Skip to main content
A serious question:  Is there a t'ai chi exercise for when you're on hold with tech support?

We've all been there.  It's the chore that you probably put behind cleaning out the fridge or changing the sheets.  You maybe procrastinate.

But you know,  on all levels, that you can't really put it off too long.  You really need the use of your printer/cellphone/cable TV.  The "it will wait" conversation with yourself won't be believable.  You need help.

So you take the plunge.  And right at the get-go, you're probably placed on hold.  You may be subjected to a form of modern muzak.  To protect yourself, you put your phone on speaker mode and attempt to pay some bills. Then someone -- after perhaps 15 minutes -- answers the phone.  A real human human being, albeit following a tightly written script.  But you're thrilled.  And you begin.  You're blithely pressing this button or that,  as per the tech rep's instructions, and then, after nothing seems to work,  you're told to simply unplug the thing and count to twenty.

I've been on hold and reduced to tears in the attempt to get a refund of a plane ticket.   In that unforgettable interchange, I wound up snippy,  and even raising my voice a bit at the poor rep from the call center, and then felt rotten about that.    (BTW,  trip insurance is NOT worth it)   By the end of most of these calls,  you've lost whatever equanimity you thought you had.

But.  In subsequent tech-support calls,  I discovered to my great delight that seated cloud hands is an excellent Qigong for overcoming the stress of these things.  It's calming,  and physically balancing.  Cloud hands incorporates the best of qi gong,  including regulating the breath -- it should slow and become even --   weight shifting,  albeit shifting from side to side of the bum,  rather than between legs.  And there's the tremendous benefits of waist turning.  (I've been told that turning one's waist is a great benefit for the respiratory system.)  
In this case,  all from a seated position!



(I'm sorry for the, um, technical glitch.  No, the irony is not lost on me.  Fixes of these videos and more videos of cloud hands coming soon!)




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 In my classes I like to introduce the many Qigong sequences I've learned,  mostly from a fascinating teacher I studied with for a few years,  up in Stone Ridge,  NY -- Hawkes, he calls himself.   A powerful student of the internal arts,  Qigong,  t'aiji as well as Shamanism.  Over the years I learned one after the other,  and we would then alternate,  a few months with one,  then on to the next,  in cycles -- the  Eight Taoist Moves,  the Ten Daoists,  and to one of the most beautiful, and most well known  of these,  Eight Pieces of Brocade I've since found a version that was very moving, demonstrated by Laoshi Faye Yip, now teaching in London I believe.  While I haven't incorporated all of her style and form,  I've adopted, and now teach Laoshi Fay'sopening,  the last move,  as well as a flower-like 6th move, a punch with amazing spiraling of the wrist at the end.   This is a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ma Wang Dui__Health qigong

 I'm jumping into the middle of my stories from a recent trip to China.   My plans of posting here daily or thereabouts were dashed for some reason.   Maybe it was seeing and experiencing so much that was new, or traveling in a large group -- meeting new people in our long bus rides.   Or maybe it was getting up often at 6 for breakfast  on  "command"    Late in the afternoon the day before, someone -- usually our logistical leader, Lili -- would bellow at the head of the bus,  '  7 am in the lobby and we'll find a place for Qigong/t'ai chi!'  Or      'Breakfast at 6:30.   Be ready to board the bus at 7!'      It was a whirlwind trip of fantastic sights and encounters that I'm still processing.  And it was high energy, early mornings, late nights and activity and walking throughout the day.   But I feel responsible for notating the outstanding things relating to t'ai chi and so here goes ...
Post a Comment
Read more

By not doing nothing is left undone

Taoism, a philosophy as well as a religion Came across an interesting article in the NYT recently about Taoism’s perspective on what it means to be human and what it means to die.   Tai chi as you may know is the movement embodiment of Taoism, and I’ve been curious for most of my time studying this Eastern art to understand what Taoism is all about.  But aside from the amazing writings of LaoTze -- a must! -- I've been somewhat disappointed.  there's precious little on the books.   (Though ask me about the few t'ai chi stories that you come across now and then, including the one about the man at the drive-through Starbucks!)   ALL JOKING ASIDE,    I’ve found only simple one sentence references to what Taoism is — like being in sync with nature, or yin-yang.  ho hum.   Glibly said,  easily forgotten.    So when I came  across this  article the other day, titled  A conversation with the religious scholar Brook Z...
1 comment
Read more