Adversity Can Be Positive
At this morning’s class, before we started the form practice, I suggested that we all set our intention by deciding ahead of time what one thing to focus on during the Long Form practice. It is easy, in a classroom situation, to either follow along with the leader, or just let the mind wander while the body goes through the movements. By setting the intention, it gives focus and a place to come back to if one becomes aware of the mind wandering. That is what the “Inner Journey” is all about – ideas to help set focus.
It is difficult for the instructor leading the form to stay in focus on one aspect. I set my intention on the Kua, watching the opening and closing. It is one of my favorite Inner Journey places of focus. The Studio has a wall of mirrors which we face, mostly so the students behind the leader can see what the front is doing at all times, as well as giving the leader the ability to see what is going on behind. As good a tool as it is, it can be distracting. In this instance, as we started through the movements, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a student doing something that needed correction. I filed it away in my mind for later discussion. I brought myself back to the Kua. Then something else needed discussion, filed that away, then back to the Kua. On and on.
One other lesson came to me in this practice. As I started through the movements, I noticed that my right foot was not stable, and I was sort of slipping as I put weight on it. I realized that I had put on an old pair of socks and the right sock would slip inside the shoe. It took me a few moves to find that if I made a strong effort to have that foot/leg absolutely aligned, I could control the slip. So I changed my Inner Journey focus to that and it worked for the rest of the form.
So the point is that sometimes we are given a problem that we might what to run away from, or we can decide to make that our Inner Journey and use it to help our ability to focus even deeper. Thank you slippery Sock!