'Ditch Your Resolutions Day' just passed on January 17th - its existence speaks to a phenomenon that many of us know quite well!

We make a GREAT plan, and then it falls apart when we go to put it into application! 

There are plenty of reasons for this, one that many of us are aware of is that the depth of winter (New Years in the northern hemisphere) isn't always the best time for making new plans and implementing them.  According to the ancient Daoist tradition, during the winter months we are meant to tend more toward hibernation - to go within, contemplate stillness and to DREAM!

Around the end of January,  the light begins to return and this is actually a perfect time to begin making new goals and priorities according to the holistic thinkers down through the ages.  The sacred fire within is being kindled from embers into a more robust blaze and we can ride that energy.  Of course, this is also about the time that our will power may run out for...

Modern Tai Chi is a healing form of mindful movement drawn from ancient Daoist martial arts, and it's the perfect practice for developing resilience!

The research is in, the practice of tai chi promotes balance, coordination, muscle and joint health, even pain relief!  All these add up to a more resilient body, but did you know that tai chi can also give you a more resilient heart and mind?

It's not just because of the rhythmic movements and slow breathing, those carry powerful calmative effects and are well known in arts like yoga and qigong as well.  What makes tai chi unique, though is its martial arts origins.

The original tai chi, the "Thirteen Postures", was not just a prescribed choreography that you learn and memories, but a repertoire of "energies" by which the martial artist would respond to attack.  These might include advancing, yielding, "squeezing", and more.  These principles still function in martial arts, but we can also use them for our...

Traditional Qigong practices were often cultivated seasonally.

In this, there's a master-key to sustainable practice that I often share in my qigong instructor trainings - by changing up our practice every few months it stays fresh and interesting, and we may even learn new perspectives on disciplines we've been training for many years.

Seasonal practice is also recommended because according to ancient Daoist cosmology, different energies are available in different seasons. 

To the inner alchemists of old, these seasonal energies were like elixirs that could be gathered and digested to enrich one's inner life.

What is the elixir of Wintertime?  It's all about concentrating energies deep within.  We are recommended to turn our lifestyle toward deep rest and restoration.  Our qigong practice can support that turning. 

It is a time of deep meditation and concentration.  The "Water Element" of Chinese medicine and Daoist meditation symbolizes things...

It's that time again, seasonal transition time.  

In medical qigong, there are special practices for the liminal state between one season and the next.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine's "Five Element Theory", the time between seasons is related to the Earth element.  Among all the different symbolic forces represented as "elements", Earth is the neutral one that abides in the center.

Earth is the force we need in order to make smooth transitions.  In the tradition of inner alchemy, the Earth element is the alchemical vessel in which the other, more oppositional forces, can be harmonized. 

In life, this refers to the capacity to PAUSE - to step back from the momentum that may be carrying us along, and to generate a moment of empathetic presence.  Then we can move forward from that balanced and centered space.

In the life-long practice of Qigong, we inculcate this capacity to pause by cultivating the Earth element in times of...

Everyone has a different experience around the “holiday season”, for some it’s a time of rest but for others it’s a time of stress!

Today I want to share a single, simple tool that can help with many different versions of holiday stress.  That tool is encapsulated in the phrase: "Making Life Wonderful."

No, this isn't some cheezy Christmas gimmick about it being "the most wonderful time of the year" or anything like that.  Rather, it's a contrast to what we do that makes the holidays most stressful - try to get things "right".

This distinction between trying to get things right vs making life wonderful comes from Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's thinking on Nonviolent Communication.  He proposes that we're always either playing the game of "who's right?" or the game of "sharing from the heart."

Trying to get it "right" implies that there is some external standard of what is correct, how things are supposed to be.  The weight of should...

In communication, orientation is everything!

You could learn all the details of powerful techniques, yet still fail at truly finding rapport. Conversely, with the right orientation, you can screw up a lot of the fine details but still have a good result! 

Human beings are masters at tracking how other humans feel about us.  It's what allowed our species to thrive and adapt down through many millennia of living together in tribal bands.  Because of this, how we show up within to any interaction is the primary determinant of how it's going to work out!

In the video above, I propose taking up the 'Compassionate Connected' orientation as a way to start on the path of effective compassionate communication.

We don't have to start with others, we can start with self compassion.

This is especially important for conflict or other situations where boundaries might be necessary.  In these situations we need to start with the orientation of compassion...

Searching for quotes this morn for an upcoming series I'll teach with Marya, I found this potent reminder from Dr. Marshall Rosenberg

"We can never make anyone do anything against their will without enormous consequences."

It spoke to me about so many of the paradigms we swim in every day and just think are "normal" - like the idea that retribution and revenge will somehow bring "justice" rather than perpetuate further violence.  Or the notion that "winning" is the most important part of relating.

Most of us don't think of our usual ways of thinking or behaving as "violent", but these paradigms of forcing the change we want are deeply embedded into arenas like modern diet culture, foreign policy, prison systems, and interpersonal relationships.

According to the Dao, we're making our lives (not to mention the lives of those around us) much more difficult than they need to be when trying to force things is to act against their nature.  In Daoist practice, we...

More than a decade ago, the idea of "Yin Yoga" came on the scene, perhaps as a balance to all the "Power Yoga" that was most popular at the time!  The concept wasn't new to me, as I had been introduced to it as "Daoist yoga" when studying full time at my Sifu's temple.

I think modern Qigong is ripe for the same kind of balanced Yin/Yang understanding by learning about "Hard Style Qigong". 

Hard style qigong isn't necessary for everyone.  Indeed, one major benefit of the type of qigong practice we're used to - with its slow and fluid movements - is that it teaches us the important skill of how to relax!

But Qigong encompasses a much wider field than just the trainings in how to slow down and loosen up.  The bodymind specialists of ancient China realized that bringing more presence, and congruence of body, breath, and mind could benefit any activity.

It's predominantly in the martial arts that we see the hard styles of qigong preserved, and this is...

The mythic ancestor of Zen and Kung Fu was a Buddhist yogi!

At least, that's what the oral history teaches us.  Bodhidharma was a Indian Buddhist pilgrim in the 5th century, and the story goes that he found himself at the Shao Lin (little forest) monastery where the monks' meditation practice was not progressing.  He taught them what looks a lot like an early version of Tantric Inner Yoga through his Tendon/Marrow Neigong, and the rest is history!

The legend says that Bodhidharma went on his mission to spread the dharma and through a series of adventures, ended up at Shaolin to do a retreat.  He is said to have spent 9 years sitting Zazen and after coming down from the cave he sees that the monks in attendance are in poor health and not making any progress in meditation.  Having been trained in yogic sciences, he knows these two conditions are connected.

According to my teacher's tradition, Bodhidharma ("DaMo" in Chinese) proceeded...

Last week I wrote up an article on the basics - What IS Qigong?  Today I'd like to tackle the second most often asked question I get: What's the difference between Qigong and Tai Chi? 

Qigong and Tai Chi are like cousins - similar in many ways - but where qigong is often a little simpler, Tai Chi can be more complex.  The reason behind this main difference comes from the origins of these two related arts.

It starts off simple, Tai Chi, while it looks so meditative, is actually a martial art style.  Qigong, on the other hand, is more specifically dedicated to healing.  The lines get a little blurry because there are martial forms of Qigong (you can learn a bit more about this in this previous post), but Tai Chi is made of literal combat moves, but slowed down and done in a way that allows one to cultivate Qi - the vital energy.  Qigong is usually not based on martial technique, but does whatever movement (or stillness) will best mobilize...