Single Whip Lesson

Here is the Single Whip Lesson for lase evening.

trim.7FBF7812-5F8F-46DD-9D0A-7E755111A213 from ann on Vimeo.

It is a tricky posture at the best of times but this diagonal version is very difficult to grasp first time you work on it.

White Crane Spreads Wings

We worked on White Crane Spreads Wings last evening in the park. I love everything about this posture from it's beautiful evocative name , it's application ( which I'll post tomorrow because I forgot to record it), to the movements themselves. In White Crane Spreads Wings we connect strongly to heart energy and circulate it around and through our bodies. The palm of the left hand connects first and then the palm of the right hand drawing this healing energy through our hearts. The opening up of our posture adds to the overall healing aspect of this posture and leaves us refreshed and renewed.

trim.51E2A6A2-9E6E-42FC-A4DC-2200B708C8D8 from ann on Vimeo.

Hear we are learning these beautiful movements.

T'ai Chi Lessons For Mondays' Classes

Here is the Mini Form For Monday Morning's Class

Mini Form Lesson 1 and 2 from ann on Vimeo.


Mini Form  For The Afternoon Class

Full Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.


Short Form For This Evening's Class

Short Form to Crossing Hands from ann on Vimeo.

Positive Emotions And Fun Heal Our Bodies And Our Minds

Research at the University of North Carolina showed that increased positive emotion (such as joy and compassion ) helped regulate the bodies nervous system., and in Japan researchers found that when baby rats were tickled for five minutes a day for five days in a row to stimulate positive emotion , the rats' brains grew new connections and the rats became more intelligent. Norman Cousins famously discovered the power of laughter when he used it to cure himself of paralysis and a life threatening disease. He found that ten minutes of good belly laughter eased his pain for up to two hours.
There is a huge body of growing evidence that positive emotions help us in many ways.
Experiencing emotions such as gratitude , excitement , joy, enthusiasm , awe , fascination, wonder , trust, appreciation , kindness and compassion give us an advantage in maximising our health.
These emotions not only add to our health they increase our energy and zest for life.
So the all important question.  How to have these emotions more often ?
I say practice Yes practice. Make a list Right Now of the last time you experienced these emotions and make a decision to remember the emotions and even doing that will awaken you to more of these emotions. It will awaken you to opportunities to experience awe daily , to experience kindness daily , to experience love daily. It will awaken you to  making these experiences your daily diet and not just emotions that occur by chance.
I have just done this exercise myself and can feel the shift in my energy, can feel my enthusiasm is high and I can't wait to post this so you can share in these [positive emotions.

Epigenetics And ' Un - aging ' The Body

Opening our minds to what’s possible, instead of presuming impossibility, can lead to better health at any age.
In September 1981 social psychologist Ellen Langer took a group of eight men in their seventies and eighties for five day retreat to a monastery in Peterborough, New Hampshire. For the time of the retreat the men were asked to pretend that they were young again  or at least 22 years younger than they were at that time. On the retreat the men were surrounded by cues to help them re-create the earlier age. They watches movies and television programmes from that time, they listened to recordings of Perry Como and Nat King Cole on the radio and in general relived that time in their lives as much as possible. Everything was arranged to help them IMAGINE that they were young again.

After the retreat the researchers took several measurements and compared them to those they had taken before the start of the study. The bodies of the men were younger both structurally and functionally.   The researchers discovered improvements in height and weight the men grew taller as their posture straightened and their joints became more flexible. Their grip strength improved as did their eyesight and hearing.
The men literally became younger in those five days, right in front of the researchers eyes.

How did this happen ?
 The men had turned on circuits in their brains that reminded them of who they had been 22 years earlier and their body chemistry had responded. They didn't just 'feel' younger their bodies had become younger. The answer is their GENES which are not as immutable as we formerly believed.
Thanks to epigenetics  we now have proof that organisms  ( including people as in the above example ) can change the expression of genes. Genes are what decide how our bodies express themselves. Genes control the production of hormones which control our mood , our digestive system in fact genes control us. But now we Know that we ourselves can influence the activation of our genes. We need no longer be victims of our genes but by becoming more conscious of our thoughts , our emotions and our choices, we can activate genes which enhance our well being.

Rewiring Our Brains

In the 1990's Eric Kandel's   discovery that the number of connections in a neural bundle can double with repeat stimulation won him a Nobel Prize. Kandel later discovered that if we don't use neural connections, they begin to shrink in just three weeks. This knowledge affords us the reshape our brain via the signals we pass  through our neural network,. in other words through the thoughts we think and the emotions we 'practice '.
It seems that negative emotions may literally be an addiction to high levels of our own stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline. Both these stress hormones and relaxation hormones DHEA and oxytocin have set points, which explains why we feel uncomfortable in our skin when we think thoughts or feel emotions that drive our hormonal balance outside our comfort zone.

I find it helps to know even that feeling good ( if we are not used to it ) can push us out of our comfort zone.
It explains why we sometimes stop a practice that makes us feel better. If you understand what is happening and can Let Go and Allow the uncomfortable feelings to be there , even say YES to the discomfort, in a short while feeling good will become the new normal for you and stress and discomfort will be what takes you out of  your comfort zone.

Practices that teach us to stay steady with discomfort such as, meditation , T'ai Chi and  Sedona Method Enquiry all help us to rewire our brains in a more positive and liberating way.

I love that neuroscience helps us to understand how this work.

Tuesday Evening In The Park

What a wonderful place to practice T'ai Chi



trim.D2D46F26-C2D4-499E-BA32-8D2B2BF6053B from ann on Vimeo.

We worked on the single whip posture.



trim.ED35E7BC-1D40-49D8-889D-ECBC315F61AF from ann on Vimeo.

And one of it's applications .


trim.CF05A015-38F8-4996-A127-5D0462C83234 from ann on Vimeo.

Sara working with Rioghnach.

Some of last weeks beginners came back for more T'ai Chi and we all felt wonderful at the end of this magical session by the pond.

T'ai Chi In Fitzgerald's Park this Evening

We will meet here near the rose garden for more T'ai Chi this evening. 

Looking forward to another great session.

T'ai Chi Lessons for Monday's Classes

Here is the Mini Form for Monday morning's class.

Mini Form Lesson 1 and 2 from ann on Vimeo.



Short Form for Monday evening's class
Short form to shoulder stroke. from ann on Vimeo.

I Am a film by Tom Shadyac

Such an inspiring, hopeful, uplifting movie. Treat yourself to the time to watch it. I just did and am really grateful  to Tom Shadyac for making this movie.
                                               
                                                     I AM

Some Views From My Trip To West Cork And The Links To The Sedona Method I Promised

Thanks and Goodbye to the Organising team Louise, Micheál and Catherine.

I'm off to see some of W Cork !

Surrounded on all sides by mountains and sea.

When you see grass growing on the 'main' road you know you are a long way West !

You can  feel quite alone in this landscape.

It fells empty in a good way.

And yet there is evidence . . . . .

And tranquil beauty.

To delight the senses.

And Here Are The Links I Promised 

The Letting Go Movie  Letting Go Movie

The Special Release Process For Cleaning Up On Relationships  Special Clean Up

Eyeries Visit

Here is the Cumasu Bus where today's workshops took place.

The bus expands out into a quite large space really handy to allow events like today's to be brought to people living in places far and wide.

We had a great turnout for the Introduction to the Sedona Method. I just hope I did the method justice in the 2 hours we spent exploring some of the principals of Releasing.

Here is the link to the Letting Go Movie where you can explore some more.

 Click Here for the movie Letting Go Movie

And here is the link to The Special Release Process a great tool for working on relationship issues.

CLICK Here for the  Special Release Process

I really hope that you find this method of letting go helps to free you from limiting beliefs that hold you back from allowing your true radiant self to shine.  I also hope it helps you to enjoy life more , enjoy your relationships , your work and your play to the full.

More on my trip West Tomorrow

Sharing T'ai Chi and The Sedona Method In Eyeries On The Beara Peninsula West Cork Tomorrow

trim.5958D9C3-CAE6-4B32-B0F6-D56699F2D84B from ann on Vimeo.

               Sharing T'ai Chi


I'm off to Eyeries way down in West Cork tomorrow.   Eyeries Map

The Introduction To The Sedona Method  Workshop Will be from 2-3 and takes place in the Cumasú Bus .
The T'ai Chi Workshop will be outdoors  directly afterwards the Sedona Introduction.

These workshops are Free as part of the Eyeries Family Festival being held this weekend.

I am really looking forward to sharing this work with more people and spreading positive energy.

It is also a great opportunity to visit Eyeries. I have been out the  Castletownbere side of this peninsula many times but have not been on the northern side of the peninsula yet so I am excited to see new views . I just love heading somewhere new especially when it means working to spread the positive benefits of T'ai Chi and Releasing.

Looking Forward

Training in the garden tonight

trim.44388A02-95B8-422F-8F90-DA372B97323D from ann on Vimeo.

We had a good session in the garden with Suzie and Googles keeping an eye on the proceedings!


trim.E97F8EEF-0B80-435A-8614-88E5B6A884C6 from ann on Vimeo.



trim.C7BB1ED6-22A9-4ADA-9692-AF6B8E25A157 from ann on Vimeo.

What a great summer it is turning out to be.

So Excited and delighted I have found out how to upload my videos from my I Pad to Vimeo !

trim.5958D9C3-CAE6-4B32-B0F6-D56699F2D84B from ann on Vimeo.

Here is the First Lesson of the Mini Form we worked on this last Tuesday evening in the park.




trim.EC729F82-41BE-4B04-961E-871C6CB5459B from ann on Vimeo.



And here is a sample of the energy work we did. I developed this energy exercise to enable people to become conscious of the energetic connection when working together.
What a great night we had can't wait for next week.

“The greatest discovery and development of the coming years will be along spiritual lines. Here is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest power in the development of man and history, and yet we have been merely playing with it and have never seriously studied it as we have physical forces. Some day people will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of little use in making men and women creative and powerful. Then the scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to the study of the spiritual forces. When this day comes, the world will see more advancement in one generation than it has in the past four.”

 Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Inventor of the Alternating-Current Motor

It seems to me that Charles Stinmetz's predictions are coming true, what is Lester Levenson' s teaching but a scientific study of spiritual forces.

Tonight In Fitzgerald's Park

It was great to have so many people for our T'ai Chi Open Session.

We worked on the first lesson of the Mini Form.

We also did some energy work.

It was really nice to get to share this practice with some new people and great too to have support from some of my long term students. 

What's Here Now

What's Here Now ? is one of the most powerful questions that I have learned to ask my self.

When I listen to Sedona method recordings or attend a seminar Hale Dwoskin often asks us to simply notice what is here right now.
So let's take a minute to do just that.

While you read these words allow yourself to notice how your body feels .

 Feel your body from your feet on the ground ,

up through your legs,

now your whole torso,

 from the tips of your fingers to your shoulders,

 all around your shoulders and neck ,

  your whole head,

 all around your face ,

allowing yourself to feel into each place.

Each time you reread the body parts allow yourself to feel a bit deeper into yourself.

Now welcome up all your thoughts and just allow them to be here without trying to fix or change them.

Just for now allow your mind to be the way it is , allow it to think what it wants without interfering.

Notice how it feels when you pay attention to  " What's Here Now ? "

I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.

In love and gratitude to the Sedona method.

T'ai Chi in Fitzgerald's Park Tomorrow Evening and Today's Lesson For The ARC Class

Here is the new bandstand where we will practice if it is very wet.

it is more likely that you eill need to walk along thid path

Past this beautiful copper beech

Between the ponds

We will be here in the rose garden

Or 'next door' looking at the children's playground  ( if we need shelter from the wind ).

You can't miss us ! And we will be looking out for you all. We are really looking forward to spending time sharing our love for this practice. I am getting a great response from people so we should have a lovely group of interested people ready to experience the fun and joy of T'ai Chi. The session is from 6.30-7 45. 

See You there. 

A Big welcome to today's beginners at ARC House here is your  lesson plus a little extra.

Mini Form Lesson 1 and 2 from ann on Vimeo.

You can 'stick' along with me to the end of the recording or just stop where we finished today.

It was really lovely to meet you all and introduce you to T'ai Chi looking forward to our next session together.

Letting Go

Lester said that as soon as he began working on himself he noticed just how much he wanted to fix or change everything, how much he wanted to control  the world he experienced. He wanted to change himself, his friends , even movie endings. He challenges us to love everything and everybody not so they will change but because they are that way, to love unconditionally. Thank God he also gave us the method to help us let go of the obstacles in our minds,  at least we have a 'road map' , so we can follow his way. 

Thanks To All

A Huge Thanks to everyone who came along last evening and made this session such a success.

Thanks to you for sharing , for spreading the word about this work and allowing our group to grow bigger and for being willing to dig deeper and deeper into ourselves in order to 'Let Go' of our limitations and be free let our true shinning nature to reveal itself.

Looking forward to our August session already.

Releasing And T'ai Chi Session Tomorrow Evening

Cross Energy Exercise in Open Focus from ann on Vimeo.
                                      Blackrock Last Summer



I'm preparing for tomorrow evening's work in Blackrock, if the weather permits we will begin the session with some outdoor T'ai Chi.

I am looking forward to the Releasing Session I have been getting great feedback about people's gains and general sense of ease and well being. This is the fruit of Releasing our wants, and allowing more awareness  our true nature to shine through in our daily life. Feedback like this is what inspires and encourages me to pursue this sharing of Lester Levenson's work.

T'ai Chi In Fitzgrerald's Park Tuesday July 15''th 6.30 -7 45 A Free Introduction

We will begin at 6.30 no previous experience needed. This session is a fun introduction to T'ai Chi energy work and also the first lesson of the Mini Form .  Here below is an short video from last year's open session.





Figure 8 Exercise through the heart from ann on Vimeo.





We will meet  in the rose garden if  its really wet  we will be under the new band stand.
Let your friends know it is sure to be a fun evening.

Tuesday's T'ai Chi Lesson In The Park

So lovely to practice outside in the park surrounded by trees and the sounds of summer.

T'ai Chi lesson from ann on Vimeo.



Mini Form In The Park from ann on Vimeo.

T'ai Chi Lessons For Monday's Classes

Full Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.


monday jan 2013 003 from ann on Vimeo.




Short form to shoulder stroke. from ann on Vimeo.

Heart Work

Figure 8 Heart Exercise Connecting Heaven and Earth from ann on Vimeo.

When Hsiao Hwa visited last year we 'taichied ' on the Band Stand
to keep out of the evening mist.

Here below is the new playground where the Band Stand stood last year.

It is nice to see that this space is still a place of fun and connection.
Children's fun is great heart work both for them and for us who watch and enjoy.




Figure 8 partner work hands doing opposite 8s from ann on Vimeo.

' Fighting ' In The Garden

Now that we have almost completed the 'Fight Set'  our work of polishing it begins.

 This is the real work, taking each posture apart and studying each move in detail.

 Just as when we finish learning a form we begin the real work of understanding it. Repeating it again and again until we know it from the inside out. 

 This is the joy of daily practise ,the joy of uncovering hidden treasure, discovering subtle features we had missed in our first learning , second learning and many other journeys through the form.




Back Garden Fight Set from ann on Vimeo.




Back Garden T'ai Chi from ann on Vimeo.



Fighting in the garden from ann on Vimeo.

Summertime Practice

Summer is great for outdoor practice.  I love this reminder of good out door sessions.
Reminds me to do some more.

T'ai Chi In Fitzgerald's Park

We are ' Taiching ' in the park each Tuesday evening all welcome. This session is from 6- 7. 15 pm.


Waving Hands In The Clouds from ann on Vimeo.

What a lovely setting.

Warm sunshine , bird song and, water cascading from the pond's fountain,perfect accompaniment for T'ai Chi.

Here is the short form lesson we worked on. 

Fitzgerald's Pk T'ai chi from ann on Vimeo.

T'ai Chi Lessons for Monday's Classes, Short Form for the evening group and Mini Form for ARC

Here is the Short Form to Shoulder Stroke for Monday Evening's class.



  Short form to shoulder stroke. from ann on Vimeo.



Mini Form Lessons


Withdraw and Push from ann on Vimeo.

Yesterday's Lesson .





ARC Lessson from ann on Vimeo.

Last two lessons together.