Tag Archives: Tai Chi

Poems

Pause For Stillness

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 is a deep profound stillness;
And to find it, all we have to do is pause….

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Breathing With Your Body

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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 you breathe in;
Let them rest naturally as you breathe out:
Let the bows of arms, legs and spine work with them.

Go to the feet first to breathe in;
Open the body to expand to receive the air and energy;
Allow it to rest and soften as you breathe out;
Feel the elixir of life refresh and heal you.

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The Tao Through Yin & Yang

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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 the form;
The balance is the power;
Then every centimetre between the postures;
Thinking “how could I ever miss this?”…

A peace and harmony descends on your being;
A stillness beyond all stillness’s;
The curtain of life is lifted;
And the Tao is revealed.

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Neigong Balance

 

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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 in the symbol;
Still felt and giving ultimate balance.

Hands and feet press the same;
First physically then energetically;
The biggest step is from muscle to energy;
When in stasis, it’s perfect harmony.

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Seeing Your Soul

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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 of refuge;
A place to find balance;
Where wisdom can arise.

This is the real value of meditation;
A place of mindfulness;
The real value of Tai Chi practice;
A place to discover who you really are….

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Old Man Martial Arts

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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 seeing your granny in a mini skirt.

“I am still learning” is fake;
“I now learn from my students” is fake;
You only have to watch them move;
Their 30 yrs study is 3 yrs repeated 10 times.

We are all swimming upstream;
You stop and you start going backwards;
You have to go deeper not higher;
Not accumulating, but decluttering.

The less we try to become, the more we are;
Simple is not easy;
Go deep inside;
And find your own wisdom.

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