Laboratory Sweet Laboratory, pt. 1

Yesterday, the nesting instinct finally took hold of me. Though I love my students and our work here I'll gladly share that it was a phenomenal feeling to close the doors after our last yoga class this Saturday and establish, for the first time in two years, a private and personal space. The live/work aspect of our business is one of the many incredible inventions of necessity that we've discovered. It has been a great blessing and also a challenge. So I breathed a sigh of relief Saturday and then yesterday, with intense vigour, the father aspects of nesting rose up within me. In a day, with the help of some incredible brothers, I recreated the Lab as a sacred space for Aya's birth and as a Home.

Angela spent the majority of the day with girlfriends to avoid the dust of our work. She returned to find the Lab reordered and 'the cave', as we called our hidden bedroom, transformed into a veiled chamber. Upon pulling the veil, she wept to see our bed and birthing pool comfortably nestled in walls draped with lights and the same fabric that wrapped the columns of the Temple we were married under. I draped Aya's bassinet in the same fabric and placed in in the corner under a collection of photos, with a picture of her father Stan at the forefront. The unpainted drywall underneath was hidden by deep greens and blues, gold, and a rich burgundy. I was concerned that she would find it kitch or high school, but she loves it and I have to say that I'm actually pleased with it. My old decorative goth-punk skills and burning man inspired reliance merged and came to great use here yesterday! Great thanks to everyone who has assisted and supported us along the way!

As we move into this new phase of life at the Lab, I thought it would be advantageous to document the story of the space thus far, a bit of it's history and our intentions for it's future. Over the next few days, since I have to keep nesting, I'll post this as a serial.

In Health Joy and Liberation,
Gregg

Laboratory Sweet Laboratory, pt. 1

We moved into the Lab in June of 2007. We we're drawn to the space by a photograph of an old kitchen sink hung on the back of brick building on Craigslist. The sink, now a planter, was filled with vibrant flowers that set off the turquoise green/blue rustic door next to it. The ad was for an Eastern Market Loft and we knew the Market was perfect for our new venture.

I called and was saddened to discover that there wasn't a dishwasher. No dishwasher meant that, with all the cooking Angela does, we'd be knee deep in dishes. I let the landlord know that we really had to have a dishwasher but asked if we could come by and see the place anyways. We just wanted to check out the area a bit more and when you're a Detroit fanatic you rarely turn down an opportunity to explore local buildings.

We did the exact same thing that the majority of our students and friends did when looking for the Lab for the first time. We walked up and down Gratiot looking desperately for 1434. All the entrances to the building were gated up. I called the landlord and he lead us around the back.

We turned the corner from Russell onto Service Street and knew instantly that we had found something special. I frequented 'underground' parties in the Market in the late 80's and early 90's, and I had a flood of memories return to my awareness. This important connection would deepen and assist in the development of the Lab. We found the door and we're greeted by a man who would become one of our greatest allies and supporters, Ara Howrani.

Aya as Healer and Alan's Old Patterns

As it's been a steady stream here at the Lab I've been unable to sit down and properly document exactly what it is that's going on. Any extra time we wheel and deal for typically finds us snuggling in babyland. The energy this kid is kicking off seems very smooth. Angela and I have both noticed this and have taken solace in that energy when things get overwhelming in this steady stream. Aya's expanding "I am" motion has been very healing psychologically for me, as I've reconnected with aspects of my own childhood in preparation for his/her's arrival. It is incredible that, in addition to that mental healing, the energy that emanates from Aya has very similar qualities to some of the more intense Reiki and "just as vital, but less costly non-brandname" energies I've come across. But, there I am in babyland again. I'm an addict.

There ARE a few other projects going on in the Lab that should be propagated in the noosphere through this often addled Detroit-centric blogoshpere outpost.

Yesterday, Detroit Evolution Laboratory's own Alan Scheurman released his new album Old Patterns. I encourage everyone to visit Alan's site to download the album for FREE. I can't help but be biased, but Old Patterns is moving, magically charged & motivational. I'm not a music writer, so I'll probably pull a few cliches here, but I've found many touchstones in this top-shelf psychedelic release. The unanswered call of Starless's "are we all living a lie?" has haunted Angela and I in sleepless early morning hours. The uptempo Marco Polo surfaces the rabble rousing activist undercurrents that flow through Old Patterns:

Keep talking to strangers
But pick a side and fight
And if you still need more information

Just follow the buck

To your right

'Til you're right

Alan's unique vocal styling shuffles between hushed soft spoken realizations and the adventurous poignant visionary rants and ramblings witnessed in Akasha. Exploration continues throughout the tracks with time given to wandering yet somehow unifying horns and space for deep sacred meditations. I've been using the closing track Mrtasana in our yoga sessions at the Lab for the past few months during Savasana. My students and I have found it beneficial to their personal exploration during this important pause between practice and life. So, yes, I'm biased, but Old Patterns invokes a few valid new patterns in visionary folk and I encourage you all to download it for FREE from Alan's site and give it a listen. Yeah, I know this reads like an endorsement, because it is. Alan's playing live with Prussia at Cliff Bell's this Sunday and Angela and I hope to be there, so please come on by and support our new partner!

Baby Obsession!

OK, this is getting serious... I know it is as it should be and I am so thankful that it is, but I am utterly flabbergasted by my minds ability to obsess on Aya's emergence. Astoundingly, it deepens daily. Last night we heard the heartbeat for the first time and figured out the anatomy a bit. I think I know have a pretty good map of head, back, and butt. Aya's squirming around in there and shifts sides quite often, so this will be a fun new game!

Oh, I also wanted to mention that "my kids an angel and can do no wrong" thing... I get that now.

I'm going to try to keep it down a bit, but I've now witnessed the primal force that inspires it. Just recently, I've begun to share the fact that I have visions and see things. It's a great gift that I've explored since I was a child. Through this work, I've journeyed to some incredible places. I've ventured into the deep end of the pool a bit too, more so than ever with Angela and our love, but this comes from a depth unknown to me before. More Awe!

There's awe at every corner, we just need to exercise our minds and bodies so that we can begin to see it.

In Utero Yoga with Aya

What a beautiful morning! I've propped myself up here in the Lab kitchen so that I can have the full view of the Detroit skyline as the sun rises. One of my favorite things in the world is to sit here on a crisp morning with a cup of hot coffee & hemp milk and write. In fact, I'm behind on a deadline for an article on Ahimsa for PLAY Magazine, but I simply need some "me" writing time before I get to it.

Of course, "me" writing time these days typically means writing about Angela and Aya. I'm loosing track of weeks because they are going so quickly. I want to say we're now at week 25? I do know that I'm obsessed. I feel like I should just issue forth a notice of apology for my fixation on Aya and his/her development and influence upon my world. If you thought I was obsessive about yoga, music, India, spirituality, art, 2012, or whatever the flavor of the month was, you haven't seen anything yet.

I've spent the majority of my life around childless couples and single guys. My path took me far from the graduate from high school, go to college, get married and have kids genre of being. I'm about to turn 39 and I'm so blessed to have taken the path less traveled as I feel totally set up to experience this transition in a way I never would have in my 20's. I'm also blessed to be in a position where I can take the time to get up at 3 and 7 am every morning and meditate and work with Aya while s/he goes through what appears to be an in utero yoga sequence.

I'm so thankful that I took the time to develop my skills with energy and subtle forces as I'm now beginning to "feel" the internal activity that really isn't reaching the surface. We have a great deal of kicking and punching, but there are also shoulder rolls and the flutter of fingers and toes. Obviously, when Angela is awake, I've been working on voice recognition as well, talking to Aya and vibrating Om. Every morning as Angela and I pray and chant together, I've been focusing the energy and vibration towards the womb. I can sense Aya's receptivity to the energy and his/her energy shifts to take it in. I could go on and on.

I've been reading up on infant massage and what the first few weeks are going to be like. I know it's going to be a steady stream of development and I'm gathering the info I'll need to be active and at least one step ahead. I found this Tennessee Williams quote yesterday that speaks to that immediate yet flexible approach:

It is almost as if you were frantically constructing another world while the world that you live in dissolves beneath your feet, and that your survival depends on completing this construction at least one second before the old habitation collapses.

Of course, frantic survival depending on this motion gives it a little more weight than I'm going for, but you get the idea. I suppose this is just a stylized brazen approach to living in the moment, something we strive for here. But, I'm going to try to develop and maintain this mindset as I think it will assist me as I strive to sidestep expectation and cull the cultural drive to shape and influence this entity. I suspect that many developmental blocks stem from parents exerting their will upon the child. Much of this is unavoidable and during a culture war it eventually turns into a race to exert your influence upon the child before someone else does.

But with that said, I need to head into the Market and then put my official writing hat on.

The Stream of "I am"

My meditation advises more exposition in and apparently on the first person.

It is hard to believe it is Friday already, not that days mean much here in the Lab. I use the phrase "it's been a whirlwind" to describe our status all the time, but I wonder how much I am leading our situation by doing so. We're busy, we're peaceful, we're slammed, we suffer from doubts daily and we laugh and giggle a lot in spite of it all.

In the past two years I've experienced a deepening of emotion, a clarity. I posit that our diet, our blurring of the lines between life and work, and our decision to dedicate ourselves to assisting in the creation of New Detroit have cleaned up my lenses a bit. The well-meaning "mucous" built up between the ego and experiential reality has thinned out and I'm more fully able to "feel" what is going on inside and out. The idea or feeling of "depth" has been a recurring theme in dreams and exploratory meditation of late. My experiences all have a greater depth than they have before.

Of course, this depth could be an aspect of my adaptation to and preparation for fatherhood. I can actually sense the pheromones Angela is kicking off redirecting the flow of information travelling across the synapses in my brain. The fact that I am experiencing such a subtle chemical reaction could probably use a post of its own. It suppose it speaks in answer to the oft asked question, where does 20+ years of meditation get you? I'll immediately admit to an almost complete lack of understanding as to how and why. But the how and why can wait, when it comes down to it, I'm more of an ironic, spiritual-Stephen Colbert kind of guy anyway. It truly is all in the gut.

At that primal/intuitive/spiritual gut level there is so much going on! More that the pheromones and other chemicals, I have direct knowledge of this being we're currently assisting in the transition from "there" to "here." I would like to also say that I have communication with him or her, but for the most part, it has been a one way stream directed towards Angela and I. That stream of "I am" is strong and getting stronger. In my gut I feel this being actually making a way for itself and, in a very real sense, shifting reality to do so. I sense that certain assistance and people have come into our lives in direct response to the will of this being. That's very abstract, but let's just say that this being is actively making a way for itself, as we all have and do. Sadly, I think that many of us have forgotten that that's what we are doing everyday.

So with all of that said, it seems that you have stepped into my stream of "I am" and while you're here I'll tell you my will. It is my will that we all, every last one of us, remember that we can make a way for ourselves, right here, right now. There is no limit to what we can do and more importantly than that, there need not be conformity to any one thing or way. This construct can handle as many different manifestations as we can imagine, but that's musings for another stream.

So, I'm not going to say it's been a whirlwind any more, but rather a steady stream. I think that will help quite a bit!

In Health, Joy and Liberation,
Gregg