artist, instructor, organizer, ethical meat advocate
Practicing stillness or mindfulness can be challenging, and even trickier for me when I do it in public spaces… but the Barton Springs Spillway was a’buzz with friendly folks, many of whom were interested in what I was doing. What was I doing? A t’ai chi move called Cloud hands in s-u-p-e-r slow mo. Slow motion is hard because I want to whizz about always, but the lessons of slowing down have been ginormous, across the board. Summer time…
In Qi Gong, there’s a practice called “7 Precious Gestures” and while there is no perfecting them, I hope they will be a part of my daily routine for the rest of my days. The slower, the better, the bigger the burn — the bigger the test on my patience. Even though it’s done very s-l-o-w-l-y, these 7 gestures totally fire up my life force energy and that’s what I’m here for.
I’m a fan of doing energy work (reiki) on my dogs and have seen great results on Henry, but this new Little Dude showed up and all bets were off. Bandito is not a fan! He found a new home at the neighbors and all is calm once again.
On a cloudy sunrise on Horseshoe Bay, three little ducks paid a visit as I did my morning qi gong, which is all about opening up my energy lines by gently twisting from my spine. Figure 8’s, beach-balling, pulling up the earth’s energy… QUACK!!
On a bright & brisk March day, I did some qi gong moves that focus on releasing grief from the lungs, by literally letting the lungs breathe (stretch), while pointing index & thumb like a gun (Chicago-Bang_Bang). The Bean is a HUGE Figure 8 ta boot, such a magical place!
I was in Chicago to say goodbye to my Uncle Buzz, a bittersweet trip for sure as his dance card was up. I tipped Buzz’s Chicago Whitesox hat my uncle, to the Loop;Ā and to the Irish of Chicago. I bid you a fond farewell into the Mystic xx
I am following the suggestions of Dr. Christiane Northrup from her book, “Goddesses Never Age” although I have been practicing standing on one foot with eyes closed to find my balance for some time now — it never gets old;). But now it turns out it will help you stay young and mobile! Although you probably shouldn’t try doing it the first few times on a cliff overlooking a busy highway… :DD
Qi gong is great to wake up in the morning and also great to help you prepare for sleep. By rotating your arms around in a bird-like fashion, it helps quiet the mind and encourage deep breathing. A soothing Beatles tune helps :))
Gorgeous days and nights on this beach; it was incredibly easy to do my qi gong exercises here because it was so amazing. The gratitude is bursting out of me!
I’ve started doing t’ai chi with fans, because it helps move the stagnant energy out and away from my body, and on this Valentine’s Day, my guy Reed joined me with his ice cream cone to dance a little t’ai mambo. There are classes on this in San Miguel de Allende btw. Hearts & Loves to you!
I love starting the day by greeting the sun with salutations and some qi gong moves of sweeping the energy off from my kidneys (on my lower back) to help detox them and help me feel alert for the new day. Buenas Dias Saint Michael!
While in San Miguel de Allende, I picked up some gorgeous Guatamalan textile braids that are perfect for cross-over twirling, which extends the stagnant chi energy out and away from my body. Twirling is great fun and will really lift your spirits, I highly recommend it!
We had just arrived in this little Mexican town of healing waters, and I began my day at a talavera fountain with some qi gong to get things started. Yes people look at me like I am a Gringa Loca, but I am used to this by now! š
I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, here at Santa Barbara Beach. My life has changed so drastically in the past year, I barely recognize myself, and for this I give much thanks. Sunset qi gong…
Earlier this day, someone had expressed their unpopular opinionĀ of me and it totally knocked me down. I got up and went to dance class and worked on my balance — because there’ll always be knocks in lifeĀ but the trick is toĀ get up again!
If you need to ground yourself, you can swat your body lightly up one side and down the other to check that you are in your body. A fun place to do this is while on the Lone Star Riverboat that cruises Lady Bird Lake as the bats come out at sunset boooooo scary it’s Halloween!
Children do it, athletes too. When you have nervous energy in you, sometimes it feels great to shake your hands as if they are pompoms and let the tension fly out! My hound dog Bandito is with me for this sped-up version of shaking it out.
I was mid-week in my NIA Dance training and I completely forgot where I was…. Little Rock, Arkansas. Which I really enjoyed, lovely sights!
High atop the Hot Springs Mountain Tower, I did some qi gong moves to help free up my spine and open up my creativity. Whew it was hot in Arkansas, but a stop at the old world Buckstaff Bathouse was a tremendous way to spend an afternoon.
This is a great technique to wake up the body in the morning or prepare for sleep in the evening; better known as Knocking On The Door of Life. I spendĀ much of my qigong & t’ai chi time spinning my spine for good health.
The day I decided to share all-things-good-energy I’ve been studying: Energy medicine, qigong, t’ai chi, NIA dance, intuition development, reiki, yoga, meditation and raising my vibration… all which have helped navigate my way through grief.