Alexi Murdoch - Something Beautiful (unreleased)

​Love It

Nahko - Build a Bridge (Live at the Independent, San Francisco, CA 8/23/13)

I give thanks

I am capable 

I am powerful

Feeeeeling this truth in my spine

--

Paul J. Butler

1-858-232-3813

Yoga in one sentence .

​

Finland #1 in education - How it differs from USA

The math teacher has a priority. He wants the kids to be happy.

The principal has a priority. She wants the kids to play.

When building the playground, the school children had a say in the design.

Finland's schoolchildren attend class for the least amount of time per day and year - yet they are ranked the highest in results.

Their learning protocol is action based.

And to cap it off, teachers do not assign school children any official homework!

Block to Yoga described in Sigmund Freud's words

The goal of yoga is known to be obtaining mastery over revolving thought waves in the mind. Attachment proves to make this interesting, to say the least.

But lets say we establish habits of mind waves that are on desired frequencies of exponential growth, passion, co-creation,, compassion, humor, etc.. that is a very practical form of Yoga for the opportunities of today.

Here is what Freud wrote about what he observed about a famous poet friend.  They were on a beautiful nature walk - yet  the friend was unable to feel any joy.

Some powerful emotional factor was at work which was disturbing their judgement, and I believed later that I had discovered what it was. What spoilt their enjoyment of beauty must have been a revolt in their minds against mourning. The idea that all this beauty was transient was giving these two sensitive minds a foretaste of mourning over its decease; and, since the mind instinctively recoils from anything that is painful, they felt their enjoyment of beauty interfered with by thoughts of its transience.

http://www.freuds-requiem.com/transience.html

Recreation and relations; stories of dirty and clean nature

After commuting during the week on a road bicycle, I'm certainly ready for a dirt fix on a trail bike, but last night it rained .30 inches. In Del Mar Mesa, most of the sandy terrain could handle more precip, but the clay sections become slippery gunk with approx 0.15 inches in one hour. Here is an official link to check rainfall totals by day and hour. The Del Mar Mesa mountain biking news update is a new half mile singletrack trail built when Pardee homes contacted SDMBA, the local mountain bike association, to help build the trail! So last night I walked the fresh cobbles appendix trail and found that the dirt had only coyote tracks, and one hiking track from earlier had turned around after 50 feet. Here I was, before sunset on a day with moderate humidity, no rain or direct sunlight, hoping for good riding weather. My observations led to the judgement that hero dirt would exist after a few steady hours of dry wind or sun. 
So the morning after, I slept in. A buddy phoned and invited me to climb the paved soledad mtn. roads, but in the spirit of being actively mellow, I had different plans.

After some hormone re-generating sleep, I awoke to see a clear blue sky, and enjoyed a ritual of affirmations of truth, lemon water, and a simple smoothie.

At 10:30 am, special lady and I rolled to Jimbos, Naturally! for dates, cafe moto, and a quart of double rainbow ice cream. Bikes and brunch, yeah!
Her concerned mother said she shouldn't ride the mile to the store on a bicycle with her cold, and I said "come on, we gotta go." "does she believe that sick people should stay in bed until they get better or die?"

I said Hi to an acquaintance inside the store, same place I met her months ago when we listened to each other talk about life for an hour. I was intrigued because there I was, a yoga teacher, memorized by the peace she held on her face in the face of so many 'challenges'! In hindsight I should have invited her to come see Kasia and I outside, where we were sitting. It's a human need to be invited to share, to know people beyond $ and rapidity.

The sun had been shining all morning and there were dark clouds out east. I thought that I could enjoy this leisurely morning and still enjoy the dry enough trails in an hour.

I shared about an experience falling to sleep the night before, when I became focused on my awareness being aware of awareness. And how special that feels, because it is more unique to me, than awareness being aware of other things, which seems to be the norm. Kasia told me a story of her friend being stuck with a $3,000 dinner bill at a place that serves salads smaller than I could find in the canyon in two seconds.

And we talked about how people and relations are dumpy when a person is telling themselves a stupid story on top of an old story or false facts. This creates unnecessary suffering, or as Kasia called it, 'daggers'. So our solution is to focus on the big TRUTH of the most high, as much as possible while sharing the little stories or illusions that come up in our brains with open ears and hearts. "My mom would kill me if she knew i was having coffee and ice cream", she said while laughing happily. "What's happening is we are generating joy and peace that is elevating you beyond your cold.", I replied, believing that sickness is what happens when there is restraint and contraction keeping one from being with the high nature of self. Praising and grooving in the mentality of the king of kings.

It was fantastic time being together. And now I was in for another really good time; solo outing on my trail bike.

After 10 minutes of warm up riding, I realized suddenly that I wasn't alone.

A roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) faced me at the junction between Tunnel 5 and Zig Zags, walking the field of a wild grass covered valley, probably eating Armadillidiidae, (rolie polie or pillbug). Roadrunners have a majestic presence, and I noticed how it can be so much easier to see our own qualities in external situations, which on a side not might not be as external as we think. I'm always really excited to experience roadrunners, just like ice cream, tacky dirt, relations, and life as a whole. I'd like to come across a roadrunner eating a viper rattlesnake one day.

Saturday on cobbles almost guarantees seeing pedestrian hikers and bikers. 

As I climbed through the moderately steep turns at the top I overheard a couple in their 50's talking; agitated and defensive about the way something went down after some thought went down. 

Man, I've been in your shoes, what stories are you telling!? Don't you know about the roadrunner vibes and majesty? I passed them as he snapped an obligatory "hell-o ", sharply. I was smiling already and responded with a laughing "heeehheeeeeyyy!"

Shortly after, while concentrating on the descent, there was family walking up through the lower sector of the lush cobbles canyon. I stopped spontaneously.

Intuition said to stop instead of roll by.  I’m glad I did. What a beautiful family and group of friends . The young lady was carrying a giant toad; She found it in the field and decided to carry it, against her chest to the now full and vibrant duck pond.  I suggested the frog could kiss me, but then as we inched closer, I became scared that it would bite.  

Story on top of a story.  Toads don’t bite, right? It’s eyes were stunning as all the beautiful humans eyes are stunning and aren't cliches true because they are true?  It's so worth it to spontaneously stop and kick it with some cool people.  Public trail relations. This created a trail jam and two downhillers came to a stop. They were also stoked, especially after seeing the stinky girl with the big frog.

As I headed back on a different trail i saw a large fish tail, with the flesh eaten raw by a carnivore. Four miles from the ocean at 100 meters elevation! 

Osprey?

Have you seen the Osprey nest near the boardwalk in Del Mar? As big as a barrel.