April 15, 2018
I recently read an interesting article on the benefits of grounding (in other words, simply allowing your feet to be in direct contact with the earth.) Here's a brief but terrific overview:
The Earth is like a gigantic battery that contains a natural, subtle electric charge—a special kind of energy present in the ground. For safety and stability, most everything in the electrical world is connected to it, whether it is an electric power plant or your refrigerator. That’s what the term “grounded” means.
Being grounded also applies to people. When you are electrically grounded, you feel:
Overall, you feel good. If you have pain, you have less of it.
"Hmmmmmm" I thought, "LOTS of research has also proved these to be the most common side effects of any regular meditation practice!"
Now I imagine many of you are thinking "Sure, sure, I've heard all that before. And I've always liked the idea of meditating…the only problem is I’m simply unable to sit still long enough to get it done. And then there's the empty-your-mind part…YEAH RIGHT…you might as well ask me to slit my own throat!"
OK I get you. Like many people, until about 9 years ago I'd pretty much given up on ever being physically capable of meditating…after years and years of exercising both for fun and a living the sitting-still part was SUPER challenging, and as a solo-preneur who's at least partly thinking about work almost 24/7 the empty-mind part seemed mindBLOWING.
Then one day I actually walked into a T’ai Chi Chih class by accident…a stubborn hip injury finally ended my ability to practice karate just a few months shy of testing for Second Degree Black Belt and I was pretty much going out of my mind missing all those Wonder Woman-ish feelings Tang Soo Doo karate aroused in me. So I decided to try T’ai Chi Ch’uan (the slow yet powerful martial art) and walked into a T’ai Chi Chih class at the Y where I worked without a clue my world was about to change COMPLETELY! Of course my hip got better (you saw that coming, right?) but more importantly, a LOT of things in my life changed as well (more than I can even put down on paper, actually) all because of T'ai Chi Chih.
And LOTS of hard science now indicates it doesn't even matter what style of meditation you practice but the side effects can easily be completely life-altering: click here for a groundbreaking study proving you can train your wellbeing LIKE A SKILL through consistent meditation. As far as T'ai Chi Chih in particular is concerned, however, the Arthritis Foundation, the American Medical Association, The Mayo Clinic, and other well-known and respected authorities on health & wellness have all endorsed it as a viable treatment (potentially more effective than medication) for a LONG list of physiological and psychological conditions. In fact, T'ai Chi Chih has demonstrated its effectiveness in at least twelve controlled clinical trials over a twenty-year period.
But let me just sum all this up in a way I'm sure we'd all have to agree is true: you can exercise and eat right till you turn blue in the face but unless you find a way to off-load your stress you can still kiss your health goodbye. And of course T’ai Chi Chih isn't the ONLY way to meditate, but it’s quite possibly the EASIEST way (which may indeed make it the BEST way!)
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!)
But if you still need yet another reason to sign up for this unusual class, here you go: turns out all it takes to ground yourself (or reconnect with your electrical roots so to speak) is a half-hour per day of sitting, standing, or walking on soil, grass, sand, or concrete either barefoot or in leather-soled footwear and guess what…I teach T'ai Chi Chih all over New Castle County but this is the ONLY class I teach outside…DOUBLE PRIZES!!!
These T’ai Chi Chih classes will undoubtedly be even more powerful than usual not only because of the health benefits of grounding but even just spending time outdoors has also been proven useful for stress reduction (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 YET POWERFUL moving meditation, check out one of the prettiest spots in the state of Delaware, and improve your health simply by allowing your feet to touch the ground for an hour a week.
(Oh and one last plug: the price for this class CAN’T BE BEAT!!!)
