Ciao, tutti! Happy Autumn! (Or possibly Happy Spring, depending on your hemisphere.)
Just a brief note to update you on the goings on in my life.
I recently subscribed to an excellent yoga website, where I stumbled upon a set of videos called "12 Days of Awareness" by Taetske Kleijn. She takes you through a series of exercises which help to bring you into full awareness of each moment. The point is to help you realize that the only time that exists is right now. To quote Taetske, even if you are speaking about an event from the past, you are not really describing that past event itself, but rather, your memory of it. And your memory of that past event exists right now.
After I heard that piece of information, my brain just about exploded. I realized how much baggage and burdens from the past I was carrying around with me and how they were impinging and infringing on my ability to live fully and freely in the moment.
I also realized how much we deaden our senses, especially when it seems that we are overly stimulated through our sense of sight. In this fast-spaced, plugged in world, sometimes it seems like the only senses that we use are our sense of sight and possibly the sense of touch as we swipe through our mobile and computer screens.
During another day of meditation, I began to realize how not just our fingers and hands, but indeed our entire skin is capable of the sense of touch. How often do we go through the day not even aware of the feel of our clothes on our skin or the wind on our face? How much do we make our poor eyes do without even giving a chance to the other many senses that we have?
So the 12 Days of Awareness have made a big impact in my life. I made a conscious decision to just do one thing at a time, whether it be reading an email, eating a piece of fruit, or talking to somebody. This has really helped to quieten the constant chatter of inner voices, and has been especially useful in my singing.
After I returned from Germany, my teacher gave me an enormous list of music to learn and we began to prepare three separate recitals'-worth of music.With my new focus, I have been able to learn music so much quicker than before, especially because I am not having to stop every few seconds to berate myself with what the inner voices are saying. They simply don't have time or a place to make themselves heard.
Thus continues my journey of self-awareness. I am always intrigued how all of these different methods and techniques that I've found (Alexander, Grinberg, Yoga, Feldenkrais) seem to dance around each other, yet they are all leading us in the same direction: freedom to choose how we live, right here, right now.
That being said, I wish all of my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!
And to everyone else, stay warm, dry, and well!
Much love,
Daniella
