Monday, June 27th - Air
It was a warm, sunny morning with not much of a breeze.
Poems went inward to breath, lungs and depth of breathing.
Noticing number of breaths for inhale and exhale.

someone wrote:
leaves on tree beside me
shimmer and move
 my lungs smile

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are an infinite array of fire mandalas, and infinite ways
 to create your own mandala representing the fire element in your life.

Join me tomorrow outside the Stockbridge Library, June 20th
the first day of summer,  to create your mandala.

I'll provide the paper and colors. Bring your favorite pen and a notebook or paper.

Twelve thousand years of tears are standing in my throat
A hundred million fears are woven in my coat
Illusion and memory are all the same
Can you tell me, what is my name?
Beyond the mountains I move along
My voice is hidden, then my voice is strong
After so much silence and separation
Will you praise my beauty, my reparation?

Where is the watershed?

from "Where is the Watershed?" by JoAnne Spies 
listen ~>: "Where is the Watershed?"


local~>:Housatonic River Initiative

Quick Bioregional Quiz
1.Where is the place that urbanites, suburbanites, and rural residents inhabit together?
2.Where is the place to learn and practice sustainable ways that satisfy basic human needs?
3.Where is the place nearest at hand to restore & maintain ecosystems & wildlife?
4.Where is the place to re-localize & decentralize political, social and economic features?
5.Where is the place to remanufacture products from recycled material?
6.Where is the place for students to learn about ecology?
7.Where is the place to begin both reducing climate change & planning suitable adaptations?
Answer: The watershed in the bioregion where you live.
See planetdrum.org

"Once in our lives we ought to concentrate our minds upon the Remembered Earth. We ought to give ourselves up to a particular landscape in our experience, to look at it from as many angles as we can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon it. We ought to imagine that we touch it with our hands at every season and listen to the sounds that are made upon it. We ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind. We ought to recollect the glare of noon and all the colors of the dawn and dusk." 

    -- N. Scott Momaday (from the movie Remembered Earth)

How intimately I knew the ants' hillocks of soft grey earth and the feel of the sidewalk's

stubbly concrete where I grew up. I yearn to take the time to wonder about and dwell upon (live in) the elements around me today and 'all the colors of the dawn and dusk.'

We won't meet at dawn, but at 10 a.m. the next few Mondays to 'concentrate our minds on the Remembered Earth.'
Each session focuses on an element.
            Monday June 6  -  earth
                          June 13 - water
                          June 20 -  fire
                          June 27 -  air
                          July  11 -  ether

contact spiesarts@gmail.com to sign up

 a dancer warming up for dance, dream and doodle
wearing my Earthdance mask 

The first session of Dance, Dream and Doodle on June 6th moved outdoors into the sunshine.

Dancing, singing in harmony and writing  culminated in individual songs.

 Next week we meet at Stockbridge Bowl at 10:00 am to celebrate water using a similar format.

These  DDD sessions grew out of an exploration of mindful eating.

For every meal that I eat mindfully, 

I put $1 in a box that can be given to a food bank

at the end of the month. $3 a day would be close to $100.                                                                  Let's share and collect boxes.

The Stockbridge Library annual meeting hosted four representatives of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe that was a fitting tribute to the first people who lived here.

The Procter Museum and Archives reopens June 25th, and will have a wonderful display of Stockbridge Indian artifacts and art.

Barbara Allen of Stockbridge Library's Museum and Archives
holds newly made gift from Stockbridge Indians

peace pipe gift from Stockbridge Indians


~>Native Languages and Mohican Culture

        

"Sounding Mohican Pathways,"  an educational and cultural exchange program that I created in collaboration with Tammis Coffin, former Education Director at the Mission House, received a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2011.
I'm grateful to the MCC and the Stockbridge Cultural Council  for this program that helped build bridges between the Stockbridge community here in Massachusetts and the Stockbridge Mohican community in Wisconsin. In addition to a 'historical/musical' walk that I led to the Housatonic River and Indian burial ground in Stockbridge, there was  a  music program at the library that wove together stories, songs and history. 

There's a wealth of new books that the Stockbridge Indians gifted to the library museum with new stories and history to explore!

DANCE, DREAM AND DOODLE

with JOANNE SPIES

( image credit ~ Amy Cavenaile/The Washington Post; iStock)

T I M E

to sing, dance, write and explore a creative sampler of fun activities 

that support mindfulness

Each of the sessions will focus on a different element

Week One:  the earth element ~

10am - 11:30am

Stockbridge Town Offices

50 Main Street 

 lower level

MONDAY MORNINGS June 6th - July 11th     (no class on July 4th)

Limited to twelve participants - all ages and genders welcome
Pay by donation

 To register contact: spiesarts@gmail.com 

what is mindfulness, anyway?

Here's an article on what mindfulness is not. 
Beyond McMindfulness: beyond the marketplace

To be mindful in vipassana meditation in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality.

"Looking into something with clarity and precision, seeing each component as distinct and separate, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing"   
Bhante G

          Sharon Salzberg urges us to choose the 'peaceful wolf' through practicing mindfulness: 

                 
According to Jon Kabat Zinn, "Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally."

      Mindfulnet.org 
       says that the benefits are many,
       helping participants:

• Recognise, slow down or stop automatic and habitual reactions.

• Respond more effectively to complex or difficult situations.

• See situations more clearly

• Become more creative

• Achieve more balance at work and at home 

My first experience with mindfulness came about when I found a cassette at the Goodwill. Its title was scrawled in ink, and it came from a stress reduction clinic at U MASS led by Jon Kabat Zinn.

I could pop this cassette into my dual CD/cassette player in the car and do a body scan, relaxing individual body parts on my way to teaching. It worked so well that I tried the straight ahead lay-yourself-down-and-relax mindfulness meditation before going to sleep that he advocated.

I found another path to mindfulness as a Berkshire Kripalu Community (BKC) member, when I took a series of classes on yoga, mindfulness and Ayurveda.

I loved Ayurveda's focus on the elements, and enjoyed taking time to sit down to eat and be mindful... being more in the here and now. To help me remember what I learned in the classes, I wrote a song from the notes I took and sang it for the group at 'graduation.' That acoustic version has morphed into this dance version, which reminds me to call on the elements and 'burn away what is not needed. 
                   'As I Sit Down to Eat' lyrics and download


In my work with Community Access to the Arts, I bring songs to six healthcare settings, two of which are memory care (Alzheimer's) units. I lead movement to a variety of music: jazz, world, samba and often begin with "Hu Ray," my song that's a gratitude hokey pokey. Though everyone is sitting in wheelchairs, we move vigorously as we reach out to 'meet in the middle' and sing along with "Standing in a Circle."





Drawing, coloring and doodling are also great pathways to mindfulness. Mindful drawing classes at Deb Koffman's studio can lead me to mindfulness on different levels.

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm eager to explore different creative avenues to mindfulness in a series of sessions called 'Dream, Dance and Doodle.' (see info in March 31st post below)

How can we converse with the elements?
How can we use our own images and songs to create more kindness towards ourselves, and others,  especially as we 'sit down to eat?'
We'll use some of my song lyrics as writing prompts, and create our own songs.

Songs are a gift that keeps on giving, always revealing more meaning as needed.
                                                  ~*~
At the Stockbridge Town Offices there's a spot to bring canned goods for local food banks.
I invite everyone to bring a can or two (or three) to our classes.
An awareness of hunger in our area and in America and beyond is part of the mindfulness practice.






Berkshire poet Jan Hutchinson sends out poetry prompts the world over during April.
I've kept up with a lot of them so far. Here's one for 'write a poem with three reasons..'

three reasons to eat broccoli 



the green buds cling so tight to the stalk
i become president of a dark country every time I swallow


when cut diagonally on the stalk you can see trees
with limbs raised up in jubilation


each florette sends a love letter addressed to me 
from every boy or butterfly I've yet to see


by Giovanna Spies                                                                                                                                    (I revert to my Italian name when food is concerned)



two cans 
                drawing and collage joAnne spies