Who Moved My Chi?

Workshop with Carmen Brocklehurst in Atlanta, GA; April, 2010

By Larry Bloom, Sandy Springs, GA

It was a joyful learning experience when Carmen stopped after her Tupelo workshop. We all appreciated that she couldn’t just pass through the Atlanta airport without pausing to share her passion for TCC with a growing number of area advocates. During our time together and along the way, I think someone moved my Chi. Practicing our “effort of no effort” we received Carmen’s corrections, explored her questions and let her reflections sink in. These are just a few of her comments that resonated with me:

Feel the hum inside; could I ever be more loved?

Life is like a river flowing in one direction; am I sometimes paddling in the wrong direction?

Whatever I am hearing, am I quiet enough inside to understand?

Can I arrive at that quiet place between my hands?

The Chinese symbol for hope also means anchor.

How do I see things as they really are?

Do I offer from my wisdom center?

Have I ever made a decision from a place where I am not ready?

When do I pretend I know more than I know, but don’t know this?

Corrections are a gift; it means I am ready to go deeper.

I had the strange sensation that I was scrubbing my soul as I observed these gems of energy flow in and out of my mind. A few mornings later I was engaged in the habit of planning my day, parsing out the time for each thing I wanted to accomplish and figuring out the priority. Suddenly I experienced a flash of awareness that I was totally in my head. My thoughts, feelings and desires were automatically controlling my decisions without any conscious intervention by me. My mind was chattering away. I stopped and practiced TCC before I went any further.

For the next 15 minutes I practiced while adding what I had learned. I was not in my thinking mind; I was just letting the Chi flow at a level I had not previously experienced. A few minutes after Cosmic Consciousness Pose, I was surprisingly gifted with a vast wave of gratitude that was extremely joyful. It was not the thought of gratitude, but rather a sense of gratitude. It was not directed at anyone or anything in particular, but rather towards everything. I stopped and wrote a pyramid poem while sporting a huge grin.

I shared this with my instructor Sheryl Adair who commented: “Interesting that Carmen mentioned to me that she thought you would feel a shift out of your thinking mind. It sounds like she was on target. Thanks for sharing the experience and the smile. I get that sometimes: Joy and Gratitude just bubbling up. Grateful for no thing in particular. ”

Following an urge to look up the Chinese symbol for gratitude, I found that within the characters for thanks and feelings are embedded the symbols for heart and speech. From the heart, with feeling, I express my gratitude. It doesn’t matter who moved my Chi – just that it moved me to a place of gratitude.