Exploring Meditation in Movement

I first knowingly explored active meditation in the late 1990's with Tai Chi. At the time, I found the movements too slow and my companions and I were too immature for this ancient art.

The next time I flirted with mediation in movement was when my coworkers and I signed up for a pottery class around Y2K. I loved being able to focus on only one thing: the clay that I was shaping. My senses seemed augmented as I felt the clay on the wheel, listened to the hum of the wheel, watched and breathed in the art of making. I wasn't particularly skilled at it, unless you count being skilled at wrecking my fingernails. At least I was able to create some serviceable pen cups.

What is Active Meditation?

In Active Mediation: A technique of the future, Eliza Mala Dalian describes it as "an evolutionary process of releasing our stress and pent up emotions from the body while simultaneously being engaged in witnessing and dis-identifying from our thoughts and emotions." Unlike passive meditation, you are actually doing something.

Ms Dalian describes Osho meditations, which has been practice throughout the the world since the 1970's. However, based upon her definition, I recognize meditation in movement in various activities that either my family, friends or I do, such as: nature or landscape photography, painting, drawing, knitting, origami and flower arranging. The way I see it, so long as it is an activity that requires you to move around, allows you to lose yourself into it and ground you in the process, it qualifies as active meditation.

Martial Arts and Active Meditation

I did wind up revisiting Tai Chi last year, taking classes from Jane Sponair. Having a much smaller class and different companions made my Tai Chi practice more successful. I was able to love myself into the movements.

However, at the end of the second course, I was yearning for something more. That something more "stares" at me in my office: my iaito.

After Christmas, I'll be resuming my Iaido studies. I know that it will be bumpy in the beginning (five years is a long time for your skills to dull).

However, I know that some of it will come rushing back to me. For instance, I still practice my sword cuts occasionally as doing so releases some of the tension in my shoulders. In Mushin: The State of Mind, Chris Caile defines it as follows: "The Japanese term Mushin is a shortened version of the Zen expression "mushin no shin" which translates as "the mind without mind" or "no-mindness." It is a nice way to describe active mediation.

These are just a few ways that one can practice active meditation. Are there any activities that you engage in that qualify as meditation in movement? Please share.

How to Warm Up at the Piano

My colleague Robert Estrin of Living Pianos recently posted a great video tutorial on how to warm up at the piano. There are some great tips for all musicians!

He talks about staying healthy and taking breaks. He also mentions the importance of stretching.

Here is is clip on how to warm up at the piano:

Here are some keyboard warm-ups, courtesy of my colleague Irina Gorin. These are geared towards beginner piano students:

Finally, check out my series on musician stretches:

• Face and Neck Stretches for Musicians

• Arm and Hand Stretches for Musicians

• Back and Shoulder Stretches for Musicians

On the advent of change

Last night was our choir director's last Mass with us. She will be missed. It's not good-bye though. She will fill in when I'm unable to play the piano and there are other musical projects that we can collaborate on. Having said that, my days with my church choir are also numbered.

Our choir continues to attract new singers, but pianists, guitarists and leaders are harder to come by. We can only hope and pray that more instrumentalists and a new director steps forward before my last Sunday.

I had a good chat with one of the choir members about these changes a few weeks ago. She and I have served on three or more church ministries for several years now. Since joining the choir, I had to drop my other ministries.

That evening, we talked about the need to take time to rest and renew.

Rest and renew. I like the sound of that. It is something that I think as adults, we have a tough time doing. It is something I will need to do more regularly as I concentrate on several big projects.

When I visited my old dojo in the summer, I realized how much I missed practicing iai. Practicing mushin. Engaging in active meditation.

I learned that one of the training nights had moved to a non-teaching night. However, it conflicts with choir practice and the church service I play at.

I still plan on serving the church community in some way. I do look forward to serving in ways that aren't tied down to a specific Mass and to be able to attend any Mass.

Just like I am looking forward to returning to studying Iaido and learning Jodo in the new year. Will I be able to grade for my Sho-dan next year? Who knows? I'm not going to rush it though. For now, it is enough knowing that these changes are over the horizon.

When a Cell Phone Interrupts a Concert or Event

This seems to be happening more frequently: you're at a concert, gymnastics meet, jazz club, tennis match, movie or church, you're at a dramatic or intense moment when a cell phone rings. It cuts across the conversation, the action or a performance.

This video was making the rounds last week on various social networks, entitled: "Haydn Killed by a Cell phone." It shows just how loud a cell phone can be in a concert hall:

This is a video I showed my students last year. When a cell phone interrupted a concert, the violinist incorporated the annoying Nokia ringtone into his performance:

One more for you, in which a New York Philharmonic concert was halted because of a cell phone ringing:

It really kills the moment. Not only that, it can also shatter a musician's or athlete's concentration to the point of rendering them unable to carry on (especially if it's a young person).

If it happened to me, I'm not sure if I'd be as quick-witted as the violinist above or as polite as Christian Zacharias. Depending upon the piece, I might stop. I'd definitely be bitchy. I would even be tempted to call up the cell phone owner to the stage and let him or her try playing from the point of interruption.

If the cell phone user is close to the stage, perhaps I'd even ask for the phone and answer it. I could picture how that conversation could go:

Me: Hello?

Person calling: Hi. Can I speak to X?

Me: I'm sorry, (s)he can't come to the phone right now. (S)He is at a concert right now and your call just interrupted my performance... 

Leaving your cell phone is disrespectful on so many levels. First, it's disrespectful to those on stage, be it a musician, athlete or pastor. It has taken them hours of care and hard work  to be prepared to stand before you.

Second, if it's disrespectful to the composer (if it's a music performance), the teachers/coaches and all other individuals and groups involved with making that performance, service or event happen.

Third, it's disrespectful to the other patrons. Perhaps they had to scrimp and save to attend that event. Or, they had to juggle their schedule around. Either way, they made a choice and/or sacrifice to be there.

I know, I'm probably preaching to the choir. The ones who need to hear this message probably don't read my blogs. Perhaps the only thing that would get through to those people is if their special moment is rudely interrupted. However, they still probably would deny that they are guilty of doing the same thing.

A friend of mine mentioned that in Japan, cell phone signals are blocked in some concert halls. My piano families and I joked that there may come a time when we will have to check-in our phones before setting foot into a concert hall, church or event venue.

Is it that hard to put the phone on "Silent" or "Vibrate"? Last time I checked, it's as easy as a swiping down to get your quick menu and pressing a button.

Cell phones interrupting concerts or events, as frustrating as that is, is not the main issue. Rather, I think it's that we as a society can't seem to handle being fully present "in the moment", as this video sadly demonstrates:

I've Got No Phone and I am Fine

I was halfway to my car appointment when I realized that I left my smartphone at home. If I turned around to get it, I would have surely been late, so I pushed forward.

Luckily, I brought my messenger bag containing books and writing materials. In that 75 minutes, I managed to read through one chapter of a Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting" and write out four blog posts.

It is truly amazing how much we can accomplish without any distractions. I think it's safe to say that my smartphone is as much of a distraction as it is a work tool.

Although I have turned off some of the notifications that are sent to my phone, I still race to my phone when it chirps, beeps or blinks.  For the time that I went to my car appointment and back, life was pretty quiet. And it was good.