I am typically more impressed by a child’s warrior spirit to rise above the challenges of life in 3^rd world country rather than I am impressed by celebrities. I’ve taught celebs and athletes and even wrote and read a poem to Adam Sandler. (He made me sit on his lap and read it. Funny event at Pinons, the restaurant that I cooked in years ago)

So I sit here, wondering why my perception of how I move through life has shifted after meeting Dean Potter. It is not because he is famous, hard core or perhaps just a bit more adorable than his puppy.

I used to spend a few weeks at Red Rocks in NV climbing every year. At night, I’d close my eyes and walk as slowly as I could, up a rocky hill, barefoot as usual. Later I heard that this was some Japanese moving meditation practice. Similar to the Buto Dancers, I would move in micro seconds, taking 1 minute, just to lift one foot and place it down again. This centered me and heightened all my senses. From the way my core engages to lift my leg, to all the nerve endings on my feet waking up and then to how the space I was in seemed palpable.

Jump forward to a section of SkyWalker, watching Dean meditatively slack line in between 2 rock spires and above a void. I notice his hands. They look like branches, taking the brunt of the wind’s force, to keep the trunk stable. I wonder if I will ever be able to put my life on the line. Not in the way that he does but in the way that I think we all strive to do. To walk our path and not necessarily the one of least resistance. But to find and stay on our path. To know ourselves, trust our skills and keep moving forward one step at a time, no matter how scary. This goes deeper than the typical human aspirations.

I don’t look at him as a daredevil, of course I don’t know him at all. What I experience from his work is that of a Zen Adventurer. Someone who, despite the loss of loved ones and perhaps his own life, continues to trust and test his mind-body connection and strength. Some people call themselves Yogi’s because they do yoga a lot and wear clothes that have been featured in Yoga Journal and some understand what it means to be fully alive only when running along side death.

I often eat chocolate cake (a whole one) when I am depressed. I also experience the worm hole theory while hooping. I can say that I like both sides of the fence when it comes to facing my fears. I pour myself into the hoop’s spin. I know that the vortex of the spin will literally pull particle matter into my space, allowing me to receive awareness and the centrifuge of the spin will allow me to let go of particle matter. Placing my intentions inside the whirling hoop develops deeper states of consciousness. Faces on the outside of the hoop melt into one smile and all thoughts, emotions and sensations on the inside of my hoop dissolve into stillness. The space between the exhalation and inhalation that is just peace.

Coaching Dean on the hoop, to find better body mechanics while in upper and lower body rotations was a mistake. I wish I had known of his slack lining skills. Rather than instructing him to open his ribcage and find fluidity in the spine, I would have taken him through a meditation which I do in some of my workshops and retreats. This would consist of branching the toes gently on Earth while filling the whole space of the hoop up with breath. Then to start moving in synch with the centrifugal force and to be released from gravity.

And although he towered over me like a Redwood, I felt connected. Not to him really but to the quest to go deep within and make peace with the unknown.  Read more articles like this at my hooping blog.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Hoop News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.