TAO 2-Week Study Notes (PART 1)

“My mind is so empty, I am like an idiot” (Lao Tzu)

…‘knowledge is knowing, wisdom is forgetting’. Let us cultivate an open, curious, ‘beginner’s mind’, rather than one filled with apparent knowledge and ‘truths’.

EXPERIMENTS IN STILLNESS & BALANCE (SESSION 1)

PUSH-HANDS GAME - the power of OBJECTIVE feedback (how do we really know that we are in balance otherwise?) // finding the sweet spot or ‘goldilocks zone’, whereby we are trying but not TOO much, enjoying but not TOO much, competing but not TOO much...

CENTRE-POINTS:

FOOT - Slightly forwards and to the outer side (where the ‘wave’ of our natural gait moves through with every step). Experimenting with walking consciously through this centre point brings profound results in the body and mind.

BODY - The sternum when moving (biomechanical centre); the navel when lying down still and resting (energetic centre). When the physical task or riddle changes however, then our centre of mass shifts of course (eg. when climbing, breakdancing, crawling through a tunnel). Isolating the sternum / ‘t-spine’ area of the torso is challenging but has huge, positive implications for movement potential as well as emotional health.

*KEY SOURCES: The Subtle Body (Cyndi Dale) & The Axis Syllabus (ed.5) (Frey Faust)

SHORT-BODY BALANCING - eg. balancing on one knee and gradually minimising corrections and excess tension

BEAR, FROG & ELEPHANT POSITIONS - we were once ‘quadripeds’ after all (walking on all fours); creating triangles of stiffness and stillness using 3 limbs instead of 4. The first steps towards various harder acrobatic holds, including the handstand. Again, be patient and find the ‘sweet spot’ progression for yourself- no good comes from pushing too hard and hurting ourselves :).

DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM - we are always shifting in tiny ways to continuously restore balance in ourselves (physically, emotionally, mentally). This is not a choice even, but an inevitability. Our ability to quickly and better harmonise these constant corrections directly responds to our conscious awareness of ourselves and the world around us.

*KEY SOURCE: Everything Moves (Susan Lowell de Solorzano)

APPLIED DEXTERITY & FUNDAMENTALS OF EXPRESSION (SESSION 2)

Dexterity: The capacity to solve motor unit problems (or ‘problem solving’)

...”Dexterity is a kind of currency for which all other currencies are readily traded. It is a trump suit that beats all other cards” (Nicholai Bernstein)

OCTOPUS LEGS: Coordination / multi-tasking as large part of day-to-day dexterity requirements. The legs are more dexterous than we realise also. What benefits might you gain from being a better ‘multi-tasker’?

SPINAL WAVES: What the spine WANTS and is MADE to do! Returning to our primal roots. We once used to be fishes / water bodies after all!

*SOURCE: Dexterity & It’s Development (Nicholai Bernstein)

BLIND SPOTS (SPINE): Both Physical and Emotional - cannot be separated perhaps.

ENTRY POINTS TO EXPRESSION: The walk, the spine, the hands and AN IDEA / ANGLE to work with (eg. 3 spinal lines and / or a new centre point for movement to originate from

*SOURCE: The work of Shai Faran

ANCHOR SONG: Creating an association between stimulus and response (eg. song and feeling/emotion)

OTHER ASSOCIATIONS: Spine and social/cultural conditionings (eg. sex, spatial norms) // Hands and various work tasks, activities, hobbies etc (eg. a punch, a point, a slap, a stroke, a caress)

EMPTYING THE CUP: True expression/improvisation is to absorb/learn/collect/study AND to let all such things disappear again...

...what remains (like ripples in the water) is most authentic perhaps - the ‘invisible gown’ that is true dexterity (or what we might call ‘unconscious competence’)

Did you enjoy this blog? If so, click here to support Daniel’s work…