This is one of my favorite practices to do, especially at this time of year, during the winter season. In fact, I always incorporate it into my annual Nourish the Flame: From Resolutions to Results because it makes such a synergistic contribution to the practices and tools I share.
My wish for you, as we move into the New Year, is vision and sustainability. This little practice might do the trick
Please tell me what happens after you have tried this for 1 day. And it’s not too late to register for Nourish the Flame. If you are coming, do go ahead and begin this water exercise today and support your qi field to maximize the benefits of what we will be doing together on Dec. 30.
“Renegade-Woo” Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, brings together East Coast Attitude and West Coast energy consciousness as a master teacher, transformative 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 transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.
I don’t know about you, but I think this time of year is complex. Invitations pour in to be “out, about, and social” while, at the same time, the days are shorter and the Natural World is reminding us that this is a time for conservation, hibernation and retreat.
One of the ways I ride these contradictions as the holiday season catapults us towards the end of the year is a qigong form called the Crystal Generator, which is a featured practice I offer annually at my Nourish the Flame event. Although I can’t offer the whole thing here, I think if you take about 3 minutes to try out this excerpt, you may find, as I do, that it will become a key sustaining tool to thrive through the season.
Nourish the Flame: A Winter Workshop toTransform resolutions into Real-Time Results
When you are starting something new, taking a risk to grow, moving to a new level (or even when you’re avoiding any of that), how often does it feel like your focus shifts over to how other people see you? And what happens to your well-being when you forget the things you know to be true about yourself and are anxiously reading other people’s reactions to monitor what they’re thinking or feeling?
The holidays, especially if you are visiting with different family members that push your buttons is the perfect time to settle in and observe these patterns. Especially when they bring up a bunch of AFGO’s (Another F*#%ing Growth Opportunity). In fact, I recently broadcast a teleclass, The Holiday Table with Sharon Strand Ellison, the brilliant creator of Powerful Non-Defensive Communication™ looking at how we can manage or energy and communication skills when feeling triggered.
Today, I’ve been musing on how often, regardless of what I “know,” I still get nervous others’ judgments, even if I’m alone in my room. Luckily I have the perfect qigong tool to help bring me back to center. Now to remember using it during this busy week to come!
Almost Sold Out! DEC 29 Nourish the Flame: A FREE Winter Workshop to Transform Ideas into Reality and Resolutions into Results. Bring in the Joy for 2014 and register now to save your seat.
“Renegade-Woo” Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, brings together East Coast Attitude and West Coast energy consciousness as a master teacher, transformative 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 transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life.
I’ve been bouncing back and forth between different projects in my life like a ping pong ball lately — teaching classes, seeing clients, preparing an upcoming day-long event, and rehearsing my 1 woman play, What’s Wrong with a Mouse?
At the same time, underneath all the busy-ness, my heart is beating with a profound sense of gratitude that I am choosing all of it, even the frantic pace of these past several weeks. But I gotta say that it’s not always easy to keep gratitude alive and not fall into feeling like a victim of my own choices to Do Do Do.
Although I created this video last May, it contains exactly the message and practice, I want to hear today, so I thought I’d share it with you again.
I want to remember every day to embrace the whole of my life, even in the face of stress, anxiety or challenges. How about you?
Vicki Dello Joio, founder ofThe 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.
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.
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 ofThe 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.
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 ofThe 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.
This is one of my favorite practices to do, especially at this time of year, during the winter season. In fact, I always incorporate it into my annual Nourish the Flame: From Resolutions to Results because it makes such a synergistic contribution to the practices and tools I share.
