tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012499708688254847.post6731509980566492660..comments2024-02-19T21:16:14.878-08:00Comments on Prozac Monologues: Seventeen Keys to RecoveryWilla Goodfellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05816752444634576606noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012499708688254847.post-51544476935044418452012-09-07T18:27:20.414-07:002012-09-07T18:27:20.414-07:00Thanks, Margalea. There is wisdom here that I nee...Thanks, Margalea. There is wisdom here that I need to learn -- the 70%. Also, that you stuck with something difficult that paid off. I tend to stick with things that don't :-)Willa Goodfellowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05816752444634576606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012499708688254847.post-2815814554691293022012-09-04T17:57:44.646-07:002012-09-04T17:57:44.646-07:00Comments to Prozacmonologues posting by Margalea
...Comments to Prozacmonologues posting by Margalea<br /><br />In my blog posting above, Willa added the comment that I found the first 14 weeks of Tai Chi class stressful. I am writing to clarify the challenges and rewards of Tai Chi. I wish instead of stressful I had used the word challenging. While it did indeed take perseverance, it wasn’t painful or beyond what I was able to do joyfully and receive as a gift.<br />Part of that is because of the 70 percent principle. It was introduced during the first lesson with the commencement movement, which is to bring your arms from beside your torso up and forward, sending energy out. Our instructor told us not to straighten our arms ramrod straight but to only extend 70 percent of what we were able, leaving a graceful bend in the arms. Another 70 percent boundary is the break we take in the middle of our class time, allowing what we have learned to sink in. A less tangible application of this principle is not to take on more commitments than you can keep, which for me meant clearing my weeknight schedule of unnecessary meetings or duties. Emotionally this kind of 70 percent grace teaches us to be gentle with ourselves, to laugh more, and to be kind to others who we know are needing to stay inside their 70 percent as well.<br />NAMI of Johnson County is in the dreaming and planning stages of organizing a recovery wellness center that would include space for Tai Chi and yoga classes. I would hate for another person like myself, suffering from psychiatric symptoms, to stay away from a Tai Chi class thinking it was too stressful. <br />I’ll end with a poem I wrote at the end of a day that had included a Tai Chi class and a massage designed to move lymph through the body. My massage therapist Laura said, “Lymph loves laughter.”<br />When Slow is Better than Fast<br /><br />Fast food, gobbled down, makes you bloated, full and fat.<br />But food savored slowly with friends is comforting and nourishing.<br /><br />Money spent too quickly is wasteful.<br />Saving for something helps you reach your dreams.<br /><br />Scribbled handwriting can be hard for even the writer to decipher<br />But calligraphy has grace and clarity.<br /><br />Fast snickering is mean.<br />But slow deep chuckles are kind.<br />(Massage therapist Laura says, “lymph loves laughter”).<br /><br />Distorted voices talk fast (trying to sell you death)<br />Careful questioning slows them to a halt.<br /><br />Self-destructive impulses come on in a rush<br />Slowly sensing and knowing you are loved <br />By all that is God and all that is Good<br />Protects body, mind and soul.<br /><br />Fast, sloppy exercise can lead to injury;<br />Slow, deliberate Tai Chi postures bring peace and balance.<br /><br /><br />Margalea Warnernoreply@blogger.com