Today on Facebook, Jungian psychologist and story-teller Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes wrote “In some way, regardless of gender, locale, age, marital status, everyone is a mother.”  It felt like she was echoing the thoughts that had been rolling around in my mind.

When I chose, in my child-bearing years, not to have a child, I had an internal sense that I wanted to channel my mothering instincts into something else. I knew even then that I was birthing something different…a paradigm shift, a movement, the system of healing and living that has become The Way of Joy.

Today, as I celebrate my beautiful and courageous mama, I want to also celebrate all of us who see ourselves as “mothers” of what we create for future generations.

What are you mothering these days?

Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.

In a recent Facebook discussion with some elementary school buddies from “long-ago,” I was reminded that, in the private girl’s school we all attended, different girls were periodically awarded “posture awards,” little blue ribbons we wore proudly until the next batch of awards. I didn’t receive one of those coveted ribbons very often, but when I did, I walked around proudly, with a vague sense of power, for a few days.

Now I actually find it exciting that so many stress-reduction techniques for body-mind-spirit emphasize the importance of postural alignment for your health. I believe that when we work to align ourselves on every level, from physical to emotional to mental to spiritual, we open an enormous well-spring of energy and resources.

In The Way of Joy qigong, I explore some of the themes from these ancient Taoist practices. I especially love to look at the lessons we can receive from that I call “The Three Realms of Consciousness”—Heaven, Human, and Earth.

Are there times when you’ve felt the power of aligning your mind, heart and actions? Hmmm. Maybe it’s time to wear little posture award ribbons!

For more information about qigong, check out Qi Talks, Thursday May 9, 5:30 PM PDT as Vicki hosts healer, teacher and all around qi expert, Shoshanna Katzman speaking about Qi Mind and Qi Body

Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. 

“I love to sing-a” cartoon, Thank you, Gary Giamboi!

In last week’s blog, I spoke about Spring as a time of emergenc-y, when you “give birth” to new/renewed energy to grow into your next level. In my book, The Way of Joy, I note that the focus of this season is: Birthing new ideas and projects, nourishing what is coming forth, nurturing growth.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spring is also associated with the liver, which houses the emotion of anger. It is especially easy to get angry when we feel stagnant or stuck. According to the Healing Tao, nourishing the liver transforms that anger, into kindness or forgiveness. Because the liver rules the tendons, it is also important to include flexibility exercises, such as qigong or tai chi, into your fitness routine.

You can also benefit your liver by doing a liver cleanse or through eating sour foods such as lemon water, fermented foods like sauerkraut, etc. It is no accident that the deliciously lemon-y flavored weed, oxalis grows in such profusion at this time of year. (NOTE: Use just a few flowers to spark up your salad. A little is good for you, an over-abundance can become toxic, especially for kidneys so avoid oxalis if you have kidney stones or rheumatoid arthritis).

Snowy Blossom in the Spring

Now is the time to harness your energy and direct it towards what really matters in your life. Spring Forward, a 4 week intensive to make your dreams a reality by landing them in the very cells of your body. 

Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. 

Spring is the season we bring forth seeds of the self that have been gestating during the winter. It is a time when your dreams push to come out and blossom — whether in ways that refresh old visions, or are new inspirations. Although many people associate Spring with light-hearted images of young love and butterflies, Spring is also a time of “emergenc-y,” where your life force pushes forward unexpectedly and in potent ways…If you imagine a young tree as a pale seedling pushing through the winter-hardened earth, reaching for the warmth and light of the sun, you have an image for how insistent your own life force becomes during this point in your cycle. Way of Joy

As I prepare new ground-breaking content for my upcoming 4 week live intensive, Spring Forward, I’m looking at all the different ways we experience both momentum and resistance at this birthing time of year.

One of my favorite qigong forms, Blossom in the Spring, teaches that when we’re about to create something new (move to a new level of empowerment), we tend to hit the tension of resistance, just like pulling back an arrow in a bow before releasing it towards its target.

Resistance, you?? Let’s talk! Leave a comment below.

NEW!! Right Here, Right Now! video training plus group coaching tele-class happening right now! PLUS live class Spring intensive beginning Sunday, May 5.

Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.

As I’ve been preparing for my free live workshop, Conscious Connections, From Drained To Dynamic!, I’ve been thinking about how to tap into the core message of what I want to say and teach next Sunday — that is, when we tap into our own boundaries, defining what we believe/don’t believe; think/don’t think; feel/don’t feel; want/don’t want — we have greater freedom, energy and visibility to live our lives with purpose. Even more important, when we are clear with those boundaries, we emanate an almost palpable energetic attraction, creating unexpected abundance.

It feels like no accident that as I work on these principles in myself, I am experiencing an increase in people drawn to what I offer. My April 7 event has already outgrown 2 spaces, so I’ve had to rent a 3^rd one; Qi Talks, a free tele-series I’m offering with the National Qigong Association is over 50% full less than 24 hours after its first email announcement, and I’m seeing avenues of new service opening daily. I gotta say that this problem of abundance is a great one to have.

For example, my partner, Sherry Mouser, and I just completed TEN teaching videos in the last 2 ½ days. Talk about abundance! Setting parameters or boundaries regarding what I wanted to create for an upcoming class series, has created an unanticipated acceleration of momentum to deliver my vision.

Here is one of the teaching videos from my “hot-of-the-presses” 10-part series for you to try out right now to begin your “irresistible attraction” by setting boundaries that dissolve barriers and reground you in your true power.

Register Here for the FREE Way of Joy workshop: Conscious Connections: From Drained to Dynamic! Sunday April 7.

Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, is a teacher, speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to increase awareness, transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.