As part of my Tai Chi classes, I lead the students in a Qi Gong series that includes a movement called “uniting heaven and earth.” We start standing with our legs and feet hip-width apart, knees soft. The palms of our hands are facing up, in front of our bodies at the tan t’ien, right below the belly-button. With the little finger tracing up the center of our body, we spiral the energy up; the other arm and hand are by our side, gently energized. When the arm/hand turns over, our palm floats down like a cloud. Like a puffy, cumulus cloud, soft. Like a big cotton ball.

I love the image of a puffy cloud, floating effortlessly across the sky. It helps me relax, slow down, relax, just thinking about it and visualizing it in my mind’s eye. The cloud puts me in touch with nature, with the natural rhythms of the universe. Uniting heaven and earth does that for us in class. It puts us in the moment, right where we want to be.

Whether in Tai Chi class or outside in our daily life, we need to pay attention.

Watch the clouds. Meditate on a cloud. Stop and enjoy the white against the sky. Take time to do that today.

Watch the clouds. It will make your day go better.