Wednesday, March 7, 2012

"The Sweet Spot between Doing and Being"

Two days ago my desktop computer went capooey (spelling?). Consequently I'm borrowing time on other laptops (just a forewarning that this blog may be sporadic until we arrange for someone to look at the ailing machine).

Today between class sessions I reread a Daily Good article entitled, "The Sweet Spot between Doing and Being" by Viral Mehta. I wished to share some gems from this article with this evening's TCC continuing students. There were so many wonderful points discussed in the article, however, that it was hard to choose the juiciest.

Let's start with an Indian proverb from the story's lead: "When one foot walks, the other foot rests." That, of course, is the way nature works: cycles and rhythms help us to measure and live our lives (night and day, full and new moon, yin and yang).

The culture within which we live lends more importance to doing and creating vs. the subtle value of resting and being. "Our rational minds need space for the emergent, unknown and unplanned to arise. Within the existing paradigm, the external comes first, the internal takes a backseat, and in deference to measurability, we become more tuned in to doing than to being."

Ultimately, it's all about balance, balancing rest with activity, being with doing. It struck me today that that was my realization when I felt so stressed out yesterday morning. I could no longer effectively do because of my anxiety levels; I simply needed time to be to let go of the accumulated tension in my body. Yes, I'm learning . . . slowly.

This morning I held my final T'ai Chi Chih class at Humble Be (subbing). I only taught four sessions, but I thoroughly enjoyed my students who were regular practitioners of Humble Be's variety of offerings: yoga (beginning, advanced, and "hot"); drumming; belly, latin, and African dance; T'ai Chi Ch'uan; and other martial arts. These are folks who intentionally seek relaxation, rest, centering, and quieting of the mind and body. What a gift to teach those who are already searching....

Now it's time to head to my two evening TCC classes.

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