[If you haven't read the introduction of this guide, take a moment to read it first.]
Lesson 1 -
The technique we learn: Stacking
Behind the Stones - Balancing stones is a game, have fun about it.
The most important thing I want you to remember about stone balancing is this: Stone Balancing is a GAME!
Balancing stones should be something fun that gives you joy and satisfaction, and not something to be stressful about.
When I started balancing stones I was so focused on the result and on the goal of getting this stone to stand in place, I forgot to breath, I ended up with sore muscles, sore shoulders, back, knees and arms.
My happiness was depended on that stone I was holding, If I let go of my hold and the stone stood in place I was happy, and if it fell over and over again, I was frustrated.
It took me some time to understand that there is much joy in the process of searching and finding the balance.
And actually, maybe, this is what this art is all about.
Imagine for a moment a kid (maybe the kid you were) building a brick tower. When the building is over, what kids like to do best ?
That's right ! knock it down.
And when all the bricks are spread on the floor, what do they like to do then ?
Correct ! they build it again !
When you go out there to balance stones, tell yourself - "I am going to play with some stones today", and keep an image of that kid building the brick tower, knocking it down, and build it up again. I don't mean you have to knock down your works, It is just to remind you, not to be too serious about it, and that you can always start over again.
The Stones Will Fall Be sure about it -The stones fall all the time, it happens also to the most skilled stone balancers, it is a part of the game ! Each time the stones collapse it is a moment of choice - you can choose among several options, and each choice is as good as the other, the most important thing to remember is that the choice is in YOUR hands. You can either:
1. Throw away a stone that you think is ruining it all for you, replace it by another, or go on without it.
2.| Look at this "problematic" stones, inspect it, try to see if it can work if you turn it to another direction or flip it
over, maybe it can work with this particular stone but in a different way.
3. Do exactly the same as you did before because you have this feeling and faith it can work, it just need some more tries.
4. Finish for today, say thank you to the stones, and go back home, even if you didn't end up with the balanced structure you wanted and imagined to be the result of your session today.
In the next lessons I will explain why all "failures" weren't for nothing, and in fact were of highly importance.
You have the choice, love yourself for your choices, love yourself for even starting your stone balancing journey.
It is something really good you do for yourself, and you are going to gain a lot from it along the way.
Technique 1: Stacking
Stacking refers to the technique of placing stones flat one on top of the other, keeping them on the horizontal dimension, and keeping them all in the same Center of Gravity line.
Each stone balanced structure has its center of gravity, in the next lessons we will place the rocks on purpose outside the center of gravity to challenge ourselves more and to achieve more beautiful and more impossible balances, but for now we are in stage 1, which is very important to go through, in my perspective. In this initial stage you start to get the feeling of balance in your hands, you let your hands take control rather than your mind, and use the wisdom concealed within your body, bones and muscles
So here is my recommendation for lesson 1:
1. Imagine: Think of a beautiful place in nature, nearby where you live. A place you can find some quite and some stones.
2. Set yourself time for a date with the stones, I recommend at least 1 full hour - Stone Balancing is all about relationship between you and nature, you and the stones, you and yourself, and relation need its pace and time.
Stone Balancing is also about slowing down the usually fast pace of life most of us deal with.
3. Go to that place, find a spot near the stones that you can feel comfortable sitting or kneeling down at.
4. Take a moment to relax Sit comfortably, breath, let go of everything that is irrelevant to this moment, everything that you left behind when you went here, and everything that is waiting for you to do or relate to when you will finish here. Breath deeply but without effort to your lower stomach until you are fully relaxed. it is more important to be relaxed than to start balancing the stones. Open your ears and listen to the sounds surrounding you. Smell the air.
We do all that to be as present as we can in that moment and place. Eventually, look at the stones, look at their shapes, texture and colors. What stones have you there ? sharp ones, smooth, round, flat, brick-like, stones with many curves and holes, small ones, big ones, rocks... these are your toys for now. Remember when you were kid how lucky and rich you felt when you found a rare beer cap, look at all the stones around you, look how rich you are now, how many toys and possibilities you can choose from to play with today.
5. Start Playing: When you feel it is time to start playing with the stones, look for stones which are as flat as possible on both sides, look for stones which are about the same size. Stacking should be as close as possible to building that brick tower. Start stacking them one on top of the other. You will see that in the first floors it is fairly easy, but as you go higher and higher your stone tower starts to get shaky. This is the time to let your hands take control, everything you need to know about stone balancing you already know, but this knowledge is not necessarily in your mind memory, it is more likely that it is stored in your hands memory. Let your hands do the job, they know exactly what to do in order to get this stone tower stand in balance.
6. Challenge yourself: Stone balancing is not about how high can you get, sometimes all the balance is made between just two stones on the ground. but for this first lesson, I want you to challenge yourself by trying to get as high as you can. Each time you think you can't add an additional stone, ask yourself this 'Can I add just one more stone ?'
There is a book about stone balancing called "Just One More Stone" - It is a stone balancers joke, if you get it - He couldn't resist the temptation of adding just one more stone and by doing that he could win it all or loose it all. This is your game for that lesson - Just one more stone...
7. Enjoy, breath and have fun
8. Play as much as you want and as much as you have time, build as many stone towers as you want.
9. Take pictures of your works, and publish them online if you want. You will be surprised by how much your friends and love ones will be impressed with your new hobby. Tip for taking pictures: lying on the ground and taking pictures is a typical stone balancing photography posture. make sure also that the background is in a different color than the stones otherwise your stone tower will fade into the background and won't be seen clearly in the photo.
This is our first lesson, In the next lesson we will learn the technique of Counter Balance - which means stepping outside our comfort zone, going on purpose out of balance and counter balance ourselves back to balance again.
Hope you enjoyed this guide,
Your UPVOTE will make me happy, Thank you.
