Taking Responsibility Without Blame
In martial arts, we learn how to be a great partner. This means instead of just trying to beat each other, we help by challenging one another and keeping each other safe. In BJJ, when someone taps us, we learn from it. In Tai Chi push hands, when we get pushed, we accept the energy and play with it rather than just resisting. This is something the world—and our country—sorely needs
Living as a Witness
This blog isn’t about being in witness protection. Our student Taunia sent me a quote the other day from poet David Whyte: I want to be born again, in exactly the selfsame life, aware this time from the inside out, and to stand this time as a beautiful un-worrying witness, living beyond the need for this or that. Then Taunia wrote: I’m so often, in hindsight, dismayed by the countless hours spent in
The power of Framing
Seeing Through New Frames at Retreat At our internal retreat at Kenneth Hahn Park we practiced Tai Chi and meditated in several beautiful spots including a Japanese garden, a grass field with a stream flowing through and a tree spotted hilltop overlooking Los Angeles. Each location had a slightly different feel and created new perspectives. At the final hilltop with a beautiful view of the city I was struck by inspiration.
It’s not about you
Seeing Beyond Ourselves Well, this blog is about you. But not everything in the world is about you. We have a tendency to view the events of our life through the lens of how they affect us. Of course we do. We are human beings and our perspective is, by definition, a self-centered one. Yet in order to make the most of our lives and to function in society we must be
