In this lockdown I’ve struggled to get a good routine going. I feel so much better when Qi Gong exercise is included in my daily schedule but sometimes I find it difficult to fit it in. I find I need peace and quiet for me to really do Qi Gong effectively but now the whole household is at home all day. Finding that physical and mental space can be tricky at the best of times but now it’s even harder.
One way can I manage it is to try to get up early before anyone else in my house, do some meditation and Qi Gong and then get on with the day. However, recently I have been working on my my new website and assisting my mentor remotely. I’ve found myself using the early mornings to work on that stuff, before my daughter commandeers the laptop for home school purposes. I start my day staring at a screen then I get caught up in all the stuff that needs doing around the house, the homeschooling and invariably more work on the computer. Often the Qi Gong doesn’t get a look in.
But today I unexpectedly found a little oasis of peace. We’ve been stuck inside far too much recently so I took my daughter for a game that I used to play with my own mother when I was little. It was called ‘trying to get lost!’ We’d walk around trying to go down random streets that we were unfamiliar with and see where we’d end up. Because it was local my mum always knew roughly where we were but for me it was a great adventure. So today my daughter and I went for a wander and I let her pick all the turns we took.
We ended up at a common between some houses and allotments. There were just a few people there so we felt okay to stop and enjoy the open space for a while. Ah….space to breathe! And of course the air is so much cleaner now! The grass was green, the sun was shining, a little dappled shade from a tree…my daughter practicing cartwheels…time for some Qi Gong.
After my daughter had run around the field a few times I got her to take a little video. I have practiced Qi Gong for around 20 years but what you see in the video is a form learnt recently from Andrea Corso, an excellent Qi Gong teacher from the Damo Mitchell school. (I know my form needs improvement Andrea, I’m working on it!) Andrea is currently offering online teaching so do check him out if you are interested. If you would like to learn some Qi Gong from a Chinese Medicine perspective, please do get in touch with me for a remote consultation.
Today I found an oasis of peace. Not by scheduling it into my diary but by giving ourselves permission to wander freely with no particular destination. Hmm….I’m sure there is a profound lesson in there somewhere. 😊