Over the weekend, Energy Arts Instructor Jess O’Brien was in town, teaching at BTC. We got to spend some time together and talk about teaching, studying with different teachers, and trying to run a teaching business. One thing that we came back to again and again was how difficult it is to build up a student base. I think I know why. People are Lazy, Social, and Creatures of Habit
Introducing a new series: “Rhythm as Relaxation”. Across many different practices, which I’ll go into one at a time, rhythm is a common thread. When you find the right rhythm in the practice, it gets easier, smoother, more connected, and as a result, more relaxing to perform and more energizing at the same time. Some of the practices I will explore in the series: Running Tai Chi Breathing Five Element Theory
I find this topic so interesting. When you start playing with the way eyes influence movement, you begin to unlock connections in the body that you had no other way of accessing. I’ve seen some pretty strange stuff, from pain pretty much vanishing, big muscles magically unlocking, or people being able to run, jump, or lift in dramatically different ways….all from a couple of eye exercises. I know it sounds weird, and I was right there with you until I experienced it in my own practice and taught it to other.
As March comes to an end, I’m wrapping up playing Health Month, an online game that helps you integrate new habits and change behavior. Here’s my review of Health Month and a recap of what I experienced. I have to say, I don’t think I really explored it to the fullest, but there were a couple of things I really liked about it and a couple of things I didn’t connect with in the design.
I’m on vacation this week in Telluride, Colorado. Telluride nestled into a box canyon, with peaks jutting up all around it. Pretty amazing scenery and hiking around at 10,000 feet gives you plenty of time to think. Whenever I come to a place like this, I always play the game of “What If I Lived Here”, where I try to envision life as a local. Compared to what I hear about some ski towns, by the way, Telluride has a nice mellow blend of local vibe and constant visitor turn over.
I’m pretty excited about this: Eyes and Visual Training It’s my new online course and the first in the Foundations of Relaxation Series I wrote about here. As I’ve been developing the course, I keep saying to myself, “I wish everyone who comes to see me for pain relief or to learn tai chi did this first.” In fact, that’s how I developed the whole series. There are a few simple things that don’t take a lot of oversight or feedback from an instructor that everyone can do to move better (meaning more gracefully and in less pain).
So, with one week of Health Month under my belt, I think one thing is clear: I picked some pretty lame rules for March! I mean, they’re pretty plain and looking at some of the other options, I definitely could have picked something more interesting. I chose: Bring lunch to work 3x per week Track food at least 6x per week Exercise at least 5x per week
I picked those rules initially because I thought they would be easy to track and measure and because I had already been working on them in February.
