Congratulations to Tai Chi students who attended the promotion ceremony

It was a real joy to see how much you all embody the principles of Tai Chi in your practice. We hope you feel encouraged by the support of the entire Body Balance Academy to deepen your studies and continue to enjoy all the health benefits that Tai Chi and Qi Gong has to offer.

Xie xie for being wonderful students of Body Balance.

Happy Mid Autumn Festival

This festival celebrates the harvest moon on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. That's today, September 12th.

What "promotion" means...this Saturday

At Body Balance Academy, we have promotion ceremonies about every other month.  The next one is Saturday September 10 at 10:00am.  You may have noticed that this ceremony coincides with our curriculum: we spend about two months teaching/learning each section of the Yang Style Tai Chi form.

The promotion ceremony is an opportunity:

• for students to demonstrate their knowledge of Tai Chi principles as expressed in the Yang Long Form,
• for the instructors to see all students at one time, performing the section that they just learned,
• to celebrate the growing community of Tai Chi practitioners,
• to meet other members of our community (e.g., those who come to class on T/Th night if you attend M/W morning classes)
• to enjoy the inspiring music of Bill Douglass and friends,
• ________ (your favorite reason here).

Through out the years that BBA has held these ceremonies, I've heard some students say that even the word "promotion" doesn't appeal to their sense of what Tai Chi means to them.  Some are not interested in performing "in public".  Or they perceive the promotion as a "test" of their ability.  Some have asked, "What are you writing about us on that piece of paper?"

Shih Fu Eileen has said over and over that the promotions are NOT a test.  She, and the other instructors, works with students in classes to make sure that they grasp the fundamentals and principles of each section of the Tai Chi form.  Students are invited to the promotion to celebrate what they've learned and accomplished through diligence and hard work.  Everyone who comes to a promotion has already demonstrated their mastery of the section.  We welcome students to come together with the entire school to practice together, enjoy music and drink tea.

This Saturday, a group of Lotus Scholars will present a special musical performance that sets the poetry of the Tao Te Jing to South Asian dance steps. Conceived by Bill Douglass and Anya Devi, this performance includes readings by Anya, Matthias Schossig and Catherine Stifter.  Anya will dance to the tabla percussion of Joe Fagen.

Come for music, come for practice, come for a celebration of knowledge, but don't miss Tai Chi with Tea this Saturday, September 10th at 10:00am.

Zen Bear Tai Chi Animation by Terry Dunn

This animation by Tai Chi master Terry Dunn, shows Qi (energy) between the palms of a cartoon panda bear performing the opening moves of the Yang Long Form. Enjoy.

We are the air, the air is us

David Suzuki,  globally renowned biologist and impassioned broadcaster, writer and educator, on our intimate, connected relationship with the air we breathe. This quote comes from a soon-to-be-released Bioneers Radio Special called Natural Magic: The Earth Hospitality Enterprise.

"We don’t think about air, but from the moment every one of us left our mother’s body to the last gasp on our death bed we need air fifteen to forty times a minute.

We breathe air deep into the most moist, warm, intimate parts of our bodies, and we fuse to the air. When you think of the destiny of the air we breathe in, our lungs are filled with about 300 million alveoli - these little capsules. We need all of those alveoli to make all the surface area to come into contact with the air. When you flatten out all of the alveoli into two dimensions they would cover a tennis court. So that much surface area is wrinkled up into our lungs. And lining each alveolus, is a three layered membrane called a surfactant. The surfactant reduces surface tension, so when the air comes into contact with it, it fuses to the surfactant. Carbon dioxide rushes out, oxygen and whatever else is in that air is sucked into our bodies. The oxygen is picked up by red blood cells and with every beat of our heart the oxygen is delivered to all parts of our bodies. 

The point is, you can’t draw a line and say the air ends here and I begin there. There is no line. The air is in us. It is fused to us, and it’s circulating throughout our bodies. We are the air in the most profound way. And when I tell children that we are the air and that air isn’t a vacuum or empty space - is a substance - so what comes out of my nose goes straight up yours they immediately go. I guess they think we’ve got a little bubble of air that’s marked “Mary” or “Johnny.” Air is a substance that imbeds us. The whole American notion that we’re John Wayne riding in the saddle, rugged individualist, is nonsense. We’re not separate individuals. We’re tied together by the matrix of air that imbeds us with not just human beings, but the trees, and the birds, and the snakes, and the worms that are all using that air."

Think about that the next time you take a breath.

Take Your Tai Chi Out to Play

 

Annette Dunklin, Nauset Beach, Cape Cod

Practice Outside

Starting tomorrow August 10th, join Body Balance students in Wednesday morning practice. We'll meet in Condon Park, near the Miner's Statue in front of the Love Building at 8am.  These sessions are extracurricular to regular classes at Body Balance studio.  A few of us just wanted to practice together outside.  There is no extra cost to join us. We'll do some brief warm-ups and practice the Tai Chi form together.  There will be no formal instruction, just practice.  Every Wednesday in August at 8am. See you there.