Category: Poems

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The Lightest Touch

Steve Rowe

It’s hard to understand the lightness of the touch of Tai Chi. The perfect balance of yin and yang, of ‘sung’ and peng’ create the touch of an angel. The sink to swallow to ‘float’ mean that there is nothing stopping the ethereal movement, the body of a Tai Chi practitioner appears to have no bones, only the whisper and touch of a soft summer breeze. Felt for, he cannot be touched, like reaching into soft cotton, he is a shade, a wraith, a spirit draped in cloud. Tai Chi is art, the sword like a calligraphers brush, takes on … Continue reading The Lightest Touch

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The Darkness

Steve Rowe

The darkness is always there. Shine a light and it only covers it up; We are awake in the light; When it is dark we put lights on or sleep; But it is always there. It is reminding us of the Tao; We can be ‘happy’ and ‘positive’; But they can’t exist without the underlying darkness in our soul; It is always there. We need to meditate in the dark; In the stillness of the night; To feel the other side; To be comfortable; To know the balance. We are that light; As brightly as we might shine; We rise … Continue reading The Darkness

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The Silence And Stillness Behind It All

Steve Rowe

Just standing; When I am still my body listens; When I stop transmitting I can receive; When my mind is still; I can perceive the unworded language; Of the trees and flowers; Nature is always talking to us; Normally our mind is filled with words; We are concerned with the past and future; But when standing we become ‘joined up’ with nature; At one with the Tao; Behind everything there is profound stillness; A deafening silence; Stand tall; Breathe deep; Focus your mind; Stop moving; Stop thinking; Ah! there it is……. Continue reading The Silence And Stillness Behind It All

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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