Butterfly Qi–Learning from Nature
In Qigong and tai chi, we often speak of learning from nature, our own human nature and also the natural world. This past Saturday at Head of Tide Park, as we gathered for our Qigong practice, two black and white butterflies danced around us. When one landed, as if posing, in the center of our circle, we observed the pulsing of it’s wings open and closed and began to recreate the gesture with our own arm/wings.
How did it feel to move our bodies in this way? For me, raising my arms allows a fuller breath. And the sensation of floating the arms up and down with “effortless effort” helps me release tension in my shoulders, arms, and hands. As we practiced with our butterfly visitor we became one with the ancient Chinese healers who invented qigong. For they developed their healing practices by carefully observing the animals around them. How very simple and profound it is to use our breath, the movement of our body, and our mental intention to generate more wellbeing!
Afterwards I noticed one of our butterfly friends resting on the gravel in the parking lot. And gratefully, it remained there pulsing its wings while I zoomed in with my camera and snapped the photo, above. Once at home I uploaded my photo to the INaturalist website and learned that our visitors were White Admiral Butterflies.
Concluding our summer of Qigong Practice–Two More Saturdays
I will be taking a brief hiatus from Saturday mornings, so there will be no Head of Tide qigong on Saturday the 17th or Saturday the 24th. We will resume on Saturday August 31st. *Please note that September 7th is our last scheduled date for the season at this time.*
The Qi of Nature In a Beautiful Basket Exhibit at the PMA
Finally, I can’t help but mention this wonderful exhibition of exquisitely crafted baskets by Maine artist Jeremy Frey at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine. He is a seventh generation Passamaquoddy basket maker and a superb craftsman. Notably, the Wabanaki people of our region have lived for generations in harmony with the natural world despite the struggle to maintain their lifeways after colonization.
The arts of ash splint basketry and quill work embroidery, using materials gathered from nature, is a meditation on partnering with the natural world to create beauty and harmony. If you are in the Portland area, I hope you’ll take the time to see for yourself!
So until I see you next, enjoy and be well.
xo Robin
Thank you, Robin for posting such a beautiful reflection on the interplay between human nature, nature, art and qigong. And it was lovely to wake up to this post and start my day with a call to partnership on many levels with a goal toward creating more harmony in the world. We all have that capacity through our practices and how we engage in the world. And you set that example by highlighting other artists so generously.
Beth, Thank you for your kind comments, and for hearing my call to partnership in creating more harmony in the world. I so agree with you that our practices can help us align ourselves in this way. We can greet each day with kindness to ourselves and to those around us–animals, plants, minerals, and especially our fellow humans.
Robin, Thank you very much for bringing to our attention the documentary on Rabbi Prinz, which we found incredibly moving and containing such a needed message in our time. We then moved on to viewing your paintings andd stayed with each long enough to be drawn into and out of the painting, appreciating the layered perspective and ever changing imagery our minds were drawn to. We plan to spend more time with them, since each viewing, it seems, requires time and openness.
Your butterfly photo and essay on your moving with the flow and pulse of the natural world around you and letting it pervade your being is a wonderful experience as well. Thanks so much.
We look forward to spending more time with your website and substgack, Love, Mom and Mel
You’re welcome, Mel. Thanks for sharing the movie with my mom and for taking time to read some of my writing on the blog. I agree with you that Rabbi Prinz’s message is incredibly relevant for our time. Love, Robin