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Early Winter Greetings, In the United States, we’re two days past the 2024 election, with the results slowly sinking in as a new reality descends. According to the Chinese Solar Calendar, we’ve also reached the first day of Winter, the beginning of the long dark. We may experience this darkness as oppressive and claustrophobic. And even as we feel it pull us down, let’s not forget that darkness is also a fertile opportunity for reorganization and the subconscious stirrings of creativity. Chaos, yes. And as in all natural cycles, destruction is a necessary precursor to new growth. The difference may lie in where we place our locus of control. Is the tumult of change beyond our agency, or are we willing participants in this endlessly shifting experiment called life? Beginning in childhood, my father constantly admonished me to “Keep one-point.” This primary focus of Aikido — a Japanese martial art — lies two inches below the naval and one inch deep into the lower belly. The experience of it translates as a sense of grounded strength, calm, and responsiveness. A sensory awareness of gravity and transcendence, a contented confidence even in the most difficult of times. This experience of unification is not owned by any one tradition. A centered nucleus of dynamic aliveness exists inside each of us, and can be accessed through numerous practices and methods. The key is simply finding the one that works for you. As we venture together deeper into the dark, I invite you to dedicate space to finding center. Can you sense it when you’re standing? Lying on the floor with the back of your pelvis against the floor? When you’re shaking your hips dancing in the kitchen to your favorite tunes? (If you haven’t tried this, do it now! We need to feed our joy!) Experiment with yourself. Make space to explore. What prevents you from locating this place inside? If anything, we need to discover within ourselves new responses to old pain. You can start by finding your center. This is also a time for strong community. We need each other to help ourselves stay steady. I invite you to join us on Monday evenings for Qi Gong Foundations. This class will help ground you in the natural flow of movement through the body, movement that arises and returns, always, to center. We meet from 6:30-7:30pm at Heart of the Valley Yoga. Registration is available at the door or online through the studio. We’ll be keeping the room lights low through the winter to support a restful environment for our sensory systems. If there’s any way I can support you during this time, please reach out. I’m currently developing classes for 2025, with an eye toward all that is needed to fortify ourselves for the year ahead. I’ll be announcing those offerings soon. In the meantime, practice holding center. It’s always with you, just waiting for you to find it. Warm wishes, Georgia
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