Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Praise flow and change...

Praise wet snow
     falling early....
Praise
god or the gods, the unknown
that which imagined us, ...
Praise
flow and change, night and
the pulse of day.
               Denise Levertov
               From: Earth Prayers, p. 222
It's another exceedingly quiet, grey-white day.... I'm low-energy, tired.

I look to this day with gratitude even as I know that, in the rock bottom depths of me, I long for more light. My health care provider told me last week that area residents' levels of Vitamin D are exceedingly low. I hunger for light even as I'm surrounded by the whitest of white ... snow upon snow upon snow.

During this practice I bring my attention back to my rear leg and knee. Observing. Wondering. How much does this leg straighten when I shift weight forward? How--and when--do I allow laziness or inattention to abbreviate my weight shift so that I don't really shift my weight fully forward?

I'm attending to these fundamentals, I suppose, in anticipation of the t'ai chi chih practice and retreat scheduled for this weekend in St. Paul. Sr. Antonia, Justin Stone's appointed t'ai chi chih guide, leads the retreat and I registered because I want to meet her as well as continue to improve my practice. I'll gladly apply conscious effort Friday through Sunday in order to learn how to become softer, lighter, and even more effortless in the coming days and years of my practice.

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