Monday 30 September 2013

Beginning lessons for ARC House and Blackrock Classes






A Reminder That Ray's Beginners Class Starts on Wednesday

 scroll back to Sunday's post for details.






Stephen Hawkings








Our greatest human adventure is the evolution of consciousness.

We are in this life to enlarge the soul and light up the brain.

               - Tom Robbins

I couldn't agree more with Tom Robins and what a great
 inspiration for this week.

Let's just do it this week , let's focus on subjects that
 expand our consciousness and challenge our minds.

 I have lots of ideas but I loved the clip on  Stephen Hawking 's
  " black holes "click below to explore.


Stephen Hawking big ideas made simple


HAVE AN AMAZING DAY !




Sunday 29 September 2013

Savouring





       It is Sunday morning here and I'm planning to savour today.
       As I lay in bed contemplating my day ahead I reflected
       on some of the positive aspects of my life. Some of the
       simple pleasures that make my heart sing.
       Then I got up and took some photos in order to share some
       of these simple but really sustaining pleasures that enrich
       my life. I find it really good to remind myself often of how
       privileged it is to have this life and all these delights.





                       Flowers to greet me as I come down stairs







                    Delicious freshly made coffee to share with John








                    Beautiful Autumn colours through the window.








             And apples from the garden whose  imperfections  remind me
                  that love does not need us to be blemish free.


            Why not look around your space and better still your life and
            notice what you like and love. Dwelling on the positive aspects
                 really  enrichs our days.


             A final word from Mark Twain.

           “Drag your thoughts away from your troubles…
   
            by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.”

            I hope you have a Savourful day.




               

Ray's New class


I'm delighted to let you know that -

Ray is starting a new beginners class in Cork next Wednesday October 2nd .

All the details below are correct except the beginning date.







Saturday 28 September 2013

It is still all about Love


 When  I opened my email ( thanks again to google ) to my delight
 there was one from my dear friend Pat.
 In it Pat spoke about my ' words' meditation and a how on opening
 a book her ' word ' popped up in the form of a poem. I have
 searched for that poem to no avail,  but it has been a happy search
 as the poet she mentioned ,  Norman Mac Caig is new to me .
 I have really enjoyed reading some of his poems. The one below
 reminds me of my love for Uncle Seamus , something in his
 description of Aunt Julia captures that magical love or intrigue
 certain people arouse in us.
 Many Thanks to Pat




                                 
                            Aunt Julia

                      Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic
                      very loud and very fast.
                      I could not answer her —
                      I could not understand her.

                     She wore men's boots
                     when she wore any.
                     — I can see her strong foot,
                     stained with peat,
                     paddling with the treadle of the spinningwheel
                     while her right hand drew yarn
                     marvellously out of the air.

                     Hers was the only house
                     where I've lain at night
                     in the absolute darkness
                     of a box bed, listening to
                     crickets being friendly.

                     She was buckets
                     and water flouncing into them.
                     She was winds pouring wetly
                     round house-ends.
                     She was brown eggs, black skirts
                     and a keeper of threepennybits
                     in a teapot.

                    Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic
                    very loud and very fast.
                    By the time I had learned
                    a little, she lay
                    silenced in the absolute black
                    of a sandy grave
                    at Luskentyre. But I hear her still, welcoming me
                    with a seagull's voice
                    across a hundred yards
                    of peatscrapes and lazybeds
                    and getting angry, getting angry
                    with so many questions
                    unanswered.
                                 Norman MacCaig

         I am still focusing on LOVE today along with, FRIENDSHIP
         FUN and EASE. Looking forward to the rest of my Saturday.   
         And hoping yours is FUN filled and surprising in delicious ways.            






             

Here are " a few of my favourite things"








                  Beautiful Elderberries ripe and ready to pick.






                Wild mushrooms with intriguing designs






            People like my friend Joan who text the  name
             " lords &ladies " for plants unknown by me.







               Friendly strangers taking photos for Google who
                   agree to be photographed.






             And tell me that Google are setting up an educational
             programme  in Mallow to encourage older people to
                   become internet savvy.


        Wow my Poem this morning  ( it's technically tomorrow but still
        feels like Friday to me  )was about  LOVE my word for today.
        And look at all the delights my day brought  from  luscious berries
        on my morning walk to Close encounters with  Google .
        Now I must explain that along with Libraries and Bookshops,
       Google is  one  "  of my very favourite things ".
       What lover of learning and  adventure cannot be eternally
       grateful to Google for their magical search engine that delivers
       answers to question at any and time day or night.
            LOVE  to you Google and  many thanks from Mallow.




Friday 27 September 2013




                                 Ruth Krauss

 love is when you send postcards
 more than to other people -
 love is when they could push you down in the grass
 and it doesn't even hurt -
 love is the same as like
 only you spell them different
 more of the same, sort of  -
 Love has more stuff in it !
 love is you give them
 a leg off your gingerbread man
 No two legs.
 And a head !

This beautiful poem is from Ruth Krauss' childrens book  '  I’ll Be You and You Be Me: A Vintage Ode to Friendship and Imagination, Illustrated by Sendak  Check out the link below if you like the poem and have a few magical minutes reading and seeing the fabulous illustrations.
I am so grateful to have found Maria Popova's article on this writer.
 ruth-krauss-maurice-sendak-1954/

 I'm still experimenting , and hoping you are too. I'm finding it to be a great way of  ' intending ' or focusing my  attention each day.
 We humans need a constant  variety  of ways to do the same thing.
 What I mean is this experimenting is really a way of making a new gratitude list or ' experiment' .
 Anyway it works in my brain and I hope you too are enjoying this method of adding value to the day.
 Love Ann


       

Thursday 26 September 2013

Autumn's Here


 I'm delighted to have purchased a new lead to connect my phone to this laptop. I misplaced my old one and have been lost without the 'connection'.

Still experimenting.

 Today I decided to focus on EASE.
After my morning meditation and having focused on EASE . I finally 'copd'  on and decided to take a trip to town and replace the lead - EASE.
No more racking my brain to figure out where it could be.  Is this just more of a coincidence ?  It has been bothering me for about a week , why didn't I let myself buy a new one until today, maybe allowing myself to be at EASE opened the space for a solution to emerge.
In any case it is just great to be able to share some Autumn photos.




              I don't remember the apples in our garden ever turning so pink .
                           Thanks to the warm dry year we are having.






                The boreen to our little wood is strewn with beach nuts.







                     The wood is filling up with mushrooms







                And bright red berries that are unknown to me





   


The leaves are still mostly green in our wood 








But there is some bright red appearing to herald the
 colourful time to come.





Wednesday 25 September 2013

Wren's Visit






Earlier this evening John ( my husband ) called me , I was chatting on the phone to our daughter Jo so didn't respond immediately and he shouted , " Ann it's really important come quickly " . So I told Jo must go John wants me. When I got down stairs I saw that Googles , our cat had brought in a small bird,  who was  by now lying limp on the floor and Googles was relaxing watching and waiting to be applauded for bringing home her prey.
 John said " I wonder if it's dead or maybe it is badly hurt and  in shock . "  I picked it up and said, " It does seem dead to me " .
 Then John said, " No I think it actually looks alive ",  and with that it gave a little twitch.
 I took it up stairs in the palm of my hand and sat on my bed feeling it as best I could.
 It was so small and light it felt as if there wasn't anything there.
 I really had to focus to feel its subtle vibrations..
 I sat there for a while as the evening drew in and wondered what to do.
I thought if it dies at least it will die in a loving atmosphere, then I thought maybe it is not meant to die maybe I should try some Reconnective healing.  So I gently brought  my free hand up above it's body and began to feel for the  'energy' then I slowly drew the  " energy through and along its body. I didn't do too much of this because I felt the ' energy ' might be too much for such a small animal.
Then I just sat there sending love and drawing a little energy every now and then.
 About a half hour later John came to enquire , "Any change Ann ? he asked . "
Not much  "I said..
 John turned on the light so we could have a better look .
 Suddenly the head moved and next thing to the sound of flapping wings we saw it fly to the window.
 As soon as I opened the window off it flew, leaving us full of wonder and delight.
 Such an amazing experience , so glad John called me and gave this little bird a second chance.
It felt like such a KIND happening .
 Was it yet another coincidence like yesterday's FUN coincidence or is  life  interacting  with us in such amazing ways all the time ?
 I don't  know the answer but I'm certainly keeping up the experiment .



Still Experimenting !



If you are experimenting with me there is one very important aspect of this  ' work ' that I forgot to mention yesterday.
We need to review our day, probably the best time for this is around bedtime,  I remembered to do it on my way to bed last night but was too tired to blog right then.

So let's do it again now  ( all that really matters is that we remember to do it and take stock )

Yesterday the words I was ' focusing '  on were  FUN , FRIENDSHIP, VITALITY, and FLOW.
If I'm honest I think that was a few too many.

In my review the one that stood out was FUN I really found myself laughing more yesterday and noticing fun more than usual.

When I was out with Su and Garry we passed the local primary school and the 'low infants ' were in the school yard learning some first words in Irish. They each  had a 'football '  and were  ' playing ' with the balls to learn the words . The teacher would sing " Liathroid ar mo ceann " ( ball on my head  ) and all the children would repeat. " liathroid ar mo ceann ". There was fun and excitement in the air the young teacher was fabulous and making the experience  fun. It was in her voice and in the children's responses.

Was it a ' coincidence ' that I ' met 'this group ,  was it that I had primed myself to notice fun ?
We can never be fully sure but that was just one of the  FUN events in my day yesterday so I'm keeping that word active .
As I said earlier I think I had too many words yesterday so today I'm sticking with FUN and I'm going  to add KINDNESS.

Notice what words you chose yesterday ( it is a good idea to write them down ).
Take a few minutes to close your eyes and review yesterday. ( NOW )

When you I find  evidence of the word working write down your observations.
This is really important as it lets your mind know that you want more evidence and this helps .

Now pick your words for today . Spend a few minutes with your eyes closed focusing on each word to awaken memories and prime your day.

Now I must dash off as Su needs her walk before my  " Workshop " at 12 15pm .

Can't wait to see what FUN and KINDNESS turns up in my life today.

And I hope you have a Fabulous day too.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

The "Creation ' Experiment

( T'ai Chi Lessons posted below )



It's now 11.28pm in Ireland and this is the post I was planning to write at 9.30 am this morning.
It has been a busy day and a most enjoyable one too.
Anybody who reads this blog knows by now that I am a big fan of Gratitude.
I love to make gratitude lists in order to remind myself of just how privileged a life this is.
If you are reading this you too among that group of fortunate people who have access  to the internet. Anyway I digress this post is not about gratitude lists but it is a related topic, you could say it is a first cousin.  (We Irish are big into the cousins. )
So this post is about an attention exercise.
 It is my experience that when I pay attention to some aspect of my life I get more of it.
Having noticed this, I have decided to try an experiment ( I am after all a scientist at heart ).
I'm inviting you to participate in this interesting experiment with your attention and your life.
I'm really excited now and hope you are getting excited too.

Here it is.
Pick a word for example ,  KIND  Allow yourself to feel the word KIND Take your time and remember a kind action either one that you did or was done to you.  Go on  stop for a minute and close your eyes and take the time to really feel and remember KINDNESS.
If you have spent a minute or two doing this exercise your brain is now primed to notice KINDNESS ( cool isn't it ).

  I  picked  FUN  today, and it really helped when things got a bit hectic. There was a big mix up about keys that prevented me from blogging this morning and thanks to my  ' FUN ' focus I just saw the humour of the situation and enjoyed the run around instead of fretting about it.

I planning to add  FLOW, VITALITY, and  FRIENDSHIP tomorrow  (it's actually 12 .02 now so this will be for later today when I awaken.

I hope you will make a list and join me in this experiment on creation ,  let's see if we can 'create' more FUN
 more FRIENDSHIP  VITALITY and all your lists too.


Sunday 22 September 2013

What a Wonderful World


                                     
                          You don't have to travel to find wonder

                     
                                                 

                              Just go for a walk







               And wonder at the awesom abundance of our planet




                               


Amazing life forms





                                                   
                           Colours to delight our eyes






           
                     All sorts of friends to entertain and love us







                         
                         Skies that take our breath away







                              Sitting in traffic can be as magical









As a walk in the woods






                     
                  The magic is all around we just need the eyes to see it.






Saturday 21 September 2013

Abundance



                 Here is my ode to this Autumn's abundance
                       





                      Apples from my garden






                          

                    Berries from a walk








             Together with love and pastry








              Metamorphosed by heat to then be savoured.


                True abundance, to recognise, the gifts all around,

                 the apple tree's bounty the hedgerow's reward.

                Can anyone deny the riches that surround us.




Friday 20 September 2013

Roshi and the Crickets

       


     Roshi poured me a glass of Courvoisier. We were in a
                     cabin on Mt.Baldy, summer of 1977. We were
                      listening to the crickets.
                   - Kone, Roshi said, you should write a cricket poem.
                   - I've already written a cricket poem. It was in this
                      cabin two years ago.
                   - Oh.
             Roshi fried some sliced pork in sunflower oil and boiled
                      a three minute noodle soup. We finished one bottle
                      of courvoisier and opened another.
                   - Yah, Kone, you should write a cricket poem.
                   - That is a very Japanese idea, Roshi.
                   - So.
               We listened to the crickets a while longer. Then we
                     closed the the light so we could open the door and
                     the breeze without the flies coming in.
                  - Yah, Cricket.
                  - Roshi, give me your idea of a cricket poem.
                  - Ha ha. Okay:
                dark night ( said Roshi)
                cricket sound break out
                cricket girlfriend listening.
                 - That's pretty good, Roshi.
                Dark night ( Rochi began again)
                walking on the path    
                suddenly break out cricket sound
                where is my lover?
                - I don't like that one.
                cricket ! cricket !  ( Roshi cried )
                you are my lover
                now I'm walking path alone
                but I'm not lonely  with you.
                 - I'm afraid not Roshi. The first one was good.
               Then the crickets stopped for a while and Roshi poured
                   Courvoisier into our glasses. It was a peaceful
                   night.
               -  Yah, Koen, said Roshi very softly you should write
                    more sad.

                                                         Leonard Cohen

You can see a beautiful clip of Leonard Cohen speaking about
            Sasaki Roshi  Here







Thursday 19 September 2013

Ways to celebrate life







                    21 Ways To Celebrate Life

I cane across Nancy's list and thought that's a very good list of ideas to work on . And of course one of my top ways to celebrate life is in the practice of my beloved T'ai Chi,  here again is the first few lessons for all my  fabulous  beginners great to see so many new faces .







             

After Nancy Rothstein's son, Josh, died  unexpectedly, she was seeking a way to offer a tribute for family and friends to honor his birthday. With each passing birthday, she adds one more item to the list.
Last April 16 would've been Josh's 21st birthday, and true to her tradition, Nancy shared these 21 ways to celebrate life:

Smile. Smiling makes you and those around you feel good. If you don’t feel good, a smile can trick your brain into feeling better.

Eat ice cream.

Run on the beach. If you can’t physically do this, use your imagination.

Call someone who is ill or lonely. Listen to their story. Take the time. Tell them your story, if they ask.

Listen to music that touches your heart and soul.

Sing in the shower, or out loud if you are comfortable.

Visit the grave of a loved one and celebrate your continued BREATH. And tell your loved one what’s on your mind.

Play with a dog.

Thank yourself for putting up with all the things about yourself that drive you nuts! Activate your sense of humor!

Apologize to someone you have wronged in any way.

Take a day, or even a few hours, “off” to do something you always want to do but never take the time to do.

Eat something you never indulge in (unless allergic!) and savor every bite….slowly. No guilt permitted!

Re-watch your favorite funny or happy movie in your most comfortable clothes.

Make plans with 2 friends that you are crazy about but never see…near or far away.

Go outdoors to a natural setting. Sit. Close your eyes. Listen to the world. It’s all an extension of you! Your breath connects you intrinsically to the world.

Laugh. Do something fun or silly that evokes laughter. It has been said that laughter is God’s sunshine.

Place this list in an envelope and revisit it periodically to see how you are celebrating YOURSELF! If you are good to yourself, you can be much better to those around you.

Go to your heart and make all your decisions from there; and all will be well.

Follow the path that matters.

Believe and feel the change you want to see and you will BE the change you envision.

....Yet you must know that in the end, it is LOVE’s garden you must tend.
If you had to add one more to this list, what would it be?


Wednesday 18 September 2013

The Human Energy Field

( If you are looking for the T'ai Chi Lessons Scroll back to Tuesday's blog post)

Here below I have posted  a little information about the human energy field.
 When you practice meditation eg T'ai Chi, your energy field becomes ' charged ' .
 It is not just T'ai Chi or meditation that does this.
Whenever your spirits lift , while smiling, while remembering happy memories, planning happy outings, bumping into friends who make you laugh etc .
All these positive ' happenings ' charge your energy body and  increase its vibration, and this helps you in many ways.
 It  improves your mood and your health and also helps you feel more connected and integrated in your life.





Details of the 7 Layers of The Aura
The First Layer: The Etheric Body.
This layer is the physical blueprint of the body. Like the base or root chakra, it relates to the health, survival and security of the physical body. Physical signs of illness and injury can be seen in this layer. The etheric layer is a major part of our immune system and usually appears to visual sight as a light blue or grey light. This is usually the easiest layer to see and the first layer seen.

The Second Layer: The Emotional Body.
This layer relates to your emotions and boundaries, emotions with us and emotions we have for others around us. The emotional layer is often seen as a swirling mass of energy around the body.

The Third Layer: The Mental Body.
This layer stores and run the programs associated with your basic beliefs, your intellect, personal power and understanding. This is the layer of thought and ideas. This layer is usually most visible around the head and shoulders as a yellow glow. It is in this layer that thought and ideas actually become substantiated.

The Fourth Layer: The Astral Layer Body.
Marks the division between the physical layers and the higher layers this coordinates between the Physical, Golden HEART & Spiritual Being. This layer is responsible for interaction between people. It is the layer of love and of relationships. Your relationship with others, yourself, and your physical body.

The Fifth Layer: The Conceptual Body.
This layer is the spiritual part of us created at conception, it is part of the DNA of that unique individual. This body is a copy of the physical body on a higher level. It is the basic template of your uniqueness and inner identity.

The Sixth Layer: The Celestial Body.
Is the body of the emotional level on the spiritual plane. It is the layer of group consciousness, clairvoyance, and it is the level of communication with other beings.

The Seventh Layer: The Soul,
This is God, The Divine within Us and our connection with Him. This is the mental layer of the spiritual level, it is our spiritual template. Through this layer we meld and become one with Spirit, the part that never dies it just evolves to higher levels. Through this layer we can access universal knowledge and it has all the memory of any past existences both physical and Spiritual.

If you found this interesting and would like to know more about how the energy field and how it is  measured click on the link below.

Reiki News Article
http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/sciencemeasures.htm

Tuesday 17 September 2013

The Energy field of the Heart






The heart is the first organ to form in the body. It is the organizing factor for physical formation, including  the  formation of the brain.
 The heart contains extensive brain-like neural matter ( just like the neurons that send messages in our brains)  and has recently been classified as a gland because it produces its own hormones.
 In addition to our cerebral brain, we indeed have a "heart brain."
The heart not only puts out its own balancing and regulating hormones, but also instantaneously communicates electromagnetic and chemical information to the rest of the body and to other bodies near it.






 When two people touch, the heartwave of one can be seen registering in the brainwave of the other.

HEART FACTS

Research by the Institute for HeartMath in California  has shown that the heart is the most powerful generator of electromagnetic energy in the human body:

 The heart's electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity generated by the brain.

 The magnetic field produced by the heart is more than 5000 times greater in strength than the field generated by the brain.

 The electromagnetic energy of the heart not only envelops every cell of the human body, but also extends out in all directions in the space around us.

 Our cardiac field touches those within 8 - 10 feet of where we are positioned (and perhaps in more subtle ways at greater distances).

 One person's heart signal can effect another's brainwaves, and heart-brain synchronization can occur between two people when they interact.

 Research conducted at the Institute of HeartMath suggests that the heart's field is an important carrier of information.

Here below is a Heart Coherence Exercise from Heartmath wonderful for energising and strengthening our hearts.

Step 1: Heart Focus

Gently focus your attention on your in the area of your heart.It may help to place your hand over your heart. If your mind wanders just keep bringing your attention back to the area of your heart.

Step 2:

Heart Breathing

As you focus on the area of your heart , pretend your breath is flowing in and out through that area. This helps your mind and energy to stay focused and your respiration and hearth rhythms to synchronise. Breath slowly and gently, until your breathing feels smooth and balanced.

Step 3:

Heart Feeling

As you continue to breathe, recall a positive feeling, a time when you ' felt good inside.' Now try
to re experience the feeling. This could be a feeling of appreciation or care toward a special person, a pet, a place you enjoy, or an activity that was fun. Allow yourself to really' feel ' this good feeling of appreciation or care. If you can't feel anything, it's okay, just try to find a sincere attitude of appreciation or care. Once you have found a positive feeling or attitude, you can sustain it by continuing your heart focus, heart breathing, and heart feeling.







Monday 16 September 2013

Lesson for new beginners class at ARC House



A big welcome to the ARC class. Here are the first few lessons and two of the warm up exercises we worked on today.  Looking forward to seeing you all again soon.





























Sunday 15 September 2013

Beautiful Zen Teaching











One of the things that is realized when you see the nature of the self is that what you do and what happens to you are the same thing. Realizing that you do not exist separately from everything else, you realize responsibility: you are responsible for everything you experience. You can no longer say, " He made me angry." How could he make you angry ? Only you can make you angry. That understanding changes your way of relating to the world and your way of looking at stress. You see that stress is created in your mental processing of your experience. It usually has to do with separation. Whenever a threat, barrier, or obstacle pops up, our immediate reaction is to pull back, to prepare mentally or physically to fight or run. If you become the barrier- become the fear,the pain, the anger- by experiencing it fully without judging or avoiding or running away, and then let it go, there is no barrier. Actually, there is no way to pull away from it; you cannot run away. There is nowhere to run to, nothing to run from: it is you.

                                                       -   John Daido Loori











The aspect of Zen in which I am personally interested is nothing that  can  be organised, taught, transmitted, certified, or wrapped up in any system. It can't even be followed, for everyone has to find it for himself.

                             If you do not get from yourself,
                                                 
                             Where will you go for it ?
                                                                         
                                                   Alan Watts






Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. James Matthew Barrie







                                 GOSPEL  NOBLE  TRUTHS

                                       Born in this world
                             
                                       You got to suffer

                                       Everything changes

                                       You got no soul


                                       Try to be gay
 
                                       Ignorant happy

                                       You get the blues

                                       You eat jellyroll


                                       There is one way

                                       You take the high road

                                       In your big Wheel

                                       8 steps you fly

                                     
                                       Look at the view

                                       Right to horizon

                                       Talk to the sky

                                       Act like you talk


                                     Work like the sun

                                     Shine in your heaven

                                     See what you done

                                     Come down & walk


                                    Sit you sit down

                                    Breath when you breathe

                                    Lie down   you lie down
                                 
                                   Walk where you walk


                                   Talk when you talk
         
                                    Cry when you cry

                                    Lie down    you lie down

                                    Die when you die



                                   Look when you look

                                   Hear what  you hear

                                   Taste what you taste   here

                                    Smell what you smell


                                   Touch what you touch

                                   Think what you think

                                   Let go Let it go   Slow

                                   Earth Heaven & Hell

         
                                   Die when you die

                                   Die when you die

                                   Lie down    you lie down

                                   Die when you die

                                            Allen Ginsberg

                               
                           
   Beautiful fun and inspiring .  Alan Ginsberg singing  Gospel Noble Truths on youtube
Alan Ginsberg " Gospel Noble Truths"



Friday 13 September 2013

Thank God For Libraries







 
      Here we are ' Taiching '   in Mallow Library a haven for
                    lovers of learning.


I love a trip to the library because I often find books there that I might otherwise  never have ' stumbled '  across . This trip was no exception. I don't know why I was drawn to " Ten Things I Learned From Bill Porter " I had never heard the name Bill Porter,  when I picked up the book, written on the cover was "Bill Porter is a sterling example that each of us can overcome any adversity, setback or handicap. Bill is  inspirational to everyone. " Mark -Victor Hansen.
My curiosity was aroused,  I love to read inspirational stories , as I read  the foreword my body tingled with goosebumps ( always a good sign  ). The more I read the more I wanted to read and learn what this amazing man and his ' assistant ' Shelly Brady had to teach me. Here is a link to an extract from the book so you can see if it inspires you too.   Daily Om


Thursday 12 September 2013

Beginning T'ai Chi


Here is the Mini Form I developed as an introduction to T'ai Chi.

 What I like about it is it obeys the principles of T'ai Chi while allowing people to begin training on movements which are simple.

 It is based on the Yang style short form so when people want to learn that they already have a good foundation.

 However the mini form can stand on it's own as a T'ai Chi practice for people who are busy and need some way to wind down .
It  can be used as a short trip inside to recharge and renew one's energy and develop concentration, empathy and connection to one's self and the world.






Here is the Mini Form  with the ARC group from last term.





Here I'm calling out the postures.







Finally here is the centring exercise based on open focus training.


So looking forward to next week classes and to meeting new students and getting back to work with some old friends too.




Wednesday 11 September 2013

To the river with Su






                                It's nice to have you home said Su








                          So we walked down to the river







                  The sun shone through the clouds







                    And made beautiful reflections








              Everywhere I looked






     
                     We strolled through the meadow








                     To the beach






                       Su drank in the river








              While I drank in the view








                     Back by the wood

               






Suzie lead the way  








I stopped  for a last look back.