Tao Te Ching - Verse 2

video on my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx4gEsajmdg/

Today I'm gonna talk about the 2nd verse of the Tao Te Ching, following the post about the 1st verse which I wrote a couple of days ago. The second verse is about the complementarity of opposites and the attitude of the sage (I recommend you to find your favorite translation of the Tao Te Ching because they are all slightly different). When I think about opposites I can clearly visualize the yin and the yang of the Taijitu. The Taiji is this famous symbol ☯️ representing the infinite movement of the yin yang in harmony, literally translated as the 'supreme ultimate (taiji) diagram (tu)'. In this second verse, there is a very important sentence about it: "So the sage lives openly with apparent duality and paradoxical unity". I think this part is essential to understand Taiji (Tai Chi) and its practice: duality and complementarity. In Tai Chi, moves are all connected, but they are all different and equally important. In this practice, the end of a move is the beginning of a new one. When I practice the 108 Taiji form I try to think about it and connect every movement, but also I try to remember the importance of each posture. I'm also attempting to apply this to my daily life, enjoying the present, but keeping in mind the great picture. I'd like to leave you with the last part of the second verse: "When the work is done, it is forgotten. That is why it lasts forever". (This translation of the Tao Te Ching is from the book: Living the wisdom of the Tao by Wayne Dyer). The sage is someone who doesn't crave for rewards, the sage doesn't want to lead, but at the same time, because this person knows the Tao, the sage is a real inspiration. For this verse, I've chosen the third posture of the Ba Duan Jin, where the hands connect and exchange at the center (I often use this practice to prepare myself). Please remember I'm not teaching movements or postures here, but just showing them!

Monday Motivation - do what you love, love what you do

By teaching and preparing classes, I train 30 almost hours a week, more or less. Mostly is Tai Chi (even if it looks easy it takes a lot of training and work on legs and arms), then there are Total Body and Kardio Kombat classes. In the meantime I also write classes, choose music and study. Many weekends I have to attend workshops and classes to improve my teaching skills. Is it worth it? Yes, but only if you love what you do. There are days when I lie on the floor and the only thing I want is to rest and not to move a single muscle for days. Then I realize that I can do it, I must do it, so I stand up and I keep working. Why? Mostly because I love what I do, but also because I know I want to do it. 

After each workout, I feel better, stronger, more accomplished. Plus when I practice Tai Chi is not only about the body, but also about an expansion of my mind potential. When I add something new to classes, I'm happy and customers are happy. Curiosity and research make my job better, for me and for the people I train with. My motivation is to improve every day, to do something different every day and to test myself every day. Mostly I push myself because I know where I want to go and how. I know that limits are only in my head and I do my best to overcome them. 

So it's ok to lie on the floor and rest, rest is yin, work is yang and we need them both. 

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. 
- Steve Jobs -

It's never too late to do a box jump (even into a new career)

Yesterday I jumped 50 cm with my feet together, starting from a standing position onto a box. Nothing special you may say, but for me it was huge. For all my life I used to be afraid of jumping, yes Sirs, afraid of jumping. I could jump maybe 10 cm and still I was afraid to fall, to crumble or to twist an ankle. Was it because I had been told I couldn't jump? Was it a childhood trauma?It doesn't really matter now, because today I jumped and I now I am free, I can jump whenever I want. All the limits where only in my head, it may sound obsolete, but it's true.In that excess of happiness I became suddenly serious thinking about all the things I haven't done in my life because I was afraid, because I set the limits, because I was told I couldn't.

I thought about all the work opportunities I haven't apply for because I believed I wasn't skilled enough to try, I thought about all those times I bit my tongue during meetings because my opinion was probably not strong enough and about when I wanted to relocate and I couldn't trust my abilities to start a new life.Basically I lived walking on a straight line with my dreams waiting on the other side. All I had to do was jump, jump to the other side and prove myself and others that I could do whatever I want. I wondered why it was much easier to demonstrate that strength only when it was asked by others and not when demanded for my self, by myself. Was it me the girl who graduated in Economics with the highest grade, when the only one in the class who hadn't studied Economics before? Was it me the the Italian, not speaking English very well, obtaining an A mark at the Harvard Extension School? Then, why that same person couldn't be courageous enough to jump for her dreams? 

I decided that I am done analyzing the past, but from now on I want to jump whenever I can, whenever I want, whenever I feel it's the right jump to do. A skill can be learned, a book can be read, a software can be studied, but passion is genuine and I shouldn't have never doubt my passion, my determination and my intelligence, because those are the things that makes you jump higher.

Luckily is never too late to change our thoughts, to expand our vision and remove our limits, so I will not accept any job offer out of fear, I want to reach new heights and achieve new results, but mostly I want to do something I love, maybe for the first time in my life.So pick a box and just jump on it, it's so liberating and inspiring that it could lead to some very good content!

The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You've got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances.Patrick Warburton