When the student is ready …

Recently I held a series of lunchtime Qi Gong sessions: 20 minutes for “vitality and optimum health,” with time left over for lunch.
 
It sounded like a good idea, yet attendance was sparse. Was it the time? The place? Do people not want vitality and optimum health?
 
Who knows? What I can answer is this: What was the teacher’s intent, and was she focused on that?
 
I admit, I was focused on making Qi Gong convenient. And that doesn’t exactly resonate with health and vitality.
 
It reminds me of the adage: Teach what you want to learn.

And I realize that what I want to learn has everything to do with the current political climate: how to survive and overcome the hate, fear and domination poisoning our most basic human interactions.
 
Also, what I want to learn can’t really be learned. It can only be practiced. Over and over, until it becomes a more natural way of being.
 

• I want to learn serenity. No matter what outrage is trumpeted in the news, I want to be able to stay grounded. Instead of being pulled off-center by feelings of rage, I can focus the energy of my anger into a positive response.
  
  
• I want to learn focused intention. Implicit in this is, how does my intention serve the highest good? Once I know this, I can actually feel my vibration rising to a more positive attitude.
  
  
• I want to learn to “see and not see.” This sounds like a paradox, but it is a basic precept of Qi Gong practice. Qi Gong is a martial art, after all, no matter how meditative it seems. The moves can be used to anticipate and block or disarm an opponent—without letting them know you know. Taken further, I believe the mindset that develops through Qi Gong practice can be used to see beyond the headlines to the underlying actions and motives of people in power.
  

Central to Chinese philosophy is the idea that yielding overcomes force. The Tao-te Ching says:
wuwei er wu buwei:
“The Way [Tao] does nothing, and yet nothing remains unaccomplished.”

I love Qi Gong because it is a calm, relaxing way to practice everything I want to learn. Which brings me to yet another adage:
 
When the student is ready, the teacher will emerge.
 
Even if it’s your inner teacher.
 
I will be starting Qi Gong classes soon to explore learning serenity, focused intention and “see and not see.” Will you join me?