symmetry sisters
Growing up with sisters, we pressed our bare feet together to compare sizes and shapes, and reassure ourselves that we matched. In the bathroom mirror, we puckered our lips to see whose mouth shrank smaller, then tigered our jaws and teeth wide to discover whose was bigger. In the lazy summer days, we wrote sentences letter-by-letter on each other’s backs.
Slate-Sister lay on her stomach while Scribe-Sister traced a letter, which Slate-Sister had to announce before moving on: a memory game, holding each letter in mind until the word was complete and beading the words into a sentence. Scribe-Sister wiped Slate’s back between words, her fingers soft and smooth as the felted strips in a chalkboard eraser. We were each other’s puzzles, switching roles, until we became mind-readers predicting what the other would declare through silent touch.
the yogis
My goal with this short video — originally a Send-A-Blessing eCard — was to celebrate sister love through a serene summer “dance,” where a pair of women rhymed and mirrored one another, each in her variant body.
I can’t remember how I first met Yogini Jeanie Manchester; I only remember my astonishment at the proliferation of Hindu and Buddhist influences in Boulder, Colorado. Who knew that a Wild West mountain town was home to such exotic practices? For awhile I studied with Jeanie, a truly gifted goddess of Anusara Yoga. Her studio, Anjaneya Yoga Shala, was in her garage so she could stay close to her young-ish kids. Together we hiked up Mount Sanitas, a 1,000 ft. rise over a short 1.3 mile. On another hike, at the edge of a steep drop, Jeanie popped into a side crow pose, fearless, confident, impressive.
I met Barbara Bowerman during our shoot: Jeanie’s recommended student who could match her pace and hold steady high upon Boulder Red Rocks or on a rock the middle of Boulder Creek. What a joy to watch student and teacher perform one after another asanas in synchronized symmetry. I shook my head in wonder as they created the Harmonious Heart on the dock at Tom Watson Park.
the music
The monks and nuns of Buddhism Chanting Group, produced by Jin Long Uen and Song Huei Liou, created a peaceful yin-yang to accompany the yogi movements. Ever since traveling to China, the ancient sounds of the pipa, erhu, and hulusi sooth all my worries in life. Maybe they evoke past lives, which I can almost remember - lives when my husband came home wounded from battle, when we had such clever hands and healing ways that cycled through all animals and birds, a canopy bed and everything in its place including courtesy and reverence for the mysteries of the Dao.
Lyrics are the poem Night Mooring at Temple Bridge by Zhang Ji (c. 712-779), about Hanshan Temple, built between AD 502-519. Here is the famous poem:
The moon sets, the crows cry, the air is full of frost
River Maples and fires on fishing boats are the answer to a worried sleep
In Gusu, the bells of Hanshan Temple ring
In the middle of the night, to welcome a guest on a boat
Reassurance is an eternal need. In the middle of the night, my mind drifts to my sisters. I spin the mental prayer-wheel that all be well with each. Then I fall asleep, sure that we still match.
May this short video, this once-upon-an-eCard, bring you joy, bliss, and the deepest exhale.
So loved working with you Sonya ! What a gift you are💕🙏
Beautiful powerful spiritual animation.