistic Health Education program but to be able to share that knowledge with the next generation. I've heard from teachers and other adults at school that both of my girls have mentioned to others that they need some "chill out time" and will go sit somewhere and breathe. Don't know if it will catch on with any of the other kids but at least I hear about mine trying things out and finding out what works for them.
I'm trying on a daily basis to teach my two girls (ages 6 & 8) about different ways of being healthy. That expressing anger is ok, expressing it by screaming in your sister's face...not so much. Instead introducing the idea of meditation and journaling. Its on a very small scale and more "monkey see, monkey do" at this point but its creating some great spaces and conversations.
Its a chance for me to learn about not just teaching them but to take care of my own little child who's got her own scars. We've started tackling the conversations about Spirituality and I try and include them in what I'm learning in school. My oldest and I went on a "date" to the coffee shop the other night and she very maturely asked me about what I was learning in school, did I like my books, my classmates, and my teacher. She wanted to then talk about things that "were going on with her", she recently experienced the loss of her pet rat and had been writing about it in a class journal. It was about her feelings, her being scared to love her new rat, being angry and taking it out on her sister, wondering if she did somethign to cause the tumor to grow. Pretty heavy conversations to have with an 8 year old and I think many parents don't encourage that level of discussion with their children. She'd been trying to talk to friends about it but hadn't gotten very far.
I'm really eager to not only experience my own growth as I learn in the Holistic Health Education program but to be able to share that knowledge with the next generation. I've heard from teachers and other adults at school that both of my girls have mentioned to others that they need some "chill out time" and will go sit somewhere and breathe. Don't know if it will catch on with any of the other kids but at least I hear about mine trying things out and finding out what works for them.
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