Truman also enjoys the Tai Chi stick in the morning. So much so that he borrowed mine for awhile. Luckily he knows that the stick is only for the paws😄. If you have a little friend who likes to join you for practice, feel free to have them say hello if they aren't shy. 🐶🐈🦜🐍🦎🐢🐁

This Eight Pieces of Brocade (八段锦, Bā Duàn Jǐn) course is designed to help you build a confident, embodied, and personal Qigong practice from the ground up. You’ll start by learning the full basic sequence so you can understand the overall flow, rhythm, and structure of the form. From there, each movement is broken down step by step, shown from multiple angles, and explained in a way that emphasizes relaxation, breath, alignment, and whole-body coordination rather than force or memorization. You’ll also find guidance on cultivating a sustainable self-practice: - How to work with the full sequence - How to isolate movements for deeper exploration - How to use repetition and time wisely - How to let intention guide you without turning it into pressure Happy learning, everyone. Stay rooted, stay open🌱 Classroom Link: https://www.skool.com/rootedalchemy/classroom/d45e773f?md=1a82f241e30248f6964b5062097d15bf

During Tuesday's live session, warming up the body took a little longer than usual. I felt the effort a lot in my shoulders. A particular cue made me re-think the rising and lowering of the arms. Sonny had said, "just let the arms fall naturally with gravity as you exhale". The idea of lowering the arms versus letting them "fall" created a distinct reaction in my body. Letting my arms "fall" with the most minimal amount of effort to not completely release them encouraged my shoulders to drop. The use of this language created a different intention. I thought that effect was very interesting. 🍁I invite you to tune into this cue, experiment with this intention with your grounding breaths. See if this resonates with you in your practice. Let the arms "fall" but not completely. 😊 🍁Experiment with this intention by observing how we can apply it elsewhere. 🍁Is there a cue that has helped you? 🍁Please share your observations! We are all learning together!

The first part of this statement is a classical saying associated with Tai Ji while the addition of “learn to play with gravity” is something my teacher in Beijing, Zhang Wei Dong, would add. He never said whether it was his own or something he heard from somewhere else, but to me it always fit perfectly with the classical phrase. Does this statement resonate or inspire you? Does it make you think of any particular part of your practice? I will get started first below in the comments!

I just finished Day 6 and I think I might be addicted. No day is complete without hearing Sonny's voice during practice. And I'm feeling so much different already!