Wind Blown

Summer is back with a passion ... by late morning it was 90 degrees, then it settled down to 85 for much of the afternoon. The cat and dog abandoned Frances on her walk to the mailbox and chose, instead, to lie on the cement front step and soak in its coolness.

Today's wind was torrential. Not surprising after the Twin Cities had heavy winds yesterday and Wadena (in central Minnesota) was hit with a highly destructive tornado last night. I practiced half of the TCC form outside on the deck in the midst of the wind. Although we're protected by our close-in forest, I found myself longing for a quieter practice spot and eventually moved inside to complete the form.

I know that wind is hard on my psyche. If I find myself blown about for more than a day or two, I quickly feel out of sorts, ill at ease, off kilter. I wonder, too, whether wind affects the Chi as I found it difficult to feel the energy flow while I practiced in the midst of gusts and surges of loud, uprooting air flow.

I'm currently reading The Journal Keeper: A Memoir by Phyllis Theroux. She writes about the intense quietness that characterizes Ashland, VA, the town where she lives. Theroux notes:

Sometimes it is so quiet here in Ashland that I wonder how we don't die of it. There is nothing to remind you from the outside that you are here. I understand why it is so hard to get people to visit. They know what they will find, a quietness so deep and steady it creates a kind of nervousness.... One must have a very active imagination to withstand it.

Interesting. I, on the other hand, feel nervous when I'm bombarded with overactivity (high winds, large numbers of tourists during the summer months, bumper-to-bumper traffic, multiple projects, etc.) I like nothing better than to breathe in the quiet, sleep in it, walk in it, meditate in it, live in it.

This is why I love to teach TCC. It is one of the few social activities I engage in that can be done in a roomful of people who are totally silent. The quietness feel nourishing, replenishing, restorative.

And ... while you're doing TCC you can't multitask (per my statement in yesterday's blog); you have to be in the present moment and in the present movement to fully experience the Chi and TCC's subtle levels of relaxation. As Peter Bregman pointed out in his blog about multitasking: Research shows that multitasking isn't just inefficient, it's stressful.

When we engage in TCC practice, we are bucking the cultural trend toward multitasking and returning ourselves to a kinder, gentler way of life that I'll call monotasking or solotasking. Here we can literally take one step at a time, eyes straight ahead, circles flowing softly and continuously. Meanwhile we still have Monkey Mind to contend with which is more than enough multitasking for one 30-40 minute practice.