Recently on my travels I had the opportunity to practice some qigong amongst the magnificent giant redwoods in northern California. It was a beautiful experience, and I noticed a different quality to my energy flow as I stood inspired by the majestic trees which surrounded me, and I harmonized my energy with theirs.
I also had a couple of insights in the process.
I could not find any completely level ground in the spot where I wanted to stand, and as I thought about it I realised that trees don’t require completely level ground to grow. They make do with the spot they are planted and let their roots stabilize their position even in uneven soil, so there energy can flow upwards. With this in mind, I felt much more comfortable standing with one foot a bit lower than the other, and my focus was more on the energy flow within my body with less concern for an alignment that my surroundings would not allow me.
I think often in life we wait for the perfect opportunity, and think we can’t do something because conditions are not quite right. But in reality we might be able to do just fine in the given conditions if we just learn to accept them and focus on our purpose.
I really enjoyed my standing practice amongst the redwoods and then as I got close to the end of the session I had planned, a mosquito buzzed around me and then landed on my neck. I wondered if I should stop my practice to shoo the the mosquito away, but I thought to myself that it would be alright to just continue, because I would be finished soon anyway. And then another mosquito buzzed around and landed too… It was time to stop, so I finished my practice and waved them away.
Sometimes we need to adapt and change our plans even when the end is in sight. While we may be able to adapt to some conditions, other conditions really do make sense for us to change our plans for.
Well… those were some of my insights from practicing standing qigong amongst the redwoods. I highly recommend visiting them if you ever get the chance 🙂