the head and the heart

i drove up the bw parkway at sunset last night with julie beside me to go see the head and the heart. julie gave me their cd a while back and i haven't been able to take it out of my rotation. they're just so dang talented and beautiful! we said last night they there were like singing angels up there, reminding us that deserve to hear beautiful music. i couldn't pick between my two favorite songs by them so i thought i'd put them both. enjoy!

finding lots of inspiration this weekend

julie at the cherry blossoms

"i learned that opening myself to my own love and to life's tough loveliness was not only the most delicious, amazing thing on Earth but it was also quantum. it would radiate out to a cold, hungry world. beautiful moments heal, as do real cocoa, pete seeger, a walk on old fire roads. all i ever wanted since i arrived here on earth were the things that turned out to be within reach, the same things i needed as a baby--to go from cold to warm, lonely to held, the vessel to the giver, empty to full. you can change the world with a hot bath, if you sink into it from a place of knowing that you are worth profound care, even when you're dirty and rattled. who knew?"

--anne lamott

love sunday mornings

hello and goodbye

oh man oh man, this spring weather is so intoxicating and wonderful. it makes me want to stand perfectly still so i can feel the breeze across my cheeks and it makes me want to clean the dust bunnies out of corners and the cobwebs out of my brain and it makes me remember that life can always begin again--in fact nature demands it.

it's been a transition over these past few weeks. the first part of my 2012 has been dedicated to finishing my teacher training and then at the end of april i finished it! it was a beautiful, kinda intense process that is still trickling down in my teaching and my life. i'm a big believer that we can't sign up for big, awesome commitments without them changing us in some way. at the end, i feel more confident in my strengths, more self-accepting of the places where i am working and more in awe of what a beautiful teacher yoga really is. also, i got to do the training with a group of fabulous teachers who all taught me something special.

i hadn't finished that for a full day when i drove off to national harbor, md to photograph this amazing and huge conference on women's shelters around the world. 1600 people from over 100 countries gathered to talk about the importance of keeping women and children safe around the world. there were many powerful, inspiring, and heart-breaking stories and so many strong voices for the future of this movement. although i was just there to document it (and it's many celebrities in attendance--i'll do a post on this soon), i couldn't help but be affected.

when i left for nyc the morning after the conference ending, i was still carrying all this with me. it wasn't until i was sitting with don diego--an amazing peruvian, vedic shaman--during ceremony that i was able to process all i had seen and done. he sang his songs and i closed my eyes and saw all the faces of the women that i've known. i remembered the stories. i remembered the domestic abuse i witnessed in peru. i remembered my own abuse. i saw that all of these women, me included, have such huge hearts that they think they can save everything with their love and so they stay with hard situations. what i've learned though--what yoga has taught me--is that self-care has to start with us. it starts with us saying "no" to what doesn't serve us so we can allow what is beautiful. it's in taking care and standing up for ourselves that we truly become of service in this world. it's about making our love so big that encompasses our hearts and all that truth that exists within.

i left nyc calm, with a harmonium (!!!) in hand, and i felt ready to let go over these next few weeks. i'm so grateful for everything i've done in these past months and also grateful that everything comes to an end when it's ready. i like being able to recognize that.


goodbye nyc


hello harmonium!

shawn read this poem in her class last night and it reminded me of all those strong women i've met all over the world who have sustained such hard times and continue to love fiercely and how that love can transform us. thank you for your inspiration and reminding me that love means everything.

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

what inspires me

i took these photographs of yoga outreach as part of my 300-hour teacher training which finished this weekend. it was a beautiful closing for a rich and challenging sixth month process and i was honored to share it with the other 8 teachers who completed alongside me. everyone's final projects, which we shared over tea and fruit empanadas at our teacher bonnie's new home, were about bringing yoga to new populations. it was lovely to see how much we all want to share what has helped us through all kinds of difficult times and opened our hearts to experience joy.

if you want to see these photographs in real life, i'll be showing them during the yoga activist fundraiser on march 10th at comet ping pong. they will be music and ping pong and lots of good folks gathering for a worth cause.

adam and i saw her on saturday. she plays the harmonium and sings songs like these. love love her.

learn thai massage this weekend at quiet mind!

getting yummy during a thai training

i love a lot of things in this life and sometimes have a hard time choosing between them. thus, i end up doing a lot! but if i really did have to choose, thai massage would be at the top of my list. on top of being a deep and amazing-feeling massage (kinda like big yoga practice, without any of the effort), the energetic practice of it is so powerful! it's based in the idea that we can give metta--deep friendship love--through our touch and that we receive what we give. after giving a massage, i feel totally open, grateful and full of good vibes.

i've been teaching more and more workshops these days and it's been an amazing experience! people go from knowing nothing about the practice to giving a 40 minute massage within two hours. it's beautiful to witness!

i'm teaching a workshop at quiet mind yoga this sunday from 1:30-3:30pm. there are open slots still left so i'd love for you to join in and experience thai for yourself. let me know at gracy.obuchowicz@gmail.com if you have any questions and you can sign up here for the workshop.