‘Flowing From Center’ Newsletter Excerpts

April 2015

This is the season when we witness the mystery of Life and the cyclical journey of death and rebirth. As I take my walks I am in awe with the new life bursting forth from nature. It is a true celebration of the Mystery that moves this world. It is this same Mystery that moved the leaves to die and fall in autumn. When we accord with this Mystery versus the impermanence of life we are transformed. We somehow come to know “All is Well” no matter what is moving in and out of our lives.

I was deeply touched by Cynthia Bourgeault’s words in her book, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening. Although she is talking about Centering Prayer, practitioners of T’ai Chi Chih can very much relate. She shares, “For twenty minutes we have not been holding ourselves in life, and yet life remains. Something has held us and carried us. And this something, we gradually come to trust, will hold and carry us at the hour of our death. To know this – really know this – is the beginning of resurrection life.” To experience this loving Mystery that is holding and carrying us is one of the greatest gifts of TCC.

The Vital Force, a journal for the TCC community, shares story after story of students and teachers finding comfort in according with this Universal Energy. In the February 2010 issue a teacher shares, “One reason I could stand to live with cancer was TCC. Especially in those first weeks of almost overwhelming fear, my practice calmed and smoothed and balanced my energy.”

This Oneness that holds the world is being celebrated worldwide on April 25th. The last Saturday of April at 10 a.m. local time is designated World T’ai Chi and Qigong Day. Please join the Northern Colorado community in this celebration.

February 2015

Love to all of you in these last days of the month of February, the month we designate to share and express love. Justin Stone, the originator of T’ai Chi Chih has stated that “T’ai Chi Chih is a service to humanity. A form of love.” And that “…if we practice T’ai Chi Chih faithfully, Love Energy is the fruit.” I often share in my beginner classes that the greatest gift TCC has given me is self-love. How does a simple moving meditation open so many to the Love Energy within them? The first principle we learn in TCC is to focus in the soles of the feet. In the beginning of my journey with TCC I noticed anxiety would arise every time I turned my attention inward to the soles of my feet. My habit energy to survive was to keep my attention on others and on what I needed to do to avoid their rejection. What an impossible task and one that also created a lot of contracted energy within me. Through practicing TCC and many hours of bringing my attention to the soles of my feet an inner sense of support and strength began to accumulate. This inner sense of support and strength is allowing me to let go of the need for outer approval. It is also helping me to stand up to that inner critical and rejecting voice that we all have and to allow all that arises within me. Justin has shared, “To be too hard on yourself is to deny the Divinity within.” Another name for TCC is Joy Thru Movement. This is because Joy is the result of being present to all that is arising within us and not rejecting any of it. That is true Love. Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you. May you all feel the Joy of true Love.

January 2015
I am sending you all blessings of peace and renewal at this special time of year. As nature is pulling inward and the days are much colder, I too am finding myself pulling inward. I feel the pull of my favorite blanket and a hot cup of tea and the desire to just rest in the stillness of the season. To take a breath and a pause before life once again calls me outward. T’ai Chi Chih has taught me to listen to nature and embrace its natural rhythms of growth and unfoldment. Nature has a cycle and stillness and rest are a very important part of that cycle. We do not always give ourselves permission for this rest. This time of quietude helps us assimilate and digest the past year of growth. It also opens us up to clarity and guidance for where life wants to take us next. The next place is always to greater love, expression and joy. Justin Stone, the originator of TCC calls this Entering the Cosmic Rhythm.

November 2104
November is the month when we often contemplate our blessings and feel a sense of gratitude. Gratitude has been welling up in me. For one I have never experienced a more beautiful autumn in Colorado. It is as if nature herself is saying, “Stop. Slow down. Pay attention. You are surrounded in beauty.” This is exactly what T’ai Chi Chih teaches us. Through the gentle movements we are reminded to slow down and pay attention to what is arising in this moment. It is only when we get out of our heads and truly are in the moment that we can open to the beauty, mystery and wonder that we are and that we live in. The habit energy of living in our heads is very strong. I am deeply grateful for such a loving but powerful practice that helps me shift this habit energy.

August 2014
Happy end of summer! August always brings with it a sense of change and transition. The kids are going back to school and the mornings and evenings have a cooler feel to them announcing the upcoming change of seasons. The principles of T’ai Chi arose out of the observations of nature. This time of year nature is reminding us of one of the key principles of energy and that is movement and change. Our Life Force is an ever-constant, ever-changing creative flow. We can go against this flow or we can connect and align with it. This flow is the flow of our own wellbeing, aliveness and joy. A key principle in connecting to our flow that we learn in T’ai Chi Chih is focusing and being in the soles of our feet or our tan t’ien (our belly). We can only feel and connect to the flow when we are present in our bodies. Unfortunately, most of us do not live there very much. Our conditioning or habit energies often keep us disconnected from our body and our Life Force. As we continually return to the soles of our feet/tan t’ien in our practice we begin to feel more and more present not just when we are doing our TCC but in our lives as well. It is the feeling of being very, very much here. For me it feels like coming home after being gone for a long time. This moment-to-moment presence is my true center, my ground and my stability. Knowing this presence is my ground, I am becoming more and more allowing of all the movement, change and flow of life – whatever it brings, internally or externally. This is the key to opening to my own wellbeing, aliveness and joy. My capacity for presence and allowing is an unending journey. I am deeply grateful for TCC, for it has been and continues to be one of my greatest supports for this journey.