4.28.2010

grateful for...

Soccer, teams, growth, help, knowledge, sleep, summer, immune system, digestion, water, team effort, calm, lavender, rosemary, seniors, potential, progress, process, spirit, passion, focus, positivity!

4.18.2010

Visit the Prairie Labyrinth - May 1st 1pm-5pm

At my recent yoga training, I was fortunate to meet Toby Evans, the owner and creator of a really neat place! This labyrinth is carved into native prairie, and invites you to explore your chakras in a beautiful natural setting. Read on for a letter from Toby! Hope to see you there!
Namaste,
Kat



You are invited to participate in an Upcoming Global Event with the intention of spreading the healing benefits of the Labyrinth. We hope you'll join us for this second annual celebration of World Labyrinth Day(TM) on May 1st, 2010.

Last year, a variety of events were held at over 100 locations worldwide, including the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., churches, and even a women's maximum security prison. Countries joining the celebration included: the United States, Canada, England, New Zealand, China, South Africa, and Australia.

World Labyrinth Day(TM) is a wonderful opportunity for global community building and celebration, as we join with others around the world, walking the path of the labyrinth.


Think Globally, Act Locally - 'Walk as One at 1'

Once again there is an invitation to ‘Walk As One at 1’ in an attempt to create a wave of peaceful energy moving around the planet. To participate, people are invited to walk a labyrinth at 1:00 P.M. in their local time zone.

Dear KC Community,

I am opening the Prairie Labyrinth on Saturday, May 1, 2010 from noon until 5:00 PM for anyone who would like to participate in this larger global event.

The Labyrinth is a walking meditation inviting you to relax, de-stress and reconnect with your own internal rhythm. It will be an opportunity to be in Nature in a self-reflective process as you join with the energy of those around the world focused on inner peace and oneness with the Earth and each other.

This is a good way to honor and align with the changes that are occurring in and around us, making ourselves available to ground the incoming light of Spring and the growth that it brings. Set your own personal intentions or walk as an empty vessel to receive what you most need.

Because of it being May day, feel free to bring a colored ribbon to tie onto the center pole in the labyrinth which will serve as a permanent May Pole. It will be a colorful representation of our individuated strands being woven together as we add to the matrix of this new energy web.

if you have never walked a labyrinth before, this is a good time to experience its balancing and calming properties. The seven-circuit pathway is 166 ft. in diameter and can be walked in 20 minutes or enjoyed for as long as you desire between noon and 5:00. The Chakra Labyrinth Cards will be available to use if desired.

For your comfort if sunny, you may want to bring water, sunglasses or hat. Wear comfortable shoes or go barefoot on the mowed grass path. The studio space will be open providing access to a bathroom.

This is a free event with donations appreciated.

Feel free to pass on to friends.

Hope to see you then.
Circle blessings,
Toby Evans

Directions to the Prairie Labyrinth

Coming from the Metro area:

Take I 70 East to Grain Valley/Buckner Exit (Exit 24)
Turn left or North onto BB Highway
Stay on BB for 6.5 miles
Turn Right on Neil Chiles Rd.
(There is an intersection sign just before this road and a brown house on that corner)

Come down Neil Chiles until Holly Rd.
Turn Left (It only goes left).
I am the first house on the left. 2-story old white farm house.

Red Building is the studio space.


1316 N Holly Rd

Coming from the North

Take 291 S to 24 Highway East
Stay on 24 East going into small town of Buckner
>From the stop light in Buckner continue on 24 East about 2 miles.
Take the 2nd Road on the Right - Holly Road
Come to the top of the hill - 1 mile
First house on the Right - 1316 N. Holly Rd.
Red building is studio space.

4.17.2010

Meet your Feet.

At my Yoga training today and tomorrow we are discussing the complex and detailed world of human anatomy. It's pretty interesting and all familiar, it makes me wish I could look at the notes from my high school class. What interests me most right now is feet. Seems like a lot of body issues stem from feet. Personally, I think everyone has their own foot story. For example, when I was very little, I was given special shoes for my feet, they thought something was wrong with them, I still don't really know what or why. In sixth grade or so, I came down with pretty severe foot pain, plantar fasciatis probably. I was into wearing very flat Keds. Since I have placed a little arch support in my feet, tried to wear better shoes, and of course, I activate my feet in yoga, and I think it all helps, because I often stand for 10+ hours a day without too much pain, and I'm active in soccer and other athletic endeavors. I do think it's imperative to listen to your own feet and get in touch with them.

Walking barefoot is a great way to start. Mindfully walk around 3 or so minutes, trying to lift your arches, minimally contacting the floor with heel and base of toes. Personally, my arches are a bit low, and I'm sure this plays out in my calves, legs, hips, back and neck. In fact, I believe my migraines can be partially caused by wearing heels, my body simply isn't made for them. Consider the complexity of a foot, there is more than meets the eye! Read below for an idea of the intricacy!

The foot and ankle contain:

* 26 bones each(One-quarter of the bones in the human body are in the feet)
* 33 joints
* more than 100 muscles, tendons (fibrous tissues that connect muscles to bones), and ligaments (fibrous tissues that connect bones to other bones)
* a network of blood vessels, nerves, skin, and soft tissue.

Pretty amazing. So, the take home message is appreciate your feet. If you stand all day, elevate 'em at night. If you sit a lot get out there in the evening and move those legs! Treat them well, and listen to them, and they will serve you well for life. After all, our feet take us exactly where we want to go. ;)

Namaste,
Kat

4.15.2010

grateful for...

My soccer team, Wild Cat, Angus Burgers, No Kill shelters, perspective, wins, losses, growth, tears.

4.11.2010

grateful for...

Yoga Patch, yard work, crimson tulips, Mick, potting plants, basil, catnip, moonvine, compost, Shawnee Mission Park, lakes, picnics, BBQ, Ed, the red shift, poets, projects, my soccer team, my high school, awareness, sandwich making, fresh laundry, bikes, returning plants like old friends, mom, my health, basement yoga project, warm sun, melanin, sunscreen, hats, water, dogs, model planes, veterans, Coke, camaraderie, Bewitched, Netflix, another day.

Namaste,
Kat

4.08.2010

Universal

On the Beach at Night, Alone. by Walt Whitman

ON the beach at night alone,
As the old mother sways her to and fro, singing her husky song,
As I watch the bright stars shining—I think a thought of the clef of the universes, and of
the future.

A VAST SIMILITUDE interlocks all,
All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets, comets, asteroids,
All the substances of the same, and all that is spiritual upon the same,
All distances of place, however wide,
All distances of time—all inanimate forms,
All Souls—all living bodies, though they be ever so different, or in different worlds,
All gaseous, watery, vegetable, mineral processes—the fishes, the brutes,
All men and women—me also;
All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations, languages;
All identities that have existed, or may exist, on this globe, or any globe;
All lives and deaths—all of the past, present, future;
This vast similitude spans them, and always has spann’d, and shall forever span them, and
compactly hold them, and enclose them.

4.06.2010

Let it go!?!

I would say a lot of unhappiness is self created. Do you agree?

I encounter unhappy people somewhat frequently. Kids, adults, you can spot them in a heartbeat. Complaining, worried, dour, negative, critical, angry, self-hating. I think Americans have spent quite a bit of energy identifying ourselves with our *day* job. Our very language supports this. "I am...a doctor." "What do you do?" "My job is my life." The list goes on. None of these statements can even begin to explain a human being. And maybe we resent this association a little, as well we should. What's up with all the road rage? That's an easy one. Could it have something to do with not wanting to be on the road to where we are going, rushing along? I think it might. Each person is so much more than what we do from 8-5, or whatever the work hours might be. Are you rushing to the job to pay for the car, the house, new new new, too much too much too much? Something is wrong with that! It's enough to upset anyone, feeling like you are just breaking even, treading water.

I feel like I have a slightly interesting perspective on this, after the year I spent living in Spain. Far more than a job, in Spain, I found that each individual identifies with their family, their hometown, their foods, region, even neighborhood. Many young adults live at home longer, out of monetary need, but also enjoying family life, sharing of food, and the events of the day. Each person has intrinsic value as a daughter, sister, mother, brother, grandfather, you get the idea. What you do is a facet as well of course, but not so much more emphasized as we tend to do here. Society does not compartmentalize so much, the world feels open and more free, personal freedom is valued, leisure is treasured. Space may be a little more scarce, but kindness is flowing, and there is always time each day to share a cup of coffee.

I think if our western society could embrace this concept, our identity might learn to loosen up a little and truly we could breath easier. What is this that compels us to work, work work? 50, 60, 70 hours a week or more. For the health insurance? Where does it get you? Maybe a promotion, a little more money, but if life is truly a journey, and if the material things in life don't really make us happy, doesn't it make sense to slow down a bit? To read a book, take a nap, start a garden, call an old friend, perhaps try a new recipe? Join a club, travel group, or help with city planning for a fun event. I think a lot of people here get a difficult wake up call and it's so sad. They neglect healthy eating, exercise, personal growth. Maybe we feel we are entitled to perfect health, long life, total prosperity, because we worked hard. The truth is, many people all over the world work hard, but most don't have what we have and a sparkling tomorrow is never a guarantee for anyone. We should not feel guilt for our prosperity. It is worth enjoying what we have. Because at the end of our days, what will we look back and remember? The days we rushed from A to B to C, or those wonderful moments when time slowed down, we loved family, friends, ourselves, and we treasured the chance to simply be what we are: complex, multidimensional, and human.

Namaste,
Kat

4.01.2010

grateful for...

Blog readers and writers, soccer, soft shirts, Fridays, kids, my principal, Mia Hamm, team captains, energy, force, work, power, waves, EARTH, Jupiter for not falling inward and smooshing us like (apparently) what happens in many/most solar systems, laughter, those kids that try me, fools, hyacinths, lilies, hostas, lilacs, quince, friends, change, progress, security, golf, deli, astronomy, Spain, cheese from Spain, arabic, Morocco, Iraq.

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