Lee Love on sun 19 jun 05
Frank Colson wrote:
>Why? You are but one universe in harmony with the clay, from which your own
>body has emerged as dust from the cosmos.
>
My wheel is a low momentum, wooden Korean style kickwheel. I may have an
electric some day, for visitors, but I think the Korean wheel is
essential for the work I do.
But something that is important, and can be done on any wheel, that is
base in sound physiological science, is paying attention to our
breathing.: It helps with this "extending your presence into your
environment." If you ever examine it, you'll notice that we often hold
our breath when we are concentrating. This weakens you physically and
uncenters you. You need to keep breathing as normally as possible while
you throw. And if you are mindful of your breathing, then your intellect
and intuition can work together. The best way to pay attention to the
breath is by paying attention to the exhalations. If you take care of
the exhalations, the inhalations will take care of them self. And you
breath with the diaphragm and not the chest.
The breath is important because of the nature of breathing. The
diaphragm is the muscle with the greatest area in our body. Breathing is
usually an automatic function of our body, but when we concentrate on
it, we can control it. So it has a connection between the aspects of our
brain that are voluntary and the aspects that are automatic.
I am convinced, as someone who practices both, that breath following
while throwing, is exactly the same as breath following while doing zen
meditation.
--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft
About the best pots:
"They are not necessarily amenable to intellectual analysis,
and, in fact, that analysis can destroy a person's real
appreciation and understanding of a piece."
-- Warren MacKenzie
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