Welcome to the Temple of Poi. And welcome to the spiritual pursuit of what is possible with two balls and some string. The williness to study the infinite complex combinations and possibilities available in the simplicity of some string and balls reminds us of our willingness to grow, change and evolve our practices. Poi creates an external medium through which we (can) learn about and transform our approach to living.

In Spring 2004, I said to a classroom full of students that "I everything I ever needed to know I learned through poi," referencing the far more famous Robert Fulghum poem about kindergarten. The funniest thing happened though as I continued working with those students as I realized all the ways in which it was true.

Nothing I am writing here is new. It has all be said before by someone else in some other context and likely by hundreds of people in hundreds of places. Perhaps the way I write it will offer someone a different way of experiencing their world, so here is the summary of Everything I ever needed to know and learned with poi:

Fight is fight; flow is flow
I found everything I ever needed in letting go of what I thought I wanted
Be here now
The journey is the destination
Stand with Courage: chin up, head high, shoulders back, eyes foward, stand tall
Breathe
"I never did mind about the little things" Smile
Know they Self
Believe in the face of uncertainty
Surrender offers control
Open to find flow
Life is a series of subtleties, one after another
I am only limited by how I limit myself my creativity, physiology and imagination and I can develop all of those

Release Expectation to Disovle Frustration
Stand Courageously to Eliminate Fear
The Journey Is the Destination prevent stress
Confidence v. Arrogance
Listen to your inner wisdom and whole self to find your balance
Persist in the face of desiring to quit
Believe in the face of uncertainty
Open to being to experience flow
Surrender to find control

"Fight is fight; Flow is flow"

I said that when I was learning how to hoop with Hoopalicious (Anah), Dawn, Sass and Carlos (the Good Vibe Hoop Tribe) on New Year's day in 2004. It really sums up what I have learned about life. If flow is the open, luscious loving part of living then fight is the closed, withered dark part of death. In the moments when we fight we are closing off to the possibility of life just a little bit and creating our own anti-flow. Frustration, fear, stress, arrogance, control and imbalance are all ways in which we fight. Release, courage, acceptance, openness, confidence, integration and surrender are all ways in which we flow.

Dealing with frustration

Having worked with hundreds of poi artists, I feel confident saying that I know I am not a naturally talented poi artist. I have seen what that looks like and I can comfortably say that it is not me.

In the beginning, this was an absolute torture for me, as it seemed like I was always frustrated at my lack of ability to acquire new skills. Fortunately for me, what I learned through my continued poi practice is that frustration is, as the Buddhists might say, self inflicted misery caused by a craving for "getting the move."

So I have learned to relax myself in the experience of learning. I open to the idea that learning is a process, not a destination. I accept that I might have an easier time filled with less frustration if I simply allow the learning to come without aching for it to arrive.

Handling Fear

If you've played with poi for more than a few minutes -- and sometimes, even if only for a few minutes -- you are likely to have uncovered that one or both of the poi is going to hit you at some point or another. It happens. And sometimes it really does hurt a bit.

We know that it can hurt and yet we play some more. The question becomes how do we handle the fear of being hit and possibility of the pain of the poi smashing some sensitive part of our body?

Courageously. With stregth. With the knowing that we might get knocked around a little bit and we can still go on, learning and growing in the process.

Prevention Stress

"The journey is the destination" is a long standing notion that can aid us in our artistic growth. By accepting that learning is a process and is a journey measured through time, we are offering ourselves the compassion and grace that most effectively nurters growth and development. Stress, on the other hand, is generated when we can not temper our desire to be through the process.

Confidence v. Arrogance

"Know thy self." Wise words that inspire me to:

• know what I can do
• understand my range of skills
• recognize where I can develop
• accept my limitations today and prescribe education to shift them for tomorrow.
• appreciate my accomplishments while also looking toward future possibilities

I knowing myself, I see that knowing who I am creates the confidence that allows me to nurture the parts of my ego that might otherwise seek the false sense of security arrogance might provide. I can be confident in my journey without being arrogant. Knowing that a healthy ego is about confidence gives me permission to love myself on my journey without creating an impression of superiority simply to make myself feel good.

Know they self. In so doing, develop the confidence in your ability to create and achieve your goals by understanding your self -- both the parts you like and the parts you don't -- more fully.

"I can't never did anything" coordination

balance

interactions/flow