Tag: Tai Chi

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A Soft Front And A Strong Back

Steve Rowe

Why do we feel vulnerable? We were quadrupeds that stood up to become bipeds possibly to walk further in the heat to get food but essentially we’re still built like quadrupeds. This means that we face the world and others with our ‘underbelly’. That’s our vulnerability. To understand this is important, we naturally have a soft front and a strong back and can use this to our advantage. Meet the world with your empowered ‘yin’ front, meet it with courtesy, politeness and a caring, giving, empathic, compassionate front. Just understand that it is supported by a strong back. Train your … Continue reading A Soft Front And A Strong Back

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Mindfulness All Day

Steve Rowe

Mindfulness is not something you do for an hour a day it’s something thing you do to reinforce the mindful state for an hour a day. Then during the day you are able to watch your mind and all the decisions you make. We often make decisions mindlessly and based on the the way we have been indoctrinated by others, mindfulness allows us to review our choices and decide from a far more insightful point of view. Mindfulness showed me how to decide based on compassion, when anger arose instead of wanting to hurt or punish someone I could make … Continue reading Mindfulness All Day

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Sitting At The Feet Of A Master

Steve Rowe

Sitting At The Feet Of A Master I feel I need to document this as it’s rapidly deteriorating knowledge. Our world turns on ‘easy access’, ‘easy to learn’, ‘learn quickly’, ‘learn in your own home’ and ‘get results fast’ and there are many businesses and franchises around to fill these needs, it’s not a bad thing, just the way that our culture has indoctrinated us and most people want to fill their ‘needs’ in this way’, often through books videos, online learning and/or from instructors that only have the basic knowledge themselves. Beyond that there is a rapidly disappearing way … Continue reading Sitting At The Feet Of A Master

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I Have No Pedestal

Steve Rowe

I’m not spiritual.I’m not evolved or advanced.I’m not a guru.You can judge me more by what I’m not, rather than what I am.I’ve spent most of my life getting rid of things rather than acquiring them.I never really wanted to ‘become’ anything.And I still haven’t got rid of enough.My ‘rough’ South London/ council estate upbringing and culture is still in my body, my avatar, but at least I can see it for what it is.I still have many faults but hopefully I can catch them as they arise.I am still a work in progress, still shedding.All the time we have … Continue reading I Have No Pedestal

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The Right Perspective

Steve Rowe

When you have the ability to separate yourself from human dogma and view life from heaven’s perspective you see that every person has their own challenges and they measure up very differently to the human cultural approach. If you look at it from a martial arts perspective, who achieves most, the natural athlete who easily gets to black belt or the disabled student who struggles their way to green belt? You can look at life in the same way, it’s not about looking at others and what they have, can do or have achieved, reality is focusing on where you … Continue reading The Right Perspective

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Sink Into The Darkness

Steve Rowe

When I meditate I sink into the darkness that is always there.Like a warm blanket enveloping me;A place of refuge;Healing, nourishing and forgiving. Looking back down my own eyes I find the unconditioned;Unborn, immortal, unformed;It’s always there, a refuge. My body, emotions and thoughts are formed from it;Like a wave rising from the sea and returning to it;And whilst a wave it is still the sea. You have to bring light from darkness and when it is extinguished, you realise the darkness was always there. Never be afraid of the dark. Continue reading Sink Into The Darkness

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I Am Not My Name

Steve Rowe

I’m not my name;My parents gave that to me. I’m not my body;It beats its own heart,Breathes itself,Grows it’s own hair and nails. I’m not my thoughts or emotions,They are the software of the body,Arising from it’s need to survive and move. Who am I?I am my consciousness,If I can be thought, that’s not it,If I can be described, that’s not it. It has to be wordless,Unconditioned,Unborn,Unformed,Immortal. And awake. Continue reading I Am Not My Name

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Why Am I Suffering?

Steve Rowe

Why are we suffering? What did we do to deserve this? If you think like this you are trying to apply human justice to a much broader perspective and it clearly doesn’t work. Suffering exists in all forms and our body will experience it affecting our emotions and thoughts, but we are not our body, we are not our emotions and we are not our thoughts, we are more than them. We don’t need to ‘believe’ this, we need to directly experience it. This is the point of our Shi Kon neigong or ‘inner work’ deep breathing calms the body, … Continue reading Why Am I Suffering?

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Engage The Core & Spine

Steve Rowe

Anyone that studies with me knows that I use the word ‘engage’ a lot to do with the spine and core. This is because it takes a lot of study to learn how to use them for internal power, we have to forge really strong intimate connections to the ‘feel’ of every part of the core and spine and how to utilise them in technique. From the way we press and pulse the feet to the floor up through the legs to open and close the hips to manipulate the pelvic floor and bow and pulse the lower back, kidneys … Continue reading Engage The Core & Spine