Our one true constant – the breath

April 2, 2014 in Blog

Our one true constant – the breath

I had a new experience this week as I tried my hand as human voodoo doll. I’m kidding (I think) but that’s a little bit what I felt like after my first session of a technique (torture) called dry needling.

For the uninitiated, after the session, I described it this way: if you’ve ever had an acupuncturist hit an especially zing-y spot, multiply that sensation by 27 and then imagine her jabbing the spot over and over then carefully selecting a dozen more locations to do the same thing. Mid-treatment, I turned to my physical therapist and asked, rhetorically, how anyone could possibly tolerate this who didn’t know how to breathe.… Read the rest

Waiting is the hardest part

March 2, 2014 in Blog

Waiting is the hardest part

by Jill Sockman

The waiting is the hardest part. Or so the lyrics go. And oddly enough, even though I have more song lyrics than just about anything else stored in this brain of mine, those are the only words I know.

waiting

I’m in a hallway of sorts. It’s not a hall full of doors where I need to pick one and walk through it. It’s more like a transition area of some kind.Â It’s not unpleasant, and not terribly uncomfortable.

I feel clear on where I am.

But understanding this waiting time theoretically is not at all the same as abiding peacefully with the open space on a daily basis.… Read the rest

It begins

February 6, 2014 in Blog

It begins

My blue family,

At about this time every year, I silently (or not so silently) ask the question, “why do we do this?” It’s usually followed by a short list of reasons why a fundraising event of this magnitude is really out of our scope and is, therefore, driving us out of our minds. But that small and whiny voice is always drowned out by the deeper, stronger, louder, and truer voice that answers, “we do this because we can.”

In the words of Albert Einstein,

“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”… Read the rest

Are you living? Really living?

February 4, 2014 in Blog

Are you living? Really living?

by Jill Sockman

I am dying.

Don’t be alarmed. So are you. Hopefully not today or tomorrow, but it’s happening. We don’t understand it and can’t plan it. And I have the feeling it isÂ going to be just as magical as how we first came to be. Our exit is the greatest mystery of this life, and I’ve been thinking about it quite a lot lately.

No, I haven’t had a horrible diagnosis or anything like that. But I am getting some pretty consistent messages through my dreams and multiple other sources that time is a-tick-tick-ticking.… Read the rest

The Power of a Moment, or Saving the World Through the Transcendent Bliss of the Whoopee Cushion

January 24, 2014 in Blog

The Power of a Moment, or Saving the World Through the Transcendent Bliss of the Whoopee Cushion

by Kathleen Yount

It was one of those moments. Somehow, my eight-year-old niece got her hands on a whoopee cushion. (Yes, they do still make those things.) After a variety of attempts, she successfully slid it under her uncle as he sat down in his chair, and she lit up laughing as he landed.

Well, we were all laughing, but my niece’s face was completely transformed by delight. I’ve seen her in this state before, other too-rare moments where she’s in full-on joy mode (and to be clear, it’s not always related to passing gas).… Read the rest

This is your life. Right now.

January 2, 2014 in Blog

This is your life. Right now.

byÂ Jill Sockman

I love to cook, and over the years have gotten pretty good at it. Â No one ever “taught” me how to cook, I absolutely cannot be bound to using a recipe, and the big downside, according to friends and family, is that you’ll never enjoy the same meal twice.Â Â But believe me when I tell you, I got it wrong pretty regularly before I started getting it right. Â As we start a new year and I begin another journey around the sun, I’m struck by how what happens in my kitchen is some kind of metaphor for my journey in life.… Read the rest

Every second counts

December 1, 2013 in Blog

Every second counts

byÂ Jill Sockman

I spent the entire day yesterday watching college football. Â It’s an occasional indulgence, mostly at the holidays and generally always with family. I was indoctrinated at an early age (or perhaps am genetically predisposed), and it’s more of an addiction than just a family tradition. Â Anyway, it was fun to be a part of game day, Sockmans across the country screaming at the television.

After the Big Game (go Bucks!!) I morphed into my chair and watched another rivalry: Â Alabama vs. Auburn. If you missed it, you missed something really incredible – and I don’t think you need to know about football or care about college sports at all to appreciate it.… Read the rest

Put the Phone Down

November 1, 2013 in Blog

Put the Phone Down

by Jill Sockman

I grew up in a home where the phone was considered a tool – or an appliance maybe. Not unlike an oven or a drill, it had a purpose, generally work-related, and otherwise one should leave it alone. Time chatting on the phone was limited, and even as a teenager I was not permitted to have a phone in my bedroom. In fact, I clearly remember my disciplinarian father telling me (in no uncertain terms) that the phone was NOT a toy. My, how times have changed.

Fast forward to the present. During training last week, I was staying in a cabin, on a ranch about halfway up the mountain from Carbondale to Redstone, Colo. … Read the rest

Judgement of That Which is Non-Yogic

October 3, 2013 in Blog

Judgement of That Which is Non-Yogic

by Jill Sockman

It can be all too easy to fall into that dualistic mind of partitioning the world into things/people that are yogic and those that are not. Ultimately unhelpful, but this is what we do. The recent effort across the broader yoga community to block YogaGlo from patenting the recording of yoga instruction during a live class (what?!?!?!?!) is one example which has ruffled a lot of feathers. And don’t get me wrong: I think it’s even crazier than trying to patent a sequence of asana which have been performed by millions of people over thousands of years. … Read the rest

Step outside the Kingdom of Comfort

September 1, 2013 in Blog

Step outside the Kingdom of Comfort

by Jill Sockman

So, here’s a little question for you. How much are you missing out on in order to stay warm, stay dry, stay safe or stay comfortable? I’m beginning to realize that the older I get, the more I just might be missing.

There was a time in my life when adventure was de rigueur. I was pretty uninterested in comfortable, as it generally meant *boring*! While I suppose there are elements of maturity and practicality at play here, there are also elements of complacency, fear, laziness and wayyy too much time spent in my comfort zone.… Read the rest

Blog