“We don’t sit in meditation to become good meditators. We sit in meditation so that we’ll be more awake in our lives.”

~ Pema Chödrön

February, 2014 LakeNormanTaiChi.com Vol 5 Number 2 Message From Sifu In This Issue Message From Sifu To Be Or Not To Be, That is the Question for Meditation Celebrations We have questions. Lots of questions. Questions on life. Questions on love. Tai Chi in the News Questions about our purpose. Questions on what to eat. Questions. Questions Training Tip Questions. Being a father of a 9-year old, I have heard my fair share of questions from my daughter. “What are you doing?” (As I’m cooking dinner.) “What are we Ask Sifu eating?” (As I’m putting the food on the table.) “Where are you going?” (Every Monday night at 7 PM.) And of course, the ever popular, “Why?” which is usually uttered after I tell her it’s time for bed. There are some questions that we ask that have no apparent or easy answer. Questions like, “What do I want?”, “Where do I want to be?”, and “How do I get there?”. These are important questions that are integral to our growth and success. Unfortunately, there are times when we are hung up on finding the answer to a question, that we actually get stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed about it. And we end up not making any progress at all. Instead of trying to find the answer to our question, maybe we should focus on the question itself. In some Japanese and Chinese Chan traditions, there is the practice of (Zen), or gong’an (Chinese), which is a story, phrase, question, or dialog that is used to test a student’s progress in their training. Instead of meditating on the breath, incense, or sound, the student is asked to meditate on a phrase or question such as: “Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?” “Without thinking of good or evil, show me your before your mother and father were born.” “If you meet the Buddha, kill him.” Lake Norman Tai Chi Times is a publication A monk asked Zhàozhōu, "Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?" of Lake Norman Tai Chi Center, LLC and is Zhaozhou said, "Wú". licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 A student asked Master Yun-Men (A.D. 949) "Not even a thought has arisen; Unported License. is there still a sin or not?" Master replied, "Mount Sumeru!" Mailing Address A monk asked Dongshan Shouchu, "What is Buddha?" Dongshan said, P.O. Box 2582 "Three pounds of flax." Huntersville, NC 28070 You can find more of these in books, such as The Blue Cliff Record, The Book of Phone: (704) 900-3005 Equanimity (also known as the Book of Serenity), The Gateless Gate, and The True Web: LakeNormanTaiChi.com Eye. All worthy reads. Email: [email protected] The real magic of this technique is when we introduce our own questions or phrases. As an example, let’s choose a question that vexes most of us everyday, even instilling fear and anxiety to those that pose, or even hear, the question: “What do you want for dinner tonight?” OK, that question may not cause anxiety in you, but it certainly wreaks havoc in our family. So, how do we use this question in our meditation? • Sit in your regular meditation position. • Take a few deep breaths to relax and begin your meditation. • When calm and still, ask your question. Experience your reaction. Then go back to your breath. • If you need to refocus, ask your question again. • Be open to all possibilities. Note how you feel when you ask the question. Do you tense up? Does your breath change? Does your mind wander to avoid the question? You are not looking for an answer. I repeat, do not dwell on an answer. The question, and only, the question is your focus. What if an answer presents itself? Ignore it. Go back to the question. The mind has a peculiar habit of doing the exact opposite of what you want. The answer is a trick to get you to stop meditating. If the answer does turn out to be the right one, it will be there when you are done. After the meditation, you may find clues to your answer popping up all over the place. A casual phrase uttered by friend, or stranger. A commercial, or song on the radio may give you an idea. You may have a dream that will lead down a certain path for the answer. The key is to be open to all possibilities and be present in the moment to notice them.

Welcome New Students

It’s always a pleasure to welcome new students into our family. Please welcome these new students who joined recently. If you haven’t already, say hello. Tai Chi Chuan Program Melissa McCrann Dominick Manzi

Special Events

Shaolin Kung Fu/Qigong Lecture Followed by Workshop with Master Guolin Friday Evening thru Sunday, February 21-23 at The Peaceful Dragon

We're delighted to announce that the renowned 34th generation Shaolin monk, Venerable Shi Guolin, will be leading an exciting FREE lecture followed by a weekend-long Shaolin workshop at The Peaceful Dragon. Master Guolin is the former head coach of the famed Shaolin Temple, and he’s designated successor to the Abbott of the temple, Shi Yongxin. Both have recently been featured in the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Currently Master Guolin is resident Abbott at the Shaolin Overseas Temple in New York. Master Guolin will kick off the weekend on Friday night with a Free lecture entitled, “Developing the Body,

LakeNormanTaiChi.com Page 2 February, 2014 Breath and Mind to Strengthen the Spirit”. This will be followed by a workshop that is suited for anyone interested in cultivating a deeper spiritual practice through the development of the body, breath and mind -- beginner or advanced. It is open to teens and adults, as well as Peaceful Dragon youths who are green sash and up, age 9 and over. At the workshop you will learn and practice a combination of Qigong and Healing forms and methods, as well as traditional Self-Defense Forms and applications. The full workshop will run from Friday night thru Sunday afternoon. Master Guolin will also teach a special one hour Children's Class for younger children or those not taking part in the full weekend workshop on Saturday, February 22 from 12:30-1:30pm.

Schedule

Free Public Lecture Friday, Feb. 21, 6:30-7:30pm

Workshop Friday, Feb. 21, 7:30-9:30pm Saturday, Feb. 22, 10am-5pm Sunday, Feb 23, 10am-5pm

Early-bird fee for workshop by Wednesday, Feb. 12: $275 for public, $175 for Peaceful Dragon and affiliate-school students. After Feb. 12, add additional fee of $30 for the workshop. Note: Cash only payments for this workshop and class (out of town attendees can call for early-bird savings and pay day of event). You can leave a 50% deposit to reserve your spot and pay balance at the workshop.

LakeNormanTaiChi.com Page 3 February, 2014 Celebrations

February Holidays and Observances Avocado and Banana Month Random Acts of Kindness Week: 9-15 Bake for Family Fun Month National Date (fruit) Week: 16-23 Beans (Dried and Fresh) Month National Entrepreneurship Week: 17-22 Exotic Vegetables and Star Fruit Month Grapefruit Month Take Your Child To The Library Day: 1 International Boost Self-Esteem Month Crepe Day: 2 International Expect Success Month Canadian Maple Syrup Day: 6 Library Lovers Month "e" Day: 7 National Bird Feeding Month Laugh and Get Rich Day: 8 National Care About Your Indoor Air Month Get Out Your Guitar Day: 11 National Cherry Month Extraterrestrial Culture Day: 11 National Children's Dental Health Month Extraterrestrial Visitor Day: 11 National Hot Breakfast Month Library Lovers Day: 14 National Laugh-Friendly Month Lantern Festival (): 14 National Parent Leadership Month National Almond Day: 16 National Time Management Month Chocolate Mint Day: 19 Plant the Seeds of Greatness Month Single Tasking Day: 19 Sweet Potato Month Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day: 20 World Thinking Day: 22 Just Say No to PowerPoint Week: 2-8 National Cupcake Day: 24 Publicity for Profit Week: 2-8 EDSA Revolution Day (Philippines): 25 Celebration of Love Week: 9-15 World Pistachio Day: 26 National Pancake Week: 9-15 National Chili Day: 27 Refer-A-Friend Program

Celebrate Chinese New Year What better way to celebrate Chinese New Year then to share with your friends, family, co-workers … pretty much anyone who’ll listen, all the benefits you’ve received from learning, practicing, and playing Tai Chi! Invite them to take a free class. For every "friend" that takes a free class and attends their consultation, you will be entered in a raffle. There is no limit to the number of entries you can have. We will also have prizes when your "friends" enroll. Visit our Refer-A-Friend website at LakeNormanTaiChi.com/raf.php for a complete set of rules and prizes.

Spread The Word

Tai Chi Guest Passes Now Available! Give Away A Month of Free Classes! What better way to introduce someone to the benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong then to let them try unlimited classes for 30 days! These guest passes will be available until February 28, 2014. Do you know someone who wants to try Tai Chi for a month? All you have to do is ask Sifu for one of the Tai Chi Guest Passes and give it to them. That’s all there is.

LakeNormanTaiChi.com Page 4 February, 2014 Tai Chi in the News

From Supreme Chi Living the newsletter of the American Tai Chi and Qigong Association Qigong May Treat Tactile Impairment in Young Children with Autism

January 13, 2014 - Evidence has emerged showing that tactile abnormalities in young children with autism are severe, universally present, and directly related to delay of early self-regulation milestones required for social development. Parent touch is the most effective means of stimulating early self-regulation, yet parents of children with autism avoid touch because their children respond abnormally to it. This suggests that tactile abnormalities pose a barrier to parent touch in autism, and that treatment of tactile abnormalities may improve developmental outcomes. Two researchers from Western Oregon University have developed a Qigong massage treatment for tactile abnormalities in young children with autism. They evaluated whether tactile abnormalities would decrease following treatment, and whether the treatment would result in improved self-regulatory outcomes. They retrospectively analyzed their Qigong massage database for treatment effect on tactile abnormalities, self-regulatory delay, and parenting stress. Five-month interval data were available for 129 children with autism aged 3-6 years. Of these 129, 97 received the treatment and 32 were in the wait-list control condition. There were no differences between the treatment and control groups by age, gender, or severity of tactile impairment. The treatment resulted in significant decreases of tactile impairment, self-regulatory delay, and parenting stress. Results were significant compared to controls. In the pretreatment data, tactile impairment was directly related to self-regulatory delay; post-treatment, both variables decreased proportionally. The results demonstrate that tactile impairment in young children with autism is treatable with a Qigong massage protocol. The direct relationship between tactile impairment and self-regulatory delay pretreatment, and the proportional decrease of both following treatment, suggest that tactile impairment is a cause of self-regulatory delay, and that Qigong massage is a promising avenue to improve developmental outcomes in autism. This study is published in the December 2013 issue of the International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork.

LakeNormanTaiChi.com Page 5 February, 2014 Training Tip

Internal Focus

As we naturally slowdown in the Winter, it is natural that our focus turns inward. It is during these months that our fitness focuses inward as well. Do more Qigong exercises and forms, more Tai Chi forms, with less focus on conditioning. This will build internal energy stores and help the body keep core temperatures at a normal level. Then, when Spring arrives, we’ll be ready physically to burst forth with renewed figor and strength.

Ask Sifu

Will there be a Chinese New Year Banquet this year? No. We haven’t had one for the past couple of years because there haven’t been enough students. Again this year, we will not have anyone new on the Family Tree. It is my hope that we will have a Chinese New Year celebration next year as we will have a few students reaching the Disciple Level. We also have a few new students who have the potential to make it on the Family Tree.

LakeNormanTaiChi.com Page 6 February, 2014 Classifieds

Need an extra class t-shirt? How about a pair of Tai Chi pants? No problem! Shirts, pants and sashes are always available. T-Shirt $15 Pants $35 Sash $10

20% discount for Tai Chi Chuan students - 10% discount for Tai Chi Qigong students

Have something to sell or trade? Have a service you’d like everyone to know about? Advertise it here! Lake Norman Tai Chi Center members get an incredible discount. Send your ad to [email protected] and put Newsletter Ad in the subject.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are a leader.”

~ John Quincy Adams

LakeNormanTaiChi.com Page 7 February, 2014