The way the cookie crumbles

I’m doing a favour for my Arab friend. This morning he tries to explain my good deed. ‘It’s like you are getting that cookie stuff! From God, right? Like, cookie coins, isn’t it? Right? Cookie coins?’. Minutes of confusion pass. He’s convinced this concept exists. And then we connect the chocolate chips: ‘Brownie Points’. Someone had explained ‘Brownie Points’ to him recently – possibly not very well :)

8 Things You Should Know About Acro Yoga

By Daniel Scott

 

It’s very possible you’ve seen a few students playing around after class or watched a few videos online. Maybe you’ve seen some epic photos in a yoga magazine of two smiling yogis balancing effortlessly on each other’s feet and/or hands in some exotic location. Perhaps, upon seeing this, you’ve thought to yourself, “That’s impossible! I could never do that.”

 

Please allow me to let you in on a little secret: Yes, you can!

 

My name is Daniel Scott, and I teach the Yoga of Trust. For the past six years, I have been blessed to teach thousands of people worldwide to literally turn their lives upside down while loving every second. As a certified AcroYoga instructor and movement therapist, my life is dedicated to helping others answer the question: Are you moving or being moved?

 

Like any physical practice, yoga or otherwise, AcroYoga is a dynamic offering that can seem both simple and complex. My journey didn’t begin with gymnastics or circus arts. Wandering aimlessly in the labyrinth of corporate life, I ran marathons and partied ruthlessly in my “free” time in hopes of an escape before finding yoga as a true way out. I didn’t do my first free handstand until I was 27, and even then, I was better at falling down then getting up.

 

Upon truly embracing the practice of AcroYoga, my understanding and appreciation of yoga—and through that, life—has deepened with immense passion and gratitude. Whether you’ve tried it or not, please enjoy these following tips as guides for the path towards building trust… within the body, the community, and the true blessing of divine partnership.

 

1. AcroYoga combines yoga, healing arts, and acrobatics. It’s good to mix things up, even if it sounds like an odd recipe.  All three styles truly balance each other out (pun intended). Let’s drink straight from the source at AcroYoga.org: “AcroYoga blends the wisdom of yoga, the dynamic power of acrobatics, and the loving kindness of healing arts. These three lineages form the foundation of a practice that cultivates trust, playfulness, and community.” Who can say no to that?

 

2. You don’t need a partner to find partnership. Flying solo? No worries—you’ll find someone to soar with once when you arrive!  While you are welcome to train with a dedicated partner, there is much knowledge to be gained in mixing it up from time to time. This partner-based practice develops your skills to work with a wide variety of people… no matter the personality, shape, size, or skill.

 

3. AcroYoga is for Every Body. You need not be a master gymnast, circus acrobat, or seasoned yogi to enjoy. Can’t do a handstand, or even touch your toes? No big deal. AcroYoga is a practice of substance, not flash. You’ll learn necessary building blocks to literally take whatever physical skills you have to new heights.

 

4. Size matters not. You may think big people do the lifting, and tiny people do the flying. This is not the case. AcroYoga doesn’t defy gravity, it honors it. Technique is more important than strength. You’ll quickly learn that muscles tire while bones don’t—whether lifting someone above your head, pouring weight through hands for a healing touch, or counterbalancing someone twice your size.

 

5. One must give to receive… and vice versa. When was the last time you let someone else physically move you? A good AcroYoga class creates a safe container in which participants learn the art of allowing movement. Depending on the material taught, this could mean total engagement, utter release, or some degree of both. Everyone in class goes through the same experience. As you learn to support others, you end up allowing yourself to be supported. This is a fundamental of trust: take control by letting go.

 

6. Get what you need by asking for what you want. Unlike practicing alone, where we spend a lot of time in our head, partner work is deeply rooted the shared experience. In addition to honing the skill of sharing a physical practice, AcroYoga helps to develop open, direct, and compassionate verbal communication with whomever we’re paired with. Try giving someone directions while in handstand. Up becomes down. Left becomes right. Things can get mixed up when life gets flipped asana over tea kettle. Work together or fall apart. You decide.

 

7. In order to know one, you must truly experience the other. The practice of AcroYoga is split into two parts, Acrobatic (Solar) and Therapeutic (Lunar). Each side explores the relationship between the mover and those being moved. In the dynamic Solar practice, participants learn three different roles: Base (mover), Flyer (being moved), and Spotter (knowledge of both). Lunar theraputics embraces the deeply healing connection to metta—loving kindness. Here, the Giver is the mover, and the Receiver is the one being moved. Balance is the midpoint between extremes, so it’s best to explore this practice from all sides to know where your grounded passion truly lies.

 

8. Trust   Communication = Community. Amazing things happen when one steps outside the box, and there is no coincidence that a yoga mat is rectangular. Don’t confine yourself to the soft routine of this non-slip comfort zone. AcroYoga creates a tangible sense of tribe and celebration which is hard to find anywhere else. Remember, it is entirely up to you how high you want to soar or how slow you want to enjoy the process of getting there. May these tips help further your existing practice or inspire you to give it at try… with love, light, and flight.

Closet veggie

I’m not altogether vegetarian but I have my days and when I do, I really like them. Or maybe it’s more like I have my meat days and when I do, I really like them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jan/28/what-kind-of-vegetarian-are-you

Waka Waka, baby!

Good morning world!

It’s weekend here in the Middle East. Friday is (mentally) a Sunday, while Saturday remains a Saturday but has a ‘prep for the week’ feeling on the tail end of it.

A friend of mine recently won a competition by answering the question, “how do u get yourself out of bed on a Sunday morning” with the answer ‘by setting my alarm to Waka Waka. As a Saffa the song gives us motivation and inspiration. I know its not a SA song but when I hear it, makes me feel like a proud Saffa for how well we handled the World Cup’.

Obviously she was angling to win the prize (and the free drinks and sushi were great), but she really has a point. When it first came out there was a bit of love/hate for it but emotional fallout from the World Cup in South Africa means that every time I hear this song I get a weird ‘heart expansion’ feeling in my chest and a little teary.

Kids, crowds, smiles, Africa. I’ve been feeling homesick enough as it is.

All in all a pretty good way to wake up on a weekend. And it IS a Saffa song – it’s Shakira and Freshly Ground.

Unfulfilled dreams litter elections

Little change for many poor since end of apartheid.

This was a good article. This is worth reading in the lead up to the local government elections.

Emotional blackmail in political Africa

Local government elections occur in South Africa on 18 May. Desperately disgruntled times call for desperate measures.

For a little bit of background, read about the DA toilet saga, the subsequent ANC toilet saga. What is the current state of satisfaction with local government services? Debatable and actions definitely speak louder than words – our people know how to protest.

Back to those desperate measures – emotional blackmail seems to be a growing trend where political parties feel their grip slipping. Westerners are open mouthed at what they see as the audacity of some of the comments:

Did you hear the one where a pastor claimed that the ANC, COSATU and The Communist party could be compared to the holy trinity and that Jesus was a communist?

No? Ok. How about the message that you must vote ANC if you want to keep Nelson Mandela alive?

Still not feeling your vote influenced? What about disapproval from your dearly departed? President Zuma claims that ‘your ancestors will turn their backs on you and you will have bad luck forever if you leave the ANC unhappy’.

What else…. hmmm….

When the complaints become too much, scorn them. You have no right to complain if you are in an RDP house. Well, the RDP houses that I’ve been in have cardboard dividers between rooms and no ceilings. They’ve been like that for years and resident complaints in the areas I visited last year were delayed yet again when they were told ‘it will be fixed after the World Cup’.

It’s almost a year since the World Cup – no progress. In case you’re wondering about people taking the initiative to do it themselves, this was part of the message: ‘Don’t make any changes yourselves, we will be doing it for you – after the World Cup‘.

Roll around 18 May. We’re fascinated to see how this goes.

Julius, a photo by Kimd61 on Flickr.

‘Bring me my machine gun’

Awesome campaign and a great video to establish context.

South Africa shining at the WPPED CREAM awards

Since I recently started working for a WPP company, I’ve been roaming around their site, prying into member companies and inhaling their info. And I have to say: I’m impressed.

They’ve had the WPPED CREAM awards running for a couple of years now, which honours exceptional creativity amongst WPP companies (‘The Crème de la Crème was a close run thing’) and culminates in a book featuring best of the best.

Ogilvy JOhannesburg won the WPPED Cream award 2010 in the Advertising category for, and I quote: ‘…an astonishing, and astonishingly moving, film’.

‘Selinah’ showcases the Topsy AIDS Foundation and uses time lapse photography over ninety days to show a woman, in the last throes of life, brought back to full health.

‘People’ and ‘hope’ coming together makes me cry every time. It makes me want to get on a plane, go straight home and get back into township.

For more WPPD CREAM winners see here

Choose your South African stereotype

Chevy spark, a photo by Kimd61 on Flickr.

Chevrolet Spark was another Proudly South African flavoured advertising campaign where the message is communicated through racial stereotypes and accents.To see the website and listen to the adverts (7 of them, nogal), go here. I recommend the ‘Thanks Spark for Zulus’, to get you started.Better yet, every time you visit the site there is a South African stereotype who welcomes you – pick your white Kugel girl, your Indian boytjie, your coloured Mama or your black mover and shaker.  Or if you’re lazy about it, just read the copied article from media site TOTALLY MAD (below) on this ‘edgy’ advertising campaign.

Chevrolet Spark gets edgy advert on radio

Published: 7 September 2010

In an effort to push Chevrolet Spark; Universal McCann has selected Kaya; YFM; and Metro FM to air several edgy radio ads aimed at its target market.‘Thanks Spark for the Zulus and their spirit of Ubuntu’ says the white Kugel; ‘Thanks Spark for the Brazilians’ says the white gym-frequenting-macho-oke; ‘Thanks Spark for the Rainbow Nation, although I’ve personally always preferred black’ says the young and hip black urbanite.

These are just some titbits of three of the seven radio executions, six in English and one produced in Zulu.“Strategically we placed one ad for a two week period so that it can gain enough frequency and momentum as noting levels increase,” says Kim Palmer, Media Planner for Universal McCann. “Overall, we chose creative that matched the station’s listenership profiles. However, once the ad has been played a few times on each station, the execution changes to that of an edgier repertoire to maintain the campaign’s freshness and to ensure the curiosity element remains high throughout the campaign.”

The campaign runs on Kaya FM intermittently until the end of November and Metro FM until the end of the month. YFM will run the campaign for two weeks a month for four months.“We thank both stations for their open mindedness in allowing the airing of these somewhat risqué executions – we feel that they perfectly reflect the brand personality of Chevrolet Spark and are confident that the overall effect will translate positively on the bottom line.”

McCann Erickson GM Account Director Denholm Elliott says: “One of the most important aspects of the new campaign is that the Spark Lite brand now has a clear positioning, namely: ‘For independent young South Africans, Spark is the fun and fashionable vehicle that gives you a jump start to your varsity life or first job’.

“In light of this positioning, the creative for the new campaign needed to find something original to make the brand stand out, which meant championing some very tangible facts about the car in a creative and memorable way. This led to the creative solution, throughout the campaign and through a full use of media, to thank Spark Lite for its special features, e.g. its affordability [Thanks Spark for not breaking the bank]; category-breaking specs [Thanks Spark for the great specs]; fuel efficiency [Thanks Spark for one night in Parys, Kroonstad & Vereeniging on one tank]; and great looks [Thanks Spark for the tight little rear], all followed by the payoff line “Where will Spark take you?”.

For more information on the campaign, www.thankspark.co.za,”>visit http://www.thankspark.co.za, the Chevrolet Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/chevroletsa or the Spark Lite website at www.thankspark.co.za/lite

Advertising in the Flavour Nation

Steri Flavour nation, a photo by Kimd61 on Flickr.

Steri-stumpie is an institution in South Africa. At some point you’re growing up with a flavoured milk. When my sister visits South Africa from England, she makes a beeline for a strawberry Steri-stumpie.

The reason for my post is because the Steri-stumpie radio adverts are a brilliant example of a cultural/racial phenomenon in South African advertising. In embracing our diversity (as ‘The Rainbow Nation’ has been encouraged to do since achieving democracy in 1994), we have a multitude of racial stereotypes to play with and this permeates our advertising. It’s safe to say that South Africans don’t even notice this as unusual.

I’ve mentioned it before, but if you do not originate from within South Africa, this type of humour can seem very racist and un-pc. I tried to keep a mental note of this difference when I first returned to South Africa two years ago and for the first two or three months I insisted on using the word ‘Africans’ instead of ‘blacks’, to the amusement of white, coloured AND ‘black’ friends.  

One morning I tried to list and count how many adverts were using racial stereotypes and accents as part of very effective and funny advertising campaigns. I lost track because a) there were too many to keep track of (Nando’s, anyone? Chevy spark?) and b) I was often still laughing about the previous advert in the middle of the next one. So I lost count. 

Steri-stumpie is in the perfect position to give each of their milk flavours a racial identity, hence the ‘Flavour Nation’ tag. They use politics and play on South Africa’s past by using words associated with ‘The Struggle’ (‘comrade!’, ‘amandla!’, ‘viva!’) to bring their lighthearted message across (‘equal rights for all flavours!’).

I really hope to share this advert as a perfect example of what I’m talking about. 

A bit about Steri-stumpie courtesy of South African agency blog Between 10 and 5:
Steri-stumpie advertisers cater to 2 audiences: the first is youngsters aged 6 – 12, and the second was that very loyal older market between the ages of 18 -25. ‘Whatever we came up with needed to speak to the youngsters without alienating older Steri fans’. The line ‘Everyone has a favourite’ became the key messaging because, simply put, it’s a truth about the brand. Both King James RSVP and Parmalat did extensive research into the brand’s audience via both focus groups and simple observing online fan behaviour.

Do yourself a flavour – you can find both radio adverts here (and you must, MUST listen to the accents to appreciate what I’m talking about!).

Advert script:

Black accent 1: At Steri Stumpie we have a dream!

Black accent 2: Yes comrade!

Black accent 1 (cont.): Of a world where banana and chocolate can live together on the same shelf!

Black accent 3: Chocolate! Yeah!

Black accent 1: Equal rights for previously disadvantaged flavours!

Black accent 5: Viva Bubblegum!

Black accent 6: Freedom for all flavours!

Balck accent 7: Amandla! Marshmallow!

White accent: Cream Soda!

Black accent 1: Welcome to the Flavour Nation! Steri Stumpie!

Chorus: Everyone has a favourite!

strawberry-steri-stumpie, a photo by Kimd61 on Flickr.