A book of practices for transformation

I just started reading The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life (2000) by Rosmund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. It's another of the books recommended by Srikumar S. Rao to achieve your life potential. The Art of Possibility is a flowing, accessible narrative that's easy to wrap your mind around. While reading on the Metro, I've felt tears welling up from within at some of the most compelling passages. This book grew out of teaching, coaching and mentoring that the authors have done at corporations, universities and elsewhere so it synthesizes an approach to instill and encourage creativity. Benjamin Zander is a conductor and musician and his wife, Rosmund, is a family therapist and executive coach.

The authors describe the text as a "book of practices" because their 12 rules challenge standard assumptions so that an individual can achieve "a total shift of posture, perception, beliefs and thought processes." They cannot be accused of shooting low.

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  Teaming up on my body I have diversified my methods to break through my physical limitations. I have been getting massage therapy for about 30 minutes about every three weeks at work. The focus is on my shoulders and upper back. I've also returned to my acupuncturist, Kelly Welsh, for treatment of the same areas, plus the hips. I've also tried to incorporate little yoga stretches within my work routine. The idea is to apply multiple approaches to dissolve my tight, knotted muscles because I am not going to progress in my practice until I get passed this obstacle. 

My first yoga class after my acupuncture session I noticed a difference immediately. I was much looser  and more open in my shoulders and hips, and I felt as if I were using a completely different set of muscles.  The next day, I had an antagonistic reaction: I felt as if I was too loose, as if I were swimming in clothes a couple of sizes too big. I was especially tired after the practice. I also had an emotional resistance to the experience and I had to force myself to focus and move forward. I also resisted writing down my experience. Only now, two weeks later, have I expressed myself here, well after the first impressions have faded.
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  At dawn's early light... Washington Post On the Mall, a Flock of Yogis: "At Saturday's event, he [John Schumacher, founder and director of Unity Woods Yoga Center,] will lead a series of standing asanas -- Sanskrit for poses -- rather than have participants sit or stretch on the ground. One of the easiest asanas is Mountain Pose, in which you stand tall, feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides. From there, you can swoop into Proud Warrior Pose by spreading your legs and lunging to one side, arms outstretched, to create a stance that is strong and graceful." The idea of the October 7 8:00AM session on the Mall came from Flow Yoga Center's Perlson-Mishalove. I don't know if I am going to make it -- I'd have to leave home at 6:30 in the morning. I should have stuck this news item up earlier so that word started spreading around the DC area.  ¶ 10:57 AM 3 comments

  Cop-out

Sometimes, I think that I use yoga as a cop-out. I can be unfocused and scatter-brained all day, when I have things I need to do, but can soothe my conscience by saying, "At least I went to yoga practice." I can waste an evening watching TV, but still squeeze in a 20-minute session of mediation so I don't feel as if I've wasted all my time. There are several personal issues that I want to spend time working through, but I put off tackling them because I think I can address them indirectly by approaching them through my body, muscles and fascia, that I don't have to put in the hard work of challenging myself intellectually, mentally, psychologically.

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  A story of personal growth through yoga Washington Post Who, Me? A Yogi? - Two days running and I'm citing Post articles! Jennifer Huget, a freelancer with the Health section, tells how she has evolved over the past five years of practice. It's pretty much the same thing that I've been chronicling on this blog. Also see the online forum, in which readers asked common questions about getting started.  ¶ 11:05 PM 0 comments

  Stephen King speaks the truth

Washington Post The Writing Life: "There's a mystery about creative writing, but it's a boring mystery unless you're interested in this one small animal, sometimes quite vicious, that makes its home in the bushes. It's a scruffy little thing with fleas and often smells of whatever nasty mess it's been rolling in. It can never be more than semi-domesticated and isn't exactly known for its loyalty." I have never been a big Stephen King fan -- I have never read one of his books, which must make me a minute minority in the first decade of the 21st century. But I respect him a lot as a writer because he has produced, because he writes because he has to, because it's his life force.

I chanced across this article on the Web by accident, but something made me read it. I have a hard time getting into this piece that appeared in the Book World section of the Sunday Post. But once I got passed the fourth paragraph, his message hit me square in the butt. And done with such deceptive ease and self-deprecating humor. I got up, hunted down the weekend's stack of newspapers, found the hard copy and clipped it. It will be hung on the wall above my computer monitor. Hopefully, I will remember its core of truth each day that I try to write.

I am not going to summarize King's ideas here; just check it out yourself if you are interested in being creative, writing, digging deep. At least, this glimpse of truth made me put together these few lines, and also start writing about some other ideas that had been nipping at my heels for weeks.

Labels: inspire

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