An Invitation to Move
See With the Body Eye pt5
Sea, with the body eye
I am home from a few days in bright sunlight and the excellent company of my nephew and his partner. We were brain-washed (in the good way) by the sound of the sea but I got too much sun yesterday, and despite growing up by the seaside, managed to give myself mild sunstroke. Hence the couple of hours delay in getting this invitation out to you. A wide-brimmed hat is in order.
Heartwork
Join me online August 3rd 4pm UK time (11am East coast USA / 8am Pacific USA / time converter here) for a session of expansive, beautiful movements suitable for all. About 20 years ago, my late T’ai Chi Grandmaster John Kells started developing a series of exercises he later called ‘Heartwork’, which drew upon his many decades of T’ai Chi, chi kung, meditation and prayer and his desire to teach a practice that connected people deeply to each other, to the earth, to our ancestors and to the divine / beyond. Fifteen years into practising these simple movements, I can unequivocally say that they do indeed provide a superb framework on which to hang deep internal practice. They also are a delight physically, especially when practiced outdoors where you can see the horizon. In short, they feel great and seem to shake off the strictures of the day, making way for a more open, natural way of moving and being.
The movements are done standing up, but I have also taught a modified version suitable for those who need to sit or are wheelchair users. There have also been instances when due to shoulder issues, people have not been able to make the full arm movements, and so my teacher Mark Raudva encouraged people to use creative visualisation during these times, rather than strain themselves. It works very well.
I’ll be happy to show you the basics of these movements, in the hope that you too can feel the benefits they have given me and countless others over the years. Not everyone has the time or inclination to spend decades doing T’ai Chi, and now after sharing these movements with other ‘non-T’ai Chi’ folk, I can see that they are wonderful stand-alone sets in their own right. At last, after a long break from teaching since the Covid lockdowns, I am starting to teach again, both online and in person. My focus right now is my own daily practice, the heart of which is the Heartwork I’ll be sharing with you.
Great River T’ai Chi
I founded my T’ai Chi school in 2002 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and went on to teach in London and Sweden for almost a decade. Several of my former students now teach long-term classes of their own around UK and Europe and I encouraged them to study with my teacher, as I did not think I would return to travelling each month to teach in Scotland, or each 4 months in Sweden. I began to teach online during Covid lockdowns but took a complete break from teaching publicly to focus on recovering from an injury and deepening my own practice since 2021.
Now I am fully recovered, rested and resourced, it is time to begin teaching again with a renewed focus. This session follows on from the first chi kung sessions offered here over the past year and the one live session we did which recapped all the recorded sessions. You do not need to watch them before doing this class, but if you do, it may be helpful. They are all available to paid subscribers. Just type ‘chi kung’ into the search box in my archive.
How to join
You will find the link to the class below the paywall at the bottom of this post. All are welcome. I do understand that times are financially hard for many of us, sometimes myself included… And while I feel that in the current machine-plagiarism era it is vitally important to pay artists, makers, teachers and creators for their work, I also believe that access to health-giving practices should be open to all. So, if you only subscribe for this month so you can do the class, I won’t judge you.
And if you are unable to pay even $7 for one month, but really want to attend, send me an email and I will gladly comp you a month for free.
The recorded class will be 1 hour long, with a half hour hang-out afterwards (not recorded) for anyone who’d like to ask questions, chat about Uncivil Savant or anything related to this Substack, or indeed, whatever else.
Future sessions will recap the first movement, and introduce the other two of the three, over time, according to how people feel they are getting on with them. There is no hurry, I will be led by those who are called to this work together. The class is suitable for over 16s, and if you have family members or friends staying with you, they are very welcome to join in with the class too. Please do not post the link or recordings of the class online elsewhere, thanks.
If, after watching my previous films and reading this you want to know more or have questions, then just email me by clicking reply to this newsletter, or finding me at my webpage contact form.
In person in USA this autumn
If you enjoy this session, or would like to learn Heartwork with me in person, I’ll be doing a special one-day workshop at In Situ Polyculture in Vermont, USA in October. If you would like to receive details of this, join the In Situ mailing list here. There are only 14 places available, due to space constraints, so if it oversubscribes I will try to add another day there or elsewhere while I am in New England. Full, concessionary and supported rates are available.
A regular ‘essay week’ Uncivil Savant will return next week. Until then, have a great rest of July, I look forward to meeting you online in August.