So You Think You're Enlightened

An old Taoist saying...

"So you think you are so enlightened, go spend a week with your family."

Scene I - Enjoying a blissful moment of zen during a morning home meditation practice. A place of stillness, peace and solitude.

Scene II - A family gathering. The place of history, stories, emotions and differences of opinion. This perfect storm draws you out of your happy place of tranquility, and into the upside down world of turbidity and chaos.

In the second scenario, our spiritual practice is put to the test. It asks us to take that place of calm with us everywhere we go and adapt accordingly. We find that it takes great discipline not to be pulled out of our center and deplete our own personal power reserves.

This is one of the many ways my qigong practice is useful not just in my personal space but out in the world. Holding to the center takes cultivation and practice of non-attachment, non-resistance and non-judgement. All things that are often present in family circles like the attachment to who did what to whom in the past, the resistance to changing old patterns, and the non-judgement as we watch our family live their lives in ways we don't always agree with.

Easier said than done, I know. So what's the secret? A daily routine of sitting, standing and moving. When we sit in meditation, we can look through our psyche for what is the true nature and what are conditioned beliefs. When we stand, the power of qi flows to remove blockages and recharges our ability to sort through what really counts, and let go of what our ego insists matters. And when we move, we physically exchange our old, out-dated cellular structure for new cells that have the most current 'data'.

If you are new to a mindfulness practice, start with this simple routine:

Excuse yourself to a quiet spot, and stand tall with your feet flat and hip distance apart. Inhale and circle your arms up over your head, then exhale and bring your hands down the front of the body to the belly. Repeat two more times.

Super charge this with a qigong healing sound; as you exhale quietly make the sound 'heeeeee'. This sound helps to calm the nervous system.

Try it now. Practice it before you need it and use it when you are feeling pulled.

Keep to the center my friends...