Cheers! Gan Bei! Empty your cup! The empty cup analogy is one that I thoroughly enjoy and is universal to so many practices and experiences. I can remember my teacher in Beijing explaining his personal relationship to this concept and how it gave him the motivation and focus he needed to be the type of person, martial artist, teacher and friend he wanted to be for those around him. The empty cup tells us that if we go into a situation with our mind and thoughts full of expectations we will often miss the the part that we should really be present for and looking to take away with us. I have always felt there is an intention present we when contemplate analogies and metaphors such as this, one that can be felt in context with our own personal experience. Coming into our practice with the intention of becoming a student rather than a master, studying rather than memorizing and simply looking to be more present with our practice helps us look to our own cup. Both how we are crafting it and with what we want to fill it. In a practice such as tai ji and qi gong we are bound to have expectations, yet we can use these expectations to help shape our intention and practice as we learn more about the method and the study. The famous tai ji teacher Cheng Man Ching was once asked how long it would take to learn the long form. He replied, “two years”. The student then asked him how long it would take if he trained really hard. Without much hesitation Professor Cheng said, “three years”. He of course knew that if the student thought that training harder would somehow “hack” the method, his cup was definitely not empty, and probably had a few cracks in it. My teacher in Beijing had a great way of looking at it. He said of course you have to empty your cup, but then what:). In the beginning you don’t actually have a cup, it is more like a teaspoon you empty to fill a cup. Then when the cup is full use your cup to fill a pitcher. When the pitcher is full you use the pitcher to fill your reservoir digging deeper until you find an endless spring so that when those around you need a drink, you will have the strength and energy you need to be there for them.

I think consistency is a really useful quality to cultivate. Even a few minutes a day. I kid you not! I honestly think 5 minutes a day will give more value than a single session of 30m a week. I like baby steps to build consistency. Most of the time I prefer to start slow, whether its in time or distance, reps etc and slowly but surely build up. The first question I ask myself is how long, or what distance am I willing to do without any resistance? It doesn't matter how small it is, the sole purpose is to eliminate all resistance and create a very doable starting point. Seriously, it can be a minute. There are no rules. Next I slowly and surely increase the time or distance etc. Whether I increase daily or every few days or weekly depends on what I'm doing and how I feel. No rules. I say goodbye to "should" "ought" etc. The goal is steady improvement - there is no hurry. I like pit stops or consolidation points. As an example, once I've hit a time, say 10m or 15m, I stay there for a few days or a week, whatever it takes. No pressure to move on. Once this time is consolidated I move on. I was once taught "always make sure you want to practice tomorrow. This is achieved by working within my limits. In Qigong a recommendation is use 80% effort, less if injured. No reason why I can't do this in life. No reason why I can't do this with baby steps. By practicing at 80% most of the time I will always want to practice tomorrow. If for some reason I start having some resistance, I can either go back to when I was happy to practice tomorrow or go back to one of my consolidation points. Baby steps. Baby!

I finally made it through the 7 Day…life gets in the way sometimes, it took me 4 weeks. And being completed-I checked all of the boxes but the gauge shows I’m still short 4%. Anyone else run into this and if so how did you resolve it? Just an OCD thing with me I suppose! LOL!

Here’s our updated schedule for the coming weeks. As we enter the last month of the year, we want to say great job for being here and staying connected to your practice. If you’ve been a little on and off lately, that’s totally okay too; this is a beautiful moment to gently return and reconnect with your practice. If you haven’t joined a live session yet, consider giving it a try — the energy, support, and presence of practicing together can make a big difference. 🌱 Every Tuesday & Thursday (except 12/25 Thursday) - Weekly Qi (Qigong) 8AM - Qi & Flow (Tai Chi) 8:30AM 🌱 Every Sunday - Weekly Qi (Qigong) 9AM - Qi & Flow (Tai Chi) 9:30AM ✔️ All times are listed in Pacific Time (PST). ✔️ All sessions are recorded and available in the community classroom if you miss the live session. ✔️ You can find the link for each live session in the calendar tab. (We’ll also post the link a day before.) Let’s finish the year strong, steady, and mindful❄️

Join us and click link below: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84263627012?pwd=mak14zEu3gCbkRJQDzzSFQQ2PrKZRb.1