Hello again dear friends and loved ones!
As I mentioned previously, school is awesome, full, rich and abundant with cosmic and tangible wisdom. Also, as mentioned previously, I would not be able to fully describe all that we are learning and delving into here. I would love to try, but it is mind boggling – better to chat about it in person!
I have experienced several insights though which I do feel capable of sharing. I have been dabbling in Chi Kung for about the past year. But without having a teacher who I work with closely (I love what you have shown me Jay!) and who explains the basic foundations, I was basically going through the hollow shell version of it.
Dan, the main teacher, explains what he is introducing thoroughly. Side note: it is fascinating – back in 2002 / 2003, I read the Tao Te Ching (one of the Taoist “scriptures”) dozens of times. I would take it into vision quests and just read it multiple times / day – this is because I felt it was a sacred text. But at that time, I was only putting the information in my mind. I was not experiencing what it meant in my body. I did not have a qualified teacher of it at that time.
There are a number of contradictions (at least according to Western thought) that I am realizing are true.
In working with the Chi – which is the energy that results from the relationship between Yin and Yang (negative and positive principles), we can begin to invite it to harmonize and flow smoothly by doing some simple exercises.
One interesting contradiction: by working with the Yin principle (receptive, passive, earth) in our bodies, we invite Yang into the system as well. So basically, by only working with a passive, humble, gentle, kind, soft energy, we invite strength and power. It is mind boggling to feel this, to experience this, to open to this wise conundrum.
Yang, the positive energy, is attracted to Yin. By strengthening our connection with the earth, with water (a very humble, receptive substance), and being in our primordial center of gravity – the Dan Then or Hara (below the navel), we attract and invite harmony and potency.
In other words, the less we are attached to Yang (the assertive, active, broad, heavens) energy, and the more we cultivate softening our edges, being humble, putting roots down into the ground, the stronger we become.
Another insight I have only glimpsed so far: we can choose to be still inside, no matter how fast we are moving on the outside. This is a concept which challenges my thoughts on the nervous system – if we are tightly wound or high strung, it seems like moving faster might increase catecholamines (adrenaline etc) which would not lead to inner stillness. Quite the opposite in fact.
Well, something inside of me is changing. Because I glimpsed for the first time while doing Tai Chi, that we can be more still internally, the faster we move externally. Pretty darned wild!
I am excited about weaving my knowledge of the autonomic nervous system, pre- and perinatal psychology and Western astrology with many threads of Eastern philosophy and healing wisdom. I don’t quite know what the tapestry is going to look like, but I know I will be a better practitioner for my time here at CHAC!
Gratefully,
Kirby
Thank you for reading!
P.S. I only mentioned Super Bowl Sunday because that is what day it is today. I am not going to be watching this spectacle. Instead, I will be studying, grocery shopping and then catching up on rest and self care. Oh and I will go visit Yeshe Khorlo Dharma center.
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Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 