Today I went into the back yard, and planted a bunch of seeds of plants sacred to Jupiter.  Today is Jupiter Day, and I did some magical work at Jupiter hour, at dawn. I have some more planned for Jupiter hour this afternoon. Then, I did my tai chi.

My goal for today is to slow down. I set a goal of four breaths in and out for each posture.  Of course, posture is a loosey-gooey term when it comes to tai chi.  Allegedly I’m doing a “short form” taiji exercise with sixty postures.  In truth, whenever I count, I find about 139 places to pause and be still, and try to hold a pose.  Each official “posture” really seems to be a set of moves or motion.  I find that if I do it with intention, I can use it as a way of smoothing of the cares and troubles of the day that have attached themselves to me, a la Frater RO’s simple cleansing exercise.  

Forgive the lack of links.  My computer is getting repaired and the interface for writing blog posts on an iPad seems to be wonky. In any case, I  slowed way down. This process reveals all the current failings of my form.  One, I eat too much.  My belly is getting in the way of keeping my tailbone tucked in.  Two, my right side balance is better than my left-side balance.  Something to work on.  Three, I tend to favor the right-side attacks more than the left-side — they’re harder, more ready.  Fourth, the kicks, especially the Windmill Kick, are really hard … because of the aforesaid belly, theuntucked tailbone, and the balance issues on the left-hand side.  Fifth, and this is something to be proud of, my breathing is occasionally labored in this process, but my heartbeat remained pretty regular. So the heart quickening I used to experience forty days ago has evened out quite a lot.  This is pleasing to me.  

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