Let your body be still Let your mind be still Let your emotions be still Sit straight Breathe deep Let your body calm down Let your mind calm down Let your emotions calm down Just wait Follow your breath Let your mind intensify Let it focus Let it be sensitive…. Ah…. There it is….. Continue reading There It is…
The earth is calling my bones. The air is calling my breath. The river is calling my fluid; The fire is ready to consume my spirit. It’s time to rest in my real home, To sit behind all the eyes in the world; To once again be the stillness and silence; That under stands the universe. By dissolving my structure each day; By returning to my true home; I can rest and heal whilst still having this vehicle and software. So that when it’s time to give it up; I’ll just be going home. By Steve Rowe Continue reading My True Home
I’m so, so sorry…… When I was young I didn’t know any better, I abused you horribly and am now paying the price. ‘No pain’ no gain’ was my mantra. I ran and ran and ran, thousands of push ups, sit ups and hour after hour in the gym abusing you because I was convinced that we were at war each other. I fought and fought and fought destroying other people’s bodies in the Dojo and in the street as well as irreparably damaging you. I fed you nutritional shite and drinks that others convinced me were ‘healthy’ and also … Continue reading I’m So, So Sorry…..
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
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
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
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
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….
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
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
