instructions for stone meditation, 2017

1.  Approach the stones.
2.  Take 3 deep breaths: In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
3.  Look at the stones. Continue breathing. Notice their different colours, sizes and textures. Take as much time as you like here.
4.  When it is clear which stone you are drawn to touch, take it in both your hands.
5.  Feel its weight and dimension.
6.  Close your eyes and breathe with it.
7.  Find a place to sit or lay down.
8.  Place the stone on your body. Try holding it with different parts. Your throat, your chest, the crook of your elbow. Whatever feels right, until you find the place it wants to rest.
9.  Close your eyes and breathe with it.
10. Feel its weight.
11. Connect with the stone. How do you connect with a stone….
12.  Imagine it is alive.
13. When you are ready, thank the stone and replace it with the others.
14. thank it.

*Stones for this project were collected at various locations in and around Vancouver BC and returned to the land when the work was completed.

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* Since making this work in 2017 I have come to think more critically about having displaced stones from their context for the purpose of my Art. Though no one spoke to me specifically about this work, I have come to a different, and hopefully more sensitive understanding of what it means to displace a stone – a being from the network of relationships that make up their context. To remove a being from the relationships they have is a serious act. I did not understand the depth of this at the time I made this work. I am grateful to the teachers (known and unknown) who have helped me to change what I know.