Kai Chi Do: Western Yoga

Why should I seek?
I am the same as He.
His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself!
– Rumi

We like to think of Kai Chi Do as a kind of Western yoga.

When you think of yoga, you might have visions of twisting and stretching, leg winding or balancing on one foot. But yoga is more than postures and movements.

The word “yoga” means union.  Yoga are those things that bring you into union, into Oneness.  You are doing the postures and movement to bring your Spirit and your body into union. When you breathe and relax, you allow your physical form to come back into yog, back into union with its natural rhythm.

When you are under stress and pushing against things – trying to control circumstances and outcomes – when you feel the stress in your body, you’re feeling the body being pulled out of balance.  You feel it as tension and tightening of your muscles and slowing of circulation. All kinds of illness can manifest from that imbalance, that pushing against, and resisting the natural flow of Life. So the more you can relax and allow the natural flow of Life to manifest, the more you are able to bring your whole being back into balance.

The purpose of Kai Chi Do is the free flow of Life Energy.  Through the breath, the movements, the music, you come into union with yourself. You come into union with Nature. You come into union with gratitude, or compassion, or kindness.  You come into community with others.  Coming into union means coming into harmony.  Back in the flow.

We’re excited that Charles has been invited to present Kai Chi Do at the September 2011 Bhaktifest in Joshua Tree, California.  Bhakti is the yoga of devotion, finding union or Oneness with the Divine through love.  It’s a perfect place for Charles and Kai Chi Do.

photo by Rama V at Flickr Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution