Rafael Mier wrote:
I was wondering how different OST practitioners do their inner preparation in order to be a calm source of harmony during the event.
Almost all the things I do have actually been lifted from or connect me to the people on this list, and I have a bunch of little rituals like Joelle that I perform before I open space. These include: * touching each chair in the circle and sort of blessing it * getting into a meditative state while ripping small pieces of tape and sticking them to the walls. Aitken gave me this idea. I sometimes think of him as I'm stick pieces to the walls and it sometimes feels like I'm at the Wailing Wall, swaying with the rhythm and hoping that the tape is used to stick juicy topics on the wall. Sometimes I arrange the tape in meaningful patterns, like 4 rows of thirteen pieces, for the four seasons and the thirteen weeks. * Being the first in the room and ringing my bells in the empty space. Sometimes I sing in there, if it's a big echo-y room like a gym. I like to be the last out too. Gives me a tangible sense of hold space. * I like to make the post-it notes the night before and the signs the day of the event. Dunno why. It's ritual now. * I often wear something that has meaning from my history with OST, very often it's a little carved wooden pendant that Elena Marchuk gave me from Siberia when she visited for OSonOS IX. I always carry stones too, sometimes the one that Birgitt gave me from near Ayres Rock in Australia, sometimes ones I picked up on the beach walking with Ashley Cooper or Tova Averbuch at Practice of Peace, or more recently a shell from Tahunanui Beach in New Zealand, gathered with list member Daniel Lebel a couple of weeks ago. I like the way these things connect me to the space, the participants and the people who have supported my practice over the years. It eases my mind before an event and helps me to remember all the good advice I've received. Chris * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
