Not only do I have my own personal blog, but the world is literally overrun with new blogs. Everyone, it seems, has something to say! So why create yet another one?
Simple: to share my experiences with "growing exercises", and to help others along the path. Specifically, this blog will contain reflections, stories and tips from my new but growing experience with activities such as Meditation, Massage Therapy, Yoga and general Dharma-based mindfulness.
Some of the posts here will be drawn from experience working with, and leading, a small Sangha in San Francisco for young adults. Those posts will be identified by the tag "Dharma Leadership". In those posts, you will find tips and suggestions for how to lead your own small meditation circles, topics I've used in those circles, and maybe a story or two.
A note about the name: in foundational, or Swedish, massage therapy, one of the core strokes used is called the "Soft Fist". This stroke uses a loosely fisted hand to provide some slight point pressure and brings circulation to larger muscles such as the hamstrings. To me, it represents the essence of the Tao: using what could be a violent movement (the making of a fist) to bring loving contact (massage) by increasing the flow of positive energy (Qi, or circulation). In a similar way, I hope to use the medium of the internet, which can often be a forbidding place, to bring loving contact to those I can reach through that medium.
Some posts will be observations drawn from my experiences learning Massage Therapy through the San Francisco School of Massage and Bodywork. Those will be tagged as "Hands On". In those I'll share tips from my school, nuggets of wisdom about motion and body mechanics that I picked up "on the job", so to speak.
Some posts will derive from my readings. Those I will tag as "Ancient Wisdom". Generally, these will be interesting passages or notes I've found in my path through the classics, such as the Analects, the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, or other classics. If I find myself reading more modern works, I may also do "Book Reviews". I also am a member of Good Reads, so you can find me that way if you wish.
Some posts will just be stories. Those I will tag as "Story Time". They will most generally be Dharma-related in some form of another, and drawn from my experiences attending the Sanghas at SF Insight and Mission Dharma.
I encourage you to post and leave comments about my work. As the Baghvad Gita teaches us, I am doing this blog because I feel in my heart it's the right path for me to take, and not in an effort to reap the fruits of my actions. That said, a little encouragement, or just knowing that others are using my work, never hurt anybody!
Thanks for dropping by!
--Adam
