Seven Stars · Heart
Stand on the earth, look up at the sky.
Quiet the noise in your head, just a little, and put down quiet roots at your feet. The heart settles, quietly, beginning with visible form.
Are you worn out from thinking?
Workflow
Begin with the vessel, not the heart.
Changing the heart with the heart alone is very hard. For now, leave your worry and your impatience just as they are.
When the body is aligned, breath flows naturally; as breath flows, the heart quietly clears. Everything begins from the foundation of the body.
To change the unseen heart, change the visible form, just a little.
Priority
Soft on the outside, with a core within.
Even when you seem calm, there is a firm axis and a flow of energy within. That becomes the dignity of how you live.
A heavy head, stiff and pulled upward
Overthinking lifts the center of gravity, and the upper body holds needless tension.
Lighten the head, fill the base
Release the upper body and let weight drop to your feet; breath deepens, and a natural ease emerges that does not tire even in long movement.
- The autonomic nervous system settles
- Qi and blood circulate
- Posture improves
- The brain returns to the here and now
- A tireless, natural ease
Three Stages
To be still is the beginning of movement.
From stillness to movement, then inward. Through three stages, the heart settles quietly by way of the body.
Stage 1 · Still
Find your own axis within a still, standing posture.
Stage 2 · Moving
Hold that same axis even within movement.
Stage 3 · Inner
At last, you come to sense the inner space.
Feel the floor quietly with the soles of your feet. A sense of center and release becomes an unseen root that supports you.
Root
Because there is a root, we are free to sway.
Building an unshakable body does not mean becoming rigid. Because there is always a place to return to, we can change with peace of mind. When the body's axis is steady, your own axis becomes, in time, a reassurance to those around you.
Origin
A place to return to between movements.
Root
Tread the earth.
Axis
A single line piercing heaven and earth.
Dignity
The suppleness of soft-without, strong-within.
Reassurance
Your own axis softens those around you.
The essence dwells where it cannot be seen.
Seven Stars
The heart settles, quietly, through form.
To align the body is to align the shape of your presence within society. Move on to each of the Seven Stars — Body, Breath, Depth, Breadth, Beauty, Practice — and deepen your training.
