Wednesday, March 23, 2011

SPRING IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO!

I am Canadian and I live in Burlington Ontario so I supposed I shouldn't be shocked by the sight that greeted me this morning (our 3rd day of spring) when I looked out the door.

Call me a wimp if you will, but I quickly closed the door, cranked up the heat and decided to work from home for the remainder of the morning.

Earlier this morning I'd cancelled my 30K Around the Bay training walk with Candy. We'd try for later in the day we both agreed and once I hung up the phone I dove back into bed for some early morning drifting of my own.
I'd hoped that when I next opened the door I'd find the blaze of the afternoon sun had melted all the snow and I could drive off in my chariot unobstructed and be off for my walk. This was not to be so. Candy and I deemed conditions too lousy for even an afternoon saunter.

But errands were begging to be tended to and before ALF W and I could head out some serious shovelling had to be done. In this pic, serious shovelling resulted in this bleak, windswept sight. It is as cold as it looks!

And, here's where all of the heavy, wet stuff, plus chunks of ice got put. My front yard is under there somewhere. I do like the nice little drift to the left of the tree. It shows you the direction of the wind. For every toss of snow I heaved into the air a substantial amount pelted me in the face. On the plus side; I won't need to exfoliate for days!












Though initially Flippy was disappointed that I'd shut the door this morning and robbed her of her morning ritual of overseeing her domain, in her capacity as the mistress of the neighbourhood, on subsequent investigation I swear I clearly heard her say, "what the F**k!"

Friday, March 18, 2011

Prayer in many forms

Prayer, it's almost an embarrassing thing to admit nowadays, that I pray. I don't know why. I mean there are many forms of prayer; many motivations behind a prayer.

My earliest recollection of a prayer was this one taught to many a tiny, innocent child.
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray the lord my soul to take
This prayer scared the shit outta me. I'm sure it was responsible for my life long neck issues (explained here) and probably scarred me for life. The whole idea that God was some kind of creep out there cruising for someone to pluck up in the night didn't endear me to him (I was sure God must be a him). It didn't make me want to jump into bed any more than a lobster would willingly jump into a boiling pot. So, I guess that's why the whole damn Thacker clan are night people; because of this damn prayer.

Like most of us, I have been known to use prayer as a bargaining tool, for example:
"Please, please, please let me just get through this test that I didn't study for and I promise, cross my heart, that I'll study for days in advance from now on. I promise!" Miraculously passing the test has the power to wipe away any memory of promises made.

We pray for what we want to happen. We want our friends and family to be safe, happy, prosperous and healthy. When something bad happens to a loved one we pour our hearts out to God to make them better, to heal them, to watch over them and for a self-prescribed outcome that would make everything right once more, not only for them but, for our breaking heart.

The devastation in Japan and the horror experienced by the Japanese people has elicited a strong response in all of us to help in any way we can, through monetary donations, gestures of support, expressions of empathy and all forms of prayer.

Friends have been circulating this JAPANESE NUCLEAR REACTOR VISUALIZATION video by Adam Dreamhealer via e-mail in hopes that if enough people focus on the power of positive intention and visualization, that the situation will be brought under control with minimal damage to lives and the environment. Engaging in this visualization, people come together to raise the vibration and effect a change in our consensus reality. Behind this belief system is the reality that we are merely organized thought forms and thought has the power to affect what only seems to be a solid, material world.



The Foundation for Shamanic Studies issued this e-mail release to its members to enlist the power of helping spirits to assist in the healing for Japan with the reminder that the Japanese spiritual traditions (90% of the population is Buddhist or Shinto) regarding life, death and healing must be fully respected.

People are lighting candles, praying in churches or at their personal altars, smudging, chanting, reciting mantras, and "flying" to assist the healing process in Japan. NOTE: FLYING FOR JAPAN - SAT MAR 19TH 6 - 7:30pm at HOT YOGA WELLNESS CONCORD, 1750 Steeles Ave W in Toronto.

At the end of every Yoga Centre of Victoria satsang, recitation of Swami Radha's Divine Light Invocation was performed in which loved ones, those in need of healing, and projects needing assistance were seen whole, healthy and successful as they were"put into the light". The visualization progressed as our little collection of light brightened and expanded outwards join with other centres of light to include and offer healing energy to the earth and ultimately the universe.

And of course the forgiveness of Ho'oponopono is another way to offer a prayer for healing in whatever form it may take. The power of forgiveness extends as we forgive others who have transgressed against us and also ask for their forgiveness for our own ill-conceived actions. When we forgive ourselves for our own failings, the power behind this intention is amplified.

As I've observed, prayers of indigenous peoples not only display acceptance of the wisdom in "thy will be done" but also give thanks in advance for the healing that has taken place. Rather than pray for "something to happen" gratitude is expressed for the opportunity that exists in every day, for what has been received and an honouring of those spirits in their many forms who have made it so.

Some believe that the universe has its own plan and its own wisdom that is inconceivable to us mere humans. What good will come out of this suffering? Will the world become a more compassionate place? Will advances in safer technology result? Will individuals and the human race shift our priorities? Will our world view change?

Time will tell if the shift of the earth's plates below the ocean on that fateful day was the beginning of a shift in consciousness for us all.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Playtime in the bat room

REACHING FOR THE FLOOR
One of my favourite things to do is just hang around on the ropes. This series feels so great for the upper back and shoulders. As I look at these pictures I realize that they don't convey the sense of opening that I feel in my body. In this first picture, I feel as if I'm bending at a 90 degree angle; my legs feel parallel to the floor.
CHEST OPENER
Here, I've swung back, using my legs to propel me so that I can catch the lower set of ropes. By bringing my arms out to the sides there is a tremendous stretch across the chest.
BODY ARCH
 As I stretch my arms "up" above my head you can see how the full arc of the body is complete. The arch is distributed throughout the body. This is the perfect way to open out the groins and the arm pits, thus take the strain off of the lumbar which can take the brunt of the load in back bending.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS... it just feels great!
Again, perception is deceiving here. It feels as if my feet are just inches away from my head, but not so. I play between this posture and the two previous ones, cycling and flowing from this to arms "up", to arms out wide,  to arms "up", back to this one and so on.

This actually is how I use my legs to catch the lower ropes, pulling the ropes with my heels I take a few swings to be able to reach the lower ropes. I'm able to hold the position with my legs and then extend my arms "up" to get that first really great body arch stretch.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Around the Bay

Hi all,

Flippy's back, asking you to help me raise funds for St Joseph's Healthcare Foundation in Hamilton. Once again I'm walking the 30K AROUND THE BAY road race. First started in 1894, it's the oldest one in North America.

I've made it easy for you. You'll make my steps lighter with your support. All you have to do is click on SPONSOR NANCE make your pledge and I'll be all fuelled up and ready to run...well, not run actually but, I'll be doing a blistering pace as I walk. Well...hopefully NOT a blistering pace! I already did that last year. How about a non-blistering pace which still is pretty darned exciting.

aftermath of blistering pace last year
The old shoes (pictured) are out; the "new" ones are in. Whether they'll be my Vibram 5 fingers shoes or other is yet to be decided as the weather out this way has been pretty cold and more of the same is expected on race day, March 27th.

Will these babies be the ones?
The aptly named CHILLY HALF marathon was run this past weekend. The runners went to bed after moderately mild, rainy day and woke up to a blanket of snow covering icy roads and the howl of blustery winds. By the time the race was on road crews had cleared and prepared a decent surface but the winds remained chilly indeed.

Anyway here we go again. My sister Candy will be walking too!

Now I just need to get out and get some mileage (kilometrige?) under my belt.

Wish me luck and happy feet!

 Check out Da Agony of Da Feet, the blog entry I posted after last year's walk.