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Chaos? Yes, but there is a way out of this

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Chaos in the worldChaos seems to be the order (or rather disorder) of the day. Wars still carry on, megalomaniacs continue to run nations and in the UK one might be forgiven to think we are governed by headless chickens. The history books of the future will provide much wonderment and amusement about this age of chaos. Perhaps global warming will have been sorted by then. We are not in the future, though, so what can we do now?

Chaos is the result of lost connections

Humanity has gone rogue. Some people go rogue when they stay in a hotel. If they were staying with a friend, they wouldn’t steal the toiletries and the towels, or worse. They feel no connection with the hotel and so their not-so-good human qualities come to the surface. Humanity is rather like that at the moment. We forget we are an integral part of the world. Instead, we behave as though we were staying at Hotel Earth – guests without any responsibility. The result is chaos. We are not guests, though. This is our home.

A paradigm shift is essential, but how?

As the chaos is the result of humanity’s collective consciousness, how we think must change. Education, both formal and informal, is a major player, then. But there is something else. We have to restore our energetic connection to Earth. Our minds are too Yang and we need the calming effect of Earth’s Yin energy. When we allow that to happen, how we think changes and so our behaviour does, too. Standing Like a Mountain is one of the simplest ways of reconnecting to Earth Qi. Just a few minutes, or even a minute, can help to restore balance. Meditation is also enormously helpful. We may think we don’t need to for ourselves but the effect isn’t just for us. It’s for the world. And we need to do it now.

Learning how to stop overthinking

Free guided meditations

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Qi power – secrets of internal energy for health and stability

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Qi power vitality Qi power, the product of cultivating internal energy, is the stuff of martial arts fantasy films. Flying onto and across rooftops, walking up walls and performing endless miraculous feats are as normal as a stroll down the road. It could be fun, couldn’t it? As wildly imaginative as such stories may be, tales of fiction are often inspired by something that has its basis in reality. Qi power is one such example, or rather catalogue of examples, of the extraordinary having its roots in truth. Sadly, it is extremely unlikely that we will fly through the air without props of some kind. However, we can learn to harness this amazing energy to better our health.

Qi power for health – it’s free!

Qi is vital energy. It pervades the universe, our bodies and the environment. Qi power is what comes from optimising the flow of qi. Just as diffused light can be focused, and water can be channelled or allowed to dissipate, it is possible to cultivate this marvellous energy for our own health. Wonderfully, it costs nothing, just a little time. There are three key things to its cultivation: posture, breath and, most importantly, mental focus. There are many qigong practices – sets of exercises (or stances) with co-ordinated breathing to develop qi power – but we may not be able or willing to commit to those. Even so, we can do something that is quite simple and very effective.

Qi power mountain

Standing like a mountain

With just a little practice, this simple exercise can build up a feeling of both inner and outer strength. Qi or vital energy becomes more stable and stronger in the lower part of the body. It connects us mentally and energetically to the Earth and our surroundings, calming the mind and pacifying the nervous system. This is the amazing effect of qi power.

The posture
  1. Stand with the feet shoulder width apart or even a couple of inches wider. Adjust the feet so that the toes point straight ahead of you and the feet are parallel to each other. Relax the knees so they are not “locked” straight. The weight should be evenly balanced.
  2. Straighten the back and then relax the shoulders so that they drop. Tuck the chin in a little so that the neck is straight and feel as though you are suspended by a thread from the top of the head. Turn the hands so that the palms face backwards and are slightly out from the side of the body. Bring them forwards an inch or two.
The technique
  1. Now for the inner position. Place the tip of the tongue just behind the front teeth. Relax the abdomen. The gaze should be horizontal, as if you were looking out to a distant horizon.
  2. Breathe so that as you inhale the diaphragm comes down and pushes the abdomen out slightly and when you exhale the abdomen relaxes inwards a little.
  3. Allow the energy in the body to settle, rooting you to the Earth. Let the mind empty.
  4. Sometimes feel the feet or the hands, but always come back to the lower abdomen as it moves with the breath.
  5. Feel as though you are very tall, very strong, and unshakeable. Remain standing in this way for 2, 3 or even 4 minutes.

You can find more on this in The Great Little Book of Happiness, available in paperback and ebook.

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Wuji can make us rich and we cannot live without it

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Wuji nothingnessWuji is nothing. It is the gap, non-action, from which anything proceeds. At the moment of dissolution and union of yin and yang, there is perfect balance, no light or dark. In taiji (tai chi) practice, we say that taiji is the play of yin and yang that emerges from wuji and returns to it. To reinforce that idea and maybe feel it a little, we stand still, perfectly still, at the beginning and at the end of our practice. Music, too, emerges from silence. The notes, chords, melodies, rhythms and harmonies only become so because of silence and space. An artist cannot create her work without a blank canvas or sheet of paper. Everything comes from and relies upon nothingness or wuji.

Wuji is essential to a balanced life

Modern life is often stressful because we have forgotten our root, the wuji that underlies and underpins our very existence. All we need to do is listen for the gap between everything. Instead of allowing ourselves to be led incessantly from one thing to another, the prime tactic of social and other media, we can take charge. Just stop and listen. Breathe and feel the earth beneath your feet.

Feel rich!

We can suffer the seemingly endless cacophony of today’s world, or we can listen for the silence in which it plays. Allow yourself to return to wuji. When about to begin a new task or to enjoy something new, it can be so much richer if we begin with a slight pause. In coming back to ourselves, our energy comes home before going out again. It’s like starting with a blank sheet rather than one that’s already been scribbled on. Maybe one day we will all bathe in the bliss of the play of yin and yang. In the meantime, let’s at least feel a hint of the richness of silence and space – wuji.

The importance of the experience of nothingness is explored in my book The Art of Not Doing

Information on our taiji classes can be found here.

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