What’s your Freedom Quotient?

It was November, rainy and cold. I had no idea what kind of magic would unfold as I boarded the plane from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii for two weeks. All I knew is that I would be seeing my T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) teacher, Hannah Hedrick, for the first time in more than 15 years.

“How is your “FQ,” Hannah asked, when I arrived. “Huh?” I muttered. I couldn’t remember what prompted her question but was certain this inquiry would set the stage for all the students, volunteers, and practitioners she would introduce me to. FQ for the uninitiated means Freedom Quotient and refers to the ability to feel freedom at any moment — the freedom to choose actions and responses, not preceded by the conditioning of past habits or future wants and desires.

Twenty years ago, Hannah left her world in Chicago and moved to the Big Island. Was she in search of her own FQ? I don’t know but she now lives an island lifestyle, teaching classes at her home and in Hilo Bay at Liliokalani Gardens. Following her own rhythm, staying in touch with nature, and wrestling with her wild land to create zones of beauty, at the young age of 83, she knows something about freedom.

My first week opened me to the beauty of the rain forest and I found my “flow.” I shared my experiences with Katy Cole, who joined me for the second week. Katy had completed the same TCC Intensive via Zoom as Hannah’s student Charles Sasan and couldn’t wait to meet him and Hannah. The FQ conversation was alive and kicking between this synergistic group. I began to understand that part of having freedom was finding a circle of individuals to share it with. A constellation of students began with Hannah, was nurtured by Sandy, and was further facilitated by me via Katy and Charles. I was onto something. I set out — only to realize that in order to know more freedom, I had to know what was preventing me from experiencing it in the first place.

Do you know what’s getting in your way? What’s pulling at your hair? Or in my case, “Pele’s hair” — referring to the Hawaiian goddess of fire and the long, thin strands of volcanic glass that form from lava flows. Swaths of Pele’s hair can remain for decades along shores, in hidden calderas, and wherever the wind decides to blow them. 

These strands sounded like my habits that have remained for decades. Habits that created my own emotional conditioning. Habits that caused many of my own constrictive behaviors that in turn, caused relationships to suffer, jobs to be lost, and tears to be shed. This was the stuff I was ready to be free from. My habits and conditioning were getting in the way of my FQ and, if unexamined, were as dangerous as the sharp brittle fragments of Pele’s hair.

Katy and I took ourselves up to the volcano to see the newest eruption. The FQ conversation continued and in viewing the fire and destruction, we also saw that new land was being created. If Pele could do it, why couldn’t we create our own new paths? Pele is destructive, but she is also the one “who shapes the sacred land.” And through the consistent practice of TCC, we too can create freedom in our bodies and minds using principles like “the effort of no effort” and “less is more.” In fact, as Katy and I shared our experiences with Charles, we all understood this easily and effortlessly. 

Does less effort mean more freedom? Throughout the rest of the week, I more easily let go of any effort to experience more freedom. Even when I pushed the heavy mower at midnight through the tall wet grass with a headlamp to guide my way, it felt light and effortless.

From hauling dirt to planting anthuriums, each moment connected to the next; and on the last night, bathing under the night sky, I realized that I could increase my own FQ with the help of a constellation of friends and, of course, the primary tool of TCC. I could also sense that freedom had always been with me — a birthright as primal and sacred as the creation of mother earth. What is your FQ?