Mindfulness is always a work in progress… It is a continuous journey in awareness, not just a destination.
It is a cultivation of appreciation for life and living in every moment…
To meet & see things as they are
To have an awareness of the self and another.
To integrate the mind and body
To know all is deeply connected
To acknowledge the arising perspectives as part of the flow.
To value the spaces between the steps
To respond than react.
To create a habit to be in a witness mode.
To have patience in waiting.
To sense the awareness of the oneness.
To feel safe and supported
To develop space to be content and connected.
To be glad for no particular reason.
To live with awareness than simply exist in the moment.
The Creative touchIs in the hands of the artistA simple stroke here a drag thereCreates a whole new meaning.Bringing life to the art.While embellishments adorn the art in the artistryThe message conveyed well, even in the simplest formAdds the depth of authenticity to the story telling.The genius is in the ingenuityIn the portrayal of the abstractsWith an intuitive intellect of insightsAll in the astute acumen of innovation.Art can be both joyful and painstaking in the process…To cast and carve, chiselling awayTowards the finesse of the elusive perfection.All is but a masterstroke of the creative touch.An ode to artistry I must thank this unknown artist in the clip who created this beautiful depiction of the festival of Pongal celebration in South India.Watching this video clip made me write a few dedicated verses on the art and flair of thecreative touch.Savvy
When you dance with another, what matters most is the trust you place in yourself and your partner to dance as one unit, moving in synchrony and feeling the harmony of your beating hearts. This is the ideal connection that makes dance come alive in the moment.
Yet as much as trust is a much-needed trait in dancing as a couple, often trust takes time to build and is subjective amongst dancers.
To trust is to let go of doubt.
To trust is to allow space for growth.
To trust is to know patience in waiting.
To trust is to allow space for faith.
To trust another is not easy
For one and all.
To some, it may be very difficult.
But trust is certainly worth trying.
To trust takes effort, not assumptions.
It takes practice in time and space.
For trust can be on many levels
Emotional, mental, or physical.
Trust is built to evolve along
For in building the relationship
The foundation needs to endure
The winds of change.
Trust what trust does.
Try to pin it down.
Watch how it turns out to be
Confusing and elusive…
Before you trust, you will
Spend time sensing,
And witnessing the energy,
The tension in the transactions
Being ready for changes,
Being prepared to brave
Through disappointments and dissatisfactions
That may arise at any moment.
And yet…
Trust is not only about building
But about the ability to let go
Of worry and insecurities,
Fear and failures.
To trust is to reach out
Without any expectations
But in utter faith and belief
That you will be supported!
A dance between a couple is a blissful feeling only when there is trust in both the self and the other, just as much as the passion, as only when there is the letting go, can there be the flow manifesting itself through the movements. Savvy Raj
As a dance educator and trainer…while teaching and sharing social dancing skills one of the important learnings we work on is the understanding of the art of leading and following. Both very significant for any kind of partner dancing as much as in life itself. After all, life is a dance and dance imitates life!
In the first place, what does it take to be a leader? Many things but most importantly, a follower. So simply put, there must be a follower to be a leader. There can be no leader without a follower and there certainly would be no follower without a leader.
Dancing together is a lesson in leading and following in partnership!
In such a perspective both the leader and follower in the dance have a relevant role to play, that of completing the dance successfully and like so in life as well.
A dance can teach a lot about leadership and here are a few reflections on what it is to lead…
To lead is an opportunity to honour the trust of a follower.
To lead is to light the flame of inspiration to win the vote of trust of the followers.
To lead is to have a strength of purpose that inspires confidence.
To lead is to allow yourself to make decisions for others to evolve along.
To lead is to accept the responsibility of mistakes.
To lead is to maintain a decorum of standards unflinchingly.
To lead is to believe you can!
To lead is to be led by a greater purpose.
To lead is to value the laws of nature.
To lead is to value the need for self expression while respecting the need for structure.
To lead is to better the followers and not beat them down at every opportunity.
To lead is to be able to collaborate and learn just as much as to compete.
To lead is to denote respect and not expect overt attention.
To lead is to show the way for others to follow.
To lead to work tirelessly with a sense of inner commitment without hesitation without expectation.
To lead is to muster the resilience of the spirit.
To lead is to endow the spirit of courage in others.
To lead is take into account the potential of all possibilities.
Savvy
Do share your take on leadership. I would be keen to understand how you see it impacting your life and work.
The strength of support and flow of movements while dancing together is based on the connection established and that marks the quality of leadership in question.
I want to share it with you . I recommend you spend some time playing as you please . Rest assured you will create and listen to beautiful music, even if you have never played a musical instrument before .
Gift yourself some blissful musical moments. Play on!
I have always been a lover of stringed instruments and their sounds. I wanted to know and learn a bit more about the Bandura.
A bandura is a Ukrainian, plucked string, folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments had 5 to 12 strings and similar to the lute. In the 20th century, the number of strings increased initially to 31 strings, 56 strings – 68 strings on modern ‘concert’ instruments.
Musicians who play the bandura are referred to as bandurists. In the 19th – early 20th century traditional bandura players, often blind, were referred to as kobzars.
A little bit on the lute and zither two instruments whose elements are combined in the music.
Lute is any plucked string instrument with a neck (either fretted or unfretted) and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. More specifically, the term “lute” can refer to an instrument from the family of European lutes. The lute is plucked or strummed with one hand while the other hand “frets” (presses down) the strings on the neck’s fingerboard. By pressing the strings on different places of the fingerboard, the player can shorten or lengthen the part of the string that is vibrating, thus producing higher or lower pitches (notes).
Zithers are played by strumming or plucking the strings, either with the fingers (sometimes using an accessory called a plectrum or pick), sounding the strings with a bow, or, with varieties of the instrument like the santur or cimbalom, by beating the strings with specially shaped hammers. Like a guitar or lute, a zither’s body serves as a resonating chamber (sound box), but, unlike guitars and lutes, a zither lacks a distinctly separate neck assembly. The number of strings varies, from one to more than fifty. Ref : Wiki
Does karma affect destiny?
And whether we can change our destiny?
What are your thoughts I would love to hear… also as the meaning, the interconnects and interpretation of karma and destiny can be manifold. To each their own.
Our paths are preordained
But we create our karma in every moment.
I simply believe that there is always more than we know and can even begin to fathom
And yet things occur for our own evolution.
While the laws of nature
Take its course
The karmic cycles and destiny
Are juxtaposed in their own way.
The question a life may ask
In deepest turmoils
Is how are we to overcome karma
Or can destiny be changed at all.
Then intelligent life may ascertain
In search and knowing
Of the power of will and choice
To overcome the thorns of agony
It may project positivity
It may sense equanimity
It may become non judgemental
It may learn to value moments.
Yet can it change what is to be endured?
Can it prevent pain altogether?
Karma is linked into past present and future…
Through cause and effects, action and reaction.
And well, destiny is the way it was meant to be
You may transform your karmic status in every response.
And Destiny is not necessarily changed
Yet it can be transcended.
Simple ways to transform karma
To bring about a space between the steps
To respond than react. Simple ways to transcend destiny
To choose goodwill in and around you.
To ask but less for the self and more for the good of others around you.
To practice thinking beyond ones limited self.
To remember to let go, to give more than you receive.
For only if what we are ready to give can transcend limitations, can we see abundance within and around us.
Such is the way of life and living.
Where the sky and land merge in the mystical lights
Just sit along blessed to be able to commune with nature
As it evokes its mesmerizing charms
Where each moment feels heavenly
As the winter sun blesses you with its enticing warmth.
Watching the pleasing patterns up in the sky!
What a treat to be able to sit by
And breathe in the refreshing view…
Of vast open spaces that seem so serene
Up above and all around as far as the eyes can see…
Letting go of all that’s spurious.
And just be able to sense the joy of this one moment…
Savvy
The brilliance of this moment is captured so beautifully in this picture (hats off to the unknown photographer) that it seems to be a place to sit a while and reminisce over the simple joys of being… what say?
And speaking of One moment in time…
I cant help but remember the beautiful hit song by the same name. Here are two amazing versions of the song.
An ode to artistry I must thank this unknown artist in the clip who created this beautiful depiction of the festival of Pongal celebration in South India.Watching this video clip made me write a few dedicated verses on the art and flair of the creative touch.Savvy
Savvy Raj 
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