Sit, be still, and listen, 
because you’re drunk 
and we’re at 
the edge of the roof.

Zoos, prisons, mental institutions, old people's homes are testament to our conviction that existence (quantity) is more important than life (quality), than spirit.

As every good therapist knows, real listening doesn't just get the patient to say what's on their mind, it encourages them to open and expose their heart.

Spirit, undiluted, is unbearable. Learn to thin/stretch it out with sobriety and probity. Learn endurance.

Donkey braying in the dead of night.

Spirit is quick: speed born of lightness. Depression is slow: ponderous and reluctant.

A clenched jaw is the mind's Achilles heel. Every time you notice it relax and take the tension into the dantien.

Sometimes I ask students how much practice they do. They answer – 3, 4, 5 hours a day.  And I say, Very good. What do you do for the other 12 hours?

The way we are living is unsustainable. It's as simple as that.

Don't waste time. Be interested and interesting.

Consider three different practices: running, meditation and singing. Running gives you stronger lungs and heart, as well as fitness and endurance. Meditation gives you inner calm and depth – the ability to see beyond surface appearances. Singing lends the voice a power, richness and resonance which makes people listen to you. The point being that such practices are not techniques to solve problems. Instead their regular practice turns you into a better instrument for problem solving.

Western dance begins with its feet firmly planted on the ground whereas Butoh begins with a dance wherein the dancer tries in vain to find his feet.

If, during meditation, you find the mind excessively noisy then close the eyes and let the head gently and imperceptibly sway from side to side, as though you are a little wild flower dancing in the breeze. In order to think, especially with words, the mind must freeze out such movements, so, by reintroducing them, you make it difficult for the mind to string words together. Language is still not natural to us – still requires tension and disconnection to use. Within seconds of starting to speak the words are generating themselves – the proverbial stream of consciousness or train of thought – and I have lost connexion with what I wanted to say, with the source and the spring.

Happiness is what you feel when the circulation between you and your world makes sense. In order to change and grow the student must be able to weather periods of unhappiness, where nothing makes sense. Something deep inside simply trusts the process.

there is no 'away' – waste always goes somewhere

Softness is energetic, hardness forceful.