At the most basic level an idea is a relationship between conscious and energy. Consciousness and energy have many forms so to understand ideas we can look at ideas and choose which aspect of an idea is its “consciousness” part and which part is the “energy.”
Consciousness tends to have the following quantities: mass, form, heaviness, pulls inwards, straight lines, focus, sensitivity/sensing, the ability to sense relationships, limits and limitation, choice, decision, decider, awareness
Energy is light, tends towards formlessness and expansion, curved lines, expression.
When these are looked at as aspects of an idea, they will probably rarely be completely energy or completely consciousness. They will have flavors of both but one will dominate and that dominate feature determines whether it is more consciousness or more energy.
When two people dance together we can label the person leading as the person playing the roll of consciousness because they look around to sense the limits within which they can move on the dance floor. They also sense their partner and where they are (relationship) and they choose at any moment in time the movement they will do next. Meanwhile the follower expresses them. She may have the more complicated footwork. But usually she is the center of attention, what draws the viewer’s eye. But really they are both consciousness and both energy, it’s just at in the context of the bigger idea, one is more conscious and one more energy. In the end they become the dance.
A rider and their motorcycle, the motorcycle can be energy because it is expression guided by the consciousness of the rider. Or together the are expression guided by the limits of the road they are on. Or the bike is consciousness (form) and the gas that fuels it is energy.
So really, consciousness and energy in all of these contexts depends on the way in which we view the idea. They are relative to each other. So how is that useful?
It is a way of looking at ideas that can help us understand them more. Looking at the rider and a bike, because the rider is consciousness, they become the one responsible for making the decisions. Nothing can be the bikes fault, not really, so it is all up to the rider. Dancing, the lead is responsible for making decisions, and choosing where to go, but here it is important to realize that the lady has to be conscious as well. She has to be consciousness enough to realize what the lead is telling her. A bike is limited, there is not choice for it to think by itself but she has that ability and so for two people to dance well together they both have to be consciousness and energy its just that one is a little bit more of one and less of the other.
We all know that now adays light is viewed as both a particle and a wave. In some situations it is a particle and in others it is better viewed as a wave. We could say that the wave aspect is the energy part while the particle aspect is the consciousness part. And that they are both aspects of the same thing. Before this model came about people argued about whether light is a particle or whether it is a wave. Now that we understand light better, that it is both, and that this model also applies to sub-atomic particles, the door has been opened to the world of silicon technology as we know it today. All those fancy cars with the cool lighting affects are possible because scientists realized that light acts as both a particle and a wave, they found a way of modeling light as both.
So why look at an idea as consciousness or energy, why try to understand ideas as having both, because it opens the door to more possibilities. Because the more we understand, the more we can see the more potential we can realize.
And failing that, it’s another way of seeing the world and enjoying it, especially when the two aspects come together.
We become light when we realize that two opposing views are actually different views of the same thing.
Showing posts with label Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ideas. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
A break and checking the answers, making an idea a part of us
A BREAK AND CHECKING THE ANSWERS
1.1 While I was in the army I loved studying mathematics. Whenever I had time to spare I’d find a place to sit and then get pleasantly lost in the process of solving problems. I found it soothing, like a form of self-hypnosis. But it wasn’t easy, at least not straight away.
1.2 I remember that the first time I looked at Binomial Coefficients, they looked so challenging that I put the book down after barely a quick glance. The next day I read the instructions again and was surprised because even though my first look at the new material had been quick, it was enough that while I rested I somehow began to open up it. Then the problems seemed easier, more understandable and so I began to try to solve them. A lot of my solutions were incorrect but I had the answers in the back so that I could see afterwards straight away where I went wrong. I didn’t have to wait for the teacher to correct my work. Instead, looking back over my attempted solutions, I saw for myself where I went wrong, and then carried on practicing.
1.3 While I was doing the problem I was “in it.” Afterwards, when I was checking the answer, I was resting and looking at the problem from another point of view, from the outside. The more regularly I changed my view of the problems, from being in them to looking at them from the outside the quicker I learned, and the quicker I was able to make the idea of what I was learning a part of me. And then I rested from it for a while and did something else.
1.4 After a while I got to a stage so that as I practiced the solutions would flow from my pen, and they were correct, as if the idea of what I was doing was a part of me and I was able to express it. I was able to check the answer as I was doing the problem. Those were the times when time seemed to stand still.
1.5 Learning a new idea, resting we get a chance to see that idea from another point of view, so that we can make the idea a part of ourselves. When have we learned the idea? When we can express it freely, when we can check our answers as we answer the problem, when we can watch ourselves doing what we are doing. Expressing an idea freely it’s like we are riding a wave, and the wave is time and because we are on the wave of time, time stands still.
1.1 While I was in the army I loved studying mathematics. Whenever I had time to spare I’d find a place to sit and then get pleasantly lost in the process of solving problems. I found it soothing, like a form of self-hypnosis. But it wasn’t easy, at least not straight away.
1.2 I remember that the first time I looked at Binomial Coefficients, they looked so challenging that I put the book down after barely a quick glance. The next day I read the instructions again and was surprised because even though my first look at the new material had been quick, it was enough that while I rested I somehow began to open up it. Then the problems seemed easier, more understandable and so I began to try to solve them. A lot of my solutions were incorrect but I had the answers in the back so that I could see afterwards straight away where I went wrong. I didn’t have to wait for the teacher to correct my work. Instead, looking back over my attempted solutions, I saw for myself where I went wrong, and then carried on practicing.
1.3 While I was doing the problem I was “in it.” Afterwards, when I was checking the answer, I was resting and looking at the problem from another point of view, from the outside. The more regularly I changed my view of the problems, from being in them to looking at them from the outside the quicker I learned, and the quicker I was able to make the idea of what I was learning a part of me. And then I rested from it for a while and did something else.
1.4 After a while I got to a stage so that as I practiced the solutions would flow from my pen, and they were correct, as if the idea of what I was doing was a part of me and I was able to express it. I was able to check the answer as I was doing the problem. Those were the times when time seemed to stand still.
1.5 Learning a new idea, resting we get a chance to see that idea from another point of view, so that we can make the idea a part of ourselves. When have we learned the idea? When we can express it freely, when we can check our answers as we answer the problem, when we can watch ourselves doing what we are doing. Expressing an idea freely it’s like we are riding a wave, and the wave is time and because we are on the wave of time, time stands still.
Acting on what we sense
ACTING ON WHAT WE SENSE
1.1 When we sense ourselves it is that much easier to put ourselves in a position where it as easy as possible to do what we are trying to do, assuming we know what it is that we are trying to do. Sensing all the parts of ourselves and what we are connected to we can organize everything so that given what we are trying to do every part of ourselves is in the best position possible to do it.
1.2 Doing yoga I sense where all the parts of my body are relative to the earth and the pose I am trying to do. So that I can sense my body easier I move my awareness through it one part at a feeling my feet, are they far enough apart, are they pressing down, then I feel my knees, is the back one straight? Is the front one at 90 degrees? Then I feel my hips. Are they square to the front, am I pulling my pubic bone up. If not then I square them and I pull my pubic bone up more so that my lower back feels straighter. Then I feel my back and my chest. Are they both open? If not then I try to open them more. Is my neck long? Can it be longer? Are my shoulders feeling open as I reach my arms up? I sense all the parts of my body relative to what I am trying to do and I act on what I sense.
1.1 When we sense ourselves it is that much easier to put ourselves in a position where it as easy as possible to do what we are trying to do, assuming we know what it is that we are trying to do. Sensing all the parts of ourselves and what we are connected to we can organize everything so that given what we are trying to do every part of ourselves is in the best position possible to do it.
1.2 Doing yoga I sense where all the parts of my body are relative to the earth and the pose I am trying to do. So that I can sense my body easier I move my awareness through it one part at a feeling my feet, are they far enough apart, are they pressing down, then I feel my knees, is the back one straight? Is the front one at 90 degrees? Then I feel my hips. Are they square to the front, am I pulling my pubic bone up. If not then I square them and I pull my pubic bone up more so that my lower back feels straighter. Then I feel my back and my chest. Are they both open? If not then I try to open them more. Is my neck long? Can it be longer? Are my shoulders feeling open as I reach my arms up? I sense all the parts of my body relative to what I am trying to do and I act on what I sense.
Ideas, Parts and Pieces
Parts and Pieces
1.1 After I left the army I went to university and while I was there my dad decided to buy a partially assembled motorcycle frame from a friend. The idea was that he and I, with some help from my uncle and various others were going to build a motorcycle, a custom Harley.
1.2 We thought we were getting a deal when we bought the partially assemble bike even though there was still a lot we didn’t have, an engine, transmission, controls and experience.
1.3 As the bike got built we found out that building a bike piece by piece is actually a very expensive proposition, more so than buying one ready assembled. Buying a bike partially assembled is even more expensive, especially as we undid a lot of the work the previous owner had already done, such as the paintwork. And because we had only part of an idea for the finished product there were quite a few learning experiences to be had. It was like me getting on my first bike and not realizing that steering a bike and stopping it were a special skill, a necessary skill.
1.4 We slowly bought the pieces we needed. Well actually, my dad slowly bought the things we needed while my uncle and I put the thing together. Some of the parts where brand new and some parts had probably seen the insides of several bikes. Several parts had to be modified to fit. But we got it together eventually and the day came when we tried to fire her up. We put fuel in the tank and pressed the start button. The starter motor turned but there was a noticeable lack of thunder. Though the starter motor was turning it wasn’t turning the engine and so the engine didn’t start. We wondered what was going wrong.
1.5 The problem was that the starter motor wasn’t turning the clutch.
1.6 There’s a little gear that slides out of the starter motor when the starter motor turns. It catches the teeth of a gear wheel on the outside of the clutch basket. When everything is working perfectly the starter gear is supposed to engage the teeth on the clutch basket, which then turns the motor and ideally starts it.
1.7 After scratching our heads my dad and I realized that whoever had the clutch basket before us had modified it so that the ring gear was in a different location. The starter gear popped out to a position where the clutch basket gear was supposed to be but wasn’t.
1.8 We took the clutch basket to a mechanic who re-welded the gear on to the clutch basket at the correct location. Excitedly we took it home and put the bike back together again.
1.9 Alas the bike still would not start.
1.10 Now the starter gear was engaging with the gear wheel on the clutch basket but while the starter was turning the clutch basket still wasn’t.
1.11 The starter motor was also second hand. We discovered that its magnets were switched so it was spinning the wrong way. We took it apart and reversed the magnets so that the starter spun the right way. Now when we tried to start the bike the engine turned over but the wires from the battery to the starter smoked. So we had to put thicker wires on the starter so it could get enough juice. After repeated test runs the bike again wouldn’t start. It took us a while to figure out that the bike had run out of gas.
1.12 I learned a lot working on that bike. I became conscious of the smaller ideas of a motorcycle and how those ideas relate. The starter gear comes out a set distance so it meshes with the clutch basket. The starter has to turn a certain way. I also learned that it’s fun figuring out how things work, but more so when I am not endangering my life.
1.13 Now that we know what it’s like to build a bike my dad and I agreed we could do much better if we ever do it again. We understood the pieces of a bike and how they go together so that now we can make another one if we choose. Now all I had to do is learn how to ride one.
1.1 After I left the army I went to university and while I was there my dad decided to buy a partially assembled motorcycle frame from a friend. The idea was that he and I, with some help from my uncle and various others were going to build a motorcycle, a custom Harley.
1.2 We thought we were getting a deal when we bought the partially assemble bike even though there was still a lot we didn’t have, an engine, transmission, controls and experience.
1.3 As the bike got built we found out that building a bike piece by piece is actually a very expensive proposition, more so than buying one ready assembled. Buying a bike partially assembled is even more expensive, especially as we undid a lot of the work the previous owner had already done, such as the paintwork. And because we had only part of an idea for the finished product there were quite a few learning experiences to be had. It was like me getting on my first bike and not realizing that steering a bike and stopping it were a special skill, a necessary skill.
1.4 We slowly bought the pieces we needed. Well actually, my dad slowly bought the things we needed while my uncle and I put the thing together. Some of the parts where brand new and some parts had probably seen the insides of several bikes. Several parts had to be modified to fit. But we got it together eventually and the day came when we tried to fire her up. We put fuel in the tank and pressed the start button. The starter motor turned but there was a noticeable lack of thunder. Though the starter motor was turning it wasn’t turning the engine and so the engine didn’t start. We wondered what was going wrong.
1.5 The problem was that the starter motor wasn’t turning the clutch.
1.6 There’s a little gear that slides out of the starter motor when the starter motor turns. It catches the teeth of a gear wheel on the outside of the clutch basket. When everything is working perfectly the starter gear is supposed to engage the teeth on the clutch basket, which then turns the motor and ideally starts it.
1.7 After scratching our heads my dad and I realized that whoever had the clutch basket before us had modified it so that the ring gear was in a different location. The starter gear popped out to a position where the clutch basket gear was supposed to be but wasn’t.
1.8 We took the clutch basket to a mechanic who re-welded the gear on to the clutch basket at the correct location. Excitedly we took it home and put the bike back together again.
1.9 Alas the bike still would not start.
1.10 Now the starter gear was engaging with the gear wheel on the clutch basket but while the starter was turning the clutch basket still wasn’t.
1.11 The starter motor was also second hand. We discovered that its magnets were switched so it was spinning the wrong way. We took it apart and reversed the magnets so that the starter spun the right way. Now when we tried to start the bike the engine turned over but the wires from the battery to the starter smoked. So we had to put thicker wires on the starter so it could get enough juice. After repeated test runs the bike again wouldn’t start. It took us a while to figure out that the bike had run out of gas.
1.12 I learned a lot working on that bike. I became conscious of the smaller ideas of a motorcycle and how those ideas relate. The starter gear comes out a set distance so it meshes with the clutch basket. The starter has to turn a certain way. I also learned that it’s fun figuring out how things work, but more so when I am not endangering my life.
1.13 Now that we know what it’s like to build a bike my dad and I agreed we could do much better if we ever do it again. We understood the pieces of a bike and how they go together so that now we can make another one if we choose. Now all I had to do is learn how to ride one.
Parts of an Idea-going up the gears
GOING UP THE GEARS
1.1 I’ve always loved motorcycles. Well maybe not always, but for a long time. One of my regrets was turning down the opportunity to buy my first bike. I was in the British Army at the time and I’d just finished basic training and was waiting to start my trade training. A fellow soldier had just completed his own trade training and was being sent to a different country so he wanted to sell his bike. It was perfect for learning on, only 100cc. Good condition too and cheap. The trouble was, that I’d never ridden before and I didn’t have a clue about taking lessons or getting licensed. Too difficult I thought, and so I passed it up, missing a fine opportunity to ride around in Europe.
1.2 Perhaps because of that missed opportunity I began to want to ride more and more, and perhaps because of that I also programmed myself to jump at the next opportunity to ride. That happened in Germany. I’d just been posted there and as soon as I arrived had been sent on an exercise in the south.
1.3 The guys who let me ride the bike didn’t know I’d never ridden before. Because I’d never ridden before the one thing I wanted to do was move up through the gears. I thought that would be the most difficult thing to do. I didn’t think about how to steer the bike and how to stop it. I assumed those things were easy and natural. Actually, I didn’t even assume, I just didn’t think about them. I also didn’t pay much attention to the idea of coming off the bike with both the bike and me in one piece. All I thought about was getting on the bike and taking it up through the gears. That was the challenge.
1.4 Riding a bike for the first time I got to second gear with a marvel of hand foot clutch lever gear shifting coordination. From second I went to third and then all the way to forth gear. Shifting gears wasn’t that hard after all! And it was exciting to be riding so fast.
1.5 The road I was riding went slightly uphill and gradually swept to the right. As I got to fourth gear the straight road began to run out. I tried turning the bike with my mind but the bike continued going straight while the road went right. There was a ditch beside the road and I went into it. My friends observed a cloud of dust. I quickly got up to wave and show that I was okay even though I wasn’t. The bike wasn’t in very good shape either. I was told later that I had bent the frame beyond repair.
1.6 A quick cover up ensued and several years after I left the army my dad sent me on a motorcycle course where I modified my idea of what I wanted to do on a bike.
1.7 I wanted to learn all of the smaller ideas that went into making the big idea of riding safe and fun to do. Ideas like how to steer and how to stop the bike while keeping it in one piece. I wanted to have fun riding and I wanted to keep on riding, a continuing action as opposed to one that ends abruptly.
1.1 I’ve always loved motorcycles. Well maybe not always, but for a long time. One of my regrets was turning down the opportunity to buy my first bike. I was in the British Army at the time and I’d just finished basic training and was waiting to start my trade training. A fellow soldier had just completed his own trade training and was being sent to a different country so he wanted to sell his bike. It was perfect for learning on, only 100cc. Good condition too and cheap. The trouble was, that I’d never ridden before and I didn’t have a clue about taking lessons or getting licensed. Too difficult I thought, and so I passed it up, missing a fine opportunity to ride around in Europe.
1.2 Perhaps because of that missed opportunity I began to want to ride more and more, and perhaps because of that I also programmed myself to jump at the next opportunity to ride. That happened in Germany. I’d just been posted there and as soon as I arrived had been sent on an exercise in the south.
1.3 The guys who let me ride the bike didn’t know I’d never ridden before. Because I’d never ridden before the one thing I wanted to do was move up through the gears. I thought that would be the most difficult thing to do. I didn’t think about how to steer the bike and how to stop it. I assumed those things were easy and natural. Actually, I didn’t even assume, I just didn’t think about them. I also didn’t pay much attention to the idea of coming off the bike with both the bike and me in one piece. All I thought about was getting on the bike and taking it up through the gears. That was the challenge.
1.4 Riding a bike for the first time I got to second gear with a marvel of hand foot clutch lever gear shifting coordination. From second I went to third and then all the way to forth gear. Shifting gears wasn’t that hard after all! And it was exciting to be riding so fast.
1.5 The road I was riding went slightly uphill and gradually swept to the right. As I got to fourth gear the straight road began to run out. I tried turning the bike with my mind but the bike continued going straight while the road went right. There was a ditch beside the road and I went into it. My friends observed a cloud of dust. I quickly got up to wave and show that I was okay even though I wasn’t. The bike wasn’t in very good shape either. I was told later that I had bent the frame beyond repair.
1.6 A quick cover up ensued and several years after I left the army my dad sent me on a motorcycle course where I modified my idea of what I wanted to do on a bike.
1.7 I wanted to learn all of the smaller ideas that went into making the big idea of riding safe and fun to do. Ideas like how to steer and how to stop the bike while keeping it in one piece. I wanted to have fun riding and I wanted to keep on riding, a continuing action as opposed to one that ends abruptly.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Idea of Anger
ANGER AND OTHER IDEAS THAT BEND THE PATH OF LIGHT
1.1 If the space and time continuum bends or curves, light bends with it. But what bends space and time? Things with gravity bend space and time. Things with spin too. If ideas have gravity and spin then can they too bend space and time and thus the path of light? If anger is an idea can it bend the path of light around us and distort what we see?
1.2 How do different people see the same things differently? Perhaps one of the reasons is because we all attach to different ideas of how the world is, and those ideas shape the lenses through which we view the world.
1.3 I used to be affected by the idea of anger and the more attention I gave it the more real it became. My anger gained weight and heaviness and it bent my perception to the point where I noticed that pictures I’d looked at while angry actually looked different when I looked at them again while calm.
1.4 Knowing that water refracts light we can position ourselves ninety degrees to its surface so that the image of what we are viewing is in line with the thing itself. And if we go into the water, then not only are we in line with the truth we see the truth.
1.5 Imagine if we know we are angry and that our anger is distorting what we say and see. Then imagine that if we go into our anger so that we see what is really there, so that what we see is not longer distorted. Perhaps then we can let go. (or we step outside of our anger to see what is really outside of ourselves.)
1.6 For myself there is a feeling of tightness when I get angry, a clear demarcation between myself and what is around me and where all I can feel is myself and the object of my ire. There’s also a sense that I have energy to discharge and the only way I can do that is to aim it at what I am angry at. But when I do that there is no sense of joy afterwards, more a feeling of depletion and emptiness. If instead of taking out my anger in the way I want to I find a way to move beyond the tightness...
1.7 Knowing when I am angry, I am getting better at realizing that I am not at my best and that my vision is skewed and that I am hardly being conscious, that I’m not giving myself the best view of the way ahead. So I work at becoming conscious again. Sometimes I put myself in the other person’s shoes. Sometimes, I think bigger imagining my senses pushing outwards. Sometimes I just start being more conscious and thus bigger, and thus able to handle and even enjoy what is going on around me.
1.8 While driving a bob sled I’m more likely to keep the sled running true, giving it plenty of room so that it doesn’t bang into the sides of the track if I am conscious. If I haven’t practiced or aren’t conscious of where we are and what we are doing, I keep bumping the sled into the sides of the track. Anger is like the friction caused by bumping into the track. Becoming conscious, I can get the sled to run true, a little bit harder than having it run true right from the beginning of the run, but it is still possible.
1.9 Becoming conscious we give ourselves and the people around us room. Conscious we can find ways to allow energy to flow in a way that benefits everyone involved, a way that allows us all to feel refreshed and energized as opposed to drained and lifeless.
1.10 Conscious, there is no room for anger, for separation, we see from everyone’s point of view. Or we have a positive focus for our awareness. Rather than what the people around us are doing what we want to do that is positive and light, what we want to do that has the maximum benefit for ourselves and everyone around us.
1.1 If the space and time continuum bends or curves, light bends with it. But what bends space and time? Things with gravity bend space and time. Things with spin too. If ideas have gravity and spin then can they too bend space and time and thus the path of light? If anger is an idea can it bend the path of light around us and distort what we see?
1.2 How do different people see the same things differently? Perhaps one of the reasons is because we all attach to different ideas of how the world is, and those ideas shape the lenses through which we view the world.
1.3 I used to be affected by the idea of anger and the more attention I gave it the more real it became. My anger gained weight and heaviness and it bent my perception to the point where I noticed that pictures I’d looked at while angry actually looked different when I looked at them again while calm.
1.4 Knowing that water refracts light we can position ourselves ninety degrees to its surface so that the image of what we are viewing is in line with the thing itself. And if we go into the water, then not only are we in line with the truth we see the truth.
1.5 Imagine if we know we are angry and that our anger is distorting what we say and see. Then imagine that if we go into our anger so that we see what is really there, so that what we see is not longer distorted. Perhaps then we can let go. (or we step outside of our anger to see what is really outside of ourselves.)
1.6 For myself there is a feeling of tightness when I get angry, a clear demarcation between myself and what is around me and where all I can feel is myself and the object of my ire. There’s also a sense that I have energy to discharge and the only way I can do that is to aim it at what I am angry at. But when I do that there is no sense of joy afterwards, more a feeling of depletion and emptiness. If instead of taking out my anger in the way I want to I find a way to move beyond the tightness...
1.7 Knowing when I am angry, I am getting better at realizing that I am not at my best and that my vision is skewed and that I am hardly being conscious, that I’m not giving myself the best view of the way ahead. So I work at becoming conscious again. Sometimes I put myself in the other person’s shoes. Sometimes, I think bigger imagining my senses pushing outwards. Sometimes I just start being more conscious and thus bigger, and thus able to handle and even enjoy what is going on around me.
1.8 While driving a bob sled I’m more likely to keep the sled running true, giving it plenty of room so that it doesn’t bang into the sides of the track if I am conscious. If I haven’t practiced or aren’t conscious of where we are and what we are doing, I keep bumping the sled into the sides of the track. Anger is like the friction caused by bumping into the track. Becoming conscious, I can get the sled to run true, a little bit harder than having it run true right from the beginning of the run, but it is still possible.
1.9 Becoming conscious we give ourselves and the people around us room. Conscious we can find ways to allow energy to flow in a way that benefits everyone involved, a way that allows us all to feel refreshed and energized as opposed to drained and lifeless.
1.10 Conscious, there is no room for anger, for separation, we see from everyone’s point of view. Or we have a positive focus for our awareness. Rather than what the people around us are doing what we want to do that is positive and light, what we want to do that has the maximum benefit for ourselves and everyone around us.
Ideas, Growth and Expression
1.1 We are ideas. And we are made up of other ideas, things we have learned. As our consciousness radiates outwards from our center we express ourselves. We dance, we write, we sing, we talk, we sew we cook. Any of the ideas that are already apart of us we express. We share our true nature and others see this expression and enjoy it and perhaps are even inspired or energized by it or they get another view of all that is, a view that they haven’t got time to experience themselves.
1.2 Expressing ourselves we send energy outwards from our center so that other centers of consciousness can pull that energy inwards.
1.3 Resting for a moment while still expanding outwards, we see the expression of other ideas around us, and as a result we are inspired, and we see the world in a way that we aren’t able to directly experience. Energy flows from out of us and then into us, and each cycle the expression of ourselves changes slightly, affected by what is around us.
1.4 Now imagine expressing ourselves while directly connected to someone else. At the same time they are expressing themselves and so we change, we both do. And even as we are expressing ourselves we are changed by what we are connected to. Sometimes we change more, or what we are connected to changes more. Sometimes change goes from one to the other sometimes the other way around. Or perhaps the change also originates from a center outside of the centers of the two connected ideas, like they are part of a bigger idea.
1.5 Now imagine that as well as happening across time this happens across space, that we allow energy in at the same time as we radiate it out. So we are changing even as we express ourselves because we are seeing what is around us and seeing how what is around us is changing too.
1.6 It’s like dancing with someone on a really crowded dance floor. We are expressing ourselves but the way we express ourselves is shaped by the expression of all the other dancers in the room. We express ourselves according to the room we have at the time. But at the same time everyone else is doing the same thing. So we all affect each other even as we express ourselves.
1.7 Over a slightly longer time period, as we expand outwards more we connect, with new ideas, new things to learn new people to experience and we change as a result of this connection. We learn new things and how to do them, we learn new people how to dance with them until the connection becomes firm (or we choose to let it go). When the connection is firm, the idea is a part of us, how to do a certain type of math problem, a new girlfriend or boy friend, knowing how to ride a bike. Or we are part of a new idea. And so we express the new idea, radiating outwards from its center as well as out own.
1.8 Resting, we pull inwards from all of the ideas into the idea of ourselves so that we can rest and look inwards across time at the way we have expressed ourselves.
1.2 Expressing ourselves we send energy outwards from our center so that other centers of consciousness can pull that energy inwards.
1.3 Resting for a moment while still expanding outwards, we see the expression of other ideas around us, and as a result we are inspired, and we see the world in a way that we aren’t able to directly experience. Energy flows from out of us and then into us, and each cycle the expression of ourselves changes slightly, affected by what is around us.
1.4 Now imagine expressing ourselves while directly connected to someone else. At the same time they are expressing themselves and so we change, we both do. And even as we are expressing ourselves we are changed by what we are connected to. Sometimes we change more, or what we are connected to changes more. Sometimes change goes from one to the other sometimes the other way around. Or perhaps the change also originates from a center outside of the centers of the two connected ideas, like they are part of a bigger idea.
1.5 Now imagine that as well as happening across time this happens across space, that we allow energy in at the same time as we radiate it out. So we are changing even as we express ourselves because we are seeing what is around us and seeing how what is around us is changing too.
1.6 It’s like dancing with someone on a really crowded dance floor. We are expressing ourselves but the way we express ourselves is shaped by the expression of all the other dancers in the room. We express ourselves according to the room we have at the time. But at the same time everyone else is doing the same thing. So we all affect each other even as we express ourselves.
1.7 Over a slightly longer time period, as we expand outwards more we connect, with new ideas, new things to learn new people to experience and we change as a result of this connection. We learn new things and how to do them, we learn new people how to dance with them until the connection becomes firm (or we choose to let it go). When the connection is firm, the idea is a part of us, how to do a certain type of math problem, a new girlfriend or boy friend, knowing how to ride a bike. Or we are part of a new idea. And so we express the new idea, radiating outwards from its center as well as out own.
1.8 Resting, we pull inwards from all of the ideas into the idea of ourselves so that we can rest and look inwards across time at the way we have expressed ourselves.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Consciousness and Energy, an Idea Made Real
1.1 What if when we are truly connected, we are moved by something bigger than ourselves. Like flying a kite and smoothly reeling out the string as the wind gets stronger or pulling it in as the wind dies, not too much or too little, just enough, and so tuned in that we pull or release the string in sync with the change of the wind. Instead of listening to the wind we are listening to the thing that drives the wind, feeling when it tells the wind to blow harder and when to blow softer. Tuned in we become one with the wind because we are listening not to the wind but to the same source that the wind is listening to.
1.2 To myself a dance seems like the perfect metaphor for two people who want to be together. It’s not so much that one is leading and the other follows, it’s more like we become a single entity, like two sides of a single brain where we take turns taking the lead depending on where we are and what we are doing.
1.3 Sometimes it takes practice, each of us learning ourselves so that we can come together, sometimes it takes learning to let go, but then sharing the same idea, we become part of the that idea.
1.3.1 It’s beyond trust and assumption. Once we know what we have to do we do it knowing that our partner will be doing what he or she has to do. It’s as if we’ve been practicing towards this moment. And it’s not assuming, or not recognizing, not being unconscious. Rather it is the opposite. We know exactly what our partner is doing and where they are and we know where we are. It’s like we’re being carried, or we are driving and at the same time as we are driving we are being driven, like a captain telling the helmsman, “First Star to the right” And that’s where they go. And when we are dancing with ourselves, expressing ourselves or perhaps leading others, the same feeling can be found, inside of us, trusting ourselves, our mind, our body, and our connection to something beyond ourselves. Allowing that “presence” to carry us.
1.4 We reach a point, whether through practice or just being present where instead of two people dancing together, one person leading and the other following, the two people become one. We are still ourselves, still two people but we are also something else, the dance, an idea outside of themselves made real. As if splitting up consciousness and energy is just a means of understanding, not so much too different parts as they are two different aspects of the same thing. Like looking at a circle and then a sin wave and realizing that really they are the same thing, two views of a spiral. Consciousness and energy, an idea made real.
1.2 To myself a dance seems like the perfect metaphor for two people who want to be together. It’s not so much that one is leading and the other follows, it’s more like we become a single entity, like two sides of a single brain where we take turns taking the lead depending on where we are and what we are doing.
1.3 Sometimes it takes practice, each of us learning ourselves so that we can come together, sometimes it takes learning to let go, but then sharing the same idea, we become part of the that idea.
1.3.1 It’s beyond trust and assumption. Once we know what we have to do we do it knowing that our partner will be doing what he or she has to do. It’s as if we’ve been practicing towards this moment. And it’s not assuming, or not recognizing, not being unconscious. Rather it is the opposite. We know exactly what our partner is doing and where they are and we know where we are. It’s like we’re being carried, or we are driving and at the same time as we are driving we are being driven, like a captain telling the helmsman, “First Star to the right” And that’s where they go. And when we are dancing with ourselves, expressing ourselves or perhaps leading others, the same feeling can be found, inside of us, trusting ourselves, our mind, our body, and our connection to something beyond ourselves. Allowing that “presence” to carry us.
1.4 We reach a point, whether through practice or just being present where instead of two people dancing together, one person leading and the other following, the two people become one. We are still ourselves, still two people but we are also something else, the dance, an idea outside of themselves made real. As if splitting up consciousness and energy is just a means of understanding, not so much too different parts as they are two different aspects of the same thing. Like looking at a circle and then a sin wave and realizing that really they are the same thing, two views of a spiral. Consciousness and energy, an idea made real.
Working with the Forces that are Acting On Us
BALANCING THE RELATIONSHIPS IN OUR LIVES
1.1 Riding a bike or skating, balance is easy when we are conscious of the forces acting on us because we can use those forces to our advantage, we find the easy way to stay aligned. We can do the same when balancing aspects of our lives through time. Feel the forces acting on us and use our moods, what we feel like doing to help us get things done. In the mood for studying, then study, in the mood for exercise, then its time to go to the gym. At the same time we stay aware of our relationship with each of these ideas. And so that we know what those ideas are we can ask ourselves “Why am I doing this?” Knowing the ideas in our life and why we are doing them, we can maintain a balanced relationship with each of them.
1.2 While I was at university I loved to exercise. At the same time I had to find time to study. Sometimes when I was studying I found that I was getting tired or unable to concentrate. So I used that as an excuse to go rollerblading or running. Generally, after I had exercised I was in a better mood to study. Meanwhile I couldn’t exercise so long that I didn’t have time to study, so the two kept each other in balance. Sometimes, going out for a run or a skate, I was able to figure out problems that I couldn’t figure out while staring at a book. And when I wasn’t in the mood for either I’d chat with my roommates or play video games or go out for a beer.
1.3 When I studied, I studied and I did it for long enough that I got into a groove and did something useful, learned something. Likewise, exercising, I gave myself enough time to warm up, exercise and cool down. When I wasn’t doing one thing I was doing another and I was enjoying myself.
1.4 That was the one term I did well enough to make it to the dean’s honors list.
1.5 Feeling the forces that act on us, the moods that take us, we can work on balance across time, taking turns one at a time with each of the ideas in our lives, feeling our relationship with each one and maintaining it and then moving on to the next one, cycling through them all continuously but paying attention to each one as we are with them.
1.6 Balance is maintaining a relationship with all of the ideas in our lives while working with the forces that act on us.
1.1 Riding a bike or skating, balance is easy when we are conscious of the forces acting on us because we can use those forces to our advantage, we find the easy way to stay aligned. We can do the same when balancing aspects of our lives through time. Feel the forces acting on us and use our moods, what we feel like doing to help us get things done. In the mood for studying, then study, in the mood for exercise, then its time to go to the gym. At the same time we stay aware of our relationship with each of these ideas. And so that we know what those ideas are we can ask ourselves “Why am I doing this?” Knowing the ideas in our life and why we are doing them, we can maintain a balanced relationship with each of them.
1.2 While I was at university I loved to exercise. At the same time I had to find time to study. Sometimes when I was studying I found that I was getting tired or unable to concentrate. So I used that as an excuse to go rollerblading or running. Generally, after I had exercised I was in a better mood to study. Meanwhile I couldn’t exercise so long that I didn’t have time to study, so the two kept each other in balance. Sometimes, going out for a run or a skate, I was able to figure out problems that I couldn’t figure out while staring at a book. And when I wasn’t in the mood for either I’d chat with my roommates or play video games or go out for a beer.
1.3 When I studied, I studied and I did it for long enough that I got into a groove and did something useful, learned something. Likewise, exercising, I gave myself enough time to warm up, exercise and cool down. When I wasn’t doing one thing I was doing another and I was enjoying myself.
1.4 That was the one term I did well enough to make it to the dean’s honors list.
1.5 Feeling the forces that act on us, the moods that take us, we can work on balance across time, taking turns one at a time with each of the ideas in our lives, feeling our relationship with each one and maintaining it and then moving on to the next one, cycling through them all continuously but paying attention to each one as we are with them.
1.6 Balance is maintaining a relationship with all of the ideas in our lives while working with the forces that act on us.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Ideas and Systems, Units of Meaning
1 IDEAS AND SYSTEMS, UNITS OF MEANING
1.1 When I tell people that I studied Systems Design Engineering in University they often think that means I worked with computer systems but then I explain that the concept of systems isn’t limited to computers. It’s any type of system. So then the question is, “What is a system?” Whatever has the most meaning for us at the time. The key word is meaning. A system has some purpose or function, and depending on the way we look at it we can see one meaning or another. And because we can choose the way we look at a system, we can choose the meaning that we see.
1.2 Shooting rifles in the army we were part of a system and the function of that system was to make holes as close to the center of a target as possible. But the rifle itself was also a system designed to output projectiles. We, the person operating the rifle, were also a system and in this context we were a system whose function was to operate a rifle.
1.3 Systems are made up of components that are interconnected and that work together to perform the function of the system. Systems can be broken down into subsystems, which are systems in themselves. Systems can be combined with other systems to create a larger system. Whatever those subsystems or higher systems are, they all have a purpose.
1.4 We can substitute the word idea for system.
1.5 A motorcycle can be an idea and it stops there or we can think of a motorcycle in terms of its parts, an engine, a transmission, primary drive etc. Or we can go smaller, the gears, shafts, nuts and bolts and the things that they connect. If we wish to ride a motorbike then the idea that we become is that of a rider. But if we need to fix one or build one then the idea we become is that of a mechanic and then the ideas we need to be familiar with are the parts of the bike. Depending on what we have to do, we might need to understand the idea of a starter motor or we might need to understand the ideas within a starter motor. The more we understand (and the more tools we have) the more we can do. Or we understand the idea of a person who understands the smaller ideas of bikes and take the bike to them.
1.6 We are ideas made up of other ideas such as our heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and spleen. We are also part of other ideas, of a family or a loving couple, of the job we do or the hobbies we enjoy.
1.7 We are also the idea of ourselves.
1.8 The beauty of systems and of ideas is that we can choose the way we look at them. Which view gave us the best understanding?
1.9 Suppose we want to learn how to ride a motorbike then that is the idea we are trying to make real. Initially we learn how to make the bike stop, and how to make it go, at the same time learning how to keep it balanced. We also learn how to steer it. Eventually we learn all of these smaller ideas so that then we can make the bigger idea of riding real. Then we can express the idea.
1.10 Perhaps we discover that riding a bike is stressful, or not as much fun as we thought it would be. Do we want to ride a bike for transportation or are we more interested in riding a bike to go fast, in which case perhaps what we really want to do is race, or perhaps find a place where we can ride it fast without hurting ourselves or anyone around us. Or perhaps we simply don’t enjoy riding and so we leave that idea and look for another idea to make real.
1.11 Each of us has many ideas that we are either learning or expressing, helping to make real. Some of them are ideas we love, others not so much. Sometimes an idea isn’t quite what we think so we can either change the way we look at it, the way we connect to it or we disconnect and find a new idea to connect to.
1.12 Which ideas do we want to put our attention on? What are the ideas that are important for us, what are the ideas that help us to balance the idea of ourselves? What are the ideas that we subconsciously or unconsciously think about? Ideas, what are the ideas in our life? Knowing the ideas, we can choose the ones that we want to make real and continue to make real. And just as ideas are made up of other ideas we can ask ourselves this question, “what are the ideas that I am a part of.”
1.13 This book is an idea that I am helping to make it real. Before I started I was working on another idea for a book, “Belly Breathing to Tone the Abs,” but then I realized that I liked the idea of this book better. And that’s the thing about ideas, we can choose the ones we like, the ones we want to help make real.
1.14 Here’s an idea. Imagine an ideal life. Imagine leading a life where all the ideas in our life work together instead of pulling us apart. Or imagine something simpler, perhaps a life that we love or even just a job that we like with people that we enjoy working with.
1.1 When I tell people that I studied Systems Design Engineering in University they often think that means I worked with computer systems but then I explain that the concept of systems isn’t limited to computers. It’s any type of system. So then the question is, “What is a system?” Whatever has the most meaning for us at the time. The key word is meaning. A system has some purpose or function, and depending on the way we look at it we can see one meaning or another. And because we can choose the way we look at a system, we can choose the meaning that we see.
1.2 Shooting rifles in the army we were part of a system and the function of that system was to make holes as close to the center of a target as possible. But the rifle itself was also a system designed to output projectiles. We, the person operating the rifle, were also a system and in this context we were a system whose function was to operate a rifle.
1.3 Systems are made up of components that are interconnected and that work together to perform the function of the system. Systems can be broken down into subsystems, which are systems in themselves. Systems can be combined with other systems to create a larger system. Whatever those subsystems or higher systems are, they all have a purpose.
1.4 We can substitute the word idea for system.
1.5 A motorcycle can be an idea and it stops there or we can think of a motorcycle in terms of its parts, an engine, a transmission, primary drive etc. Or we can go smaller, the gears, shafts, nuts and bolts and the things that they connect. If we wish to ride a motorbike then the idea that we become is that of a rider. But if we need to fix one or build one then the idea we become is that of a mechanic and then the ideas we need to be familiar with are the parts of the bike. Depending on what we have to do, we might need to understand the idea of a starter motor or we might need to understand the ideas within a starter motor. The more we understand (and the more tools we have) the more we can do. Or we understand the idea of a person who understands the smaller ideas of bikes and take the bike to them.
1.6 We are ideas made up of other ideas such as our heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and spleen. We are also part of other ideas, of a family or a loving couple, of the job we do or the hobbies we enjoy.
1.7 We are also the idea of ourselves.
1.8 The beauty of systems and of ideas is that we can choose the way we look at them. Which view gave us the best understanding?
1.9 Suppose we want to learn how to ride a motorbike then that is the idea we are trying to make real. Initially we learn how to make the bike stop, and how to make it go, at the same time learning how to keep it balanced. We also learn how to steer it. Eventually we learn all of these smaller ideas so that then we can make the bigger idea of riding real. Then we can express the idea.
1.10 Perhaps we discover that riding a bike is stressful, or not as much fun as we thought it would be. Do we want to ride a bike for transportation or are we more interested in riding a bike to go fast, in which case perhaps what we really want to do is race, or perhaps find a place where we can ride it fast without hurting ourselves or anyone around us. Or perhaps we simply don’t enjoy riding and so we leave that idea and look for another idea to make real.
1.11 Each of us has many ideas that we are either learning or expressing, helping to make real. Some of them are ideas we love, others not so much. Sometimes an idea isn’t quite what we think so we can either change the way we look at it, the way we connect to it or we disconnect and find a new idea to connect to.
1.12 Which ideas do we want to put our attention on? What are the ideas that are important for us, what are the ideas that help us to balance the idea of ourselves? What are the ideas that we subconsciously or unconsciously think about? Ideas, what are the ideas in our life? Knowing the ideas, we can choose the ones that we want to make real and continue to make real. And just as ideas are made up of other ideas we can ask ourselves this question, “what are the ideas that I am a part of.”
1.13 This book is an idea that I am helping to make it real. Before I started I was working on another idea for a book, “Belly Breathing to Tone the Abs,” but then I realized that I liked the idea of this book better. And that’s the thing about ideas, we can choose the ones we like, the ones we want to help make real.
1.14 Here’s an idea. Imagine an ideal life. Imagine leading a life where all the ideas in our life work together instead of pulling us apart. Or imagine something simpler, perhaps a life that we love or even just a job that we like with people that we enjoy working with.
Connection, Change and Relationship
CONNECTION, CHANGE AND RELATIONSHIP
1.1 Computer systems deal with the flow of information from one idea to another. As that information flows from one part of the system to another it causes change. The part of the system sending the information changes as it sends the information, just as we change when we open our mouth to speak. And the part of the system listening for information, it changes when it receives the information as we might do when we see the traffic light ahead of us turn to red while we are driving. In going from one place to another information causes change. And when that information is read and acted on even more change occurs. (Sitting in a car, the speedometer is always there, but do we always notice it changing? “...Sorry officer, I was not conscious of my actual speed...”)
1.2 Even the simple act of delivering the information, electrons flowing along wires, is change but in order for change to occur, for one idea to change another they have to be connected. They have to have a relationship so that information can be exchanged.
1.3 A relationship is two or more ideas connected in such a way that information can be exchanged so that change is caused. Depending on the connection and the relative size of each idea that change may be big or it may be small. One idea may change more than the other. Change may occur simultaneously, fish turning simultaneously as one or it may occur sequentially, like in a conversation, two people taking turns listening to each other.
1.4 I am connecting to this idea, that of basic principles, and in connecting to my computer I am helping to give that idea form. And in the process of writing I am changing myself. Both the small changes as my fingers tap out words on the keyboard and bigger changes as my understanding of what I am writing about improves. The more I connect to this idea the better I understand it and the more I grow and change as a result.
1.1 Computer systems deal with the flow of information from one idea to another. As that information flows from one part of the system to another it causes change. The part of the system sending the information changes as it sends the information, just as we change when we open our mouth to speak. And the part of the system listening for information, it changes when it receives the information as we might do when we see the traffic light ahead of us turn to red while we are driving. In going from one place to another information causes change. And when that information is read and acted on even more change occurs. (Sitting in a car, the speedometer is always there, but do we always notice it changing? “...Sorry officer, I was not conscious of my actual speed...”)
1.2 Even the simple act of delivering the information, electrons flowing along wires, is change but in order for change to occur, for one idea to change another they have to be connected. They have to have a relationship so that information can be exchanged.
1.3 A relationship is two or more ideas connected in such a way that information can be exchanged so that change is caused. Depending on the connection and the relative size of each idea that change may be big or it may be small. One idea may change more than the other. Change may occur simultaneously, fish turning simultaneously as one or it may occur sequentially, like in a conversation, two people taking turns listening to each other.
1.4 I am connecting to this idea, that of basic principles, and in connecting to my computer I am helping to give that idea form. And in the process of writing I am changing myself. Both the small changes as my fingers tap out words on the keyboard and bigger changes as my understanding of what I am writing about improves. The more I connect to this idea the better I understand it and the more I grow and change as a result.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Idea Space
IDEA SPACE, AN ABUNDANCE OF IDEAS
1.1 Waiting for a friend to arrive for lunch one day, I pondered teaching yoga to kids. I thought of helping them learn what their body could do before they got stuck into habits that limited their body’s potential.
1.2 I’d seen children who’s posture mimicked their parent’s almost exactly and I thought that if I could help them be aware of their body they could then choose how they held themselves. Aware of their body maybe they’d be able to operate it without artificially limiting it.
1.3 I thought of the habits or mannerisms that we picked up from those around us. If we were conscious of what we were doing and what those around us were doing we could choose the things we pick up, or at least the things we keep.
1.4 At one level that is what yoga is about, becoming more conscious, in this case conscious of possibilities. Aware of what the possibilities are we can choose the things we do and how we do them. Teaching kids yoga I wanted to help them understand what their body is capable of, as well as their mind, and rather than limiting them I wanted to teach them frameworks within which they could express themselves.
1.5
1.6 I’ve been living in Taiwan for a number of years now and before I started teaching yoga here I taught English to young children for a year. There are quite a few foreigners teaching English and part of my idea was to train those same teachers, those who wanted to, to teach Yoga as part of their kids exercise time. I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to learn to teach something as well as English. At the same time they’d be helping the kids as well as themselves stay flexible (or get flexible.) And I would get the chance to develop a training program that would benefit teachers as well as the people that they taught.
1.7 The other part of the idea was selling yoga to the schools where it might be taught, and in turn to the parents of the children who might be taught. I thought that perhaps one of the biggest things to sell it on is how it can benefit the mind, perhaps if the children stayed flexible in their body they’d also stay flexible in their minds, be able to think more creatively.
1.8 I wasn’t aware of any evidence to that fact and it seemed like a pretty slim connection and so I thought that perhaps the mental flexibility could come in the way I taught yoga. Teach the teachers, and through them the children a set sequence of poses, and then teach them how to vary the sequence and then the poses. Give them a framework and show them how to express themselves within that framework.
1.9 Another benefit, more in line with what the parents were sending their kids to English school for was that it would be a great opportunity for kids to learn about their body in English, or indeed in both languages, Chinese and English.
1.10 The school could possibly benefit by getting more students whose parents want their kids to learn yoga (as well as English) and perhaps even the yoga studio I worked for could benefit either through getting their name out into the community or in having a potential source for future yoga teachers or students.
1.11 Why was I so keen on this idea, because I thought that everyone involved could benefit.
1.12
1.13 When my friend arrived I told him about my idea and asked him if he be interested in helping me develop it and teach it to kids. He would think about it.
1.14 The next time I saw my friend I asked him if he was still interested in teaching kids yoga? He said not to worry about it. There were plenty of ideas to go around. That it didn’t matter if we did this idea, there were other ideas we could do instead if it came down to it.
1.15 In the last few years I’ve had a lot of exposure to talk about wealth consciousness, focusing on thoughts of being wealthy, of having lots of wealth as opposed to its opposite. And all of a sudden I realized that the real key wasn’t an abundance of money but an abundance of ideas. There are an infinity of ideas waiting to be made real.
1.16 Wow, imagine, not only picking the ideas we want to make real but having an infinity of ideas from which to choose from.
1.1 Waiting for a friend to arrive for lunch one day, I pondered teaching yoga to kids. I thought of helping them learn what their body could do before they got stuck into habits that limited their body’s potential.
1.2 I’d seen children who’s posture mimicked their parent’s almost exactly and I thought that if I could help them be aware of their body they could then choose how they held themselves. Aware of their body maybe they’d be able to operate it without artificially limiting it.
1.3 I thought of the habits or mannerisms that we picked up from those around us. If we were conscious of what we were doing and what those around us were doing we could choose the things we pick up, or at least the things we keep.
1.4 At one level that is what yoga is about, becoming more conscious, in this case conscious of possibilities. Aware of what the possibilities are we can choose the things we do and how we do them. Teaching kids yoga I wanted to help them understand what their body is capable of, as well as their mind, and rather than limiting them I wanted to teach them frameworks within which they could express themselves.
1.5
1.6 I’ve been living in Taiwan for a number of years now and before I started teaching yoga here I taught English to young children for a year. There are quite a few foreigners teaching English and part of my idea was to train those same teachers, those who wanted to, to teach Yoga as part of their kids exercise time. I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to learn to teach something as well as English. At the same time they’d be helping the kids as well as themselves stay flexible (or get flexible.) And I would get the chance to develop a training program that would benefit teachers as well as the people that they taught.
1.7 The other part of the idea was selling yoga to the schools where it might be taught, and in turn to the parents of the children who might be taught. I thought that perhaps one of the biggest things to sell it on is how it can benefit the mind, perhaps if the children stayed flexible in their body they’d also stay flexible in their minds, be able to think more creatively.
1.8 I wasn’t aware of any evidence to that fact and it seemed like a pretty slim connection and so I thought that perhaps the mental flexibility could come in the way I taught yoga. Teach the teachers, and through them the children a set sequence of poses, and then teach them how to vary the sequence and then the poses. Give them a framework and show them how to express themselves within that framework.
1.9 Another benefit, more in line with what the parents were sending their kids to English school for was that it would be a great opportunity for kids to learn about their body in English, or indeed in both languages, Chinese and English.
1.10 The school could possibly benefit by getting more students whose parents want their kids to learn yoga (as well as English) and perhaps even the yoga studio I worked for could benefit either through getting their name out into the community or in having a potential source for future yoga teachers or students.
1.11 Why was I so keen on this idea, because I thought that everyone involved could benefit.
1.12
1.13 When my friend arrived I told him about my idea and asked him if he be interested in helping me develop it and teach it to kids. He would think about it.
1.14 The next time I saw my friend I asked him if he was still interested in teaching kids yoga? He said not to worry about it. There were plenty of ideas to go around. That it didn’t matter if we did this idea, there were other ideas we could do instead if it came down to it.
1.15 In the last few years I’ve had a lot of exposure to talk about wealth consciousness, focusing on thoughts of being wealthy, of having lots of wealth as opposed to its opposite. And all of a sudden I realized that the real key wasn’t an abundance of money but an abundance of ideas. There are an infinity of ideas waiting to be made real.
1.16 Wow, imagine, not only picking the ideas we want to make real but having an infinity of ideas from which to choose from.
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