Author: Gwyn

The way you do anything is the way you do everything

It has been said many times. It is the substance behind the expression / thing that gives it its potency. What we see is often secondary. It is the feeling behind the words, the love within the food, the capacity for the tree to bend that creates the forest.

This powerful mantra ‘the way we do anything is the way we do everything’ is the continual voice in our heads that gives credibility to all our doing.

When we eat our food, when we eye contact another, when we touch with our hands, when we move our bodies. Not only is this the fuel for mindful movement but the recipe behind deep, rich and meaningful experience … which at the core is what all human beings yearn for.  No need for a temporary fix … a new car, a climb to a mountain summit, a revelatory moment behind your teachers poetry … just ‘the way you do anything is the way do everything’. The invitation is … Can you be spacious and still enough to practice this?

If I shared a way that could improve your physical, emotional and mental health, minimise the chance of injury, enhance all your relationships and enable you to see the extraordinary in all the ordinary … would you soak it up …?

This simple gesture of ‘the way you do anything is the way you do everything’ is the powerful reminder that in our actions is our chance to notice what is pouring through us each and every moment .

A moment to realise our magnificence.

Why choose less?

༺♥༻ Zenthai Blessings ༺♥༻

This week an extraordinary being left this physical plane for the next chapter leaving behind a huge hole as well as a powerful legacy that will be carried on for many generations to come. My mother in law , Nanny June was far more than a very lovable, sweet, old lady she was a dear friend, an inspirational rock of Strength and a powerful teacher.

Of the many powerful lessons she taught through her stories, acts and words was the importance of the small things in life. The preciousness in detail, the godliness in all things, the importance of refining and noticing all the commonly unnoticed.

When my mantra for this year was to take time to ‘look inbetween’ I was echoing the lessons she has been diligently and continuously reminding me for decades. ‘Wake up’ was never mentioned but this is what is being so elegantly shared.

Do we just rush in and out of moments? Or do we step in mindfully remembering that all the grandeur of this life is really a creation of simply spending time on the small stuff?

My class last week was attended by a young 4 year old that quietly explored his mums yoga mat and surrounds for the entire 90 minutes without a fraction of distraction or unsettledness. At the conclusion I watched him meticulously endeavour to close the four corners of a cardboard box. We know as adults this needs a little bit of space, thought and detail. His wonderfully patient mother giving him all the time and room needed to allow the jigsaw to unfold and thus creating an experience of ‘looking between’ . It was wonderful to watch … the joy in the child’s face as the small lids folding into each other allowing a sense of completion and achievement. This was simply creating spaciousness for present moment awareness in action.

To thank our teachers and notice their gifts is to allow their legacy to carry on. It appears to me when grand old souls leave their physical husks that their radiant being rises in magnitude to cast its light in so many spaces inside us. Our legacy is then a reflection of what in life is it that we value and share in the marketplace .

My wonderful mother in law will surely be with me when I drink from the delicate tea cup noticing the taste , when I peer  underneath the leaf to reveal a colourful bug, our cast a keen eye into the bright blue sky to reveal the spectrum of colours that points to the  magic and wonderment in this precious mystery called life.
༺♥༻ Zenthai Blessings ༺♥༻

It is well known by surfers if you hesitate whilst paddling into catching a wave you are creating a recipe for trouble.

The worst wipe-outs are the ones where you don’t dig in whilst paddling that last stroke. The wave lip mercilessly picks you up whilst you are half-in half-off the wave and without a care in the world dumps you fiercely on the sandbank/rock/reef underneath the water…

Ouch

“Wake up” says Life … “Step in fully or don’t step at all.”

I have yet to see hesitation or postponement serve anyone in a real sense. “I will do it … WHEN … IF … BUT”….

“I will let go WHEN … IF … BUT”

This is the familiar tape recording of the mind. So commonly caught in this human psychology that borders on insanity is this voice that is backed up by the common unconscious belief “I am not enough”. This is the disillusion behind a whole barrage of sufferings and self sabotage.

Bad decisions do not exist in this lifetime if the choices are being made from the ground of whole, natural, innate goodness. The ‘mistake moments’ or times of suffering can be re-orientated by the practice of honest inquiry to be ‘breadcrumbs on the path’ towards what we all yearn for … a deeper sense of freedom.

We are at a time of the year where many students step out into the marketplace as therapists, teachers, coaches etc.. The world is crying out for open minds to share the world and its experiences through the variety of multi-coloured lenses.

Your perspective is one of such.

It is my experience that when we step up to step through the veil of doubt that keeps us blanketed in the old mindsets, through time, it is all rewarding, especially on a personal level.

Humility, spaciousness and regular honest inquiry will serve you very well. Passing on when unsure, asking for advice, and brimming with authenticity will all be ‘go-to traits’.

The pessimist never makes a move because they are afraid of getting it wrong. The optimist steps in with reckless abandonment to succeed and allows the mistakes to be learning experiences to grow and evolve. Mistakes are never failures unless they are repeated. I have never been supportive of huge corporate businesses but NIKE really got it right when they shared “Just do it ”

Or maybe we can be inspired by Ghandi with his fearless quote:

“Full Effort Is Full Victory”

Just 6 months ago I sat with Olivia following my Zenthai flow class at the Bali Spirit festival. I never expected that one hour sitting on the grass eating coconuts and amongst the vibrant sounds and colours of the festival would evolve in me joining the Mindvalley team of yoga teachers at Zenward that is now offering Zenthai teachings online throughout the globe.

There is a deep gratitude that I can now offer Zenthai asana classes on Chinese medicine, the playfulness and connection of partner yoga and the simple yet effective therapy of Zenthai shiatsu, all bound together in the net of Chinese medicine 5 elements.
The Mindvalley team continues to inspire me as we move into a new education framework. The old paradigm of Content based education is truly being questioned with this, a new paradigm that highlights the ways we relate with ourselves, build relationships with each other,  develop a communion with the planet and its resources, develop ADAPTABILTY, intuitiveness and the capacity  to initiate and persevere, really has me aboard .
It is an honour to be aboard this journey…
If your heart is asking to jump aboard here is the link:

http://mval.li/?a=5780&c=1949&s1=

Ruffled … And Unruffled ༺♥༻

I am heading to Brisbane to teach a yoga – a bodywork workshop and I am late … really late ! 

I have completely underestimated the time to drive into the city and am caught in hustle – bustle traffic … red lights and the rest. My angst is rising as I feel the 30 odd people waiting for me.

Then a green light, yay … fist pump into the air … but only momentarily, as again, moments later I am again blocked in traffic with time ticking away.

Time has never been a close ally for me, but I have been trying to befriend it a little more in recent years. Those fully immersed in the time aspect are punctual … but also have commonly been labeled as conditioned, contracted and confined. Those like me, on the other side of time, are spontaneous and can be labeled as disrespectful, selfish and yes … you guessed it ‘rude’..

Ahhh … that time thing again …! Is there some place where time stops?

Then for a just a moment I get a glimpse from up above of the whole scenario playing itself out … YES … NO!! Bad, good … yay , nay!!

And watch it all pass.

I take a big breath and laugh aloud as a wave of acceptance pours through me …

“I am just going to be late … it will be ok ” sweeps through me.

This relaxes me for a moment and I honour the meditation practice that I have been swan diving deeper into for the last twelve months that enabled me to step above the ant-like tussle on the ground into an Eagles view above to see what was really happening.

So what is this meditation … spoken so regularly and honourably in scientific and philosophic circles?

Difficult to describe or give words to a ‘ state ‘  that is equally between concentration and contemplation.

A state I refer to as ‘ on the tip of the arrow with your eyes wide open ‘ .

Too much periphery and we lose the single pointedness, too much single pointedness we lose the magic offered in the peripheral vision.

Centred amongst chaos, calm within the storm. This is a state that with time and practice, we begin to access anytime, anywhere when we stop , listen, notice …

I finally arrive at the yoga studio 25 minutes late, with a full class of students eagerly awaiting with their eyes on me, some only arriving a few minutes before. ”

“Ok”,  I ask … ” Which one has been doing all the prayers to make me late ? ”

We all laugh together at the ‘ Lila ‘ … the dance of life and move on … not before we sit for a few some moments … stopping together, listening and noticing … maybe asking ‘WHO’  really is orchestrating all of this ?

Stop :: Be still

I am  sure it has happened to you. More than once. You are running late and everything comes up, to either stop the flow or make you late.

I am trying to get out early to meet my friends for a surf. The car gets bogged in the wet mud. We attempt to get it towed out but I have lost my keys. Aargh! The keys are found, the car is pulled out and I finally get to the beach, it is all too late . Why didn’t I listen?

Or a friend comes to you frustrated and confused. You falsely assume she is looking for answers and begin trying to solve the issues. Should do this, shouldn’t do this (‘should’ closes the heart), this is what happened for me … on and on. This just creates a bigger mess … more frustration, more noise, more confusion and unfortunately more separation.

What was just needed was to stop and listen. Nothing to solve, just offer an understanding, quiet and spaciousness.  A resting in awareness.

Nothing more.

I hear Mooji’s words loud and clear ..” Stop … Be Still ‘ .

When we come to the intersections in life’s paths and refuse to stop, the result is not just layering in more frustration and awkwardness but over time a substantial effect on one’s energetic and physical states. Hence, when we are in communion with life, tuning into the ebbs and flows, we are blessed with increased vigour, empowered immunity to physical and emotional barrages and a deepening of our awareness.

The ancient zen proverb sums this up powerfully.

” The mind is the wind, the body the sand. To see what the wind is doing, look at the sand.” 

I love spontaneity.

Recently my mate rang me and asks me to join him and two friends on a surfing trip up the beach. I haven’t experienced this for years !

Raw surfing trip … surfboards, big tarp, two jerrycans full of water, a box of food and of course the old classic Aussie billy to make our cups of tea. I have a busy week but can’t say no. A little rearranging and two days later I am sitting around the fire with three friends enjoying a beautiful sunset in the sand dunes tucked away from the wind after a day of surfing powerful and challenging ocean swells, eyes red raw and arms like jelly, indicating a big day in the water.

The next morning, I awake early for a Sunrise walk around the headland. I find a broken branch and lay it across my shoulders and rest my arms on top and go walkabout. If someone else saw me it would of looked like a scarecrow walking up the beach, but for me the next forty five minutes was one of the most memorable yoga sessions I have had for a long time. Inhale – exhale, everything in … everything out. The birds effortless soaring over the wind swept waves, the sharp rocks massaging my feet on each step, the fresh wind filling me from head to toe with pure boundless Prana.

I am in the deep connection when we step into untouched nature with full participation. The commentaries and narratives that hinder the inhale, the holdings and fears that suffocate the exhale … all disappear. The inner competition that our minds subtlety play, the push and pull, the identity of teacher ,student, therapist, father …all absent  in a pristine state of ease. This walkabout is simply soaking everything up and letting everything go. There is a real chance  for inquiry when we give ourselves space.

As I start the stroll back to the campsite, the bigger questions come up … what are we doing here? Who am I really? Where do I really need to place my attention and intention?

I recall a oldie but a Goodie ” If we always do what we do, we always get what we got .”

I am soon am back at camp … refreshed, renewed and with a healthy dose of realisation.

All good stuff … I love spontaneity.

Let what comes come, let what goes go … Ramana Maharishi.

Have you noticed how being in the company of open people how open you become?

The openness is infectious, your face softens, the body relaxes, the air freshens, the moment lightens. As you open, the next person beside transforms into another expression of openness.

In the concluding of the final day of our recent 4 day intensive I am ‘slack jawed’ to look around to notice the radiant openness in all the faces. Only 4 days before was 25 faces, more like frightened squirrels in the forest, looking for a hole to run and hide. This is a natural occurrence for humans faced with unfamiliarity, fear and separateness. But slowly, step by step, as one person opened up with their rawness, so did the other, like petals in a flower … one opening the other.
In rawness, we don’t always see delight and radiance. Here too, we also see repugnant ugliness … the things that disturb us, inside and out. What we do see is truth Furthermore, not closing down and pulling away, back into our husks of protection and separateness.
If we can remain open and feel everyone … the cloudy moments, as well as the blue sky parts, love will endure.
This practice of openness, then could possibly be a great remedy for a turbulent world. If we open to open, speak from your openness to another’s openness, we can witness the unclenching of the heart … and breathe that deep openness that is in everyone.

Watering Seeds

In a recent gathering of beautiful friends at BYRON bay, a long time soul brother offered a couple of words in reference to my path … “Watering seeds and buzzing about the tree that grows ” I guess he sort of nailed it … a great analogy of a passion for us all not wasting time that can be used for us to step up and shine with our potential. This is including watering the  seeds in my own inner environment.

As we step into another golden lap of the sun, it is a good time to reflect on the seeds you wish to sow and water this year. It is sad yet true that without this vigilant attention to the mind, this year could be another repeat of patterns and habits that you have been locked into for decades, that is similar to a dog being led around on a leash … comfortable in the unsatisfactory-ness … being too sleepy or afraid to tug another way.

During our annual team circle at the post Woodford Zenthai therapist celebration (I call it celebration from the great joy we gather from offering and supporting together), all are asked to share the seeds they wish to sow and water this year. As with most heart sharing Circles there is a collective wave of similarity from each individual’s contribution.

Inviting more joy and fun, presence, nourishment, space, purpose, and alignment weaved its way into the powerful circle. Devotion rated highly also … and is an integral part of heightening consciousness and stepping up to shine and expand.

I am sure you will see snippets of the words and thoughts in your own 2016 intentions also …

But can we?… Let each day, not just this traditional ‘ year stamping phase’ have space to ask ” what am I devoted to? ”  Are your actions being aligned with what is true and deepest for you or is it another bright ribbon around some ego based self importance? Another year is a great reminder that time and attention are our most precious commodities, and are we awake to what we are spending it on?

Like any serious full-time Gardener would remind us  … the Seeds and Seedlings need constant watering  and vigilant attention (not just as the beginning of the fertile season).

May there be joy in the process …

2016 Zenthai blessings ..