A Supercharged Practice For Self Awareness

Testimonial – Opening the Tao

I have been practicing Opening the Tao for the last couple of months. I immediately found the practice super-charged, but I was certainly not expecting to “electrocute” myself – my left hand, to be precise – as I did this morning. The source of the electrical current running thru my wrist and shooting up my thumb and index fingers seemed to be my own body and appeared very clearly when my arms moved in the air like rotating swords. The ‘high voltage’ stayed within my hands for the rest of the practice and I felt as if it was charging all the other forms I did afterwards.

During previous morning practices, I had other interesting occurrences happening such as blue light contouring my hands or bright white light silhouetting the shadow my body cast on the floor as well as a strong magnetic feeling in my hands as if each was carrying a magnetic shield or disk. From the beginning of practicing Opening the Tao, my body has felt very comfortable and has integrated each movement with great (to me, surprising) ease. And yet, this is the form that has ‘escaped’ me the most by remaining elusive, somehow enigmatic, to me.

How can it be so easy? Am I missing something? I could feel there was resistance somewhere but it was not obvious; what felt like an ‘unspecified’ aspect of the practice was bothering me with a vague uneasiness. So all I could do was to wait for it to unfold without expecting it to be anything in particular. And it did reveal itself.

Every morning for the last two years, I have been practicing Awakening the Energy Body followed by Walking the Tao and then, either the Dragon’s Tears or the Golden Lotus. The whole practice has kept (and keeps) giving me preciousness every day, and I had become ‘used’ to do it in a specific way and order. This was to the point that as soon as I had finished practicing, I would have this feeling of not knowing whether I actually did it or not… simultaneously I knew I had just sweated out for over an hour but I was also not sure about whether the practice actually had happened as I could not really remember. I loved the feeling of experiencing like that!

My practice mirrors me letting me see ‘me’ and how I participate into the unfolding of deeper aspects of who I am. Amazing…

It has taken me a while to be able to write about this practice. I can truly appreciate now how perfect the name “Opening the Tao” is for this set of movements. It does open something bigger, a void that is so far and yet so close to home!

Deceptively easy at the physical level and subtly profound at the emotional one, this practice is strong in that it does not let me hide behind any untruth about myself…but its strength is surrender with gentleness and true care. And its gift is joy, a deep kind of joy that only the heart knows. Oh Lujan, thank you so much for teaching me (once again) how to see me. It feels good!

Deep gratitude.
Monnie