Happy New Year of Chi (qi) Cultivation

For many of us, celebrating the new year means a re-commitment to healthful living. We review our habits of the past year and make refinements. You've made the commitment to cultivating qi (chi) for life-long health, so remember to celebrate all the accomplishments of your Tai Chi and Qi Gong practice.  By attending classes at the school and practicing at home, you've gained first hand experience that these ancient arts can make a very real difference in your life today.

Continue to receive the benefits of cultivating Qi by (re)establishing a vibrant and vital home practice. Whether you're just learning the first moves of the Ba Duan Jin or refining the Six Sections of the Yang Style Tai Chi Long Form, here is a short list of tips from Dr. Roger Jahnke's book, "The Healing Promise of Qi":

• Keep your practice fun and simple.
• Focus on relaxation.
• Practice daily.
• Find several practice spots--some inside and some in nature.
• Experiment with doing your practice at different times of the day or night.
• Look for opportunities to practice with others.
• Look for opportunities to work with advanced practitioners and instructors.
• Stay within your comfort zone.

What tips can you add to this list? 

Xie xie (thank you) for sharing your experiences with the Body Balance community. Your generosity encourages and strengthens us all.

Happy New Year 2011!  Happy Year of the Rabbit.

Diving Deep and Dancing: a poem by Annette Dunklin

"In a single moment, if we are aware of things as they are, rather than projecting how they should be, that is grace, beauty.  In a single moment, and in every moment, it's possible to not know how things should be, to not measure or judge things."  (Interview with Gina Sharp, this month's Parabola)

My practice at Body Balance has given me the gift of landing in these single moments, finding myself there, feeling deep gratitude when I do. 

******************************
Diving Deep and Dancing
(A response to Chapter 21, Tao Te Ching)

Annette Dunklin, November 2010

Inner spaces, outer forms
emptiness and fullness,
living cycles of grief and joy,
loss and abundance,
now continual practice,
connecting sources of renewal
to the dance that is my life.

Water. 

Diving deep in California rivers:
Twenty three years now, the Yuba my home.
One day greeted by Kingfisher,
flies back and forth where Rock Creek flows in.
Deep and narrow canyon, dry green moss and sheer rock cliff,
just before first heavy rain.
Dippers do their dance,
bathing or bowing?
Their exuberant calls ring up and downstream
Far below the surface, eight inch crawdad scuttles into deep cave
Crustacean Elder.

Blue Creek and Klamath,
Yurok healing confluence:
silent underwater vistas, Cut-throat and Steelhead
race with and against the current.
Bald Eagle pair overhead, one lands
as the other flies.
Cormorants arguing in Redwood Tree
Osprey following watercourse,
way up high.
River flowing,
continually changing
Water sound redemption

Early morning on Deer Creek beach at Dipper Camp
no sun yet on rocks, moss, ferns, trees,
bending down to wash my hands,
I hear the unfamiliar sound of muffled snorting.
My eyes drawn to moving dark creek waters
find one smooth shape swimming
fluid and fast,
dark eyes in small round head find me
She dives down, up again.
Sound has linked to source:

Otter.  Color of creek.
swims upstream and circles back.
one head becomes two, snuffling, swimming,
snorting wet exhales.
two of them play among branches
thrown and gathered by water's force onto
opposite bank,
Slick and wet, they curl around each other, 
bob up and down.

One more small face, whiskered and brown,
and another, three babies and mama.
Circling, diving, clambering up steep mossy granite
rolling, scratching, returning to water, gathering,
pile of four upon small rock,
directly across,
staring like small children at me.

I begin Tai Chi,
the best I can offer
in response to their play. 
They come closer, surfacing and diving
leaving bubbles to rise.
What is this creature in
pink polar fleece?

The ancient form finds home in my belly 
links with days past and
days to come, peace in body,
connected to earth and open to sky.
weaving moment to precious moment.

Then they are gone,
leaving my heart open and full
settled with moving water and solid stone

At home, Chi Gong  and Tai Chi before dawn
under tall Tulip Poplar in the front yard.
Even the birds are asleep,
as I gather deep peace into my body
for the coming day.

The dance of the life I live now
this family and home
born into the longing of empty space
now taken form.

Poem by Summer Lujan

I drink Holy nectar

The vessel
Tao Te Ching

Each word, a taste
Each line, a sip
Each poem, a cup.

I hydrate
my soul.

NY Times Article on Kung Fu Philosophy

An excellent article passed onto us. Check it out at kung-fu-for-philosophers

Jing is the Tingle

When we practice Tai Chi or Kung Fu, the chi in our bodies wakes up and moves throughout our many cells and systems. Often after a Qi Gong set or practicing our Tai Chi or Kung Fu forms, we feel a tingling energy within, often in our arms and legs. This tingling is called Jing. Jing is the chinese word for essence and is considered one of the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine along with Qi and Shen (awareness or spirit).

Kung Fu Class is on for New Year's Day

Body Balance will hold it's regularly scheduled Kung Fu class on Saturday, January 1st, 2011 at 9AM. Celebrate the New Year with a KICK!!

Just Breathe

NPR Health Reporter Gretchen Cuda explores the power of breath. 
 
"As it turns out, deep breathing is not only relaxing, it's been scientifically proven to affect the heart, the brain, digestion, the immune system — and maybe even the expression of genes."

She explores the mechanisms by which deep breathing can change blood pressure, alter the pH of blood and activate the parasympathetic response.

Listen to her story on NPR Dec 6, 2010.

Annual Shaolin Monks Performance Date Set - Saturday February 5th

Mark your calendars for the annual school celebration and return of the Shaolin monks.  We celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with performances from Kung Fu and Tai Chi students and teachers, as well as special performances by Liu Shih Fu and the Shaolin Monks on Saturday, February 5, 2011.

Take time on Sunday, February 6th to participate in Qi Gong and Kung Fu workshops taught by the monks. Times and exact workshop content are still to be announced.

As in past years, tickets for both the performance and the workshops will be available first to the Body Balance community and then will go on sale to the general public.

We'll post more information as it becomes available.

Holiday Class Schedule at Body Balance

Body Balance Tai Chi and Kung Fu classes will continue through much of the holiday season on our regular schedule, except as noted below:

There will be NO classes on Christmas Day, Saturday December 25th.

There will be Kung Fu class at 9am and a Tai Chi class at 10am on New Year's Day, Saturday, January 1, 2011.

Staying Healthy With the Seasons - Winter is Here, Stay Warm

In his tremendously useful book, Staying Healthy With the Seasons, Dr. Elson M. Haas writes,

"Winter's power is deep and yin.  It is a time to conserve energy and resources and not be wasteful with your active, outward (yang) energy. You need special care in the form of nutrition, warmth and rest."

Warm up each morning with the Ba Duan Jin (Eight Pieces of Silk Brocade).  As you practice this 1500-year-old Qi Gong set designed to bring you optimal health, pay special attention to the last exercise in the set: "Strengthening the Waist and Kidneys." 

Breathe deeply as the hustle and bustle of the season starts to rev up. Let the power of winter weather remind you to slow down and rest. Use the principles and practices of Tai Chi to help you keep your center and maintain your balance, physically, mentally and spiritually.

New York Times column on Tai Chi

From time to time, we'll post links to articles about Tai Chi and Qi Gong.  Thanks to Annette Dunklin for bringing this one to our attention.

In her Personal Health column in the New York Times (September 28, 2010) Jane Brody writes, "The graceful, dancelike progression of meditative poses called tai chi originated in ancient China as a martial art, but the exercise is best known in modern times as a route to reduced stress and enhanced health. After reviewing existing scientific evidence for its potential health benefits, I’ve concluded that the proper question to ask yourself may not be why you should practice tai chi, but why not."

Read the rest of the column at the New York Times.

Of course, we at Body Balance encourage you to talk with your health care provider to see whether Tai Chi is recommended.

A new way to transmit chi--stream it!

Shih Fu Catherine here...First, xie xie to Tina Heck for tackling the technology to get this blog going. I love the name "Streaming Chi" for more than a few reasons--I imagine sending chi online to all our students and colleagues--a new way to transmit chi!

This forum is open to anyone at Body Balance. I and Tina, Summer, and Shih Fu Eileen will be able to post. Students will be able to comment. Let's explore our ideas and discoveries as we practice Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Use it between classes as a way to connect with the wonderful spirit of our community. The plan is for Lotus Scholars to share writings here, the same way we do at Promotion Ceremonies and Performance Events.

Allow me to start off by sharing my recent poem "Use." It has received a warm response. Xie xie for letting me know that this work has touched something in you that has stirred up your thoughts about the concepts of emptiness/fullness. In my quest for understanding, this poem simply came to me and I wrote it down to share with you. Sometimes all that is needed is to prepare the ground and plant the seed. I welcome your comments about these ideas.

Use 
(Oct 5, 2010)

It is not so useful
to think about whether
the glass is half empty or half full.

Each vessel
in and of itself
is valuable
by virtue
of simply being a container
of potential.

Imagine your life
a handmade clay bowl,
hardened by fire,
glazed with experience,
set upon the table of this world.

Run your tongue around the rim.
Embrace the emptiness
that already fills you
to the brim;
overflowing
in its constant usefulness.

Our Invitation To You

The Body Balance Team invites you to drop us a question, comment or just some thoughts here. Perhaps you have a question about the Tai Chi form or the health benefits of practicing. Maybe you just have an insight you would like to share. Welcome.

Flowing Like Water

Chi, the vital life energy that moves within us and around us like water or wind. We seek to allow the chi to flow freely through our bodies and minds in order to experience the quiet mind and lifelong health. This blog is to consider, illuminate, and inspire our many friends, families, and students.