Thank you to “Rockin’ It” Women Martial Arts Instructors

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

I had the opportunity this weekend to attend my first conference with the Association of Women Martial Arts Instructors (AWMAI) in Las Vegas. It was not only a privilege to be among such highly skilled professional leaders in the field, but I also received the honor of being inducted into the Women’s Martial Artists Hall of Fame.

There was something about being recognized in this way that moved me to my core. Even more important, I was reminded that while I’ve followed my own trajectory with my qi practices over the years, I’m not alone. As I looked around the room of beautiful smiling faces, I could literally feel in my very bones what it had taken for each and every woman there to reach their (our) level of achievement.

One of the big highlights of the conference for me was an hour of demonstrations by extraordinarily talented women, ranging from hard “external” combative forms to “soft” internal arts. I had the opportunity to offer this short qigong demonstration.


Music: Jennifer Berezan, Video: Kim Ivy

I especially want to offer a bow with deep gratitude to qi sister, brilliant Qigong Tai Chi master teacher, Kim Ivy, from Embrace the Moon in Seattle, not only for nominating me for the Hall of Fame, but for being a consistent and encouraging heart companion along the way.

Are you a Bay Area Wise Women ready to Take Off? Check out this new LIVE class series beginning March 4!

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.


Posted in Empowerment | 13 Comments

Harmonic Balance: Qigong and the Art of Keeping Many Balls in the Air.

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

Harmony is two or more different notes that are played together to create a rich and multi-layered texture, balancing diverse voices to form “a chord,” or accord.   The Way of Joy (excerpt)

Life is pretty accelerated for me these days, as it seems to be for so many people I talk to. I have many projects up — both right in front of me and in the pipeline. As I wrote in a recent Facebook post, “Sometimes my projects feel like a hydra. As soon as I lop off one head, a dozen other ones appear…Arghhhh”

The trick of keeping multiple balls in the air can be overwhelming. At the same time, because I love (and feel committed) to all of what I’m doing, I’ve never responded very well to the admonishment, “you just need to do less— just choose!”

While I am very aware of the dangers of spreading myself too thin, or becoming the dreaded “Jack of all trades, Master of none,” I feel from the marrow of my bones that I am actually taking on a lot because I know (under some of the self-imposed stress and anxiety) that I can.

What are some of the tools you use to successfully manage your energy in the face of an accumulation of “To Dos” ?

Are you a Bay Area Wise Women ready to Take Off? Check out this new LIVE class series beginning March 4!

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.

Posted in Resources and Tools for Vitality | 5 Comments

Happy Chinese New Year! Enter the Black Water Snake

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

Are you ready to embrace change? Again?

The end of the Year of the Dragon and beginning of the Year of the Snake is a potent time for transition and renewal. Just as the Snake sheds its skin, you are being called to release any excess layers that are no longer vital to your well-being so you can take your next step in bringing your gifts to the world around you.

The Dragon’s natural home is Heaven. This expansive realm sparks us to travel to new levels of awareness, inspires and guides us to set off on uncharted paths. Here we’ve been able to dream what is possible in our world and in our lives.

Now in the Year of the Snake, we come down to Earth, bringing our focus to make those visions real. Picture the intense energy and intention a snake has right before it strikes. Then sharpen your own commitment to go for what you want.

As Qigong master teacher and author Dr. Roger Jahnke says so eloquently in his blog on Year of the Snake, “it could be said that whatever any one or any group nourished with psychic and emotional energy last year, would now have the potential in this year to transform into the solid, real, practical and applied — the manifestation!”

As Jean-Luc Picard used to say on Star Trek: “Make It So!”

Calling all Bay Area Wise Wild Women: Check out this new LIVE class series beginning March 4!

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.

Posted in Empowerment | 10 Comments

TRYING to Make It Work? Qigong practice helps

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

Argghhh! I’ve felt so stuck this week trying to put together my calendar, my commitments and my work priorities. It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle that just won’t fit. I try arranging, then rearranging until I finally give up and walk away — just put it off til “later”. And whaddaya know? I wake up the next morning and the problems are still there, visions and projects that just don’t fit together properly.  Then I get lost in the wasteland of “I don’t know what I’m doing!”

So what DO I know? I know that each of these projects and commitments matter to me. I also know these blocks, even though I’m getting sore from bumping up against them, have some kind of f*#@in’ reason to be here.

I’m not sure whether it is stubborn obstinacy or brilliant dedication but I still believe there is information in these blocks and a solution that I just haven’t seen yet.

In a recent blog, I spoke about energetic ways to eliminate power struggle without becoming blaming and argumentative or just giving up and “losing heart”.

Now as I look at my internal power struggle about which project goes where in my calendar, I see it is time to try to grab hold of what my qi practices are teaching me.

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.

Posted in The Art of Balancing and Centering | 22 Comments

Letting Go of Power Struggle with Vicki Dello Joio

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

What do you do when you are in a conversation with someone and realize, to your dismay, your communication is breaking down and you’ve lost your point of connection? It can be incredibly frustrating and many people either amp up their position and become blaming or argumentative, while others might finally give up — just walk away and “lose heart.”

It is so tempting to enter a blame game, think the other person is obstinate, irritating or just plain stupid. Or you might turn the frustration and blame on yourself, question your own wisdom, clarity or reasons. Either way, the result is a “disconnect” that, over time, can become self-perpetuating.

In a recent blog, A Model for Compassionate Power, Sharon Strand Ellison speaks with eloquence on breaking the habits of self-defeating anger at the same time you increase your internal sense of power. Combined with embodied qi practice, I find this approach a powerful exit out of the revolving door of power struggle.

The following short qigong practice “transforms knee-jerk reactions into heart-felt response by distilling information as it comes to you. This creates an energetic netting that “separates the wheat from the chaff,” so that you pay attention to what is useful, while allowing that which is not useful to be filtered out of your consciousness.” (excerpt) Way of Joy


For more information about Powerful Non-Defensive Communication

Bay Area Peeps: Mark your calendar for 4-part LIVE class series beginning March 3. And it’s not too late to join the Sustain the Flame video teaching and tele-series to make those recent New Year’s resolutions STICK. Let’s go for it together and make 2013 unlike any other!

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.

Posted in Mindful Living | 4 Comments

Bust Out Energy with Vicki Dello Joio

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

Vicki with Break-Through Allies
Photo: Thea Kynthia

“Like the final stages of birth, the manifestation process—the embodiment of Heaven’s vision and Human intention—can be hard labor. When whatever you are creating is ready to be born, you need to summon your resolve to give a final push.”  The Way of Joy

Now that the holiday season and the beginning of a new calendar year is really over, it can be a challenge to really drop old patterns of beliefs and behaviors that hold you back from going for what you want.

In an earlier vlog, Dealing with Resistance, I spoke about one way to work around blocks. Today I want to speak about another…


(Thanks, Brandy Mychals and Vinca Heart for this “spontaneous qigong” prompt!)


Remember, regardless of how, every time you intentionally put your intentions into your actual physical body, (as opposed to simply good thoughts or focused will-power) you create an energetic support system that will carry you to the changes you want to make.

It’s not too late to join the Sustain the Flame video teaching and tele-series to make those recent New Year’s resolutions STICK. Let’s go for it together and make 2013 unlike any other!

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.

 

Posted in Empowerment, Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Firing Up 2013 with Embodied Intention

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Vicki Dello Joio

The magic of creating something extraordinary out of the ordinary may sometimes seem way out of reach. However, I believe any time you’ve had an image of something you’d like to have happen in your life that actually did happen, you mastered, for that moment, the Earth realm of manifestation…How we work our intention is a determining factor in how well we stay on track.                                                          The Way of Joy

About a month ago, I had a vision of a large number of people moving qi together to create the year ahead with empowered synergy.  When it actually happened, it went beyond my expectations —what a Rush!

Even more important is the people who joined me there, a group of highly conscious and visionary people, are even as I type, gestating their visions for healing, creation and limitless possibilities for paradigm shifts both internal and in the world.

I’d love you to join us with Part 1 of one of the Way of Joy Qigong empowerment forms we practiced together.

To learn this whole form and join the movement to create 2013 with Embodied Intention, please check out this upcoming Tele-series by emailing me at vicki@wayofjoy.com

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.

Posted in Empowerment, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

You’ll See It When You Believe It

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Vicki Dello Joio

Although I haven’t yet read Wayne Dyer’s book with this title, I think the concept is so essential for the planetary and global shift that mystics and sages tell us is happening right now. I’ve certainly been seeing startling evidence of it in my own life as well as hearing from other people how this message has landed for them.

In Qigong terms, it’s all about bringing Heaven energy down to Earth — walking the talk of our visions and inspiration and making them happen in real time and in a tangible way. Many people fall into the trap of thinking they can just speak affirmations and they will come true. But it is only when you feel your beliefs from the inside out, you begin to radiate an energy that filters information in a way that enables those beliefs to live and breathe.

FREE EVENT COMING UP!! Nourish the Flame: A Winter Workshop in Way of Joy Qigong. Launch 2013 with renewed clarity, purpose, and vitality by giving yourself the time, space and energetic support to manifest your goals for the year ahead. Dec 30 11 AM-3 PM
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.
Posted in Empowerment, Resources and Tools for Vitality, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Choice Illuminated: The Gift of Winter Solstice

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Vicki Dello Joio

The power to Cultivate Discernment is key to opening up the spaciousness within your psyche to allow for the movement of your life force and the expansion of your boundary (your wei chi) and how you express your gifts to the world around you. The Way of Joy

The turning point of Winter Solstice — where the nights stretch long and daylight shrinks — is an optimal time to reflect on what you are choosing to carry forward into the next cycle and what needs to drop away. In this way, your “garbage”—that is old choices, patterns of behaviors you are sick of—can simply be “composted” into neutral energy.

One way to do this is to ask yourself, “What is going on in my life right now that I don’t want?”  Listen for the answer and jot it down in your journal or on a piece of paper.  Rather than reject or become impatient with whatever the answer might be, use it as a guiding light to ask yourself “So what do I want?” Notice what you feel in your body as you bring your focused attention to the answer.

Making the choice to break non-resourceful habits grounds you in healthy ways to express your truth, experience your own power, and bring your distinctive gifts to the world around you. This is most effective when you infuse your body with that choice. Here is a short qigong practice to keep your inner flame burning.

FREE EVENT COMING UP!! Nourish the Flame: A Winter Workshop in Way of Joy Qigong. Launch 2013 with renewed clarity, purpose, and vitality by giving yourself the time, space and energetic support to manifest your goals for the year ahead. Dec 30 11 AM-3 PM

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.

Posted in Resources and Tools for Vitality, The Art of Balancing and Centering | 2 Comments

The Water Wheel: A Winter Qigong practice

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Vicki Dello Joio

As we move into the chill of winter, it is vital to keep your energy warm and flowing. Associated in Traditional Chinese Medicine with the kidneys, winter is the season to nourish and support this important organ, which regulates and balances water and fluids in your body.

The seat of the adrenal glands, which produce the fight / flight response, the kidneys are also associated with the emotion of fear. Whether that fear has to do with growing fully into your own power or wrestling with your “inner critics” or external challenges, this is a perfect time of year to turn and face those voices, while keeping the inner flame of your consciousness alight to sustain your vision of where you want to go.

Winter is a time you can call on the wisdom of the Water element, which can shift into a myriad of forms from a raging river or to a delicate crystalline snowflake. In the same way, you can cultivate your ability to adapt and flow as you move into the hush of the season.

What follows is a medical qigong practice I call “The Water Wheel” to balance and tonify your kidneys.

FREE EVENT COMING UP!! Nourish the Flame: A Winter Workshop in the Way of Joy. Launch 2013 with renewed clarity, purpose, and vitality by giving yourself the time, space and energetic support to manifest your goals for the year ahead. Dec 30 11 AM-3 PM

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.

 

 

Posted in Resources and Tools for Vitality, The Art of Balancing and Centering | 5 Comments