Be like a goat?

Well, I am back in new Hampshire for part two of the Sophia's hearth training course. It is very exciting to be back. 10 of the 12 students are able to attend this autumn session. It is refreshing and invigorating to reconnect with these wonderful women and with my teachers. One of the first lectures was about levity and gravity. This lecture was given by our spatial dynamics/movement instructor, Jane Swain Over the summer we did an exercise with her called the mercury thermometer. This exercise allowed us to see or rather notice where we were personally in regard to our upper and lower planes...were we experiencing too much levity, I.e., blowing off steam, high as a kite, head in the clouds....or were we experiencing too much gravity, I.e., down in the dumps, feeling really low, needing to pick oneself off the floor. Jane had us walk on blanace boards, rubber balls...she had us skate on blocks of wood covered in felt on a smooth cork floor...you should try that some time...you really have to feel your feet.

Time and time again, it came down to the fact that the caregiver of young children must be in a good state in her body. We are showing the child how to be in his body, and we should strive to reach this place of equanimity. For if the caregiver has her head in the clouds...the children in the class might spiral up and out into chaos...a very unsafe feeling place for a young one.

Jane brought the example that we should strive to be like a goat. This was a reference to the old practice of placing a sure-footed, unflappable goat into a paddock with a nervous, high-strung race horse to calm the horse. Just the goat's calm, composed manner was enough to calm the horse down. And if someone"got your goat" they took away your composure. So maybe I should have named this blog "Be Like A Goat" instead of "Be Like A Madonna!"