Emily Perry Studios

moving house

ah, so it looks like our family is moving. 

we will be moving to the next town over, to another beach house.  and so we only have a few weeks left at the place we call sea ranch.

 

things we have learned here, in no particular order:

• how to quickly start a fire in the wood stove
• that great horned owls love to duet
• that orion protects our house in winter
• how the plants, birds, sea and stars change with the seasons
• how to bike without training wheels
• how to climb the pines
• how the swallows return in spring
• the way the seabirds follow schools of fish
• the way the dolphins come play in summer and fall

 

our new house is just a bit north, up the coast.  i cannot wait to see what it holds for us!

  

Guest post at the Wishstudio!

Hi there!

in case you didn't see it yet, i have a guest post up over at the Wishstudio:: come check it out!

 

::on the coast::

{the Olympic Coast, Washington State, circa 1997}
 

::transformational space::

{tent, 2009}

Our lives are constantly transforming themselves:: they shift, open, and change according to what we need, who we are, who we need to be.  At times it is easy to forget that we have this ability:: to shape our lives into what we envision.  For this, transformational spaces can hold us gently while we become more of who we would like to be.  

In our everyday lives we often have small transformational spaces:: a place where we walk, a spot to paint in, a reading corner where you can dream your dreams.  What are your transformational spaces in your life?   How can you create more of them, or find time to explore them more on your journey?

30 day sadhana:: day 11

{outside Cafe Gratitude, San Francisco, 2010}

Today is day 11 of the 30 Days of Yoga practice, a yoga sadhana organized by Marianne over at Zen and the Art of Peacekeeping.  There is something about doing yoga everyday that has really changed my approach to yoga.  it was clear right away that what i thought i needed out of this thirty days- and what i truly needed- were two different things.  this yoga practice has taught me to pay attention differently, to listen.

but it has also allowed me to meet my resistance in interesting ways.  

 

by meeting the resistance, i can breath into it, soften it.  i can discover why the resistance is there, dissolve into it, and discover all sorts of joy lurking, just waiting to be uncovered.

join in, or follow us over at twitter (#30dayyoga)

::namaste::

 

happy new year!

 

{my first SX-70 shot with my new camera:: her rollers need to be cleaned, but other than that she is good to go!} 

so happy new year to you!  i hope that your new year, your new decade, is full of new creative energy, peaceful moments, and joyous times!

back to roost

somehow the week got away from me, but i finally made it to post.  i have recovered from halloween, but now our family is attempting to adjust to the time change, without too much success.  i am officially sleep-deprived.  

perhaps you may have seen that I now a sponsor over at wishstudio:: go check out their lovely site if you haven't already! 

roosting vultures, Salt Point, 2008

i found this old shot i took of vultures together early in the morning, and it got me to thinking about the whole idea of roosting. much has been written through the ages about the concept of coming home, finding home, looking for home, so i won't write about that today, but instead i wanted to talk about the idea of coming home to ourselves.  and by that i mean, really coming into our bodies and being present in them.  

physical embodiment is sorely lacking in our culture:: our society pushes us to live most of our lives in our head, not connected to our bodies.  so much sensory input can lead us to shutting down.  we do and take so many things that keep us from feeling our body signals, our hormonal signals, our instincts and internal voices.  as a result we are disconnected from the core of ourselves.

this is one of the true gifts of yoga and meditation:: it can teach us how to reconnect with the body in a visceral way.  they take us on a journey to our interior- and by reconnecting us with our breath- they allows us to re-engage.  

so let's take that deep breath right now, release the stress and tension.  follow your natural breathing for a while.  get to know it: where does your breath land in your lungs?  where are you tight and constricted?  is your belly involved, or just your chest?

perhaps, like me, you might notice how just sitting with your breath brings you back home to yourself, back home to roost.

:::

**still**

::let standing still be your ceremony::

NEST

while visiting treebones, staying in our sweet yurt, we discovered they had a nest in a tree.

for people.

 

 

this nest held space for me while i visited:: it looks out to the Pacific, with a wonderful view below, and a sky full of stars.

this place is holding space for you, too. 

can you feel a field of possibility opening before you?

at the beach walking {video post}

a walk at the beach from Emily Perry on Vimeo.