“Bend knees, hinge back”. It sounds like the name of a tai chi move, doesn’t it? It’s my new aphorism, I think. I get a much better workout when I bend my knees, and I remember to work my core muscles so that my tailbone tucks under and my back is straight. It’s not easy to maintain, especially through eight pieces of silk.
BUT. And this is grand… I’m now at the point where I can do most of eight pieces of silk, hard. Meaning, I can tense my muscles and get an isometric workout from doing the exercise. I can’t even do that all the way through the form yet, though I can do it in Five Golden Coins. Progress! I’m starting to develop leg and arm muscles I’d forgotten I ever had. It’s weird. I still carry a lot of belly fat, and it’s dismaying, but *I* can feel my six-pack abs through the belly fat. I mean, I can feel them. They’re there! I’m aware of them as individual packages of tissue… how do I change my diet so I can see them? (While still being able to enjoy all the delicious things I enjoy? Hmmm? 🙂
I want to start learning O Magnum Mysterium — this is a qi gong routine my lady’s mother found in California, and it’s done in conjunction with an audio track of a choir singing the Latin hymn that means
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia! [1]
I’m not sure that I agree with the sentiment of the hymn, but the sounds are wonderful, and the movements elegant. It’s going to be a good bedtime routine, if I can learn it. I feel much calmer afterwards.
