Sensitivity And Boundaries

I use to think of a boundary as kind of like a punishment?

I never understood this fully until we got our puppy, several years ago and trained her from eight weeks to nine months in a crate.

She grew comfortable with her crate, occasionally would go in her crate by choice.

I suppose she felt safe there, and she intuitively knew it was her comfort area where she could do anything.

We had her toys there at night when we would go to bed, she would chew on a bone and I would listen to hear her softly and slowly fall asleep feeling calm and safe. The boundaries I am experimenting and experiencing with are incredible as the spots or dots and openings are small which has nothing to do with self worth.

It merely shows me how to feel myself, and feeling myself with dignity and diplomacy.

Diplomacy allows me to dialogue with boundaries in a very easy way that move slowly, sensitively and simple with easy, gentle and effortless movements.This is yet another way of getting to know the self.

The self beyond words and yet still uses words to expand or stretch the self from a place of a boundary as to not overstretch too much, and keep a firm but not stiff or ridgid quality.

Expanding the self, fluidity, flow and flexibility are tools I use as a coach to stimulate growth.

Growth can be gentle, comfortable and easy once we feel and start to deal with what we feel when we feel it.

Another way we can look at a boundary is a point of focus or a point of power.

Where does our power live?

For me, it is in this very moment.

Present moment, present power.

The ability to set a boundary and focus on a boundary keeps my thoughts and emotions centered on what I want.

It is also nice to know what I don’t want so I can really be clear with that which I truly want.

Focus on a dot, a spot, an opening.

None of this matters because you feel what you feel, and then deal with what you feel.

A boundary or a point of focus such as a dot or a spot in the body helps you find places inside you that are already safe and comfortable.

When I was a little boy, my Mom would play with me outside on our front lawn.

She would put things in her pocket that made noise when she walked or ran so I could hear the noise.

I would intuitively follow the sound as she either walked or ran.

I somehow used my intuition to teach her to move in tiny areas and as I got so comfortable in the tiny areas, the areas would expand.

I somehow was able to increase the size of my circle.

I do this now on and off of the ice.

This is why I am so excited to share with you the examples of dots, spots, and openings.

Life can be easy or easier if you’re still are not comfortable with easy.

Either way, life gets better.

Life flows, and life grows as life for me is an adventure always progressing and expanding.

Be safe, stay focused, and be whatever you want to be.

http://www.stashskate.com/

Independence Day Indipendent Thinking

I’ve always been fascinated with the words independence and declaration.

I know when I declare to myself a desire I truly want to achieve, the mere idea of declaring to myself it is done somehow makes a difference.

The difference for me is a felt sense of wellness or an awareness of calm assurance.

This calm assurance is an interesting sense as it indicates to me I’m on track, heading towards my desire rather than moving away from my desire.

Moving towards my desire feels like flow, as moving away from my desire feels like friction which to me is no flow or a feel of fighting instead of flow.

I sometimes get caught up in looking at everyone else and how they do their days instead of keeping on track with my day and how I want my day to develop.

This is where independence means so much for me as independent thinking allows me to think for myself.

This doesn’t mean I always discount or dismiss what the rest of the world is doing, but it does mean I pick and choose what or with whom I will participate or be with, or be a part of, and knowing all the while it is my choice.

The ability to choose is so exciting to me, and I am 55 and feel alive.

I feel more alive than I did when I was in my 40’s and I thought I was living great in those days.

Life feels like it is getting better, better, and better.

Why, maybe I am wise enough to realize thoughts matter, and I can pick which thoughts and pick which feelings I want to experience.

It for me; isn’t about clinging or clutching or holding too tight.

It is more of a sense of allowing, embracing, and flowing with my thoughts and feelings enough to keep a balance between thoughts and feelings.

Being of just being aware is the key for me.

I wish everyone everywhere the ability to think for themselves, be independent in the thinking and feeling.

The more each of us does this, we truly in my humble opinion be of true value to the world.

Ram Das once said "The world is as you see it."

Be happy on this Independence Day, 2009.

May we have the courage to think for ourselves, feel for ourselves, and welcome the exciting adventures of our future.

http://www.stashskate.com/

The Me And The We

I decided to write a bit about the Me and the We as the me is something I’m really exploring and experiencing with ease and dignity, and I am having such a blast learning and feeling me that the me is so excited it turns into the we.

Me is the self exploring of my dots, and the dots always for whatever reason only want to feel comfortable.

The dots that do not feel comfortable are dealt with dignity, and dialogues of diplomacy, nonresistance and acceptance which allows the dots just to be the dots without judging the dots.

I could call them dots of doubt as I like the way rhythm and rhyme flow, plus the screen reader sounds really cool when it reads words that sound good together in a fluid manner.

Feeling me in a fluid way somehow allows me to experience life through the combination of thinking and feeling.

Being able to feel some part of me that already works helps.

It gets me inspired knowing something in my life already works well.

Flow on the ice as well as off of the ice for me feels good and by using this sense of myself motivates me to flow more, feel more, and more things in my life really start to connect from the inside out to create more things that work in my life.

I use to feel that focusing so much on me was selfish.

Now; selfish to me feels like self absorbed like a sponge that is full and nowhere to go and not very comfortable.

My new friend, Rugby Jones does this.

He gets so much into his me, that he becomes the we just because he knows himself so well.

When he is hungry, he asks for food, and when he is thirsty, he asks for a drink etc.

Wherever he goes, and whatever he does he somehow manages to do it with dignity.

This happens because he totally knows and loves himself.

Another twist on the word selfish, it allows me to be so involved with myself that by involving myself with everything I am feeling or thinking extends and expands my awareness of self so much that it becomes We.

It is getting clear to me that me has to be sensed, studied, and developed enough to become the We.

Me involves, and we evolves.

If this be the case then knowing me enough and loving me enough turns me into the we, where real evolution happens.

This is the shift many I feel are sensing.

The me, so involved with itself actually becomes the we, which always evolves and somehow knows how to feel life as connected, united, not separate but always whole just by being the self.

Birthed from sensing the me which turns into the we for me; is a physical experience changing the way I live, breathe, and move because of me merely being myself.

Be with the little parts of the me that already function and feel fluid or flow, and more flow will happen.

I felt this flash of inspiration when thought of the words

Charity Begins At Home.

Give to your me so much that it overflows and becomes the We.

Same lessons revisited? Maybe, but remember,

words validate something inside us that we already know.

Experiment with the me and the We and let me know what happens.

We Do Make A Difference

Last Thursday, our adult skating group had our final skate of the season.

Summer is coming, and the schedule gets crazy, kids out of school, more summer camps for figure skating, hockey, and public sessions can be a bit wild.

After we skate, we go to lunch.

This week the group was extremely large.

Some folks were doing ice dance, I did free skating, jumps, spins, and some just stroked around the edges of the rink and chatted as they skated.

I was careful as to skate with sensitivity and not get in the dancers patterns.

It can be interesting getting dance and free skating together as we as jumpers have our patterns, and dancers have their patterns.

Our group gets along well.Actually; more than well.We get along great, help each other, and somehow inspire each other, and we as a group seem to know when someone needs help on or off the ice.

I did the usual experimenting with blades and remembered a dream I had the night before about jumping and how the jumps felt was so amazing in my dream.

I thought I would do some more experimenting and could I duplicate my dream on the ice?

I started physically doing the things I did in my dream.

My jumps felt good, I felt comfortable, and didn’t think too much about it as I was having so much fun experimenting and enjoying the sounds of fellow skaters laughing, gliding past, talking as they would skate by, and occasionally someone would say that jump or spin looked good.

Whatever I tried, whatever I thought I wouldn’t or sometimes couldn’t do, I did.

Some of my foot-work, the brackets and rockers and counters honestly can look sloppy.

That’s why I have to feel first and form follows, but; when I’m in a hurry I want form first and who cares if I really feel.

I just want the turns finished!

There is a school of thought in skating that says

If you have great edges, jumping is the most easy thing in skating.

I have to tell you this school of thought works for me.

The less I forced, I experienced more flow, and fun plus I had less friction, with more speed, power, glide, and comfort.

During lunch, I got to sit accrossfrom Kip and Joyce, the newest of the group only connecting with our group early April of 2009 or late March.

They made such a hit with the group, and Kip with his cross overs inspires me and Joyce with her wanting technical info about skating always keeps me on my toes.

I got to sit next to Bill, who is a fearless adult skater, 60 years young or a few years plus, but who cares.

He is absolutely fearless.We lovingly sometimes joke with him and call him Wild Bill.

He can do way more than skating.

He does that hand gliding thing, probably climbs mountains, has so much fun with his dances and turned himself from a pure hockey skater to a figure skater now doing dance.

I respect him so much for his freedom and fearless approach to skating.

He was kind enough to read me the menu as he borrowed glasses from his wonderful wife, Carol, who recently passed two dance tests with ease and grace.

Bill was so patient reading me the menu with such care, managing to describe everything perfect.

While we were eating, several folks commented how nice my Axles looked,

which made me feel good.

I had lost the feel of the Axle a few months ago, and it felt wonderful knowing people could see the Axles landed and they looked nice.

When jumps feel too easy, I get somewhat suspicious, and now I am finally learning

That ease is the way for my skating.

If that wasn’t enough, Hank told me he actually did forward cross overs.

I am so proud of my friend, Hank who turned 89 in April finally did his forward cross overs his way.

He says he felt comfortable and the cross overs just happened.

Five or six weeks ago, Hank got a helmet as he saw one in a sports store and thought it would be a good idea to skate with a helmet in case he took an unexpected fall.

He did fall, and fall hard he did.Hank fell on his back trying a cross over about a week after he got his new helmet.

The helmet took the bulk of the fall; although he was stiff a few days, and he went right back trying cross overs as if nothing happened.

I asked him what made him try cross overs after the fall?He says he realized what he did wrong, and wanted to see if he could correct his mistake which made him fall.

He always says profound things, and I learn so much from Hank.

His wise words of wisdom said he went too fast, tried to fly before he was sensitive, and you know the rest.

His courage and love for skating never ceases to amaze me and the other piece of this story is how Hank has the courage to allow a totally blind skater teach him edges, stroking, and the cross over when done well feels and looks spectacular.

Yes; we have a bunch of skaters that I feel are special.

Many of the skaters in our adult group are in their 70’s, and Hank is 89, Dick, a former skater is 98 and enjoyed watching me demonstrate brackets on the floor after we got off the ice.

Dick use to be a high level ice dancer and still has sharp eyes, and an honest tongue.

One of our skaters will have a hip replaced this fall, another had a knee replaced several years ago, and I’m waiting for eye replacements, and will be waiting a long time.

My new friends,

Rugby Jones and

Glenda

inspire me to new heights of awareness.

If they can do it.Then I can do it.

One person at a time.We do make a difference.

http://www.stashskate.com/

When Connections Click

Did you ever go through a cycle where you just were existing, and nothing excited you?

Even though life isn’t bad, and is really good, and beyond good to great.

Then why the restless feeling like something is missing?

I am grateful of my accomplishments and judge some of my accomplishments in the past few years as really good ones, and border on great.

I coauthored a book, have been doing some speaking engagements, skating well, have adult students on and off of the ice that appreciate and can’t wait for their next sensitive energy coaching session or skating experience with me on or off the ice.

So; what is missing, and what’s wrong?

This past Friday, May 29, 2009 something profound and life changing happened.

The feeling of restless and missing something is gone as I met a new friend for life I’m sure.

Claudia, someone I met at a conference in early 2008 visited me and brought her 12 year old dog for a visit.

Rugby Joanes is his name, and he does everything I do, and more.

He had an accident several years ago and now can’t use his back legs, but nothing stops him.Visit him at http://claudiabroome.com/blog/ and you will understand why this means so much to me.

His picture is worth at least a thousand words or more.

Rugby Joans got out of his box as I am trying to do, and meeting him validated something so important for me.

We all are whole whether the body has all of the parts working or not working.Something remains totally and completely whole.

I’m starting to connect to the part of me that somehow is sensitive and completely whole.

I am doing this because my friend, Rugby Joans did it.

If he can do it, we all can do it if we choose.

This takes patience and courage.

The change first starts in our mind, and then we feel, and then we deal with that which we feel.

Thanks again,

Rugby Jones and

Claudia

Straight From The Heart,

Stash Serafin

Resist Or Relax

Last month, my pair partner and I debuted our number to an audience at a local show.

We only skate together once a week during our lesson and we never get too much time to practice unless our lesson is canceled and we get extra time to go through our elements slowly and create new ideas for future moves.

The week of the show, we had to reschedule our lesson as I had a funeral to attend.

The lesson was great, and we managed to do the lesson at the rink where the show took place so I got a real sense of the ice, the temperature of the rink, and the sound system which was great.

We arrived for dress rehearsal a few days later with a curtain up; beautiful colored materials decorating the rink surround the barrier which muffled the sound for me.

I didn’t get any warm up only a tiny piece of ice behind the curtain which was better than nothing.

The audience seemed appreciative of our offering, and the applause felt good.

My partner, Eileen has so much courage skating with a totally blind skater.

We somehow feel each other before we connect, and sometimes our connections need work but that’s part of pair skating.

I occasionally joke with Eileen and say we are The Blind and the Beautiful.

I was asked how can I skate without a real warm up.

I had to think, and since I get very little ice time myself as I am either teaching others or doing Sensitive Energy Coaching off of the ice my time is limited.

This use to disturb me as my time is getting less and less on the ice and more and more off of the ice.

I thought I was ready for retirement a few months ago as I had concerns about skating with Eileen who is so patient with me, and always watches, as I feel so we have a unique relationship on and off of the ice.

Sometimes she is my eyes, and sometimes I see things through my senses that she doesn’t see.

This makes our arrangement always interesting, and we are truly always on the edge of experiencing skating in new and fun ways.

What happened as the less I skate, the more gentle I am getting plus the less I skate, the more sensitive I am becoming.

It hit me.

Lack of resistance without really trying to reduce my resistance.

When I skate or exercise off of the ice, I feel what works in my body and only work with those areas of my body that feel like working.

Going with the flow, feeling what feels good and using that as my exercise plan helps me warm up without skating if there is no ice available.

There is also an issue of crowded ice conditions if I am invited to exhibit in a show and there are many skaters on the ice.

This can be a risk for me as well as the other skaters as the music in warm up usually is quite loud to get the skaters inspired for the performance.

So; staying with what works eases my resistance, I begin to relax and therefore my skating flows instead of having friction.

Maybe it is the feel of the flow, the lack of resistance, and the relaxation that combine and connect to form something really magical for me as I skate.

This was the first time I felt totally comfortable performing with Eileen and was not really nervous.

I have elements that can be improved upon, but who doesn’t as a skater.

I heard the audience respond in favorable ways when we did our side by side single Toe-Loops, our spirals, and our ending pose was cool.

I look forward to our next show together as well as when I get invited to do solo skating as I still do free style and jump like a fool and enjoy performing more as I remind myself to relax more and resist less.

http://www.stashskate.com/

Comfort Leads To Confidence

Last week, I was showing Hank, my 88 year young skating student and friend some exercises to help him feel his comfort area off of the ice.

We were in the lounge, lacing our skates before I started showing him the exercises, and he said something profound as he many times does without realizing it.

We talked about our areas of comfort, and he is aware of how I use the dots like Braille dots to represent comfort areas for me as I skate in my comfort so much that it expands without any effort.

My movement on and off of the ice increases as I explore the little areas of movement so much that for some mysterious reason, my area expands naturally like breathing without any struggle or strain.

Hank said that he is starting to feel comfortable with his life in general, and he says he uses the ideas and methods we share with each other beyond skating.

Walking, going up and down steps, bending his knees before he lifts heavy items, feeling good before he starts a new project like painting his garage doors, and he is learning how to install new software on his new computer.

I suggested he take this experience of comfort and add it to the stroking and cross over exercises we would experience together.

I’m not sure who is the student or who is the teacher since I learn so much from Hank.

He use to be an engineer and flew plains when he was younger plus has an incredible way of translating images into words to help me with geometry as skating has to do with circles and figures.

Whether you jump, spin, do stroking, it all somehow relates to circles and angles relating to circles in some way, shape and form.

We finished skating, and were driving to lunch as he was proud of his cross over and edges, and soon wants to do three-turns on one foot and maybe that dreaded forward inside Mohawk.

I suggested we do two-footed foot-work first.

He liked this idea, and then he said another profound statement.

Hank said "Comfort Leads to Confidence."

When Hank said those words, something inside me felt good.

Something clicked like a shooting firework of some kind went off inside me.

Comfort can lead to confidence if I pay attention, be gentle, kind, and patient with my skating or whatever I am doing on or off of the ice.

This being comfortable first and experiencing confidence second allows me to feel first, and figure later.

As I go with what I feel when I feel it, the comfort increases as it turns into confidence.

This feels to me like a full sense of self that is healthy, happy, feels good, and does feel really natural like breathing.

I will write more about this as I have been experimenting with this idea about comfort leads to confidence this past week with interesting results.

Let me know how you feel about the idea of comfort leads to confidence.

Thanks,

Stash

http://www.stashskate.com/

Liquid Love

I thought about this title as my left knee has been hurting quite a lot lately.

I for some reason bump into things with my left knee.

I did it last week getting off the ice in a hurry, not paying attention and hit the barrier hard.

I was focusing on lunch.

After we skate, we reward ourselves with a nice lunch, and for some reason I was very hungry.

This will teach me to not talk when I could have felt and listened to where I was going.

I tried putting ice on the knee, heat, and some kind of a cream that is suppose to help athletes with painful muscles or joints.

I tried this for a few days, and the pain remained.

I could feel the disruption of energy around my knee, and the more I tried, the worse the pain got.

I felt so frustrated I just stopped doing anything.

That is when I started to feel something interesting.

I became quiet, and began to be with my sore knee, and my right hip had a tingling sensation which felt really good.

I didn’t do anything to my knowledge but observe and feel my right hip as to my left knee.

It was like my hip and knee were having some kind of a dialogue with each other without me doing anything merely witnessing this interesting dialogue.

The sore knee and comfortable hip started to feel like liquid water flowing towards each other.

A thought came into my mind to do an experiment.

What If I could imagine feeling like my knee was made of water that was moving freely and easily like a river or a stream with a current.

I felt the current, the river and stream, and then a calm lake.

Interesting I thought as when I experienced the calm lake, my knee stopped aching and the stiffness reduced like it was melting.

It felt as if a sugar cube was dissolving in and around my knee and the knee got fluid.

I thought as I do about life and whatever I am doing now seems to apply to sensitive movement and sensitive skating.

This incredible sense of all is well surged through my body which got me to another thought or maybe a state of being.

This energy felt like love, but this love felt fluid, liquid, pliable like water and beyond water if that makes any sense.

It felt good so in my awareness it made perfect sense, and still makes sense.

I can feel this just by remembering the experience I tried with the knee and hip.

I’m intending to do more of this and feel where this goes.

It sure feels like liquid love to me.

Balance has a fluidity to it as we somehow always move.

Even though we think we’re standing still things still are moving internally.

This kind of energy exploration or experiencing feels really good.

Maybe beyond good and more like fun.

http://www.stashskate.com/

Go With The Flow

I woke up this morning with the thought of going with the flow so I decided to write a post about this feeling of flow and how I apply it to my skating and beyond which enables me to feel flow and not just think about flow.

To me; flow is like being, and being to me has no resistance to it.

Water has no resistance when we go with the flow of the water and not fight the water.

Riding waves in the ocean is to me the same as I go with the waves rather than fight the waves or the current of the water.

I have also experienced fighting the water and I almost drown, because I tried pushing and fighting with the water.

Being merely is, and because being merely is the way we apply being in our lives could make a difference as to how we relate our experience of feeling flowwhich to me is lack of friction, and lack of friction has less stress, and brings me peace.

The idea of merely being for some folks feels threatening because resistance seems to be the way we as humans like to process our stuff.

I am also using my heart center to guide me as well as Course in Miracles

Which uses ideas like The Holy Spirit.

We all have this spirit, but call it by different names.

I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is really my imagination.

In my belief system, imagination started everything.

How cool could this be, and how powerful this could be when used to the fullest.

When you discover your imagination, and really use it, your world could change.

Real power to me is gentle, kind, and there is a real sense of flow which to me represents lack of friction.

On the ice, the blades flow, and the friction feels less when my blades feel the flow.

Peace and relaxation are the keys to feeling and following the flow of your life.

This could be why so many people when get out of their own way can do so much with so little forceful effort.

The inner is always quiet as the outer stuff does its dance.

Flow has a language of its own.

Learning about flow to some folks is like learning a new language.

The Language Of Sensitivity

http://www.stashskate.com/

Get Your Dreams Out Of The Drawer




Six Steps to Setting and Achieving Dreams In celebration of Setting and Achieving Your Goals In 2009 Here are the six steps that have helped me and my clients achieve that dream that’s been in the drawer for years or maybe centuries in a matter of months. President Obama touched on all of them in his speech. 1. Energize your imagination to launch your dream out of the drawer 2. Make Your Dream a priority by setting up systems of accountability 3. Set specific parameters for your dream so you become a filter for only things that support your dream 4. Create anchors in your subconscious that alerts you when your dream is being supported. (mind maps, scripting, sensitive movement skills) 5. Organize your relationships in a way that fuels your dreams 6. Do what ever it takes to experience your dream now! Listen to a 30 minute content rich conversation with Director of Scripting for Success TM Ruth Anne Wood and host, Monica Pace who go into great detail how you can activate each one of theses steps in Setting and Achieving your dreams STARTING NOW! Process created by Ruth Anne Wood and Stash Serafin 6 Steps to Setting and Achieving Your Dreams CREDENTIALS: Stash Serafin inspires and teaches people on and off the ice and has appeared in the national media since the 1970s, skating with local and world-class figure skaters despite being blind since birth. Ruth Anne Wood is the director of Scripting for Success™, a production company that helps clients set and achieve impossible dreams. She is the editor of the e-zine Script Your Success and of multiple books. Serafin and Wood have written YOU CAN’T GET IT ‘CAUSE YOU’VE ALREADY GOT IT. AVAILABILITY: PA, nationwide by arrangement and via telephoneCONTACT: Ruth Anne Wood, (215) 872-5035 (PA); ruth@scriptingforsuccess.com; Stash Serafin, (215) 806-0799 (PA); Stash@stashskate.com; 3 minute B roll Blessings, Ruth PS. Please weigh in on facebook and remember to post your commitment to your "impossible" dream on the wall so we can all support you! Ruth Anne WoodScripting for Success TMSet and Achieve your Impossible DreamsEmail: ruth@ScriptingForSuccess.comfacebookEnlightened Comedy Blog76 E.State StDoylestown, PA 18901Call: 215-872-5035 BOOK: Group Coaching/ Seminars/Talks/Interviews Copyright © 2009 Scripting for Success.
Get your dream out of the drawer!

(via Stash Serafin - Google Search)