I thought we would kick off our student-teacher forum with a little bit of inspiration I brought back from my recent week away.
On our 13-hour drive to Utah last week I was listening to a Buddhist teacher by the name of Philllip Moffit, whom I adore. It was a talk on fear. 
Relevant for most of us, I think.
There was a lovely little tidbit about body observation in order to work with fear:
Because all of us experience fear in some form throughout our day, everyday we also know or can know the experience of fear in the body. One of the physiological responses when fear comes on is a production of adrenaline. The adrenal glands are located just atop each kidney, sitting like gracefully coiled, sleeping snakes ready to strike at any moment to protect, fight, and respond. When this happens the body experience intensifies and tenses taking on that ready-to-strike position.
When you feel these moments come on – sometimes subtly and sometimes dramatically – we can turn inward to the body and begin to soften.
Bring your attention to the kidneys. Begin to image the adrenal glands. If you are able to place your hands on the sides of your lower back just below the ribs you can use the soft heat from your hands to help you bring awareness to the surrounding area.
With each breath begin to create softness around the kidneys, imagining space or light around this entire area. As you do so continue to breath easily and notice if you begin to feel more at ease. The fear may not leave, but your body response will help you feel more grounded and clear, able to respond rather than react.
Use this simple technique anytime you begin to feel fear arise. Notice that fear sometimes appears as reluctance, aversion, frustration and anger and experiment with using this meditation in during these experiences as well. Maybe before you walk in to your Pilates class….
CL
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