"At some point, don't we have to ask ourselves, "Aren't I healthy enough?" Don't I need to work on "waking up", on manifesting kindness and patience, and being other oriented?"

That's from a conversation we've been having in the Inner Form discussion group and it got me thinking.

You might be learning to cultivate your chi to heal old injuries or for the inner experience of meditative exploration, but at some point, shouldn't your practice extend into the world around you, to the people in your life, and your work?

Now, I'm often in favor of letting these connections emerge naturally, but the comment above and this TED talk on stress are pushing me to make "practicing in the world" a little more explicit.

Making Stress Your Friend

From the video description:

Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case.

Practicing in the World

Practice homework this week: you know what it's like to find a special, quiet place to practice to build your chi, but what about your next interaction with another person as the best place to practice? Can you pause, hold the mind the same way when you do in your practice and let the encounter unfold the same way the qigong mind allows chi to resolve itself?

You might draw some inspiration from Push Hands or Tai Chi-style conflict resolution.