Solala Blog 7/16/14

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The black girl dog is Lili — short for Lilikoi (Passionfruit) — and the brown boy dog who always smiles and saved Lili’s life when she had kidney troubles as a pup is Koa (like the Hawaiian hardwood). 

 

 

I’ve just returned from a trip to Boulder and Denver. In Boulder I did a short presentation to some of the good folks at Sounds True, my new publisher. It was great to meet some of the people I have been speaking with and emailing with in the year-long process it took to produce the book. In person, everyone was nicer even than on the phone! It is very exciting to be able to work with such a high-level company, one who really works to make things as smooth as possible during the publishing process and then goes to such lengths to promote the book!

 
Here is a link to the podcast I did with the Sounds True founder, Tammi Simon. https://bit.ly/1dtEwUT. The link will take you to a whole list of free podcasts that have been done with other very interesting Sounds True authors. (Look for  mine under Tao of Intimacy and Ecstasy). We are currently featuring this book on our site at a 20% discount!

 
Then I went to Denver where my host was Debra Lin Allen, a very gifted qigong healer and mother of an amazing school. While I was there she had a celebration for her graduating class and it was truly touching hearing to hear the stories about their healing journey. (It was a three-tissue event for me.)

 
Everyone in my class but one were Debra’s students, some of whom have been studying with her for many years, so there was a beautiful cohesiveness in the group, unlike any other class I have taught. I even got to teach a little of Zhuangzi!

 
One of my friends from our last China Tour, Sarah Freese, joined us, which was a real treat. Not only that but she  brought her two dogs! These were not little fluffy things but good sized dogs. I was a bit unsure at first, but I figured if it was alright with Debra it could be all right with me.

 
Well, the dogs proved to be a really nice addition to the group. They were amazingly well behaved and rolled around in the center of the circle, chewing on their stuffed toys. Then, when we got up to do the movement, they immediately lay down on the floor and didn’t move through our whole form! This is with folks stepping between their legs and over their tails! Doggie Gong!

 
I have been practicing and teaching the Primordial (Wuji) Qigong form for over 15 years now and it never gets old. The many circling movements just set up such a nice qi field that we are all caught up in the beautiful dance of wuji. I love to travel and teach so if there are any of my readers out there who would like to sponsor a workshop in your area please let me know at solala@abodetao.com.

 
I have also made a new tea friend, Arron Fisher (Wu De) whose book The Way of Tea is a favorite of ours. He lives in Taiwan and publishes an absolutely beautiful journal called Global Tea Hut, which comes each month with a rare tea! See their website at globateahut.org. He also runs a tea ashram called Tea Sage Hut, a school of Dao and Tea. Look for information how you can visit this Tea and Dao center at their site at teasagehut.org.

 
Wu De is a beautiful soul who really understands the deep teachings of Dao and Tea. I highly recommend anyone interested in the Way of Tea to look him up!

 
At my class in Denver I  performed a tea ceremony and offered three kinds of tea, including an amazing one I got from my friend Wu Zhongxian called Golden Horse Eyebrow, truly a wonderful brew. Thank you Master Wu!

 
And thank you to all our readers for all the years we have been publishing. It is so much fun to do the journal in color now! I am having such a good time making it as beautiful as I can!