Some More Views from West Cork

When the T'ai Chi session ended a friend took me for a short 

This most beautiful place

Not a puff of wind which reminded me of my sailing holiday down here on Bere Island many years ago when we spent two becalmed sun drenched weeks waiting in vain for some wind. 

But the calm sea looked perfect to me on this September afternoon.

A short stop in Castletownbere 

To look at the boats 

And the harbour

Before heading back 

Stopping often

To soak up the beauty

Along the road to Kenmare

A final stop by the Pier 

To view the sunset

 

Sunday T'ai Chi In Castletownbere and a link to the T'ai Chi Lessons

trim.E725D480-7F5A-466C-97CA-1DFF9795CEDE from ann on Vimeo.

From the first views of the Kerry mountains ( the Magical Paps)

The early morning mists

And the blue just appearing I was loving every mile

Then this wonderfull space

Filled with mary Callaghan's beautiful work

Which inspired our T'ai Chi

What a fabulous day of T'ai Chi and travell yerserday turned out to be !

 Here is a link to the post with the T'ai Chi lessons just scroll down when you open it.
 Post with lessons and warm ups

Loads more from this fabulous day later.



 

Albert Camus On Happiness And Love

“If those whom we begin to love could know us as we were before meeting them … they could perceive what they have made of us.

Here is a beautiful article   Camus on Happiness And Love

T'ai Chi In Castletownbere

I'm all set for T'ai Chi in Castletownbere tomorrow.
We will work on the Mini Form, Energy exercises and other exercises which teach the principles of T'ai Chi.
The Sarah Walker gallery is a fabulous venue with it's high celing, the inspiration of artwork, and of course we are almost in the sea which surrounds the building and add a great energy to the space.
Looking forward to sharing time with others who want to explore this Art. T'ai Chi is so mysterious and deep, it is beyond words and my mind is finally letting go of figureing out how it does it's magic and just enjoying the doing of it and allowing it's fruits to manifest themselves.
here below are the first four postures of the Mini Form that we will investigate tomorrow, and also some of the exercises that teach the principles of T'ai Chi.

Mini Form to brush left knee and push for the Monday Morning Class from ann on Vimeo.




Warm up exercises from ann on Vimeo.




Turning the ball warm up from ann on Vimeo.

Feeling Beyond The Labels

                                                    Blackrock Castle

One of ways that we release using Lester's method, is by looking or more precisely , feeling into sensations beyond labels.
 Let me explain, when we say we are anxious, this is a label  a blanket which really tells nothing of the experience we are having in the moment. When we take the time to look beyond the label to the actual sensations we experiencing in that moment we begin to really engage with our body and feel what is actually happening inside. this is much closer to reality than any label. When we have the courage to do this we can begin to discover what anxiety, fear, shame etc  actually feel like to us. As soon as we feel the sensations, welcoming them into our awareness we often begin to relax. We come to recognise that the sensations once fully allowed begin to dissolve all by themselves. These sensations are like children who have been neglected they are shouting to get our attention, to let us know that we are off track. Once they have all had their say or in other words been fully experienced, they become quiet. they have been heard, we have listened and in that listening we have dissolved which ever emotion we have labelled at that time.  We realise that that label was not 'real' , it was just a tiger painted in our mind. This realisation is really empowering because now we KNOW through our own experience that labels are not real and that if we are willing to dig deeper we can free ourselves from labels that hold us back from the freedom to live life to the full.

T'ai Chi and Releasing Tomorrow In Blackrock

Looking forward to tomorrows T'ai Chi and Releasing session in Blackrock. We will dig deeper into our subconscious and release some more blocks to living a free happy fulfilling life.

Here is a sample of releasing for you to try. 

Next time you find yourself judging someone and disapproving of them stop, take a step back in your mind and notice how you feel.

 Now ask yourself " Could I let go of disapproving of this person ,  ( just for now) ? 

Then repeat asking yourself the question and keep letting go of that feeling of disapproval.

Now take another look inside and notice how you feel. 

How you feel towards that person. 

Next, notice how you feel towards yourself. 

You see when we disprove of anyone it doesn't feel good. 

Our true nature is loving and when we disapprove of anyone  we don't like it  we are out of line with our true nature. 

Try it,  as Lester would say,  " Take it for checking" .

Short Form Lesson Diagonal Flying

trim.11F83277-CFCA-4EE8-9DED-54EAA5A6987A from ann on Vimeo.

Here is the lesson.




trim.BD82C348-D09C-4C1F-8B67-AFE7429E1F55 from ann on Vimeo.

Hereand below  are Ann Marie and Marian investigating the application.


trim.0AF4ECAC-CAC1-4F03-851C-52C0FA30EF54 from ann on Vimeo.

Ram Dass On How Suffering Can Lead To Grace

For most people, when you say that suffering is Grace it seems off the wall to them. And we’ve got to deal now with our own suffering and other people’s suffering. That is a distinction that is very real, because we may see our suffering as Grace but it’s quite a different thing to look at somebody else’s suffering and say it’s Grace.

Grace is something that an individual can see about their own suffering and then use it to their advantage. It is not something that can be a rationalization for allowing another human being to suffer. You have to listen to the level at which another person is suffering. When somebody is hungry, you give them food. As my guru used to say, God comes to the hungry person in the form of food. You give them food and then when they’ve had their belly filled then they may be interested in questions about God. To give somebody a dharma lecture when they are hungry is just inappropriate methodology in terms of ending suffering.

So, the hard answer for seeing suffering as Grace, and this is a stinker really, is that you have to have consumed suffering into yourself. There is a tendency in us to find suffering aversive, and so we want to distance ourselves from it. Like if you have a toothache, it becomes that toothache. It’s not us any more. It’s that tooth. And so if there are suffering people, you want to look at them on television or meet them but then keep a distance from them. Because you are afraid you will drown in it. You are afraid you will drown in a pain that will be unbearable. And the fact of the matter is you have to. You finally have to. Because if you close your heart down to anything in the universe, it’s got you. You are then at the mercy of suffering.

To have finally dealt with suffering is to consume it into yourself. Which means you have to, with eyes open, be able to keep your heart open in hell. You have to look at what is, and say Yea, Right. And what it involves is bearing the unbearable. And in a way, who you *think* you are can’t do it. Who you *really* are, can do it. So that who you think you are has to die in the process.

Like, right now, I am counseling a couple who went to a movie and when they came home their house had burned down and their three children had burned to death. Three, five and seven. And she is Mexican Catholic and he is a Caucasian Protestant. And they are responding entirely different to it. She is going in to deep spiritual experiences and talking with the children and he is full of denial and anger and feelings of inadequacy. In a way, that situation is so unbearable and you wouldn’t ever lay that on another human being but there it is. What may happen is she may come out of this a much deeper, spiritual and a more profound, more evolved person. And he, because the way he dealt with it was through denial, may end up contracted and tight because he couldn’t embrace the suffering. He couldn’t go towards it. He pushed it away in order to preserve his sanity.

There is a process of suffering that requires you to die into it or to give up your image of yourself. When you say, "I can’t bear it", who is that? In India, they talk about their saints as being the living dead, because they have died to who they thought they were. And they talk about the saints for whom all people are their children, so that everybody that is dying is their child dying. In that way, suffering leads to Grace.

Lessons For Monday and Tuesday's Beginners

Mini Form to brush left knee and push for the Monday Morning Class from ann on Vimeo.



  Beginning Posture of the Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.



Warm up exercises from ann on Vimeo.



Turning the ball warm up from ann on Vimeo.

A Great Visit To My Little Wood With Gilbert

I introduced Gilbert ( my nephew ) to my favourite little wood today.

I was so pleased that he 'got ' why I love this place so much. 

I showed him all my favourite spots while telling him about my friend Con who also loved to these woods. 

Con had spent most of his life in America .

When he came back here he reintroduced pheasants to this wood, and they are still here even though Con has moved on to the next life. 

I told Gillbert all about Con and how he regaled me with stories about the wood ,Con said he used to practice his golf here before the mountain Ash trees had reclaimed the land.

A short while later Gilbert said, " look here Ann " .  We both stopped in our tracks, My heart filled with joy as I felt sure that Con had sent us a clear message that he was with us as we wandered.

Along these paths he loved so much.

We wandered for a short while more.

Along these silent paths.

Bid adieu to the wood. 

And returned home by this majestic Oak , what a perfect finish !

Adding Peace To The World

Each time our internal chatter stops even if it is just for an instant we add a little more peace to this world. I find it really encouraging to think that I am contributing to world peace through my daily practice of T'ai Chi and Meditation and Releasing . Through these efforts I am learning to recognise the peace that abides inside, this peace which is ever present  ( even when my mind is running wild ). Somehow knowing that this peace is always here helps to calm the wild mind. Knowing that when it calms I am adding to ' world calm ' helps me let go of petty concerns that tend to set my mind running  racing for solutions. Remembering to ask myself  "What is here beyond the racing mind ? " is a great way to connect with the peace and silencebeyond my thinking mind. This is the connection that nourishes , refreshes, and revitalises me and it is really great to know that it also helps the world.

The Birds Of Paradise And T'ai Chi Lessons For Friday Morning's Class

Here is a link to a beautiful short video about the birds of paradise.
  Birds Of Paradise




Mini Form to brush left knee and push for the Monday Morning Class from ann on Vimeo.





Warm up exercises from ann on Vimeo.



Turning the ball warm up from ann on Vimeo.

Next Releasing Session September 26'th

 
Our next Releasing Session is on Friday September 26'th from 6-10 In Blackrock Community Centre

We will meet at 5 for some T'ai Chi 

Looking forward to hearing some more great gains and breakthroughs.

Lester Levenson healed his body of many illnesses through the power of releasing all his non loving feelings and replacing them with love.
This is what we learn to do through his teachings. We will work together to release our non loving feelings, those feelings we have towards ourselves and aspects of our lives which challenge us. We will work on our goals , share our gains, the breakthroughs we have had thanks to this releasing work and connect with like minded people who also want to become more aligned with their true nature.

Here again is Lester's story.

Lester . . .
“Wait a minute!” he thought. “If happiness is when I’m experiencing love for the other one, then that means happiness is a feeling within me.
“And if I felt unloving in the past? Well, I know I can’t change the past, but could I possibly correct the feeling now inside myself? Could I change the feeling to love now?” He decided to try it. He looked at his most recent unhappiness, the day he left the hospital.
“First,” he asked himself, “was I experiencing a lack of love that day?”
“Yes,” he answered aloud. “Nobody gave a damn about me, not the nurses, not the orderlies, not even Dr. Schultz. They did not care. As sick as I was, they threw me out, sent me home to die so they wouldn’t have to watch one of their failures . . . well, the hell with them. They can all go to hell.” He was shocked at the vehemence in his voice. His body trembled with rage and he felt weak. He really hated the doctor: He could feel it burning in his chest. “Oh, boy,” he thought, “this sure isn’t love.”
“Well, can I change it?” he asked. “Is it possible to turn it into love for the doctor?”
“Hell, no,” he thought, “why should I? What did he ever do to deserve any love?”
“That’s not the point,” he answered himself. “The point is not whether he deserves love. The point is, can you do it? Is it possible to simply change a feeling of hatred into a feeling of love—not for the benefit of the other person but for yourself?”
As the thought crossed his mind, he felt something break loose in his chest. A gentle easing, a sense of dissolving, and the burning sensation was gone. He didn’t trust it at first. It seemed too easy, so he pictured again the scene with Dr. Schultz in the hospital. He was surprised to find that it brought only a mild feeling of resentment rather than the previous intense burning hatred. He wondered if he could do it again.
“Lets see,” he thought, “what did I just do? . . . Oh, yes. Can I change this feeling of resentment into a feeling of love?” He chuckled as he felt the resentment dissolve in his chest. Then it was totally gone and he was happy. He thought of Dr. Schultz again, pictured him in his mind and felt happy, even loving. He saw now, reliving that last meeting, how the doctor had hated to tell him the things he had to say. He could feel the doctor’s pain at having to tell a young man in the prime of his life that his life was over. “Dr. Schultz, you son-of-a-gun,” he said, grinning, “I love you.”
“Well, it worked on that one,” he thought. “If my theory is sound, then it should work on everything.” Eagerly, he began trying it on other moments, and the results were consistently the same. Each time that he asked himself if he could change the feeling of hostility or anger or hatred to one of love, the dissolving process took place. Sometimes he had to repeat it over and over until he felt only love for the person. At times, the entire process would take only a minute or two; at other times, it might take him hours of working on a particular person or event before his feelings were only loving, but he would doggedly stay with it until it was completed on each person and each incident.
His entire life came up for review in bits and pieces. One by one, he changed to love all the old hurts and disappointments. He began to feel stronger as the weight of his pain dropped away. He was happier than he had ever been in his entire life, and he kept it going, feeling even more happiness with each new thing corrected.

Beginning Lessons And Some Warm -up Exercises For New T'ai Chi Beginners

A big welcome to more new T'ai Chi Students . It is great to have the opportunity to share this great practice with you all.

Beginning Posture of the Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.



Warm up exercises from ann on Vimeo.



Turning the ball warm up from ann on Vimeo.

Words For Love

The first difficulty we meet in discussing anything concerning our feelings is that we have no adequate vocabulary to use. Where there is no terminology, there is no consciousness. A poverty-stricken vocabulary is an immediate admission that the subject is inferior or depreciated in that society

Sanskrit has ninety-six words for love; ancient Persian has eighty, Greek three, and English only one. This is indicative of the poverty of awareness or emphasis that we give to that tremendously important realm of feeling. Eskimos have thirty words for snow, because it is a life-and death matter to them to have exact information about the element they live with so intimately. If we had a vocabulary of thirty words for love ... we would immediately be richer and more intelligent in this human element so close to our heart. An Eskimo probably would die of clumsiness if he had only one word for snow; we are close to dying of loneliness because we have only one word for love. Of all the Western languages, English may be the most lacking when it comes to feeling.

Imagine what richness would be expressed if one had a specific vocabulary for the love of one's father, another word for the love of one's mother, yet another for one's camel (the Persians have this luxury), still another for another's spouse, and another exclusively for the sunset! Our world would expand and gain clarity immeasurably if we had such tools.

It is always the inferior function, whether in an individual or a culture, that suffers this poverty. One's greatest treasures are won by the superior function but always at the cost of the inferior function. One's greatest triumphs are always accompanied by one's greatest weaknesses. Because thinking is our superior function in the English-speaking world, it follows automatically that feeling is our inferior function. These two faculties tend to exist at the expense of each other. If one is strong in feeling, one is likely to be inferior in thinking -- and vice versa. Our superior function has given us science and the higher standard of living -- but at the cost of impoverishing the feeling function.

This is vividly demonstrated by our meager vocabulary of feeling words. If we had the expanded and exact vocabulary for feeling that we have for science and technology, we would be well on our way to warmth of relatedness and generosity of feeling.

  - by Robert Johnson

A short walk around my Alma mater

I had sone time to spare in Cork today and as my alma mater beckoned.

It was as enchanting as ever.

In September sunshine.

Still some flowers in the President's garden.

And soft foliage in every direction.

I strolled along the lower grounds 

To the bridge

By Donovan's Road Entrance.

Back up the main avenue.

Past the Glucksman Gallery ( having it's 10 anniversary this year )

Through the arch

To view once more the Ogham Stones that line The Stone Corridor ( more about them later ).

Feeling nostalgic,

As I look back on the 'Quad '

Many happy memories float across my mind as I walk back to my car.