FIRE AND FLOW STATES
It’s been a few years since I was able to turn my attention back to this blog. Losing all the blog posts due to a pandemic technical debacle was a bit of a blow. Now I arise from the fire of the phoenix and it’s time to renew again. Speaking of fire, fire props are where I started my exploration of neuroscience and flow states (“The Science of Peak Human Perfromance”, Time Magazine), a happy accident directing Treeman’s documentary “A DocumenTree”.
EXPLORING FLOW THROUGH CIRCUS
I explore flow states through circus arts via my documentary in the making “A DocumenTree”, directing commercials for The 7 Fingers “Dear San Francisco” show at Club Fugazi and in my own personal pursuit of physical and mental health. Working with circus arts professionals is beyond inspiring and now deep into my juggling journey (2 years this month, thank you pandemic), I am addicted to juggle jogging the hills of San Francisco. One of the greatest joys of juggle jogging is the expression on peoples faces, especially kids.
CIGAR BOX JUGGLING
In other explorations of circus arts and flow, thanks to Cody Tudor The Inverted Gentleman, I’ve started experimenting with cigar box juggling, . Making lots of mistakes is the path toward mastery, that and time, see ya in couple years 😉 If you want to see the impossible made possible, check out super human cigar box juggler Eric Bates @cigarboxjuggler
CIRCUS SATURDAYS
Treeman’s and “A DocumenTree” are on a mission to help us reconnect our bodies to nature and each other. North Beach Circus Arts Flow “Circus Saturdays” is an extension of that mission, a weekly skill share and circus arts flow jam where people can come to learn new skills and train together in a “social circus” environment. I teach juggling to about 20 people a week to juggle, plus others step in to teach /share other circus arts like acro balancing, acrobatics and even aerials.
PSYCHOLOGY OR KINESIOLOGY?
It’s a powerful experience watching anxiety drift away from a perfect stranger’s face when I explain that I teach juggling via concepts of flow and they do not need to perform for others, low stakes, no youtube mechanics, human interaction. Together we explore the relationship between our bodies and the environment around us, improvising with the trajectories of foreign objects, distracting ourselves from all the anxieties in our lives, while building new and exciting neural pathways. Psychology or kinesiology? You be the judge, I argue both.
MIRROR NEURONS
Mirror neurons are powerful, (“How the Brain’s Mirror Neurons Affect Empathy”, Psychology Today) and I get a lot out of sharing circus arts and flow with strangers, because of the joy THEY receive. No one asks who you voted for, whether you are vegan or carnivore, you are simply a fellow human and it’s time to explore our creative body movement together. We are all reflections of nature and EACH OTHER. Very “A DocumenTree” and Treeman.
NURTURE YOUR NATURE
Circus arts and flow arts jams like North Beach Circus Arts Flow “Circus Saturdays” exist all over the planet. Our bodies were not designed to stare at a screen 10+ hours a day, or sit on a park bench looking at our phones ignoring the sky, the wind and the trees. Technology isn’t going anywhere, so why not explore ways we can use circus arts and flow to reconnect our bodies to nature and each other?
Filmmaker Fitness
PS Sending much gratitude to @BubblesByKurth for volunteering his time and talents to our Circus Saturdays events