Thursday, September 12, 2013

Poetry is Alive in Portland!


Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." -Winston Churchill


Recently, in an interview Anderson Cooper did with Dr. Maya Angelou around the remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther’s King’s “I HAVE A DREAM" speech, she said that change and peace will come when we have courage….all it takes is courage. She says, “I am a human being; nothing human can be alien to me”.
  
Last Sunday, I went to my first ever Rhythmic Cypher poetry night at Dobra Tea in Portland, and it was so awesome! If Maya Angelou was there, she would have witnessed courage so royal, so wide, and so unbelievably deep.  Courage does not mean absence of fear. When I am brave, it does not mean I am not fearful; in fact, it means I am fearful AND I am willing in the face of it. I am willing to the rise or fall, to the light or dark, to the win or to the defeat…to the holding or to the being held.

In the set up of this specific Rhythmic Cypher poetry night, there was a First Ever Improv Slam. The audience came up with topics, and the poets had to randomly pick them out of a hat. In one round, the poets would pick a topic and create a poem on the spot with literally no time to think before they hit the mic. In the other round, the poets would pick a topic and have a short (1-3 minutes) amount of time to write a poem from scratch. Wild, right? Our hosts for the evening Greg McKillop and Gaelle Robin took care of us all with their safe-space making, humor, cuteness, humility, and encouragement. 

For over 3 hours, I relaxed in the back of this tea house, on a comfy couch, shoulder to shoulder with people I just met, holding my round white tea cup that held warm steeped jasmine tea, and I, myself, was completely steeped in this courageous, creative, willing, openly human community, cleansed by the honesty in their poems, softened by the appreciation and support they all gave one another, and inspired by their free spirits. 

I was literally buzzing when I left…I was vibrating with beats, and words, and music still echoing in my head and heart. I was so full of love for yet another incredible community that exists in Portland. Art is alive and well here, my friends. Here is a taste of an off the cuff poem by T Love who randomly picked my topic: elephant.




Elephant Poem by T Love
I don't like circuses.
No. Matter of fact, I hate circuses.
Personally, I think they should be banned.
I love animals.
More than most humans actually.
I've heard elephants never forget.
I've heard they can hear sound vibrations through their feet.
I've heard they actually mourn their dead. I think I've been an elephant in a past life.
I think I've been an elephant in this life.
The tension in the room that holds air thick enough to turn razor wire feeble enough to snap.




Rhythmic Cypher. Poets in Residence at Dobra Tea

151 Middle Street Portland, ME 

Every Sunday

5:30 Tea Time 

6:00-10pm Writing, Performance, or Workshops


 




 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Portland Youth Dance Company & Outreach



“These young kids, teens, and instructors have truly inspired me to continue to befriend dance and to step out there with confidence and vulnerability, fully and completely, in dance and in life!”



All I want to do is dance! I have been taking beginner jazz at Casco Bay Movers Dance Studio in Portland with Susan Thompson-Brown, and it just feels so good to move to music, connect, and express myself in this way. There is so much I am experiencing on an emotional level in my life right now, and it feels like I can let it all out on the dance floor and be filled up and recharged at the same time.  I am tired of the voice in my head, I am tired of speaking, or trying to figure things out, or make sense of... On the dance floor, something else is happening.  I am expressing myself without words, telling a story without my voice. Sometimes it feels like through choreography, I am journaling my “stuff” through my body-through chassés, tondus, isolations, my flexed foot, my shuffle ball chain. I am so grateful that I have found this art of dance and it’s never too late to start something new!

This past Saturday, I went to watch the spring show of the Portland Youth Dance Company at Scarborough High School. The Portland Youth Dance Company & Outreach is a non profit youth dance company that also provides free Outreach programs in the community and scholarships for those in-need. It originated in 1998 out of Casco Bay Movers and was partly created as an alternative to competitive dance. It cultivates personal artistic growth for youth, while striving for creative excellence in dance.  How cool!

I was near to tears of joy as I watched some of the younger kids moving and grooving to beats performing without hesitation and just putting themselves out there in front of a packed audience. Oh, how I wish I could have been that brave and fearless as a young child when I would go out on the ice and perform in skating competitions and shows. The Portland Youth Dance show included a variety of dances from samba to modern to hip hop to tap with performers probably ranging from ages 7-18. 

After watching this show, I left feeling absolutely inspired and full of joy. I could feel the love and passion for dance these performers had, and for many of them, I could feel it is in their blood, part of who they are. It was a beautiful experience to witness.  These young kids, teens, and instructors have truly inspired me to continue to befriend dance and to step out there with confidence and vulnerability, fully and completely, in dance and in life! 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

"Love with urgency but not with haste"

bal·ance  
upside down and steady

noun 

An even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.



Let's talk about BALANCE

Let's talk about all the good things

And the bad things that may be

 

To be steady, to be fully standing

or upside down and steady

honor your whole-self

BALANCE

evenness

opportunity knocks not just once
 

Be Balanced

that's your essence

that's your presence


Kathleen and I started Roost House of Juice with an intention to cultivate balance for ourselves, and invite that for our customers, for our community. We developed our menu of juice, smoothies, vegan food, & wine with the hope of encouraging people to try on eating more fruits and veggies- to add in more plants, and to honor their specific needs and often the multiplicities and ambiguities that exist within all of us. We love that we can serve the raw gluten free vegan that is very limited when it comes to eating out; we love that we can serve up a collard wrap to a man who normally eats turkey sandwiches for lunch but is choosing to add in a plant based option once a week; we love that we can serve up a glass of organic bio-dynamic wine to someone after work while they roost and enjoy a side of savory crackers and a side of dairy free cashew ricotta spread; we love that we can serve up a chocolate coconut macaroon to a young girl who has an egg allergy and normally cannot eat macaroons. Everyone is welcome here, as you are, as you are, and we come as we are.

I was talking recently with a friend about relationships, and I was unloading about how I am feeling right now about the world around me and the suffering and violence that exists. I was like, on one hand knowing all this is happening makes me seize life more- life is fragile, so make a difference while you can, say what you need to say while you are here and do what you need to do... and as Mumford & Sons sing in their song, "love with urgency but not with haste" ..so all that is going on inside myself. On the other end, in leui of recent world happenings, there is a feeling of being broken down, unmotivated, fearful of the inevitable presence of suffering in this life and a forgetting of the magic, mystery, and miracles that also exist in this life. My friend said it sounds like you have one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake. STUCK, yes is how I feel. I am pressing the gas and pressing the brake so I am not going anywhere, no movement, no balance. My friend encouraged me not to press hard on the brake or the gas, but in order to move forward, there has to be some form of nuanced play with both the gas and the break-subtle, slight, always refining, go a mile, pause, reflect, be aware, and then maybe eventually go another mile. And maybe it is okay to be stuck sometimes,-what is there to learn here? how can I practice being present right now and be okay in all of it? How can I trust that all will balance out and no feeling is final? 
 
I write this now as a person who in the beginning of the week, a few times, ate over some sadness and fear with some coconut ice cream and sweets and bread and chips, who later in the week, was like, I'm done eating over my feelings for now, so opted for some juice and raw foods instead to lift me up a bit.  Now, as I write this at the end of a busy week at Roost House of Juice, I recognize that I let myself ride the wave of my uncomfortable feelings, allowed myself to play with the brake and gas, and arrived at a place of equilibrium again on this fine sunny Saturday. 
 
As I sit here now on Saturday night, I am grateful for an evening promenade and chat with a friend filled with a setting sun, lots of blooming cherry blossom trees, laughter, and spring dreams!










Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Zuja Wellness, OH I HEART YOU!

Zuja Wellness

Fit Body. Quiet Mind. Happy Heart. 

Wellness
Noun.
1. The quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort
2. The state of being in good physical and mental health

When I first went to Zuja last summer, I went because I wanted to workout and get in shape. I wasn't necessarily looking for wellness from boot camp or tabata classes.  If only I knew that beyond the doorway was so much more than just a physical workout awaiting, I probably would have been running to my first class, and not dragging my feet.

It is hard to start new routines and get ourselves out of physical laziness. I resisted going to Zuja, because I have never really liked doing boot camp classes or enjoyed gym-like atmospheres. I would feel self conscious. I would feel like I would have to push myself to the max. I would be only focused on my immediate progress, not sustainability and certainly not Wellness.

Now, I wake up for 6am Thursday Cardio Tabata Class with owner, Heidi Makuiltekpatl Michaels, and I look forward to the hard core physical workout (FIT BODY) in which I am encouraged to practice self care and rest when I need to (WELLNESS); I look forward to the dissolving of all of my busy mind stuff and the transformation of it into steadiness and present moment living (QUIET MIND); And I so look forward to the community who shows up to move, to laugh, to listen to good jams and dance-workout when we are called to, to support each other with high fives and verbal boosts (HAPPY HEART!) And we always finish class with lovely stretching and centering. I land on my back breathing in and out, taking a few moments just for me. (WELLNESS)


And just like that, after 45 minutes, I am renewed, reignited, respirited and ready to give and receive what the day has to offer and hold! 

Visit the Zuja Wellness website for information on classes, schedules, and special events and workshops!

Thank you to the Zuja Family!

With gratitude,
Jeanette

 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Even in LOVE when I go to the bank and the hardware store!

"...these days with the support and inspiration from many in this Portland community, I actually feel, sit with discomfort, stay with my vulnerability, be with the uneasiness of not having all the answers and not knowing what is going on and let the tears come and go. Sometimes I miss the mark and it is too hard, but I have learned that this too shall pass, and that things are always different after I rest my head." 


A few weeks ago, I went to Ace Hardware to get myself a shovel (it's about time) and some energy efficient light bulbs and as always, I am greeted very kindly, and there are always so many folks willing to help me find what I need. During the summer, my business partner and I regularly visited Ace to find paint colors for Roost and get equipment for our painting extravaganza! My business partner enjoyed many bags of their free popcorn that they have there...I, myself, did not indulge, partly because I have a feeling that the popcorn machine is centuries old, and I am a bit picky. We sat at this round table in the paint section, she eating popcorn, me talking about my day, us laughing hysterically about the fact that we were just sitting like we were at a kitchen table in one of our houses just kicking back with conversation and popcorn on a rainy Sunday afternoon about to watch a movie. ONLY in Portland.

It's like I have a blast going to the bank, even when I have no money to deposit and nothing in my account, but I sit down with one of the employees there and just chat about what I did over the weekend, or I go to Staples to get some paper, and a group of employees are having laughs about something related to something, but it's like I am part of their party...ONLY in Portland.

And, I probably could write stories about my many of running intos and conversations in the aisles of Whole Foods. Some wonderful people work at Whole Foods, and I am inspired by many of them. I have definitely been waiting in line to pay with a burrito in hand, tearing, as I drop an avocado on the ground...many of my friends have heard about the times at Whole Foods where I am just tearing up and walking around the aisles...not because I am sad about the fact that there is no organic celery ( I am sad about that these days), but just because I am so much more in touch with my emotions and honestly feel okay if I ran into someone I knew and I was in tears...I used to be a person who held in my emotions all the time and used overeating as a coping mechanism to not feel, but these days with the support and inspiration from many in this Portland community, I actually feel, sit with discomfort, stay with my vulnerability, be with the uneasiness of not having all the answers and not knowing what is going on and let the tears come and go. Sometimes I miss the mark and it is too hard, but I have learned that this too shall pass, and that things are always different after I rest my head.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Portland Yoga Studio Kickoff Event!

www.portlandyoga.com

“Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit. Perfection in asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached. From then on, the practitioner is undisturbed by dualities.” -Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

 

David Yearwood read from Iyenger's Light on the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali in front of a beautiful room of yoga practitioners, new and old, as he began the free class offered at Portland Yoga Studio (PYS) Saturday afternoon in honor of its changing ownership from Stephanie Abrams to David Yearwood and Parks Mckinney.

Embracing new and old, old and new was the theme of the afternoon; as we entered different asanas (postures), we were invited to observe the duality of new and old. Were these asanas new or old to us? Was our experience in them old or new? Was the asana old, but the feeling new?  As teacher Chelsea Lachapelle pointed out towards the end of class while we were lying down with our legs up, we were in an old shape with a new perspective. We had previously been in downward dog with our legs together (same shape as lying down), but we were upside down then, and now we were looking up.

In that moment, I realized I am in an old space with a new perspective. In 2005, I participated in a Dance of Universal Peace with Elaine McGillicuddy (one of the original founders of Portland Yoga Studio and who was here today) at the PYS space. Then in 2007, when I was visiting Maine, I took a morning class at PYS, and I remember crying to myself in shoulderstand, having not done much yoga before, not knowing how to listen to my body, and it just seemed too hard...my mind was bouncing around in many directions.

Now, I am here once again back in this "old space" with a very new mind-body.  I have practiced yoga for probably 4 years now, have taught for 3 years, and have practiced ashtanga and vinyasa yoga; in addition, I have let go of many habits that were not serving me over the years and have learned to witness automatic reactions and make better choices. I feel new in this old space, and this old space is now being renewed in itself.

I am finding my way back to this space, which I have landed in before, and I am really excited about learning more about the Iyenger practice and practicing- a new practice for me, but in some ways it feels "old" because it just feels right to be here and makes sense.  As I practiced today, I found a sense of strength, balance, focus, ease, surrender, peace, freedom, and joy. During Shavasana (corpse pose) I was able to go inside and feel release and relief from the dualities of life. For just a passing moment, I became undisturbed, unshaken, unchanged by the dualities of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain.

 

When you are fully in the body, you meet the soul! -BKS Iyengar

 

Amazing instructors, beautiful space, new schedule with asana and pranayama (breath control) classes, teen classes, yoga sutra study, and more.  Learn more! 

See you on and off the mat, 
Jeanette







Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Fun-a-Day!

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”  -William Purkey


Last January, my friend Kristin Lajeunesse of Will Travel for Vegan Food inspired me with her participation in Fun-a-Day with a daily posted video of her dancing in public every day in the month of January. I felt so good after watching her videos every morning; she totally inspired my day and encouraged me to be more fearless, playful, and to just let loose and dance already! I have to say, Kristin, you are one of the reasons that I finally got my butt to Ecstatic Dance Maine, where I totally unleashed my inner dancer. I guess I always felt self conscious about dancing, about my body, scared to be vulnerable, nervous that I didn't have the moves...but, you know what, I can dance to anything, and now when I hear music wherever I am I cannot help but snap my fingers, pump my shoulders and shake my booty!

So, in the month of January, do one fun thing a day every day during the month AND COMMIT to it, and have yourself a Fun-a-Day! Last year, I did it, and I made a green smoothie every day in the month of January, and it totally reinvigorated me during the beginning of the winter when I was in a lazy-not eating that healthy-not a lot of exercising kinda mood.
This year, my business partner and I will be enjoying a juice every day (or two juices a day to make up for the days we can't juice) in the month of January! I am more of a smoothie person, so I feel like I have never had fresh juice for more than a few days in a row. But I suppose owning a juice bar will make things somewhat easier! : )

What will you be doing?! Meditating, writing, singing, practicing yoga, giving hugs, chanting, praying...?

Please share what you will do for Fun-a-Day with me and follow our juicing adventure on facebook!

Check out this website for more information: http://www.artclash.com/
Last year, Portland had an event that showcased people's fun-a-day work, so stay tuned for that!

Let's all have fun this month, Now and Forever!
Jeanette