Stephanie's Studio

All good things come to an end. I've survived the April 2015 A to Z Blogger's Challenge . I don't use a lot of "Z" words so no need to try to force any out now. One aspect of "Z" I thoroughly enjoy is catching my Zzz's and now is as good a time as any to catch them, regarding my blogging. Salvadore Dali, "Sleep" This challenge, with its request that you blog six days a week, with just one day off, is a blogging marathon alright. A marathon is set up to push you to your maximum. Maximum reached. I've never been shy about catching my Zzz's. I love a good rest, call it beauty sleep if you want. Whatever, I know my body and mind well and realize when the Zzz's are needed. My body and mind have requested a rest. Z Request noted. So listening to my body, mind and tapped spirit, I'm off for a bit, taking my blogging Zzz's. William Powell Frith, "Asleep while Reading" Nighty night.

One of the most disconcerting aspects of teaching children for me is the volume they can reach if unchecked. I teach art and naturally that is a cause for excitement in children. Some feel it's a chance to let their hair down but for me it has this sort of effect: And I do love kids. Their energy is wonderful and many have a sweet and creative nature. I'm just one of those people who loves quiet. I like to speak quietly and play my music quietly. I get stirred up when sound bombards. I was at clinic recently when this bombardment occurred. Three flat screen televisions all on different channels, in close proximity to one another made me feel as though I was losing my mind. You'd think at a doctor's office there would be some awareness to the fact that when people aren't feeling well they might not like sound coming from every angle. These unwell people might find it grating on their nerves. They might even want to run out of the clinic because all...

I am on my way somewhere. I think I have an idea of the destination but really I'm unsure. I'm the type that likes to hold onto things. As a nostalgic person, I'm very resistant to throwing things out. I hold on to old letters, redundant email addresses and ancient digital files. Those should be the easy things to trash but they aren't. Then there are the larger items, clothing, shoes, coats and books. You don't even want to know the age of my collection. This morning I had a novel idea. I decided to pack things up and give most of them away. The nicer things I'd put on consignment. "Where's all that stuff going?" My husband asked as I carried bag after bag out the front door. "Away," I said, feeling as though my stuff had found a different place to live and was moving out. When I reached the 25 pound weight-loss milestone I had what I thought was a clever idea. I began packing away clothing that was too big for me in chests...

A while ago, I was carrying laundry, in a rush to the basement at about 6 a.m. and missed the second to the bottom step. You can probably imagine what happened next. I came tumbling down, dispersing dirty clothing everywhere. I landed on the top of my foot rather than the sole. Needless to say, I dislocated the ankle and fractured it in two places. I remember Googling 'fractured ankle', trying to learn how long it would take to heal. The amount of weeks I saw that it would take was awe-inspiring. During that time I spent time in a wheel chair, on crutches, in a motorized cart while shopping and in a boot. I also had surgery, which was scary. For a former dancer and someone who loves yoga, this was a humbling experience. As you know from reading this blog, I have been going to restorative yoga for healing my body and getting more in touch with it. One class I go to is strictly restorative in the best sense of the word. The other one calls itself restorative but include...

Like most of you, I've been pinning away for spring. I've posted about it several times, wondering where it was and when would it arrive. Yesterday, it was the warmest day we've had this year. It was a balmy and humid 91 degrees. It takes the body, mind and spirit time to adjust to such drastic changes. The day before that I was wearing a sweater and wrapped in a blanket. This morning when I went outside there was evidence it had rained overnight and it felt chillier but okay, considering the harsh winter that we'd just mustered through. Then on my way home from dropping my son off at school it started pouring. Traffic crawled. My morning that had started so promising, on the wings of yesterday, had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. We talk about the weather so much because it is our common experience as humans. It is what makes up much of our outdoor environment and yes, it does color our mood. In film and sometimes in books as well, when it rains or pou...

It has been a winding, crooked path to meet my goals for weight loss. As many of you who have been following this blog know, losing weight was one of my New Years Resolutions. I have much to be proud of. I have stayed on that path without deviating even once since taking on this challenge in January. My body, however, has different ideas. Those of you on this journey with me know all too well, the body will drop its weight in chunks, then hold off, sometimes for weeks until it stabilizes before it will drop any more. This happens though I consistently eat the same way. Looking at this photograph of the pathway, it is easy to engage in the notion of journey. Yes, you can get to that destination promised in the picture but there is much to enjoy along the way to getting there. I have reached a major milestone. I am at the 30 pound mark, which means I am 1/3 of the way to meeting my goal. I get frustrated when I reach plateaus, such as where I am right now. Since my body is meanderi...

Ever since I was in art school, in my junior and senior year, when I had my own studio at Tyler, I have been fascinated with still life. That fascination carried on when I went to graduate school at UCSD and ended up being the topic of my thesis. Implicit in the depiction of still life is food.                                     (Edouard Manet, 1866, "Still Life with Melon and Peaches) Shown above is a reproduction of one of Edouard Manet's still life paintings. Manet is one of my favorite painters to this day. He imbues his food with such a luscious quality through his brush strokes and the oil-laden paint he uses, that you literally want to reach out and into the painting to eat the food within them. His facility with paint and the love that he seemingly has for his subject matter is a continual source of awe and inspiration.                 ...

Friday Natural Healing Corner: Dying, Death and Mourning In many quarters of the globe, the word death seems to burn the lips, particularly here in the West.  To utter death, we move our lips in such a way that bitter feelings, gruesome thoughts and the pain of finality is wrenched from the depths of the soul.  This dance with death begins clumsily yet with practice it can become increasingly more graceful.  Those of us involved with Hoodoo deal with various realms, including the "other-side" on a daily basis.  A gift of Hoodoo is that within its domain lies a plethora of jobs, tricks, rituals and incantations, inspired by the wisdom of indigenous and rural people.  Death, dying, grief and its attending depression and depletion are processes without an easy solution.  Using elements of Hoodoo can help you come to terms with the inevitable.  Hoodoo conjuration keeps you in touch with the spirit realm affording opportunities to glimpse and interact ...

By Land                “Lord give me strength.” How many times have you heard someone say that? Implicit in that statement, we are reaching to the Divine Spirit for reinforcements. When you think of strength there are few things stronger than metal. So for our first charm let’s consider metal’s role in spirituality.                 Metal and metalsmithing play are important in traditional West African society, culture and spirituality.  The idea of transforming a mundane, stiff material into something useful, is an act of alchemy that is  treasured—it is nothing short of magic(k)al.  The admiration for the transformative properties the metal-smith and all that goes into the process, led to a wealth of traditions within Hoodoo.  Two of the objects that are  the subject of the most lore are horseshoes and nails. ...

In Yoga, it was one of few places, you hear talk about the “back body.” Yesterday at Yoga, I became quite fixated on that topic. How could I soothe and heal my back body? What does back body want and what does it know? We do mention people talking behind our backs and we talk of people with eyes in the back of their heads. Also a very high percent of adults have back problems, so maybe it would be good if we all spent more time reflecting on the back and on making it stronger. Apparently, as a culture, we are in agreement that we gain a lot of our overall strength from our back and our legs which are rooted in the earth. Saying someone has “a lot of backbone” is an indication that they are strong and courageous. But why have our backs become so weak these days? Computers and screens, as much as I love them, play an important part in this weakening of the back and spine. We sit hunched over for hours on end. Just sitting all day to do our work is a part of the p...

The only word I can use for restorative yoga yesterday is phenomenal! I was drawn to this new studio for two reasons, my old one closed and this new studio has an open hand as its logo. It seemed welcoming and it was. It is called Ahimsa, meaning do no harm—especially to yourself. I was drawn to the particular class I went to because in its description it mentioned that it helps quiet down the monkey (busy) mind. Good grief! Don’t we all, living in these times, have monkey mind? Couldn’t we all stand to be kinder and gentler to ourselves? We are our own worse critics about everything including our looks, talents, skills and abilities. I don’t know what had gotten into me, except that it must have been monkey mind. I have not been in a class to do restorative yoga in years! And, the years just keep sailing by. There are only so many that the Goddess grants us.  Why? I ask myself, do I deny myself the simplest and purest pleasures in life? Why become some wrapped u...