It’s been such a cold winter in the Northeastern US this year, that even Niagara Falls has frozen over. Every night, students come in to class shivering, that is, once they’ve resolved to venture out in the cold and the dark. And many haven’t even been up for that. Today I want to tell you about an important practice lesson you can learn from all this cold. You will develop a better feel for the chi of your etheric body and stay warmer in the process.
I’m very excited to share some news about two big projects with you today: Brookline Tai Chi’s annual Immersion Week and the publication of the Tai Chi Way to Better Balance as a physical book.
Join me from Tuesday, April 22 - Friday, April 25 at Brookline Tai Chi in Boston for Energy Gates Moving Qigong Exercises. Times, cost, and registration details in the link. The Tai Chi Way to Better Balance is now available for purchase on Amazon, but you can also get your copy of the physical book directly from the publisher.
Join Tai Chi Master-Instructor Don Ethan Miller in a ground-breaking new program to increase your physical stability and overall well-being: The Tai Chi Way to Better Balance DVD.
Each exercise and key Tai Chi concept is explained in detail and organized in a safe, easy-to-follow progression of levels. By practicing the 3 Levels of Tai Chi Balance Training, you will soon embody the Tai Chi principles of Rooting, Central Equilibrium, and Yin-Yang Balance, through such ancient exercises as:
In this video, we’re talking about building up the skill of Outer Dissolving in your standing qigong practice. When you start out, it pays to follow a recipe - a set of instructions that lead through a certain procedure physically, energetically, and with your mind. However, there are times you want to break away from the recipe and times you’ll want to reflect on your experience verbally – but there are good and bad ways to do both.
I’m on day 4 of daily practice by the ocean, but it’s more than that. We’re staying right on the beach, so I get to soak up the energy of the ocean pretty much all day long. Now, I didn’t used to have any sense for what “the energy of the ocean” meant and like pretty much everything else energetic, I’m sure my sense for it will evolve even more, but I want to share my experiences from this week with you anyway.
“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?
“Is it better to structure your practice to stay with one energy gate, such as the crown, until you feel some dissolving happening there, or should you just keep moving through the gates week by week moving onto another gate?” Excellent questions like this one keep pouring in. Thank you for sharing your practice experiences with me. I know other folks who read the blog really appreciate it too. I love hearing from you guys, especially when your questions are grounded in exploration, practice and thoughtful reflection.
Thanks to everyone who reached out with questions about the first standing audio practice in the Energy Gates Dissolving series. I want to share some of the questions with you here. Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions or comments or think there is anything the needs clarification. Hopefully we can approach this series together as an ongoing learning process! What’s the Difference between Outer Dissolving, Downward Dissolving, and Sinking?
