Take your time. You are making progress.
Lesson from a Turtle
One World. . .One Breath
Join us, breathe and connect your energy with others you know and don’t know across the world. Yes, connect with a stranger on another continent thousands of miles away! On the last Saturday in April we celebrate World Tai Chi and QiGong Day. We can participate with others at an indoor event, outside in a park moving through gentle Tai Chi movements or at home in our living room.
Join me on Saturday, April 25, 10am in your time zone. Stop. pay attention and breathe. Imagine and feel the connection with others who are stopping to breathe and connect with you. This wave of breathing and connecting our energy starts at 10am in New Zealand and Australia, then travels across the world in every time zone on earth. What a positive way to spread good will, spread our good energy and connect with others, a positive gesture of giving of our best selves and sharing a positive moment with no agenda and no personal gain.
Thousands, maybe millions will be joining us. Just to share energy and connect.
Join me and if you are outside, take time to enjoy the trees, the grass, the flowers, the birds.
What Gives you Joy?
With many hours of darkness in our winter days, it’s the time of year that many focus on light that will be coming in the weeks ahead. Whether or not you are part of a religious tradition that celebrates light that will come in the darkness, a common topic of conversation of many right now is counting the days until winter Solstice, knowing that point marks the day that dark and light balance and then slowly the light in our days will increase.
In these days of grey skies, cold temperatures and snow for those of us in northern U.S. climates , and for you in climates with sun and warmth, what gives you joy? Many of the non-political stories, music, ads, movies right now are light and play to our desire for cheer, friendship, traditions, baking seasonal treats, loving and feeling loved.
Hopefully, we are not so busy with our to-do lists that we miss the moments — twinkling lights, a grandchild’s performance, big, beautiful snowflakes, coffee with a friend, a colorful bird, working to provide meals for others.
Joy is often spontaneous, unexpected. We need to be open. If our minds are filled with lists, thinking about a past event that upset us, worrying how we will get everything done before company comes in a few days, we may miss our moment of joy. We need to take time to notice what is around us right now. Pay attention. Go look at the holiday lights. Be intentional.
In my Tai Chi classes, I ask students to try to keep their attention in the room as much as possible. Why? Our minds wander; chatter fills our heads and can take us miles away from the classroom we are standing in. I focus our gentle Tai Chi moves on relaxing and focusing on the moment, paying attention to where we are standing, how we are standing, feeling our body alignment come to a center point. When our minds wander, we miss the paying attention and likely can miss a wonderful moment of calmness and relaxation. I think those moments of joy come when we stop, focus on the moment and take in the wonderful feeling of joy. Volunteering our time to help others, with transportation to a medical appointment, feeding those in need, visiting a homebound friend, all allow us to focus on the moment when we forget ourselves in order to help others.
I feel joy in the midst of moving my energy with my students through Tai Chi. We are freely sharing with each other bringing calm to the moment and each other. A gift for which I am grateful.
What gives us joy cannot be bought, bartered or manufactured. It comes to us, often unexpected. It’s an emotion and a gift that is part of the best of being human.
What has brought you joy recently?
Love Fall Colors
Yellow, red and orange leaves captivate our attention. We stop on our walk to look. We drive on a Sunday afternoon to see nature’s vivid statement that autumn is here. Some of us visit New Hampshire or Vermont to see the leaves. They draw us there, to stop, look, admire and take photos.
The hours of daylight are decreasing; the temperatures are cooler so we put on our jackets. And many of the trees show us vividly that we are in the midst of change.
These photos are from northern Minnesota a few weeks ago, in the early stages of change. It is so calming to stare at the trees doing their thing. Good for the soul. They remind me of being a child in northern Illinois, when we raked leaves into big piles. I would run and jump into the pile scattering the leaves. Mom let my brother, sister and gather leaves with our little rakes. She made it fun and we loved it. And we learned to pay attention and admire the fall leaves.
Today it’s fun to stop and look because the trees and their leaves don’t disappoint.
Don’t forget the wildflowers, with their little purple or yellow flowers doing their thing. Stop. Pay attention. Enjoy the remarkable changes nature is offering us free. If we just look
A Tai Chi Short Film
Mindfulness in Motion. This is a good way to describe the gentle, flowing movements of Tai Chi. Often I hear people say they relax when watching people in a park doing Tai Chi. Even better is experiencing the centering energy (Qi)in a class.
Alex, a Northwestern University journalism and film student contacted me. He asked if I would be open to his filming one of my Tai Chi classes for his film class project. I immediately said yes because I really enjoy working with students, inviting them to film the visually appealing movements of Tai Chi. I always look forward to the nuggets they show as they film an hour of class and condense the film to five or six minutes. What did Alex see? Feel?
Take a look inside my class through Alex’s eyes and camera lens:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MKH8Ms90dNLHEG2-N35gzpmH7fOV-n68/view?usp=drivesdk
Let’s Actively Welcome in Spring!
This is an exciting time for most of us – more light in our days, warmer weather and a spring break holiday for some. Spring Equinox is the point in the year when we have equal times of daylight and darkness. And then the hours of light will predominate and the hours of darkness will lessen. Outside activities will increase and often we feel like we have renewed energy.
In Tai Chi class this week, I emphasized paying attention to the trees. We start class by centering ourselves, rooting our feet into the earth, connecting with the rich nutrients and energy the soil provides. Let’s all think of the trees that now have bare branches. The internal part of the tree is very busy preparing for new birth, which will soon be evident in new leaves, starting as buds and growing into their fullness.
Look at the spaces between the branches. Energy is flowing. Birds are returning to sit on those branches, their home. Those spaces will soon be filled with new leaves, new life, new promise that spring brings to the trees and to all of us. Are you ready to pay attention.
Look for the buds to sprout, the beginning of new life and renewal. Then as sure as anything we can count on in life, the trees will not disappoint. They will bloom in glory with green leaves. Be there. Say thank you and enjoy!
