Genuine Observations

There are lots of people that talk about doing it and then there are very few people that actually follow through. It’s like stating your dreams out loud, but never finding the time to live them. Are you someone that simply states your dreams? Or are you a doer? Are there items crossed off your list? Or has the list never actually been made?

I absolutely love coming across doers. Every time I recognize it, it leaves me feeling more inspired to continue to fill out my own experiences. Doing something is so much richer than simply talking about it.

When looking into how I might be able to attend a Wanderlust Festival, I came across a video by Kelly Morris that touch me and I wanted to share. It’s a bit long (35+ minutes) but the underlying philosophy many ring true with you as it did for me.

Hopefully, you can overlook her sharp, hard, abrasive almost abusive exterior for there is some strength that shines through that’s pretty powerful. In a way, I felt sad watching her present the lesion for she’s living it herself. We all live through stuff – get caught up in stuff – and never really know it until we get through it.

Here’s the video, but keep in mind that the critic in me will be waiting for you when this is over.

My favorite part starts 17:25 minutes into the video she’s talking about how you hear yoga instructors always saying your supposed to open you heart. It went something like this: “… Open your heart, Oh God … Talk about a hallmark sentiment. Right yeah. It’s more than a bumper sticker people. You have to actually do it. You have to actually do it.” Did it make you laugh like it did for me? Hey, if you skipped the video, just fast forward to this location. Stop around 17:00 and let it flow.

It’s all about actually doing.

A few months ago I attended a yoga practice with an instructor that I’d never been to before. I setup like normal for what I know will be a ‘practice’ and proceeded to take on the full student role. Ultimately, I’m there to practice and the role of the instructor is to guide the students along. Well, this instructor had studied yoga to the point where she intellectually knew what could hurt you and how to protect yourself. Well, every asana came with the full intellectual understanding of the pose. There was so much talk that after the hour passed I remember saying that I’d just been to an intellectual yoga class where the instructor talked all about yoga, but we never really did it. I haven’t been back.

I don’t think Kelly Morris would have tolerated the entire hour with this instructor.  

Back to the video.

Some things that she mentioned aren’t in sync with some of the stuff that I’ve mentioned in my blogging and are different then what I feel inside.

Her talk about anger seemed to come across a little abrasive to me. It’s at the point of about 9:40. She says something like “… It’s said that anger is the number of affliction (ah) besieging the western world, anger. And I asked you ‘are you angry?’ and how many of you raised your hands, like 2 courageous souls. Really? You don’t get angry? Come on… you all look so serious. You look angry right now.“

It might simply be that I’m troubled by a technicality, but she asked earlier if people where angry – not do you ever get angry. When I sense the feelings of the occupants of that room, I do not sense anyone as being angry. Sure, they might be serious, but not angry. Now, do these people ever get angry? That’s a different story.

I’ll forgive for its good entertainment and the underlying story is so much more powerful.

In the question and answer section, she brings up a good point at 24:30 minutes in. It ends something like “… and that’s all you can do is try – that’s why it’s called a practice. If it was easy we’d all be there already.” That seems logical. But I have to wonder about this a bit.

First off, she mentions ‘trying’ a lot in the video. Try to stand up. Can you? No. Trying gets you nowhere. Now, stand up. Does that work? Yes. Trying to do something leaves you in a state of never getting started and never completing. It’s the ‘talking about it phase’ of making your dream. You either do, or you don’t. Trying if failure.

The contradiction that I’m faced with in Kelly’s words is that yoga is a practice. It is the act of doing. You don’t try to do it. You just do it. When you think about the physical asana’s, you simply do them. You don’t talk about doing them. There is nothing open for debate, they are just done.

The same idea holds for opening your heart. You don’t try. You do. You don’t talk about it. You practice.

The last part that also gets me a bit is that idea that it’s hard (or easy). What’s hard to one person may be rather simple to another. When I think about what I’ve experienced regarding my asana practice is that the moves aren’t really all that hard. Sure you’re body may provide resistance, but that resistance comes from within. If you resist, the asana appears harder.

If you think about what it really means to resist, you’ll realize that to resist something is an emotional thing rather than simply a physical thing. The whole easy and hard argument is simply a matter of you making it what you want. It doesn’t have to be hard!

At the very end, the most interesting thing that she says is something that I completely – one hundred percent – agree with. It starts about 34:25 minutes in “The Buddha said the next Buddha was going to be not a one single human Being, but the songa – He said the songa or community of like minded people was going to be the next bubba. We’re going to do it together. We’re going to hold hands and do it together. Collaboratively. Are you in?”

This is something that I’ve recently come to realize. As we evolve, we will do so on the feeling planes of existence. This is rooted in the power of the heart rather than the power of the mind. This process of being a realized Being (as she says) is not something that will occur for people who simply talk about it. It will come to those who actually practice. You have to do it. You don’t try.

The really exciting part for me is that I get to see people learning how to open their hearts via the net! YouTube is an amazing evolutionary source. As people actually practice – and record it – that act of doing can be witnessed by another so as to learn how they did it. Little by little, we will learn from practicing – opening our hearts – together. It will be a collective awakening. We will all lead each other.

Maybe that’s way I spend so much time scouting YouTube for helpful little videos. It’s like doing physical yoga in a community – you’re with someone while you practice. The energy is stronger. The energy creates a feedback loop that makes it easier to … feel.

I’m pretty excited about it. I’m glad to have found this little video from Kelly.

Oh, one more thing. I get the feeling that Kelly is really holding back in the Wanderlust video for I found another little video of her.

You notice that growl! Or, better yet, did you feel that growl? It looks like Kelly has spent time learning about energy flow and it just jumps out at you in a split second! Can you tell where she gets her drive? Lol.

So, it’s not just a bumper sticker people – you’re supposed to actually do it.