June 17, 2018
More importantly, what if YOU have a lot more to do with how you think things are than you thought you did?
(BTW I know what you're thinking: "how many times can she say the words think, thinking, things, and thought in three sentences???!!!")
Seriously though, recently I had a MASSIVE epiphany right after my 15-30 minute morning ritual of practicing of T'ai Chi Chih (and yes, 15-30 minutes a day is typically all it takes to experience profound shifts in your health or at least the way you think…T'ai Chi Chih is a HUGE bang for the buck.)
So here's what I realized.
It occurred to me that every morning before I begin practicing T'ai Chi Chih I'm filled with concerns…sometimes I'm achy or hungry when I first get up, or trying to wrap my head around how best to handle my busy day, or worried over something that's years away (which may or may not even happen!), or thinking about how I might've done a particular thing better the day before, yada yada yada. But reliably only a few moments into my practice all my concerns simply melt away…it's like magic! (And I'm sure you can understand now why I practice T'ai Chi Chih every day…what a relief to have no concerns whatsoever if only for a few minutes!!!)
And here's what I got from all that: perhaps I have more to do with how things occur to me than I ever realized. Perhaps the little bit of serenity my T'ai Chi Chih practice enables me to tap into in the midst of my sometimes crazy-busy life actually is reality and everything else is simply the stories I tell myself?!
Now I'm sure some of you are suddenly positive I've gone completely off the deep end but stick with me here.
Have you ever had the experience of feeling sure something wasn't going to work out and, in fact, it really did go badly? Or have you ever woken up feeling a little "off," said to yourself "oh no I must be coming down with something!" and then you did indeed feel sick all day? Then let me ask you this: has it ever occurred to you that when you feel sure you're going to experience something a certain way it's like putting on a particular pair of glasses causing you to see things just the way you expected to see them?
And not to be morbid but have you ever attended a viewing, taken one look at the body, and realized the true essence of that special someone simply isn't there?
Where I'm going with all of this is to say I believe we're a lot more than we think we are, and there are easy ways to experience life more spaciously than most of us realize.
It's no longer considered woo woo to discuss the myriad of benefits one can experience as a direct result of practicing meditation on a regular basis. For instance, Dr Richard Davidson along with a number of wellknown Neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin recently performed a groundbreaking study in which they proved wellbeing can actually be trained like a skill through regular meditative practice. And T'ai Chi Chih SPECIFICALLY has been endorsed by the Arthritis Foundation, the American Medical Association, the Mayo Clinic, along with several other extremely well-known and respected medical authorities as a viable treatment option for a long list of really nasty conditions.
But let's just say you still don't buy it that a regular meditative practice could potentially ward off cancer. Or perhaps you have indeed been practicing meditation regularly for many years but you also smoked for many years when you were young or maybe you simply live in a hotspot and unfortunately you eventually get cancer anyway. I think we can all agree that having a tool in your toolbox which enables you to easily tap into a little serenity anytime you want will certainly help you travel lighter through what might otherwise feel like some of the darkest days of your life.
I'm actually certified to teach several different styles of meditation. But the truth is I vastly prefer teaching T'ai Chi Chih because most people experience it to be considerably easier and A LOT more fun than many other meditation practices (plus it even provides similar benefits to low-level cardiovascular exercise…BONUS!)
So now that I've (HOPEFULLY) peaked your interest in T'ai Chi Chih, here’s an amazing opportunity for you to try it in a completely unique setting: early morning Thursday classes in the STUNNING Main House Gardens of the Mt Cuba Center (and if you’re not familiar with this horticultural gem, you really should be!)
These T’ai Chi Chih classes will undoubtedly be even more powerful than usual because just spending time outdoors has also been proven to positively impact your health (ever heard of Nature as Medicine?) plus even on the hottest day of the year Mt Cuba is one COOL place to hang out in the early mornings.
So sign up for T’ai Chi Chih at Mt Cuba Center today then get ready to learn an AMAZINGLY EASY moving meditation, check out one of the prettiest spots in the state of Delaware, and begin tapping into an entirely different version of reality.
