Today, thanks to Jim, I started week one of the hundred push ups plan, at Tier 3, which was 10-12-7-7 with 60 seconds of rest between. I did fine. I incorporated it into my warm-up, with sit-ups and air squats between. I then went on to the newer, heavier Grace, with 80 pounds instead of 75 and my stupid watch didn’t start. I was listening to music, so I calculated my time based on that, estimating about 5:45. Last time I did it, I got 3:38 and that was with 75 pounds. Trust me, five pounds makes a big difference. My form was sucky too. But I’ll do better next time for sure. I finished the day with handstands rolling down the wall, which I can only really don on the weekends. All in all, a good day.

School, UK

lets kick it off…

 Botanical Gardens, Oxford, UK.

One of the most wonderful elements that yoga provides is a sense of clarity and focus—so greatly needed in our frantic, constantly-wired lives.  Sometimes during the day I notice I’m agitated and nervous, as if I’m on deadline for something that I’ve forgotten and am desperately trying to remember what needs to be done.  I don’t drink coffee, but it’s as if I’ve downed a few shots of cafe cubano, and every cell in my body is reacting.  If I can step away from the computer screens and connect with my body and deepen my breath, sometimes it’s a handstand or a headstand, or maybe a backbend over the ball…the stress melts away.

So then I can listen and make better decisions.  Right now my yoga practice needs to be informed by the demands on my body.  I keep reminding myself that I just had a 9 pound baby four months ago!  I gained 40 pounds with the pregnancy and still have about 13 to lose.  Now I’m breastfeeding a big hungry baby, producing more than 30 ounces of milk a day.  If you were me and I was giving you advice, I would absolutely tell you to pamper yourself.  I’ve got to ease back into this practice!  Today is the fifth day of the challenge and my body is telling me loud and clear what it needs: utkatasana and dandayamana janushirasana.  My poor lower back is struggling to recover from the strain of carrying that little monster around for months!  Until my body tells me otherwise, these two are on the menu every day.

Speaking of menus!  Another aspect of hearing loud and clear what my body wants is nourishment—I find that when I’m doing yoga, I make much better choices about what goes into my body.  The deplorable cravings for the CRAP processed food of my childhood seem to disappear.  Today I experimented HEAB-style and roasted a kabocha and then whipped up my own version of Katie’s Blended Grains……..a porridge of organic Kamut and Spelt went into the Vitamix with a little vanilla soymilk, and then I topped it with POM arils!  (Only partly motivated by HEAB’s latest contest! )

Deadlift
1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Post loads to comments.

Rest as needed…

Three rounds for time:
15 chest clap push ups
Sprint 200 meters

Cash Out:
3 rounds
See how long you can hold yourself up on the rings

CF KIDS

Big Dawgs and The Porch:
2 x
5 Handstand attempts => Forward roll => 15 Roving Planks => 25 Mountain Climbers => Jump up run 200 m

“Connor”

How many rounds can you complete in 20 minutes of:
5 Deadlifts
5 Hang Power Cleans
5 Front Squats
5 Push Presses
5 Back Squats
= 1

Cash out
Big Dawgs and The Porch
2 x
Max hang for time
30 Sit ups

Like most people I know, I love Halloween. We still get lots of trick-or-treaters on our street, and seeing them dressed up and eagerly roaming the neighborhood is somehow reassuring to me – I guess because it’s a tradition I’ve been part of since childhood, and it’s still safe enough in my area for them to carry it on here.

Many philosophers and psychologists have written about the usefulness of celebrating fear the way we do on Halloween. (See, for instance, http://bit.ly/2xMKpq.) In my classes this week, we explored the role of fear in our yoga practice and how it may translate to the fear we experience off the mat.

The Anusara yoga teachers I’ve practiced with frequently employ the concept of edge. I recently completed the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Level 1 teacher training in L.A., and learned that in this system, too, the concept of edge is key.

One way of understanding edge in your yoga practice is to think of it literally, as in moving to the edge of a cliff or precipice. You’re still on safe, solid footing, but one more step and…

The idea is to find your boundary. Relatively, no vantage point will offer a more sweeping view of the landscape at hand than the edge, but to get there you have to take a risk. For most people, standing on this precipice induces fear.

And that’s a good thing. Fear is what keeps you aware of where your feet are (i.e., your foundation). It’s what tells you that you need to back up a little or grab a hand-railing (modify the posture) before you lose your balance and fall. It serves a purpose.

The trick is to cut through any hysteria or anxiety you may feel and find the authentic fear – to hear the voice of your deepest, wisest, most divine self. Another way to understand it is as finding a balance between the value and the danger of going further.

This takes practice. A great way to do it in yoga is with inversions, especially handstand. In my experience, this category of asana tends to freak out a high percentage of people.

You wouldn’t run up to a sheer drop-off; nor should fear-inducing inversions be approached too hastily. Here’s how we did it this week:

• After warming up the shoulders, back and hamstrings with some sun salutations and standing postures, do Uttanasana (standing forward fold) at a wall. Start facing the wall and fold forward. Staying aligned, move toward the wall until your head or back touches the wall. Continue to deepen with the breath, moving the point of contact with the wall down your back. Stay very tuned in to what’s happening during this deep forward-fold inversion. (Those with tight backs/hamstrings can still do it with blocks under the hands, knees bent if necessary and the back of the head to the wall.)
• Slowly back away from the wall and come to standing with your eyes closed. Listen to any feedback your body-mind offers.
• If it’s safe to go another step, try L Pose (handstand prep). While in the pose, keep your gaze focused on the floor between your hands and listen to your breath. Count the inhales and exhales until you need to come down. Move into Balasana (child’s pose) and again absorb feedback.
• If it’s safe to go another step, try kicking up into Adho Mukha Vrksasana (handstand) at the wall. Maybe you’ll just practice lifting your feet away from the floor and floating back down. Maybe you’ll go all the way up. Again, pay more attention to foundation (hands), drishti (focused gaze) and breath than to reaching the wall or some other goal.

When we do this in class, we do it as a series of three poses. Inevitably, some students end up repeating step one and/or two and not going to the next step. The most interesting part, however, is that a majority of students usually say they went further than they ever did before.

Why is that? I think it’s because they are in a neighborhood where it’s safe to trick or treat, so to speak. Or, to use my other analogy, they have established that the hand-railing is there for them if they need it. Their fear tells them how far they can go safely; all they have to do is listen.

Heres some tracks that Nicki goes SUPER HARD on. Best Female Rapper Alive!!

Download

Handstand ft Shanell : http://usershare.net/n6vrwi74nwgp

Itty Bitty : http://usershare.net/RickyTheKidd/vhf3nbbreypq

I Get Crazy ft Lil Wayne : http://www.zshare.net/audio/58789041f48e98d5/

Nicki Minaj talks Twitter Beef with Wale & Joe BuddenUP(basically disses him right to his face lol)

I thought I would give a quick synopsis of some my favorite poses, some challenging poses for me, and some that I can begin to work towards later. (All photos are provided by yogajournal.com)

If I had to pick one favorite asana, it would be the cow/cat flow. This flow decreases anxiety and opens up the spine. When I do this flow, I feel instantly relaxed and centered. This is a flow I suggest to people who claim they “can’t do” yoga. Anyone can handle this action and benefit from it.

I always feel especially strong in Triangle pose. It took me a long time to reach the ground while keeping my chest open. I really enjoy the feeling of coming into triangle pose – shifting the hips back and reaching forward with the hand.

Tree pose is perhaps the simplest balancing pose, but it’s my current favorite. It’s also the only upright balancing pose mentioned in YogaFit’s Level 1 training. I knew I was in a a great class last year when my teacher walked us into bringing our feet to our thighs and I was successful for the first time. It was a defining moment in my practice. The trick for me was the breath and creating dynamic tension between the foot and the thigh – two things I’ll always try to relay to my students up front.

The following are poses that I have successfully attained before but continue to challenge me. I want to feature these because I feel like when I master them it will be a turning point of sorts in my practice. They are (right to left) Side plank, Plow, Supported shoulderstand (which I can only come into from Plow), and Balancing half-moon (which I am much more successful at coming from Triangle instead of  Pyramid).

And finally, some poses I can hardly look at without falling over. Many of them are arm-balancing poses – I struggle with those the most. I’ll arrange these in order of least intimidating to most intimidating: Revolved Triangle, Wheel, Supported headstand, Handstand, Crane, Firefly, Shoulder-pressing, and Eight-angle.

Namaste,
Jamie

 

Jeff Tucker assists Gillian Mounsey as she does a handstand on parallettes.

 

You’d be hard pressed to go a month of looking at the CrossFit main site without seeing a photo featuring an athlete doing a handstand. The handstand is a very difficult move, which takes strength, coordination, and balance. Since it encompasses so many skills, it is recognized as one of the benchmarks of an elite athlete.

Working to get the freestanding handstand will take time and practice. Developing the strength to hold yourself in place will certainly come once you’ve mastered the handstand pushup.

The traditional handstand pushup has the athlete starting in the “up” position. You should be vertical against a wall, with the legs locked out and unassisted. The hands are shoulder width with elbows locked. Head is neutral with eyes looking down. From this position, you proceed to the down portion. Bending the elbows to bring your nose to the ground, you then utilize your shoulders in pushing yourself back up. This is one repetition.

See a video demonstration (Courtesy of CrossFit.com):

Handstand Push-up Variations, Nicole Carroll [wmv]

Many athletes cannot do a handstand pushup. In fact, most of the women at the CrossFit Games could not even complete one! So don’t be discouraged if you don’t walk right into it. There are many progressions available to work yourself up to mastery.

Handstand Holds

Before you can do the pushup portion, it is important to have the shoulder strength to do it. You should be able to hold yourself in the up position for at least thirty seconds. For handstand pushup workouts, try subbing in handstand holds of 10 seconds for 1 handstand pushup.

Walking up the Wall

In the prescribed handstand pushup, you should be facing the wall when you spring yourself into the up position. In this progression, you should be an arm’s length and facing away from the wall. From here, bend down and place your hands down and lock your elbows. After your hands are in position, you can place your feet on the wall behind you and walk yourself up the wall. At the same time, you need to also walk your hands closer to the wall. The closer your hands are to the wall, the more the move will resemble the actual handstand pushup. If you are too far away, it will be more of an elevated pushup.

Handstands from a Box

This works best with a 20-24″ box. Start with your knees close to an edge of the box. Place your hands on the ground and then walk yourself in closer to the box, keeping your knees in place. Again, the closer you are, the better the movement will resemble the handstand pushup. If this becomes easy for you, you can move up to putting your feet on the box and repeating the same process.

Using Bands

This will be the closest progression, but should be done with a spotter. You will need a pullup bar, and two assistance bands. Set up an assistance band vertically just like you would use for doing pullups. Now, take your second band and put it through the other horizontally.

See a video demonstration (Courtesy of CrossFit.com):

Handstand Pushup Band Support, Jeff Tucker [wmv][mov]
Handstand Pushup Band Support Part II, Jeff Tucker [wmv][mov]

Take each arm and place it through the left and right holes you have made, and put the entire apparatus behind your head. The bands will help you throughout the range of motion. Now, place your hands on the ground and have your partner on the side of you. Kick your leg up, and with your partner’s help, wrap your leg around the band. Your partner should help you get as vertical as possible. You can now do assisted handstand pushups.

All of these movements and more are covered in Jeff Tucker’s Gymnastics Certification. If he comes close by your area, I would highly recommend attending. Tucker’s teaching style, progressions, and wealth of knowledge will certainly be a welcome addition to your tool kit.

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I got my sixth dead hang today. That was a surprise. I thought it would be at least another month. I also had good flexibility today. The bad news is that my weights weren’t really all that good. I did 5×3 OHS, 65-75-80. Wasn’t really feelin’ it. Didn’t get enough sleep. I did 5×5 presses as well, which was, meh…

5×45 (warm up)
5×65
5×70
5×75
5×80
5×85 (Fail! Only did three)

Went on to do handstands. Probably dumb after doing presses, but they switched the mats around at my gym so now it’s really easy to do them and roll down.

ETA: actually, I looked back from the last time I did presses 5×5, which was on 9/28, and I did a lot better, last time I tapped out at 80 and could only do four, so go me!

Top that one, kid.

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: Donut4000 via Loldog Builder

» Recaption This!

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12:30 PM

Workout

3 x 5 sec Tuck planche holds
10 normal push-ups
5 sternum push-ups
3 diamond push-ups

3-2-1 Dumbell press e.s. @ 20kg

20 Push-ups

3 x 8 DB Snatch e.s. @ 17.5kg
3-2-1 Bent press e.s. @ 17.5kg

3 x 3 Handstand push-ups (partial ROM)
3 x 3 Bench dips
2 x 3 Clapping push-ups
3 Chest-slappin’ push-ups

3 x 5 Pseudo planche (ie feet on floor) push-ups
2 x 5 Seated cable pull-downs @ full stack

3 x 5 Bench leg raises
2 x 3 Bench leg raise @ 2kg
2 x 20 sec Bench leg hold (lay flat with legs extended off the bench)

3-2-1 Pistols e.s. @ no weight
10 Deck squats

Spotted handstand walking (play)

Notes

A big bunch of semi-random gymnastic-biased fun with Pete in the work gym at lunchtime.

Food

A week and a half into a low carb paleo experiment and it’s far and away the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It is stupidly, stupidly good. I might be addicted to coconut milk though…

• 3 baked eggs w fetta & chorizzo
• 2 x coffee
• Big chicken, avocado, pesto, veggie salad
• Coconut milk
• Almonds
• Apple
• Coffee
• 1/4 and a bit of a family meat pie (incl. pastry)
• Coconut milk, nectarine, strawberry, cottage cheese, handful of shaved ham
• Tea

Op zondag 11 Oktober jongstleden, organiseerde yours truly een Vrij Podium in de McCormack’s Irish Pub te Turnhout. Vele mensen brachten prachtige dingen op podium (inclusief Ik, maar later nooit meer daarover), maar het hoogtepunt van de avond was De Fantastische Handstand Van DJ Overdose.
Waar in onze resident DJ, De Heer Overdose dus, een handstand op podium brengt.
(Youtube krijgt dat filmpje niet online om één of andere reden dus ik doe het via Vimeo, welke ik niet kan embedden op m’n blog…) – Update: alles lukt op internet!

För att läsa inlägget på svenska, se föregående post.

I promised you this post a while ago. I’m sorry about the delay.

Contemporary New Zealand jewellery seminar day

On September 19th at Röhss Museum of Fashion, Design and Decorative Arts I attended a seminar about contemporary New Zealand art jewellery (“Reconsidering identity – a seminar on New Zealand contemporary jewellery”). The seminar was followed by the opening of an exhibition at Gallery hnoss by one of the speakers, and the day was rounded up by a party at Konstepidemien.

Kiwi does not equal kiwi fruit

I will start with the scariest part (and thus this whole post will be backwards): At the buffet party mingle after the reception I was handed this perfect opportunity to talk to all these successfully working jewellers. It has been a long time since I felt so small.

As I tried to explain what I was doing there I heard myself saying this is just a hobby. (“I’m really a maths teacher and a physics student.”) What’s with that? I do a lot of things. Just a hobby?
Anyway, I tried to answer the “Why not fulltime?” question. Again I heard myself say things like “It just happens to be that way” and “If it starts taking more of my time, I’ll let it” and “So far I have a job and don’t feel any time conflict between it and my jewellery making”. (That’s not entirely true; I have work, studies and jewellery making and there is never enough time, always priorities – but that is because studies always take up all the rest of the time, or if you chose to do something else you are left with a guilty conscience about not having studied more. Always.)
But that’s mostly excuses. The true answer lies in marketing. I hate it. It is so boring and I am completely useless at it. But without marketing no income.

I was in a really introvert mood this day so I missed out on an extraordinary chance to get to know people, build up my network and advertise myself and all sorts of things Extrovert SaraErika would accomplish. Oh well. That’s the way it is.

The exhibition

Backwords, right… Before the party was the reception at the exhibition. Konstepidemien in an old epidemic hospital which now holds galleries and artist studios. One of the galleries is tiny, tiny hnoss. Or perhaps I should say “huge, tiny hnoss”, because although the exhibition area is smaller than my flat (and, you know, that’s pretty small…) it hosts exhibitions by well-known jewellery artists from all over the world.
This time Warwick Freeman.
From New Zealand.

I shall not pretend to know who or what is big in the world of contemporary jewellery art – “art” because it became obvious to me that the whole day was about jewellery as an art genre; things to exhibit, rather than wear – so when I say hnoss hosts big artists those are words of people I met during the day. They seem to agree though. And Internet supports that they are well known artists.

The world of contemporary jewellery art is a rather narrow one and even though I felt, at this party, that I was welcome into it if I wanted I have no idea how to behave to get there. (Or even if I want to. Is it okay to admit such things in public? Well, they change daily anyway.)

The New Zealand ambassador came down from Stockholm to hold an introductory speach at the seminar and at the start of the reception – and the embassy contributed with lovely New Zealand wine.
(How come I was the only one who looked like I’d spent the whole day in a lecture hall? I mean, all of us had, right?)

Now I can no longer push off saying something about the exhibition itself. That is difficult because the review will be different depending on through which pair of glasses I view it.

Warwick Freeman works with – and tries to find out which are – typical or important New Zealand symbols. At the seminar he spoke about making “statements” in his jewellery.
For example he is using the hook – the mythological fishing hook with which Maui pulled up the North Island from the Sea. The every day object that has become a national symbol. He is experimenting on making it into an every day object again. We were shown pictures at the seminar of the artist pulling up dinner fish with his stylized hook of pure gold. But also on finding the hook in “modern” every day objects (e.g. coat hangers) and again make it into a symbol. And in the collection of hooks at gallery hnoss the line between symbol and object is completely dissolved.

But what if I hadn’t heard him talk about it? If I didn’t know that the stones in the twelve rings on display at hnoss were picked from specific places in New Zealand, on a journey from the northern to the southern tip – if I didn’t know about the statement – then what would I see?
They are still good looking rings. His jewellery is really beautiful in form and it is interesting and often surprising in material.
But I think it would have bugged me, not being able to figure out where it came from. I’m usually content just watching good looking things without further thought, but these items show so clearly that there is a deeper thought behind them – they just don’t always show what it is. And that’s slightly unsettling. Probably in a good way…

The seminar

The seminar was concluded by Lisa Walker showing lots of pictures of her jewellery through the years, and reading journal notes and anecdotes about her relation to her work.

It’s really okay for people to wear odd looking brooches.

The whole thing was very relaxing and at the same time rich in contents and interesting. (Oh, that sounds really boring, doesn’t it? It was the opposite of boring!) These seemingly randomly collected thoughts also build an image of an artist.

It’s okay that my work don’t always seem to make sense as jewellery.

If you want to read more about Lisa Walker you can do it at for example Fingers (Lisa, Lisa in Weeds) or at Klimt02 (Lisa, Her Last Show Made In Munich).

Warwick Freeman talked about myths, about material, and about places for making. About places for making up things, and for constructing things. About his workshop and the traces his making had left there. About marks on the bench pegs…
About material typical for New Zealand and about what could happen if materials are switched. About how different materials look and how that expression could be captured by something completely different. About the bench peg again.
About Kupowai who’s out hunting with his two headed dogs. About Maui who’s pulling New Zealand out of the Ocean with his fishing hook of jaw bone, baited with his own blood.

About wanting to make a statement. About whether or not you can control if what you wanted to say really comes through. About whether or not that is important.

The world probably don’t need another piece of jewellery.
The world probably don’t need another statement.

You can also read more about Warwick Freeman at Klimt02 or at Fingers.

But first out was Liesbeth den Besten and she spoke of the history of contemporary jewellery art in New Zealand. She describes it in three steps: 1. splendid isolation, 2. collaboration and infiltration, 3. conquering; How New Zealand jewellery conquers the world.

She starts in the seventies with the bone-stone-shell movement, where these materials are the focus for a group of artists who are trying to find what is a typical New Zealand look. Without a domestic jeweller’s school, it’s either autodidact or educated in Australia or even further away. Nothing is inherited that way.

My sketch of a brooch made by Shelley Norton in Weeds.

My sketch of a necklace by Vaune Mason who participated in Handstand.

Movement?
How many artists does it take to form a movement?
(Warwick Freeman)

Liesbeth’s lecture was very interesting since I didn’t know much at all about the New Zealand jewellery scene. And it was a good thing it came first, to give the rest of it a sort of framework to stick on. All three talks were very different, and all three talks were very good.

…but first of all – coffee!

The discussion

There wasn’t a very high pressure of questions in relation to the talk (I can’t complain, I didn’t ask any) but one question did rise a bit of a discussion about artists so called Bread & Butter Line, i.e. a collection made primarily to be sold in regular jewellery stores. Liesbeth talked about it as if it was regrettable that – how did she say it? – artists didn’t get to use all their creative energy. I think that is regrettable because I find a piece of jewellery more interesting on a person than on display. And I think that limitations in price and/or size could spur the creative energy rather than limit it. It sounded a bit elitistic to me, that’s all.

Both Warwick and Lisa seemed to have put a lot of thought into who should wear their work (which, especially Lisa’s, doesn’t always seem easy to wear) and what happens to it when it leaves the exhibition. I think both of Lisa’s quotes above show that, and while Warwick was talking about wearers, statements, environment, loosing it in the bottom of the purse… he was pressed to admit:

Sometimes jewellery is just a pair of earings.

It is a good thing I can write what I mean since I obviously can't always sketch it.

Thanks to HDK School of Design and Crafts, galleri hnoss, Röhss Museum, the New Zealand embassy and Paletten Magazine for arranging the event supported by Göteborgs Slöjdförening, Estrids Ericsons stiftelse, Iaspis and finally Göteborgs stad. And thanks to mom for pulling me along.

Because of the length of this post, the English text will be up in a few days, as a post of its own. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Samtida smyckekonst i Nya Zeeland

Den 19:e september anordnade HDK, galleri hnoss, Röhsska, nyazeeländska ambassaden och tidskriften Paletten med stöd av Göteborgs Slöjdförening, Estrids Ericsons stiftelse, Iaspis samt Göteborgs stad (puh! lång lista…) ett seminarium om samtida smyckekonst på Nya Zeeland. Seminariet följdes av en mottagning på galleri hnoss där en av föredragshållarna ställde ut (tyvärr pågår inte utställningen längre) och dagen avslutades med en fest på Konstepidemien.

Jag börjar med det läskigaste (och på så vis blir hela beskrivningen här baklänges): Under bufféminglet efter själva mottagningen fick jag tillfälle att prata med alla dessa yrkesverksamma smyckekonstnärer. Det var länge sedan som jag kände mig så liten. Frågan kom upp: Varför ser jag detta bara som hobby? Hobby är ett mycket opassande och nervärderande ord för vad jag tycker att jag gör, men det är ändå det mest passande jag hittar eftersom det inte är det jag försörjer mig på. Det officiella svaret, svaret som jag gav då ligger i stil med: Jag begränsar mig inte. Det blir som det blir. Än så länge har jag ett jobb och upplever ingen tidskonflikt mellan det och detta. (Det är inte helt sant, för jag har jobb, studier och detta och upplever en ständig tidskonflikt och prioriteringsvånda, men det faktum jag vill åt är att jag antagligen inte hade blivit mer produktiv i min smyckedesign om jag hade haft mer tid.)

Mitt inofficiella svar (som härmed blir ganska officiellt det med) är: Marknadsföring. Jag tycker det är så dödligt tråkigt.

Kiwin har rätt justa former.

Jag var på ett av mina mest introverta humör denna dagen så jag missade rätt mycket av ett fantastiskt tillfälle att knyta kontakter och marknadsföra mig själv och allt annat jag skulle kunnat prata mig till om jag varit Utåtriktade SaraErika. Men så är det. Jag menar, jag hade missat mer om jag hade suttit hemma och surat.

Utställningen

Baklänges, var det… Så före minglet var mottagningen på utställningen.
Uppe på Konstepidemien i Göteborg finns lilla, lilla galleri hnoss. Eller “lilla, stora” ska jag kanske säga för även om det är på färre kvadrat än min lägenhet (och då jäklar är det litet!) så inhyser det riktigt stora smyckekonstnärer från hela världen. Denna gången Warwick Freeman. Från Nya Zeeland.

Jag ska inte försöka låtsas att jag vet nånting om vem eller vad som är stort eller inte i samtida smyckekonst – jag skriver “smyckekonst” genomgående i det här inlägget för det blev uppenbart för mig att hela dagen handlade om konstformen smycken; något som ställs ut på galleri snarare än bärs om halsen på stan – så den bedömningen kommer helt ifrån andra seminariedeltagares och -samordnares presentation och förhållningssätt. Och från vad jag kan läsa mig till på det stora internet. Det är ju en hyfsat smal krets och även om det under minglet kändes som att jag var välkommen upp i den så har jag ingen aning om hur jag skulle bära mig åt för att komma dit. Eller ens om jag vill. (Ska man avslöja sånt?)

Nya Zeelands ambassadör hade rest från Stockholm för att prata på seminariet och lite kort på mottagningen. (En annan kom dit i jeans och lite småsunkig från en heldagsföreläsning – hur kommer det sig att de andra såg ut att inte göra det?) Och nyazeeländska ambassaden bjöd på fint, gott vin.

Nu har jag skjutit upp så långt jag kan att säga något om själva utställningen. Omdömet om den blir helt olika beroende på genom vilka ögon jag betraktar den. Warwick Freeman tar ett avstamp i symboler för Nya Zeeland och behandlar också (min tolkning) vad som är landets viktiga märken eller kännetecken i hans ögon. Han pratade också under seminariet om “statements” – “vad vill jag säga med den här?”
Till exempel har han använt sig av fiskekroken – den mytologiska fiskekroken med vilken Maui bland annat drog upp Nordön ur havet – bruksföremålet som blivit nationssymbol. Warwick Freeman experimenterar med att göra det till bruksföremål igen.

Men också med att hitta kroken i moderna bruksföremål och med dem som utgångspunkt åter göra en symbol av den. Under seminariet visade han bilder på hur han satt sin stiliserade guldkrok på en fiskelina och på ren tur fått upp middag för dagen. Och i den samling krokar som han ställer ut på hnoss är distinktionen mellan bruksföremålet och symbolen helt uppluckrat.

Men om man nu inte hört honom berätta om detta – om man inte visste att stenarna i de tolv ringarna var plockade från utvalda platser på Nya Zeeland, på en resa från norr till söder – vad ser man då?
Ja, det är fortfarande snygga ringar. Formspråket är vackert och användandet av materialet är spännande och oväntat. Men jag hade blivit stående och undrat lite; “Varför?”

Seminariet

Seminariet avslutades med att Lisa Walker visade ett bildspel över saker som hon gjort och till det läste anteckningar hon gjort under flera år, om sitt förhållande till sin konst.

Det är faktiskt okej för människor att bära märkliga broscher.

Det blev väldigt vilsamt och samtidigt innehållsrikt och intressant. Det är inte alltid man måste peka och berätta. De till synes spridda tankarna bygger också upp en bild av ett konstnärsskap.

Det är okej att mina verk inte alltid verkar vettiga som smycken.

(Jag har översatt citaten. Läs dem gärna oöversatta i den engelska texten.)

Fruktstund är paprikastund

Warwick Freeman pratade om myter, om material och om platser för skapande. Om platser för att hitta på på och om platser för att tillverka på. Om verkstaden och om slitaget på verkstadsbänkklossen genom tiderna. Om material som är typiska för Nya Zeeland och om vad som kan hända om man byter plats på dem. Om hur materialen själva ser ut och vad som kan uppstå om man försöker fånga det utseendet med något helt annat material. Om verkstadsbänkklossen igen. Om Kupowai som är ute och jagar med sina tvehövdade hundar. Om Maui som drar upp Nya Zeeland ur havet med sin benfiskkrok, agnad med hans eget blod.

Om att vilja säga något. Om att det inte alltid går att kontrollera om det man försökte få sagt egentligen går fram. Och om det spelar någon roll.

Världen behöver antagligen inte ytterligare ett smycke.
Världen behöver antagligen inte ytterligare ett påstående.

Warwick Freeman kan du också läsa mer om på Klimt02 eller på Fingers.

Men dagen började med att Liesbeth den Besten berättade om den moderna smyckekonstens utveckling på Nya Zeeland. Hon tar det i tre steg: 1. splendid isolation, 2. collaboration and infiltration, 3. conquering; Hur nyazeeländsk smyckekonst erövrar världen.

Hon börjar med 70-talets “bone-stone-shell movement” där just ben, sten och paua-skal utgör fokus för en grupp konstnärer som försöker hitta fram till vad som är just nyazeeländskt. (I ärlighetens namn smyger en och annan fjäder med också.) Hon nämner också att vid denna tiden fanns inte någon smyckedesignutbildning i hela Nya Zeeland. Självlärd eller utbildning i Australien, alltså – eller ännu längre bort. Då får man själv hitta (eller hitta på) vad nyazeelänsk tradition betyder i smyckekonst, tänker jag.

Min skiss av en brosch av Shelley Norton i Weeds.

Min skiss av ett halsband av Vaune Mason som deltog i Handstand.

Det bästa stället jag kan hitta att läsa mer om Handstand och dessutom se en massa fina bilder är Matt Blomeleys blogg.

Rörelse? hur många konstnärer krävs det för att bilda en rörelse?
(Warwick Freeman)

Liesbeths föredrag var väldigt intressant – för hur mycket visste jag innan om modern nyazeelänsk smyckekonst? – och det var bra att det låg först så att lite av det som kom senare hade en sorts ram att fastna på. Alla tre pratade väldigt olika och alla tre pratade väldigt bra.

…men allra först fick vi kaffe!

Diskussionen

Det var inte jättehög fart på frågeställare men det uppstod ändå en diskussion om konstnärers så kallade bread&butter line, dvs en kollektion gjord för att kunna säljas. Liesbeth talade om det som om det var beklagligt att konstnärer ägnade sig åt detta eftersom det var mindre intressant när inte konstnären – vad sa hon? – får ut sin kreativa energi.
Lite tråkig inställning, tycker jag, för jag tycker det är intressantare med ett halsband på en människa än ett halsband på ett galleri. Och kan inte en pris- eller storleksbegränsning sporra den kreativa energin snarare än hämma den? Det lät lite slentrian-fisförnämt bara.

Både Warwick och Lisa verkade ha tänkt mycket på vem som eventuellt skulle bära deras verk (som, särskilt Lisas, inte alltid verkade helt lättburna) och vad som händer med det när det lämnar utställningsmontern. Jag tycker att båda Lisas citat ovan tyder på det och utifrån tanken om bärare, miljö, borttappning i botten på handväskan… så tvingade Warwick sig att erkänna:

Ibland är smyckekonst inte mer än ett par örhängen.

Jag kanske inte skissar så noga men då är det ju bra jag kan skriva vad jag menade.

Adho Mukha Vrksasana

Downward-facing Tree Pose

with Chrisandra Fox

As a little girl, I had practice of throwing my legs up against the front door of the house, and standing on my hands as long as I could. Each summer, I practiced these handstands on the beach, with no door. Often, I would fall, bringing my legs out to one side, or into Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward-facing wheel), which is how I learned to love backbends. Once in a great while, I would find my balance on the hard sand near the water’s edge. Time would stop and in those precious moments of exhilarating awe, I would try very hard to remember exactly what I had done so that I could repeat the experience.

Handstand gives us the moment of our power – a moment of pure potential – where we may yoke our root and our expansiveness in a single breath cycle. We learn to engage our bodies harmoniously, strengthen our core, sharpen our concentration, expand awareness and engage the mysteries of gravity and levity on a physical level. Handstand asks us to build strength in new areas, heighten coordination and reaction time, and trust that our bodies, and our egos, can take a fall.

When we practice handstand – at the wall or free standing against Nature’s backdrop – we literally turn our worlds upside down for a moment or more of truly exploring the unknown. Within that moment, we may find the power of living in true potential. We may fall to one side or another. We may not be able to kick up every day. Some days, our wrists hurt, our shoulders feel tight, and we can’t find the internal support of our breath and our bandhas to sustain balance. And more, we may meet an incredible fear and discomfort towards going upside down.

But handstands were child’s play for many of us, when we were children. And for those of us who are rediscovering that childlike nature through our yoga practice, there are tools we can use to make this journey to our center one of joy, power, and grace.

Handstand Preparation

The Wrists

Often the biggest obstacle to standing on the hands is meeting the weakness of the wrists. If you suffer from carpel tunnel, you may want to avoid handstand for now and work inversions that strengthen the shoulders, like dolphin pose. The following exercise will help alleviate stiffness and mobilize the wrists:

Sit or stand. Interlace your fingers and press your forearms together, bringing the elbows to the level of the shoulders. Circle the wrists in one direction, 10-20 times. Feel the movement of the bones in the wrists, through the forearms and in the elbow. Maintain a steadiness in your shoulder blades as you rotate the wrists in one direction, then in the opposite direction.

The Shoulders

Keep your fingers interlocked and press through the center of your palms, lifting the arms overhead. Lengthen through your inner elbows, and lower your chin slightly towards the center of your throat. Soften the tops of your shoulders as you root your shoulder blades on your back ribs. Continue to press through the center of your palms. Can you feel a sense of grounding in your shoulders and the navel center, even while you explore that wonderful stretch?

Now lift your head and draw back through the crown, arching your neck and turning your gaze towards your brow center. Take a few breaths, still anchoring the shoulder blades and feeling a sense of length through the front of your neck towards your chin. Bring your head back to center and release your arms to your sides.

The Abdomen

Once you turn upside down, you will want to engage through your core to support the lower body. You’ll feel a natural toning of your abdominal wall in handstand, and you can further build this strength through the following exercise:

Lie down on your back. Lift your arms up overhead and press the backs of them to the floor. Lift your legs to 90°. If your low back is tight, you may try this one leg at a time. Point your toes and lower your legs towards the ground as you inhale. Flex through your feet and lift your legs back to 90° as you exhale. Repeat, keeping your pelvis steady and your inner knees firm.

The Third Arm Eye

A tripod is more stable that a two-legged chair, and so for handstand, we can use our drishti, or eye gaze, to create a third arm.

Come into Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward-facing dog) with your fingers a hand’s width from the wall. Broaden your shoulder blades from your upper spine, outwardly spiral your upper arms, and feel for a sense of grounding in your forearm bones. Turn your gaze to the line where the wall meets the floor. This is about where you will direct the focus of your eyes when you come up into handstand.

The Pose

Handstand at the Wall

Continue in downward-facing dog at the wall. Lift one leg toward the sky, rooting the pads of your fingers to the earth. Feel the tone of your abdomen as you extend the leg. Repeat on the other side. Now, step one foot halfway to the hands, bend your knee and lift your other leg with a firm press into the ball of the standing foot. You may need to kick the extended leg towards the wall, but keep feeling the root of your leg in your navel center. As you kick your leg up, it will carry your pelvis. The more awareness you have in your legs, the lighter they will become. Let your second leg follow the first with great enthusiasm.

The Work

As you kick up, keep your legs active and engaged, as you did while practicing your leg lifts. This will literally lighten the load for your arms and your shoulders. Press your heel bones against the wall and reach actively through the soles of your feet, as though you are standing on them. Bring your inner knees together.

Have you kept your third arm steady? If not, re-establish your focus through the gaze of your eyes. Continue to anchor your shoulder blades on your back ribs while you lengthen through your inner elbows. Wrists hurt? Give more pressure to the finger pads, as though you are clawing the earth. If your wrists feel fine, give your weight to the roots of your fingers, working with equal effort to awaken the sense of earth energy “lifting” up through the palm of your hand.

Once up, tone your navel to your spine and lengthen your tailbone towards your heels. This will shorten the distance between the pubic bones and the front ribcage, thus eliminating the “banana” shape that often occurs when we fall into our low backs.

Breathe steadily. Feel the orchestra of your body harmonizing, as gravity anchors your shoulders, forearms, and hands, and your legs and feet become firm and light. You may feel an incredible root through your navel as an unbearable lightness lifts and tones your pelvic floor.

Variations

You can release the neck and gaze directly ahead in handstand. This will bring your head and pelvis into alignment, and help you to pull in towards the midline of your body. As you lift your head and engage your third arm gaze, this will lengthen your abdomen and allow you to play with balancing the shoulders and pelvis.

Play! Keep one heel pressed firmly against the wall, point the toes of your second foot and slowly lower your leg towards the ground. You’ll feel a hollowing out in the belly as you lower your leg. Then, on an inhalation, lift that leg right back up to handstand, feeling the length of the abdomen. Change sides. This exercise will strengthen your abdomen, spinal muscles, low back, wrists, and shoulders, and prepare you for floating up to handstand with effortlessness.

Handstand without the Wall

With the support of a friend, you can reduce your need for the wall. Take your downward-facing dog, and have your friend stand to one side of your hands. Tell your friend which leg you are kicking up with before you kick. Your friend extends her arm parallel to the earth, just above your hands. You kick up with one leg to meet her extended arm. Take the second leg to meet the first. Your friend may place a fist between your knees for you to squeeze, or she may place her hand above your feet for you to press up into. Reach through the soles of your feet, spreading your toes and lifting through your inner ankles.

Falling

Falling is inevitable, and the more comfortable we become with “falling” out of pose, the more we learn about how not to fall. As you fall out, fall to the side or back to your downward-facing dog. Fall with awareness. Feel your body move through its descent to find earth. Friends, let go of your partner’s legs. Like cats, our feet know how to find the ground, but we must be free in order to do so.

If you have a practice of urdhva dhanurasana or upward-facing bow pose, you can practice coming out of your handstands by slowly falling back, and bringing your feet to the floor. Stay steadily rooted through your hands.

If fear is the obstacle, place a bolster against the wall, so you have something to “catch” your head as you kick up. Use your inhalation to kick up, and as you exhale, pull into your midline. Remember to use your eyes to maintain a sense of internal steadiness.

Once you begin to unlock the mysteries of your relationship with gravity through handstand, you might find yourself practicing anywhere and everywhere. Plant your hands in the grass, on dirt, in sand, on rock, on the pool’s cement bottom, even on the concrete outside your building. Establish your gaze and float up to your moment of power and potential against a wall, a tree, or nothing at all.

Chrisandra Fox teaches handstands and other postures at Yoga Tree 5 classes per week, and leads The Heart of Renewal Retreats. To check out her class schedule, visit http://www.yogatreesf.com/teachers/chrisandra_fox.htm.

all photos courtesy of faern at http://www.faernworks.com

originally posted at :

http://www.yogatreesf.com/newsletter/images/sep09_pose.html

I started with my usual 5×5 overhead squat, which was 65-75-80-85-85, pretty good form. Then I went on to 5×5 dead lift, which I did relatively recently, but I still wanted to beat my last one, so it was:

5×95 (warm-up)
5×135
5×155
5×165
5×175
5×180

Yeah, I put the little cookie-like 2.5# weights on to get that last set but still…>BW!

I then went on to practice double unders. I like to do this on Saturday at my gym because there’s no one in the group fitness room. And I had a breakthrough: two in a row! I can’t do three in a row, but I’ve never done two in a row, so yay! I finished the day out with slow negative handstand push-ups to roll out at the bottom. This is another thing that’s good to do on a Saturday.

I be Ron Weasley. I can do a hand stand yo! (Now just image that with a British accent)

My back finally stopped hurting from Michael the other day, so I could try and catch up on the CFI WODs. Today I did started with 5×5 overhead squats, 65-75-80-85-85. The more I do these, the better. However, I seem to have hit a wall on dead hangs. Four is my absolute PR, and I can’t seem to get more than three in the gym. I don’t get it, because I do them all the time and my diet Zone/Paleo perfection. Nonetheless, I seem to have plateaued.

Anyway, I did the 5×1 front squat from the other day, which was:

5×95
3×105
1×115
1×125
1×135
1×145
1×155

I can see my body weight on the horizon, which is nice. Doing front squats for max effort makes me less nervous than doing back squats for max effort in the globo, because with the safety bars on the squat rack, I know I can dump the weight easily if I need to, no that I ever have. In the globo, you can’t do that.

The other part of the prescription today was double unders. I still am not great at these, and have never gotten two in a row. My jump rope kept hitting me in the back of the head for some reason, so I couldn’t get a good rhythm going.

I finished up with my new favorite thing, which is a slow negative HSPU against the wall (but facing away) with a roll out at the bottom. I did 10 of these or so.

I started the day with 5×5 overhead squats, which was the same weight as yesterday, 65-75-80-80-80, but my form improves day by day. What was then prescribed was 5×1 front squat, and I started the five-rep warm-up with 95#, and my back said no. I am pretty sore from Michael yesterday, and I knew doing a really heavy front squat was going to be bad, so I decided against it.

I did, however, complete the metcon, which was, for time, three rounds of:

-20 KB swings
-20 box jumps

I used a 1-pood kettle bell and a 20″ box and did it in 5:35. I missed the box at one point and bruised my shin. This metcon is harder than it looks because you end up using the same muscles for both exercises. I like it.

I finished up with the wonderful handstand skill practice that Clea taught us, which is to stand with your back to the wall, climb up into a handstand from that position, so you’re actually facing the wall, then lower down slowly and roll out. I did this about five times. It is really fun, but doing it in the globo gets me some weird looks. Oh well.