Gold and Green
Last Tuesday, July 7 I took a Vacation Day! Even better, taking the day off was unplanned! First I enjoyed our regular Tai Chi and Qigong group and welcomed new students. I decided to lead them through the * Eight Pieces of Brocade, (Ba Duan Jin) since they are also practice Yoga. Eight Brocades, 1000 years old, has many strength building and relaxing properties of Yoga practice, "Chinese Yoga."
I returned home from Tai Chi group, refreshed, relaxed, energized and full of "plans" for the day ahead! Morning had dawned grey, lush, damp, and humid, but a magic clearing cold front with breeze swept the sky clean. Fresh bright blue appeared. The air was so clear and pure it felt like Mountain Air on Long's Peak in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park! All the windows and doors opened to admit breeze, light, and energy. I ate lunch looking out at the fresh vibrant green and crisp gold sunlight dappling the yard and chuckled when the face of an imaginary large wire haired terrier dog appeared in the flickering images on the ground. Even more exciting, I envisioned a tiger crouching by our oak tree trunk! So captured by the moment, I didn't even grab the camera~
*** "Do you ever wonder what fills the empty spaces?"
Louise Watson, R.N.
Lunch Over: Well, what do ya know? I abandoned my "plans" for the day and just winged it~I felt freedom and peace and breathed in nature at its very best....
** Today I open Debra Basham's blog to read:
* "Loving Others is an Act of My True Freedom."
Bring to mind a person or situation.
"May your happiness continue, may it increase...expand this happiness out into the world...."
Bring to mind animals...."May they be well fed and treated with kindness...."
Looking Up
"May All Beings Be At Peace"
Related Posts:
En LIGHTened Travel
Dreaming Full Circle, Long's Peak Revisited
The Rainbow Crane
Angels 101
Another Angel
Christmas Rose
The Human Angel
Resources:
* Eight Pieces of Brocade on Facebook, videos, music, Dr. Yang, Jwing-ming and others
Dr. Yang Jwing-ming, free app Eight Pieces of Brocade "Eight Simple Qigong Exercises" and more YMAA.com
** Debra Basham, CHTP, NLP, HTt, RMT, healer, spiritual teacher, author, Blog: Yellow Brick Road Your Path to Heart and Health, post True Freedom, July 5, 2015. Quotes reprinted with permission. Imagine Healing, SCS-Matters.com
*** "Empty Spaces" quote, Louise Watson, R.N. friend, Earth Angel, spiritual teacher
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Photos:
Green and Gold, photo by Emilie
Looking Upward, photo by Dahlis
Sunset on the Pier, Tue Freedom, photo by Debra Basham, reprinted with permission
The Big Three: Shifting Again....
What Are The Big Three?
They are all equally important. I'll list them in Alphabetical order.
Chocolate represents enjoyment (smile)
Meditation/Meditative Writing represent going within, setting intention, clarifying goals, balancing intuitive right brain and logical left brain activity.
Francesca told me, "With twice a day meditation, you are bracketing your day with positive feedback both morning and evening"
Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, Meditative Painting represent integrated exercises for better physical and mental outlook, strength, flexibility of mind and body, and added relaxation.
The Eagle Flies
What changed? In the early spring I switched up my "schedule" again.
Changes:
Chocolate Enjoyment
I increased to eating 1 oz daily (1/2 oz twice a day) of semi melted unsweetened chocolate.
Guess what happened? I absolutely "lost" my craving for luscious frozen custard! That result was totally unplanned. My husband also noticed the same result!
Meditation Twice A Day
Once a day meditation was not quite enough to impart calm and focus.
"Soaking Prayer/Music/Toning" all of these in quiet (sometimes inaudible) music playing in the "background" as I write or paint helps focus.
Journal "Writing on Tablets" (chuckle "scrolls") "See" Your Vision/Write Your Vision
Habakkuk 2:1-2
* Integrative Exercises Tai Chi/Qigong/Yoga as needed.
Taught by a friend, a new Qigong class meets three times a week! We work through ancient exercises from at least 1,000 years ago such as introduction to the 8 Gates and the 5 Steppings (13 postures), 8 pieces of Brocade (Ba Duan Jin) and three varieties of 18 Form Taiji Qigong, (Shi Ba Shi) developed recently in the 1980's.
Adding this class to my Yang Style Long Form Group, (108 synchronized movements) "I'm not used to this much exercise...." Again, slow down, take time and get enough rest after class. My energy is building up again. Rest Restores. When I attend classes, taught by another and hearing a beautiful background of Chinese Music, I receive full meditative and health benefits from the Qigong. I also learned this last year in a Yoga class, for one hour I could stretch and breathe and receive meditation benefits.
"How will I do all I want to do?"
"Maybe have to cut and paste for awhile...."
Dancing Angels
HEAR
E
A
L
** "When you hear others' stories, you can reflect about them and your own story. Share these with others. Healing can begin," Oprah Winfrey
I question~ "What Now?"
Shifting Gently: More Spontaneous Action and Rest~Free of Excess~
Enjoy Moments~
Blog Search Key Words: Meditation, Writing, Painting, Tai Chi and Qigong
Related :Posts:
Chocolate Communion
Addiction ad Discovery
For the Love of Chocolate
Since Yesterday (Everything Has Changed)
Resources:
Baker's Unsweetened Dark Baking Chocolate, for eating and baking
Meditation: Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey team up for another free 21 Day Meditation Experience, Grace through Gratitude, begins July 13, 2015. Chopra Center Meditation online, other free meditations available.
* Tai Chi/Qigong
Facebook Pages videos and more:
Eight Pieces of Brocade
18 Form Tai Chi Qigong Shi Ba Shi
Learn More:
Paul Lam, M.D. Tai Chi for Health worldwide. Programs for all levels and medical issues. Dr Lam's personal story, Born Strong, is available from Amazon
Dr. Yang, Jwing-ming, YMAA.com Includes 8 Pieces of Brocade, Classical Yang Style Taiji Beginning (Yang Style) Tai Chi, and more, free with app from app page.
Jou, Tsung Hwa, mathematician, author, Tai Chi Expert, books The Dao of Taijiquan, The Dao of Meditation
Taichi18.com Lean more about the 18 Forms Taiji Qigong (3 different 18 forms) from Master Wing, Cheung who studied with the creators of the forms: Master Weiqi He (Yang Style Tai Chi) and Master Lin Hou Sheng (Qigong and Energy Healer). Free downloads, Seminars
TV
** Dr. Oz interviews Oprah Winfrey, the Dr. Oz Show. Re aired July 1, 2015
First Peoples (series) PBS.org, explore the human journey through migrations, look at ancient cave paintings and carvings.
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images:
Unsweetened Chocolate, photo by Dahlis
Sacred Scrolls, spontaneous writing with angel painting, photo by Dahlis
The Eagle Flies, oil painting by Dahlis based on a movement from 18 Form Tai Chi Qigong. "I soar high like an Eagle," Weigi He, co-creator of 18 Form Tai Chi Qigong.
Dancing Angels, Playing with Clouds, photo by Judy J.
Flashback:
What will appear today for writing and discovery?
In the previous post Write This Way, I wrote spontaneously, "There is a flat boat waiting there...."
Today:
On my way to my yet unknown writing adventure, I open * Debra Basham's blog and read:
You Are Everything
"A guided meditation to help us imagine a world of infinite possibilities I leaned while sitting under a Catalpa tree smelling the sweet blossoms falling all around us."
Imagine you are out on the ocean with many other boats, It is a beautiful day. The water is smooth. You put on your scuba equipment and dive deep down to the ocean floor. Everything is peaceful....you move effortlessly.
As you surface from your dive, huge waves are rolling. The sea has become stormy! People on the boats nearby are yelling for help....The Coast Guard has been called.
You determine the best help you can be is to go back to the depths where you are safe and calm. Your feet are securely on the stable ocean floor.
Once there, you imagine your arms stretching way up to the surface and begin to help the people caught in the storm.
You lift many people into the Coast Guard Vessel where they are safe.
Next, my imagination had me lift a Saint Bernard, then an elephant, and then an airplane before I was shone a hospital where this same imaginary procedure process of helping people was happening....
As I read Debra's story, I received two healing images: One was a group of blue whales of all ages, swimming effortlessly and harmoniously in the azure ocean. I felt deep peace.
** The second set of mental images was a video on You Tube, Gregg Braden visits a Beijing Hospital, showing a group of Chinese Doctors using Chinese Energy Healing techniques to help heal a cancer patient in a few minutes using no anesthesia and no surgery. I felt positive energy.
*** "We are on the same boat," Master Weiqi He, co creator of 18 Form Taiji Qigong
Related Posts on Out of the Blue:
Write This Way!
Effortless
Since Yesterday (Everything Has Changed)
Resources:
* Debra Basham, author, spiritual teacher, CHTP NLP, HTt, RMT.
Read entire story post June 20, 2015, You Are Everything
http://dbasham@blogspot.com
Blog: Yellow Brick Road Your Path to Heart and Health
Excerpts reprinted with permission
** You Tube, Gregg Braden, spiritual teacher, observes Chinese Energy Healing in Beijing.
*** 18 Form Tai Chi Qigong was created by Master Weiqi He and Master Houseng Lin in Shanghai 1982, practiced worldwide. Master Wing Cheung, studied with the Creators of the 18 Forms. Tai Chi 18.com free downloads, articles, seminars. Easy to learn and practice, there are now three different 18 Forms for better health, increased strength flexibility and stamina.
*** You Tube, Coach Weiqi He Shanghai Athletic Palace, 1980's, Weigi teaches children, uploaded by Matt Stampe, May 16, 2013.
Images by Debra Basham
Catalpa Tree in Bloom, 2015
On the Boat Together, featured on a bulletin
Used with permission
Flash Forward~
Open a book at random, any book, any where, anytime, or an E-book, scroll down without looking at the text and let your eyes and mind open to focus on the first sentence you see.
What is it?
I recognized the book instantly by the feel of its cover, *The Alchemist, 25th Anniversary Edition, by Paulo Coelho.
First I saw at the top of the page 32, a black and white drawing of a butterfly! "I am in the right place," I thought.
Next I placed a finger on some words and opened my eyes to read:
* "He was really a king. He must be disguised to avoid encounters with thieves."
When you are ready to write, set a timer for ten minutes and weave a spontaneous story around your chosen words: images, facts, fiction, fantasy, ancient or modern or a blend of each and all.
Choose any medium, online, private digital, phone, tablet, type or record your voice or even (gasp) use paper and pen. Set Yourself Free Without Boundaries
NO EDITING (help)
Ready, Set, Write!
He was really a King. He had a plan? What was it? Sitting on the mountain top is easy. The king smiled. He loves solitude, quiet time for thinking and reflecting.
Suddenly he needs a horse. He feels he must escape from the mountain and go into the forest. He feels intuitive danger. How will he escape and save the sacred scrolls of knowledge he wants to pass along for others?
In his imagination he calls the horse. A steed appears out of the mist. The horse is a light chestnut color with flowing mane and tail. The horse is dressed with fancy bridal of woven red and blue and flowing beige robes for a saddle.
The king disguises himself in the beige plain robes of a peasant. He picks up his sword and his scrolls. The warrior knows how to protect himself. He grabs clusters of nuts and berries from nearby bushes. He carries a flask of fresh water.
He takes off down the mountain path. Halfway down the sparse path, he feels intuition again. The disguised king sets his horse free of bridal and trappings. The horse takes off back up the mountain.
Under cover of knight, [I really wrote it that way] the king enters the forest....it is dark and cool in the woods. He feels safe and comfortable. He sees a strange glow and follows it. At the edge of the forest he sees the river bank! There is a flat boat waiting there for him....
* "To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation," The Alchemist
Have fun with words (worlds) use Mental Gymnastics of **"Flash Writing."
I was looking for something "easy" today yet new and out of my comfort zone. I like this writing technique and will try it again.
Blog Search Key Word Writing
Resources:
*The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho,
** Flash Writing, weave a spontaneous story, The Pine Island Writers, Pine Island, Florida USA
Spontaneous Daily Writing, Morning Pages, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and The Writing Life
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author and Tai Chi Instructor
Images:
Tapestry, photo by Dahlis
Glow in the Forest, oil painting by Jan
Watching a horse run without effort is a joy to behold.
Economy of expenditure of energy, rhythm of mathematical precision, all in perfect harmony and balance, Free as the Wind.
* "Subtle Intention"
Some months ago I received a commission to paint a portrait of two Cocker Spaniels. How would I do this?
"Let Go of the Details of Outcome."
I let go and let the painting paint itself, one section at a time, and each in perfect order. The experience was/is effortless.
"Being Lost in Past or Future Robs Energy."
I am gradually learning to cut the cords of ridged agendas and enjoy the positive flow of spontaneous energy in all areas of my life.
"This is the Law of Least Effort, Feel Lightness of Being,"
Deepak Chopra. M.D.
Blogger Search, Key Word Horse
Related Posts:
Once and Forever, Unconditional Love, painting the Cocker Spaniels
Painted Ponies
Free as the Wind
Running with Horses
The Painted Word
Resources:
* Deepak Chopra, M.D. author, spiritual teacher, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, The Future of God, Quotes from Success Without Struggle, free webinar June 2015 Chopra Center Meditation.
Mindful Exercise:
Tai Chi and Qigong: Dr. Paul Lam, Dr. Yang, Jwing-ming, Master Wing Cheung
Yoga: Peggy Cappy, Rodney Yee
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images by Dahlis
Free as the Wind, oil painting
Free as the Wind, photo fog effect "Lightness of Being"
