05 September 2006

Two more principles

Turning / Spirals

Every movement we make is activated by turning about an axis. This means that an opponent's force can be emptied without having to retreat – instead we turn about them leading them on and drawing them through with one side of the body whilst advancing around them with the other side. This is yin/yang – one side of the body being yin (yielding) and the other yang (attacking). If we sink as we turn then a spiral movement results. Because of the way the body is constructed we can only turn a limited amount in one direction before the body is fully twisted and is compelled to turn back. If we rise on this turn then we effectively trace a returning spiral – a figure of eight – the shape central to Heartwork.

Single-weighted

The place in the body where our yin and yang sides meet needs to be as insubstantial – light and airy – as possible if we are to be truly soft. This means that our place of essential stillness – our peace of mind – needs to be energetic rather than material. Peace resides not in material security – temporary and full of compromise as that always is – but in a consuming commitment to energy and the laws of energy, the most fundamental of which is that of connectedness: everything is connected, or as my teacher puts it: everything touches. A life and a being that has this truth at its core becomes more and more energetic and less and less material.

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