The snow is a good role model for me: softness extraordinaire. I emulate it while I engage in my T'ai Chi Chih practice. How soft can I be? Can I float lightly, land softly, and rest on the ground (in Resting Position) in total peace? Can I move as if I have nowhere to go? No forcing. No pushing. Simply softening, relaxing. gliding, be-ing?
During my practice I'm reminded of the Reiki session my sister gave me as a gift when I visited her in West Virginia over Thanksgiving. The practitioner asked me to allow my shoulders to open as I released myself from feelings of responsibility, self-blame, self-criticism, and self-judgment.
And then another memory floats into my consciousness. This from a workshop I attended with Don Campbell on Music and Healing 20+ years ago. During that weekend Campbell asked me to sit in a warm whirlpool in order to relax tension in my body and mind. Obviously this issue of holding tension in my neck and shoulders filters through the experiences of my lifetime.
There are more. For years I returned home from teaching T'ai Chi Chih classes with tension locked into my neck and between my shoulder blades. While I taught others to relax and release tension in their bodies I accumulated tightness in my own. The ultimate irony. (It makes sense, of course, because I always considered it my responsibility to know and provide for the needs of others. That responsibility also extends to my students.)
It's exciting now to see my body and daily TCC practice changing as I begin to understand softness on a deeper level. Instead of blaming myself for not receiving this lesson many years ago perhaps I can consider that this moment--now--is exactly the right time for me to re-member it.
This affirmation--given to me by the Reiki healer--is worth daily repetition:
I AM WELL I AM WHOLE I AM IN DIVINE ORDER
I establish my Divine Presence on Earth.
I accomplish my Divine Purpose on Earth.
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