A few days ago I read an amazing article in a Taiwanese newspaper. It is about a 101 year old man and his health regime.
Mr. Tray, a man who says he is one hundred and one years old, still has a mouthful of his original teeth. He shows them off proudly in the article. He is not nearsighted either, a common affliction for the elderly.
He goes on to describe his health regime. He goes to bed at nine o’clock every night and get up at four-thirty every morning. He begins his day by doing exercises while still in bed. He learned them seventy-seven years ago from a monk in China. After retiring at sixty-six, he began doing those exercises daily and has continued for thirty-five years. His bed exercise include: Breathing (one thousand times into his Dan-Tien), stretching and rubbing his face and head. He also walks at least half an hour every day. He says; “ My body is even better than before I retired.”Besides the body exercise, he also discusses the consequence of having a sanguine disposition/ taking a brighter view of life. He thinks that if you want to have real happiness in life, then you need have less of desire and cultivate a leisurely attitude.
His secrets for the health and long life were simple; “Just have enough nutrition, enough sleep, enough exercise and try to keep a pleasant mood.”
The News article link: “http://mag.udn.com/mag/life/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=238317” “http://mag.udn.com/mag/life/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=238316
Dharma-Zen Workshop at the Farm, Manitoba Date: May 29th & May 30th, 2010
Contact: (Facebook - Ginette Hacault, momma_yellow@yahoo.com, 204-526-2869)
Ginette is a shining light who works with people who are experiencing cancer or are wanting to build their immune systems for other reasons. She runs retreats, does individual consulting and healing sessions, and facilitates a variety of events in southern Manitoba. She can also consult by phone.
Dharmazen Retreat at CrossRiver Wilderness Centre
Date: June 18th-20th, 2010 and August 27th-29th, 2010
A short brief for Dharma Chi Kung(Qi Gong) with Tai Chi
This is an effective and enjoyable way to improve flexibility, balance, coordination, relaxation and calms the mind. Chi Kung(Qi Gong) means “Energy work”. The Dharma Chi Kung forms help muscles and tendons become stronger, more relaxed and more flexible. Chi Kung and Tai Chi are gentle ancient Chinese exercise for modern people, can be practiced by people of all ages.
With the right location and number of students, Danny may be able to hold a workshop(Retreat) wherever you are in the world.
Master Danny Lai demonstrating Iron Shirt Chi Kung at the Cross River Wilderness Center. This version has some footage from a second camera and can be viewed on iPhones.
Danny had the last of his Cross River Wilderness Centre Tai Chi Retreats last weekend. What a beautiful place. The Centre is entirely off-grid. They use solar and hydro power. Propane appliances. They have beautiful cabins with attached bathrooms or you can stay in a teepee. I, trying to get as close to nature as possible, stayed in a teepee. Danny, who’s only known city life, stayed in a cabin. My teepee was warm and dry, even in a thunderstorm! The food was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed the wood-fired hot tub after each long day of exercise. A First Nation Elder lives at the Centre and leads sweat lodges and vision quests. Here are some photos from the weekend.
Below is a video we recorded on Saturday, before lunch. Danny demonstrates one type of hard chi kung called Iron Shirt Chi Kung. There are no tricks, he’s not wearing any padding under his shirt, it’s the real deal. Click here for an older blog post with more on hard chi kung from Danny.
The training really started for me the Thursday I flew from Austin to Calgary. Danny started showing me some of a Shaolin stick form and then I attended one of his regular Thursday classes. Danny and I met about 11 years ago, so it’s interesting to see how he runs his classes these days. I figure he’s taught about 6,000 classes since the last time I was a regular attendee! Danny teaches 2-3 classes a day, 6 days a week.
On Friday we drove out to the mountains and to the Centre. We got ourselves settled in time for a tub and then a jam by the bonfire. It was a nice night.
We started Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7:30 with breathing exercises. These exercises involve abdomen movements that massage your internal organs and increase circulation to them.
At 8 we’d wander from the yurt down to the main building for a yummy breakfast. After a nice long leisurely break, allowing time to digest, we headed back to the yurt for stretching, standing meditation and chi kung. It was nice to try one of Danny’s newest chi kungs, Tai Chi Chi Kung, and to have a full 30 minutes to do the standing meditation. In class, we usually only practice it for 15 minutes.
On Saturday, the hour of sitting meditation followed lunch. As we all ate too much and were sleepy after lunch, on Sunday, Danny kindly moved the meditation to be before lunch. The meals by the way were awesome! Steak, homemade blueberry apple bread, tortilla pie, salads, steamed veggies, salmon, ginger curry soup….
After the sitting meditation, we then worked on the Dharma-Zen 24 form. I also practiced the Shaolin Long Stick Form. On Sunday, we were all feeling pretty comfortable with the forms, so Danny led us all in the Dharma-Zen 48 form, which is the 24 form repeated, but the second time through you go the opposite way.
The most amazing part of the weekend for me was the hour of sitting meditation on Sunday. I was comfortable and really had a nice experience. I became very conscious of two knots in my back that I’m often entirely unaware of. They started to ache and ache and ache. Stress knots from sitting at a computer all day.
While I was sitting, I started breathing into these knots. I felt them loosen and relax and it even felt like energy was raining down out of them. It was the most amazing thing. I’m going to build more sitting meditation into my practice. A really wonderful experience.
I left the retreat energized, with three new forms to practice, a better understanding of the rest of Danny’s curriculum, and having learned and laughed with Danny and the other students. I’m very much looking forward to March, 2010, when Danny’s coming to Austin to teach a similar workshop.
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