Category: Poems

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Pause For Stillness

Steve Rowe

Today I was walking up the stairs and I paused; As I get older I pause more and more; I pause to find the stillness; The stillness that sits behind everything. All you have to do to find it is be still; It’s always there, it feeds the universe; Everything arises from and then returns to it; It is the source that we need to be connected to. When not connected we feel lonely and isolated; We create a self to replace it; Like the make believe friend we had as a child; But there really is no self….. There … Continue reading Pause For Stillness

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Finding Myself….

Steve Rowe

  Thought I’d better find myself… Where am I? Not in my head; Could see my thoughts but they weren’t me. I think therefore I am? Nah, I am therefore I think more like; In my body? Not there either. My body breathes; Heart pumps; Organs function; Not me doing any of that. My name? Parents gave it to me; Work, hobbies? Just things I do. Sits still, scratches head; Then who the bloody hell am I? Looks into the dogs eyes…. Ah…. there I am… Everywhere but where I thought…. Continue reading Finding Myself….

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Breathing With Your Body

Steve Rowe

This morning’s neigong: Don’t eat breakfast; Drink a pint of iced water; Find your place to stand; Then find your balance. Find your natural breathing rhythm; Don’t breathe in until you would have to stop yourself; Don’t breathe out until you would have stop yourself; Let your body, not your mind deepen and control the breath. Use your entire dantien to breathe; Stomach sides and back draw the diaphragm down; Filling the lungs with air; Calming you down, making your mind aware and focused. In Tai Chi the joints and fascia act together as a pump; Expand them naturally as … Continue reading Breathing With Your Body

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The Tao Through Yin & Yang

Steve Rowe

Today’s Neigong In the beginning you use physical strength to hold the 5 standing positions, With time you feel the energy; The yin energy in the yin postures; And the yang energy in the yang postures. After a while ‘neutral’ is balanced between the yin and yang; Then you feel the balance in the other postures; The yin in the yang; And the yang in the yin. Every posture has an energetic ‘stasis’; Each energy balancing its opposite; The muscular force is at a minimum; As the energetic takes over. Then you search for the stasis in every posture in … Continue reading The Tao Through Yin & Yang

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Neigong Balance

Steve Rowe

  As the wheel of the year turns; There is a different kind of balance; The air is not dry and warm: And the earth is chilled and moist. Balance brings me to the Tao; The line down the middle of yin and yang: The harmonies in the body: Allow me to find the door. Left and right in the joints: Upper and lower connections; Front and back of the body; Inner to outer of limbs and body. Inner is yin, outer is yang; Front is yin, back is yang; Focus on one and the other is the small circle … Continue reading Neigong Balance

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Seeing Your Soul

Steve Rowe

Seeing Your Soul, this morning’s neigong… When you meditate does your soul come to the front? Like closing all the windows on your computer; The background becomes the whole screen; It was always there, you just didn’t see it before. Your soul is connected to the source; It is connected to all things; It sees itself in the eyes others; It is the uncarved block. With practice, when you begin Tai Chi; All the other ‘windows’ close; And your soul comes to the front; It is your place of perspective. It knows the sound of silence; It is your place … Continue reading Seeing Your Soul

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Old Man Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

  This morning’s neigong; An old man has to be mindful; He cannot move without thinking about it first; Legs have to be balanced; Care has to be taken with arthritic joints. Every step is measured; Every push is done with care; Pain gives a measurement; ‘Training’ involves a higher percentage of mind. BUT this is a good thing; The young don’t have to think; Their perception and perspective is flawed; Their hormones and naïveté control them. Many old MAists try to be young; Making them feel old before their time; “I can still do it” sounds so sad; Like … Continue reading Old Man Martial Arts

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I Alone Am Still….

Steve Rowe

This morning’s neigong: Once again the air is different; Every day it changes as the wheel of the year turns; Every day the smell and taste has a difference; Nobody else seems to notice. I alone am still; I feel the stasis of the universe; I am as I am because everything else is as it is; As everything else is moving; I alone am still. People rushing to work; Taking kids to school; Birds flying, trees and plants growing; I feel the earth turning; Everything balancing everything else. But I alone am still. Continue reading I Alone Am Still….

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The Sky Weeps To The Earth

Steve Rowe

This morning’s neigong: The sky weeps to the earth; And earth yields in empathy; The tears soften and nourish the earth; Which in turn nourishes everything attached to it. Empathy is to yield and receive first; To use the intelligence of our soul to understand; To receive, with an open spirit; And then to nourish the situation in a helpful way. Just as the earth softens to the tears of the sky; Humanity should soften towards any situation first; Join with it to understand it; Then bring it to a state of harmony. For this we need a soft front … Continue reading The Sky Weeps To The Earth

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Tai Chi Is About Depth

Steve Rowe

This morning’s neigong: Tai Chi is all about depth; It’s an iceberg rather than a mountain; Not how much you know; But how deeply you can experience. Buddha means ‘one who is awake’; Living fully in the present; Experiencing life in all it’s richness; We have a body and senses for just that purpose. It is at is, right now in this moment; The pressure of moist summer air on the skin; Invigorating the internal system from the lungs; Tasted on the tongue, smelled in the nose; The sweet fragrant mix of roses and jasmine. The softness of yin; On … Continue reading Tai Chi Is About Depth