meditation – Dr. Kathy Yep

Hello, community of practitioners…. Our practice group will continue to meet on zoom at the new time 6 a.m. HT/ 9 a.m. PT/ noon ET for 30 minutes of practice and then some folks stay and talk and share experiences with practice.

Today insights from Kuwa Jasiri, Debbie, Bonnie, Liz, Simone, Pati we’re shared and they orbited in different ways about returning home whether a physical place, to the body as it needs to move or unable to move, to the present moment at this age with a sense of temporality.

With our collective reflections on home today, coming home to my body and brain is not just when it feels good. The cycle of head pain and then ease has returned. New insights and remembering about listening to the present moment —- the different birds at sunrise and the coqui frogs at sunset, my head when it starts to feel pain and cognitive fatigue sets in after a short time, my mind and its critique of cognitive fatigue, and when needing to rest the brain.

I am reminded that one can not run away or numb out. That qì gōng or contemplative practice is an invitation to be with the present moment. It is a practice of being present with and being awake to what this is in the present moment and what is here. — even with all the contradictions and the cycles.

So this is brain relaxing and feeling joyous after a swim in the ocean AND the pulsating pain of cognitive fatigue after talking with someone on the phone for 40 minutes and after 8 months of rehab after a car ran a red light and hit my car. This is the present moment of tourists streaming off of a cruise ship to drink Kona coffee AND ICE coming to a rural, small town and abducting several people who were fleeing violence and having been kidnapped in their home country who pick the coffee as workers. This is awakening to the possibility that my brain may not heal in time to return to teaching full time in a month for the academic year AND being hopeful for continued healing.

As I finish writing this, a rainbow on the horizon has appeared amid the different bird sounds of the morning. And, my head is beginning to throb from cognitive fatigue of writing for 20 minutes. I am learning to hold both with tenderness. Breathing in, I feel the physical pain. Breathing out, I smile at the rainbow and the physical pain.

Be well, Kathy

You are invited: drop-in practice, 8 – 8:30 a.m. PT.
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, 30 minutes.
Open and suitable to all. No reservation necessary. Drop in. Online.

TO GO TO THE CLASS: Class: zoom link.

Bring open heart, cultural humility, and water. Come early or late. Leave early if needed.

****. Join qì gōng email list. ****

Still in your pajamas? Have sleep hair? Come as you are.
Practicing in a chair or lying down? All forms of practice are welcome.
We have had some furry family practice too. All are welcome.

Offered in spirit of generosity.
All donations go to folks on the ground in Maui (Mauna Medic Healers Hui) or Gaza (Middle Eastern Children Alliance) for food, water, medicine, medical care, shelter, clothes.
Recommended: Sliding scale. $1 – $10 per session, At end of month donate directly to MECA or send check to K. Yep, P.O. Box 1313 Monterey Park CA 91754.

Poems, cards, quotes, and art also welcome. No one turned away for lack of funds.

WHAT IS QÌ GŌNG?

Qì gōng (Chee gong) is connecting to, working with, and cultivating qì (flow, energy or life force). We do this by stretching and moving the body to open the energy pathways known as meridians or channels. Qì gōng can foster calm awareness and the relaxation response. Beyond the physical level, Qì gōng can be empowering because qì is in everything and everyone, including the earth and the sky. In this way, qì gōng can remind us that we are all interconnected even in the face of being torn apart, confronting a large and cruel system, or experiencing loneliness. Qì can nourish the sense and feeling that we are not alone. Practicing qì gōng has the potential to center interconnectivity — in contrast to dehumanizing, appropriating, tossing away, violating, extracting, or marginalizing.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Whether its your first time or your 26th, all levels are welcome. I encourage you to practice the movements and breathing in a way that makes sense for you — whether sitting in a chair, standing, or lying down. If you come late or have to leave early, you are invited to participate. Feel free to share this with people. Bring cultural humility, an open heart, and water.

DA YAN/ WILD GOOSE QÌ GŌNG CONTEXT

I started to learn wild goose qì gōng because I was recovering from cancer and it was rough. I am cancer-free and have practiced this form close to 30 years. This knowledge system dates back over 1000 years, and is also known as dayan qì gōng. It is a comprehensive system of medical qigong that includes over fifty forms. Some are movement-based and others are sitting meditation practices.

The current understanding and practice of this qì gōng system is credited to Grandmaster Yang Meijun (27th lineage holder). Living past 100, Yang Meijun shifted the discourse and practice by becoming the first woman lineage holder and by teaching it to the public starting in the 1970s.

May our qi gong practice for the benefit of all so all beings do no harm and be free from harm.