"Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development." — Robert Smithson

I ended my last blog post with the above Robert Smithson quote, which I think describes nature and the nature of life well.

The quote gives me pause though when I consider the path of a (NJ) real estate transaction, which I view as linear. I often draw a transaction timeline to give clients a visual representation of the steps; the timeline starts with an offer, the offer is accepted (hopefully), then this next thing happens, then something else has to happen, then this next thing follows, and then several more things need to happen and eventually, the closing. The transaction can also be imagined vertically, as an ascension. Each rung of the ladder climbed is the fulfillment of each necessity. The top of the ladder is the acquisition of a home, sometimes the largest investment of a person's life.

...But, the very notion of a transaction is based in the concept of exchange. You give me and I give you in return. So from a wider lens, a transaction is really more of an ellipse.

It is lovely when a transaction unfolds seamlessly, from point a, to b, to c, with no delays, potholes or unexpected surprises. And it does often happen that way but considering the variables it is also not uncommon that a transaction will have a few irregularities.

Irregularities change the landscape of the transaction.

(In some parallel universe, I am making drawings based on diagrams of r.e. transactions, conveying certain events using different marks, illustrating ebbs and flows, and the emotions, personalities, and energies encountered represented by colors.)

Irregularities in R.E. transaction, (if of the challenging persuasion), can be harrowing. And/but in most life events during which there are twists, obstacles or convolutions along the path to a given goal that we had expected to be undeviating, our awareness of gratitude tends to heighten. In retrospect we might be reminded that "Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development."

Tongue in cheek

I recently considered the option of changing my social media business identity/name from “Lisa Danbrot Real Estate Yoga” to “Lisa Danbrot Real Estate Art” (along with the massive imprint such a change could make). I decided to stick with “Lisa Danbrot Real Estate Yoga”, here is why:

What I have studied under the canopy of yoga, how I interpret yoga and what I practice as yoga in life incorporates all planes, categories, activities and transactions of life, (including those of R.E, hence “real estate yoga”),  

...As a side note, it always confounds me when people raise their eyebrows if I express anger or dissatisfaction. I've had fingers wagged at me while being scolded: “You teach yoga, you are not supposed to get angry”. Come again? The lineage of yoga I subscribe to does not negate or deny any human emotion or experience, thank goodness.

Yoga practice can be a physical pursuit, but is not isolated to a practice of movement (or stillness for that matter). In fact, one can potentially have an experience of yoga through any set of circumstances.

(If you are confused or curious about my allusion to yoga, come visit me in class at South Mountain Yoga in South Orange NJ or Baker Street Yoga in Maplewood NJ. Plug.)

But I digress...my background in the making of art, the business of art and my resulting perspective on life as a potentially artful endeavor, (consciousness and context allowing) is as much of a lens on life as that which I experience through yoga.

So I’ll keep “Lisa Danbrot Real Estate Yoga” instead of “Lisa Danbrot Real Estate Art” because I could be either and am both, and because “Lisa Danbrot Real Estate Yoga Art” is too much of a mouthful.

"Nature does not proceed in a straight line, it is rather a sprawling development" 

- Robert Smithson

Considering small

Small house, big house? Size is relative, but I’ll bet the majority would choose a big house. Not me.  Relativity considered, I would choose a small house.  A number of rooms are nice but only if they are proportionate to humans--the way bodies move around and interact.  I wouldn’t want to walk too far to have a word with someone or pluck some lint off their sweater.

Small town vs big town? Today I had a new perception of the small town I live in--it is small by choice. And maybe it continually chooses to be small, having nothing to do with municipality. The three restaurants, the one high school. When variety isn’t a focal point, simplicity allows for other experiences to present.

Please Apply

Any of these verbs that describe yoga *not* applicable to your (real estate) transaction?:

1 - empower = understand one’s own needs and how to obtain them (don't get walked on!)

2 - clarify = enhance ability to discern (so you know what you want!)

3 - sensitize = connect (so you might empathize with "the other side" a bit!)

4 - receive = recognize fortune (there is usually something wonderful going on in life!)

5 - accept = understand present conditions (because we are not all millionaires!)

6 - strengthen = stand firm (because you deserve to be behind yourself!)

7 - love = beautify (!)

8 - express = communicate clearly (no more exclamation points)

9 - resource = envision (we are all creative)

10 - spiritualize = recognize other factors are at play, maybe.

11 - slow = contemplate (it is good to consider.)

12 - quicken = act now (no time like the present)

Negotiable, Non-negotiable

One of my favorite aspects of teaching yoga is creating a sequence by stringing individual postures together in a particular order, with a given timing to affect a desired result. The desired result could be energetic in nature such as grounding, invigoration, or empowerment, or the desired result could be more specifically physical such as opening the shoulders or hamstrings. Often we learn that the two categories of desired result (energetic and physical) are intertwined. 

Many people who practice yoga prefer to be led through a sequence of poses to free up their minds and focus on breath, (hence public yoga classes led by an instructor). Others opt for a home practice, answering the particular call of their body themselves. There are many advantageous ways to sequence, as well as many disadvantageous ways. Poor sequencing can actually have counterproductive results energetically, inhibit flexibility and even result in injury. Great sequencing can open tight muscles, help balance energy systems of the body, nurture overall health and promote *a state of well being.

Lots of people who embark upon a Hatha Yoga practice seek both physical and energetic benefits. Through work with the body we gain access to something that is more than just physical.  One popular area of the body to focus on are the hips, a region largely responsible for the well being of the low back which is a source of pain for many people. Opening the hips systematically may improve health in the low back thus allowing for greater ease of spirit. It is important to remember though, that regardless of diligent practice there are some non-negotiables in our bodies, and bone structure has the final say. Firstly, we are all built differently from birth. Secondly, circumstances of our lives create the conditions of our physical selves--some can be altered and some can’t. It is self destructive to ignore this truth. *We are not in control of everything. And that can be a relief.

Shifting focus to practical life, much of the sequencing of a day is predetermined: wake up, get dressed, head out, take care of business, do whatever we do, wind down, go to bed. As opposed to: wind down, get dressed, go to bed, take care of business etc. On a larger scale, the sequence of our our live’s paths are somewhat predetermined and otherwise not at all. We are allotted ample creative license, though infinite factors are ever at play often dictating the course of events.

In a forum such as real estate transaction which is intrinsically grounded in logistics during which large sums of money are exchanged for property, familiarity with the standard sequence of events can be a comfort. For instance, in the state of New Jersey (each state is mandated differently) the expected sequence for a buyer goes something like this: attain pre approval for a mortgage, select a realtor, find a desirable house, make an offer on the house in the form of a contract that stipulates certain dates and conditions. If the offer is received, legal representatives of the two parties enter in to an attorney review period to negotiate the terms of the contract, (after which the contract becomes binding based on the agreed upon terms), have a home inspection, negotiate credits depending on the result of the inspection, attend a closing where mortgages are signed off on, payments are exchanged, deeds are received and deals are sealed.

When a sequence of events unfolds seamlessly to the benefit of those involved, it behooves us to pause and revere such a rare life occurrence. In so doing, gratitude may follow. And upon walking in to one’s new home or walking away from one’s old home to embark upon a new chapter of life, proverbial (and actual) doors open and proverbial (and actual) doors close in order for new ones to open. The ethereal and the concrete intermingle; which can help balance energy systems of the body, nurture overall health and promote *a state of well being.

Unfortunately, the sequence of a real estate transaction is frequently derailed by lengthy negotiation periods, legal or financial hold ups, and unpredictable human behavior. It is not uncommon for deals to fall through. The process can be confounding at least and excruciating at most, especially for folks who might strongly favor control.

The art of Hatha Yoga and the utility of real estate transaction can both be distilled to sequence--most things can be if we choose to view them as such, with starting and ending points possible at any time we perceive them as such. Some sequences are self created and some are externally imposed. All sequences are available to be considered as process towards product. In recognizing and acting on the point/s during a sequence where there might be leeway to change course or affect a certain result, we exercise more creative license in our life. We can also recognize the points during the sequence where there is no leeway to change course or affect a certain result. *We are not in control of everything. And that can be a relief.

Clump

A woman walked in to a house and exclaimed “This is so much like the house I grew up in!”. She had a fine sieve of criteria through which each property she viewed passed. In this instance familiarity equated home, trumping her laundry list by miles, and she put in an offer to purchase.

There is a saying; "buyers are liars".  It is rude, and I am happy to take offense in defense of all buyers, because we are ALL buyers at some point. It is inaccurate, cutified and misleading.  What it refers to is that commensurate with buying, is mining. We don't know what we want until we KNOW what we want.

My colleague taught a Hatha Yoga class during which she suggested that practicing yoga asana is participating in a reductive process starting with a crude clump, a blobby or inflexible feeling body, an overly active mind and an inaccessible breath. In a relative way all starts start with a clump.
To relate practical matters--acquisitions, grocery shopping, organization, with pursuits of creation--art and matters of the spirit, largely we set out with an as yet unformed vision regardless of our laundry list or the way we think things should look, be, or feel.  

Down deep, nested in the clump is a thing we experience as truth. It carries an alarming message; we know ourselves but haven't met until now.

Making an offer / Prana

In an email to clients on the threshold of making an offer (which was the culmination of a cartoonishly fast sequence of events leading up to that point), I almost wrote: “take a deep breath”, but didn't, because:


1 - Oy, so diluted.  
Curse pop culture for co-opting this instruction. Unless the offeror of the instruction is able to emphasize this advice in some way that differs from magazine gloss, there will likely be no benefit--the recipient might take one elongated robotic inhale and exhale, wait one count, and continue with anxious monologue.  Maybe there would be two or three of such “breaths” or moments before the instructed is permitted to continue with their monologue. True, one could argue that even within the brief time that a nerve-driven human interrupts their brain activity to shift focus toward their breath, something might change in their perspective.  But I believe most of us need more than that to recalibrate energy*.


2 - That’s not actually what I meant. 
What I actually meant was “go upside-down for at least two minutes, maybe twice”.  This is what I do to jostle energetic clogs resulting from life tension.  But that didn't seem appropriate.

“Take a deep breath” is most often a well-intended reminder based on the premise that the breath will create space between tightly-knit thoughts. I think this is an intuitive human concept, as most of us have learned to some extent that when we feel frenetic, it only takes a matter of living in life other than our mindset at that given moment to gain perspective.  With the application of breath, which is often likened to the bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, and/or the bridge between the body and the mind, and/or the bridge between material experience and spirit experience, an ingredient of otherness is injected to the miasma of churnings. 

The breath is also linked to Prana.  Prana is a Sanskrit word whose soundbite definition is “life force”.  Prana can be generalized as the animating energy of life that ebbs and flows depending on various circumstances.  Prana is linked with breath, and while prana isn’t breath, it can be accessed through breath and may conversely offer access to breath. It is reflective of breath and breath reflects it. One deep breath or even 4 might fall short of altering prana, but their IS relationship.  

When prana gets stuck or arrhythmic, we might feel edgy, unsettled, obsessive, sluggish, or as though we are housing an interior runaway train. When prana flows well, we have an experience of our own individual vitality.  Words I would assign to the way well-flowing prana feels are those that describe the most heightened of our human moments such as “empowered”, or “peaceful”, but these words fall short. I believe we’ve all had a taste of it.  

Hatha Yoga suggests that energy can be recalibrated* through form while conscious engagement with breath is employed. In so doing, the state of our prana is vicariously and/or intentionally worked and reworked. There are different theories on assisting the flow of prana through choreography that involves pulsing stillness with movement--stillness within movement and movement within stillness and the way the two templates play each other while breath is at play.  But really, there is no one right way--the individual, time and circumstance should govern the method.  I like to go upside down personally.  Others might enjoy a run.

...and while we're on the subject, endorphin is a word that belongs to a different milieu, but I’m not unconvinced that flowing prana and endorphins aren’t close relatives...(if not one and the same...shshshshs).


Going on the premise that there are various ways to invoke an experience of pranic flow, excitement may instigate a push through clogs in the channels that prana travels as well. I never feel so agile, effective and artful as moments when my efforts have paid off and opened up the vistas of possibility, whether that effort is physical, mental or emotional, though physical often works the fastest. That said, excitement can work both ways--seeing the house you love while life is not forming around it well, can knot that vital flow up pretty tightly.  The first house I ever fell in love with made me hyperventilate.  It was out of our price range. It swept me out of myself in a way that I’ll never forget.  

The above mentioned clients who did not end up being the recipient of the advice to “take a deep breath”, had started out contacting me to show them around the town I live in as a potential future relocation.  They were curious. They made plans to come out on a Sunday, which is when public open houses happen to occur, so I asked if they would like to attend a few in order to see what was selling for how much. They said, “sure”.  A spark was ignited and we set out viewing more homes by appointment. Within two weeks they had found an ideal house.  What started as a casual exploration now turned towards a major and unexpected alteration of everything in their life.  I imagine their prana was quite affected by this.


The above mentioned clients didn’t buy the house.  They reported to me that they had gone home after what was to be their final viewing of the house, turned off their tech devices, and had a quiet, focused evening with each other examining the potential move from different vantage points. I wonder if during this exchange with one another, they worked through more than the physical matter of their move. They recalibrated* and made a truly intelligent decision.  I wonder if their breath feels better today than it has in a week.