Of Poland, pendulum swings, meditation, shiatsu, scientific papers and other things...

Finally got my trip to Poland sorted! News from that part of the world on Saturday though rather takes one's breath away, at least they weren't flying Ryanair!!

Weather here still subject to big pendulum swings, affecting energy levels and general state of "animo", well mine , anyway. Yesterday tried to do something about this , on a personal level you understand and went along with a friend to a small intimate class of " meditation"...
Before you imagine us sitting around cross legged on the floor, in impossibly uncomfortable half lotuses, trying to subdue the "monkey mind", I will tell you we did nothing like that at all... but some curious little activities, with eyes closed, raising sensory awareness and moving around gently bumping into people and at the sound of a gong gazing into others' eyes till the gong sounded again and moving off again ( here the question arises - how do you gaze? do you go from one eye to the other? parallel eye balling is pretty well impossible or do just go fuzzy and fix on a point in the middle? answers please! also doing things like the "trust circle" which I knew about, but had never experienced , in case you don't know bout this, the group form a more or less close circle around one person who stands in the middle with eyes closed and arms folded over their chest, you are gently pushed in one direction or another by people in the circle, supported and pushed again, the person in the centre should be completely relaxed and not impose anything, but
" trust" the others to support them. It's kind of weird, but curious and is meant to reduce fear, build confidence in a group. The guy who runs the course, is a big cuddly bear-like guy, who it is pleasant to be hugged by, and who has unusual green/ grey? eyes, I should know , I gazed into them, but I got to thinking that somehow gazing into eyes that are not dark brown somehow feels very different maybe cos more light is reflected and you get the impression you are really looking into them, ie the person.... hmm. interesting as I am working on a series of drawings of eyes at the mo...

I wish I could add an image or two for you here, but taking pix wasn't quite the thing! We did some other things too, but won't bore you with all that now, because in the evening I went on yet another pursuit for calm and renewed energy. My friend Manolo is a Master of Chi- Gong and Shiatsu , I did chi gong with him and a few friends last year in our garden, and from time to time was lucky enough to have the wonderful experience of a shiatsu. He had managed to clear some time to give me a shiatsu, it is just sooooo relaxing, you never want it to stop. I love the closeness, the intimacy and the warmth of hands , it also requires a lot of trust , if you are tense its hard for the practitioner... he decided I needed another session to work on my back, so I've got that to look forward to next week... In the meantime , if I feel more energetic that will be a bonus, but just having a shiatsu in a darkened room, with gentle music and an expert and being completely relaxed was just fine. At the end of a session Manolo always thanks me, thanks me?? but the reciprocal thing is important, he has told me before how if people are tense and resist , then it is draining, but rather it should be a two way exchange of energy.... I am also convinced that having shiatsus and doing chi gong last year when I was trying to crack the dreaded Sudeck Syndrome after the wrist fracture, speeded up the whole process.. Thank you Manolo, bezaf.
This morning I have just finished revising a scientific paper for a colleague, words like: lipid peroxidation, apoptosis, protein nitration in rat lung/ hypoxia/reoxygenation, abounded. Why did I never do any science at school? Though this is all way beyond me, I am intriqued by the words and concepts..... well I'm off to do half an hours gardening, need to clear my mind....
Unfortunately these photos don't reflect the garden at the moment, they are more like an incentive to remind me that there was a time when the back garden didn't resemble a jungle, or a "secret garden" as my friend Bea pointed out the other day, when she came to visit and discovered our garden went all round the house and wasn't limited to the bit with the lawn in front

Two classes to come today and as this posting is a bit thin on pix here's one to appeal to visual types
this is a painting of mine, an interpretation of a place called Galera, where my friend/ student and archeologist, who is coming for her English class later on, has been involved for many years excavating an ancient settlement..... well, there's the connection!