Learning again...

Dear blog readers,

It's been a while since I posted.  Didn't feel the need to write anything down, given that voice recognition software made everything take so darn long, what with the dictating, editing, correcting, training the "Dragon" and many restarts of the computer...

But now I'm happy to note that I've been typing on the tablet keyboard and using voice recognition on the phone and both have proven themselves adequate for my modest word counts, at least for the past month. So I'm blogging on the tablet today.

After a decade and half as a teacher, it's refreshing to have time to be a student again.  Just realized I'm learning lots of things these days, each of them slowly and gently, so I didn't think to list them.  Here they are:

Slow, Gentle Yoga: I've been practicing yoga 1-3 days a week for the first time ever. (Started learning yoga 20 years ago, drifted away from the practice in grad school, then returned to it with some consistency about 5-6 years ago.)

It's telling that when I left my academic job, most of what I took home from the office was yoga props and the like: mat, bolster, towel, Tibetan singing bowls, wind chimes, aromatherapy oils - all the things that helped me get through the long work days under fluorescent lights.

Now that I've had the time to take my second restorative yoga retreat, I saved up to buy the Judith Hanson Lassater book on restorative yoga, dipping into it once in a while. Have invested in two blocks, a bolster and most recently treated myself to a strap (yes, I realize those words can be taken out of context; please don't.)  I now keep a blanket with the other yoga props, for delicious head pillowing.

Anyway. I'm also learning Greek and Spanish. Found that I get bored easily, so switching between the two seems to keep things fresh.  The new apps make me feel like I'm playing a game, with colourful visuals and bite-size lessons, so I didn't count this as learning, which I think is a good sign. No more cram school or obligation-based homework-laden courses, thank you!

Hmm, what else? Oh yes, taking an on-line course on mindfulness for educators. Classmates are mostly people working in the K-12 system. I've learned that there are schools in NYC based on garden curricula, and schools where fitness coaches teach body scans and take students on outdoor hikes as part of health and well-being class.

Also learned that there is no substitute for visiting a monastery, ashram, or other designated space where a solid community practices mindfulness 24/7 , year-round. There are numberless videos, guided meditation recordings, websites, documentaries, books, articles, and downloads available, but none of them would have made much impact on me ten years ago.

The vast majority of mindfulness resources are of limited interest to me. I can see how they might be useful as prompts or exercises to use with young children or teens.  However, these things make sense only insofar as they remind me of specific experiences over the years of studying silence, visiting spiritual communities, going on 10-day silent meditation retreats, and learning by living with monastics, even if only for a few days at a time.

Oh gosh, I've written words today!  No editing. Going to hit publish and then go do something else. Happy Lunar Year of the Monkey, y'all!

Time to go on retreat

Apparently I haven't been to my upstate retreat since October of last year.  I sat for a 10 day Vipassana meditation course back in April, and took 2 days for a staycation over my birthday, but otherwise have not taken time to reflect and rest.

It is a new moon, we've just had a solar eclipse, and it's a new school year.  Time for me to walk by the lake, visit my dog friend Buzzy, and sleep soundly for a couple of days.

Difficult conversations....

As a disabled woman of color, immigrant to the USA and daughter of two immigrants to Canada, I am delighted to learn that some courageous white people are taking up the challenge of examining white privilege.

I have found it extremely valuable when people who identify as white meet together to discuss the effects of racism upon us.

Image description: a translucent glass fish is trapped head down in a rectangular glass of water. Small bubbles emerge from the fish upwards.

Here's how I think of it sometimes:
Racism is the water in which everyone swims (at least from my own experience in Canada and the USA). White people happen to have gills (white privilege) so it's no problem for them. They don't even notice they are breathing underwater. Being able to live without struggling against racism is as natural as drawing breath.

For POC (people of color), it's like we can barely breathe and we have to find bubbles of oxygen wherever we can, or spend valuable energy swimming up to the surface (think safer spaces, which are often POC only spaces) where we strain to catch a breath and then try to make it last while we dive back down into White world and attempt to function underwater.

For my beloved white friends, here is a quiz that might generate some interesting self-reflection and discussion.  It's helpful for someone just starting to become curious about the idea of privilege, or being a member of the dominant group (which is NOT the same as simply being in the numerical majority)...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/how-privileged-are-you#.dxwy0LPRk

If you enjoyed that quiz, Peggy McIntosh's classic 1988 article offers a longer explanation and a more complete quiz here.