Five Element Training
4. Conscious Embodiment
The Hollow Bones Order does not try to suppress the natural joy, delight, and miracle of our bodies. We delight in movement, dance, music, and athletics, and do not suppress the mysterious intimacy of human sexuality. During retreats within the Hollow Bones Order, practitioners are guided by highly skilled teachers through the internal arts of Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Aikido. We discover how to embody conscious clarity with personal sense of emotional ease and physical grace. Because the Hollow Bones Order does not hold a nihilistic view of spirit, because our view is not based on ignorance, denial, and cynicism, we throw our hearts into being human. We work to diminish any feelings of heaviness or lethargy in our bodies, and turn instead to physical joy and freedom. We feel our bodies to be what they are: spirit made flesh.
Before practicing conscious embodiment, we might not even realize how heavy and lethargic we have become. We enter denial, and our heart and health suffer for it. It seems our interest in art, music, dance and beauty has diminished, and we eventually become anesthetized, claiming we don’t feel much of anything anymore. Once we reawaken our bodies to the depth of spirit within, all of this gradually changes. Our bodies grow alive, and instead of feeling burdened and overwhelmed, we expand our sensitivity and experience our lives afresh. If called upon to defend ourselves, or our loved ones, we would do so without hesitancy. If a friend is celebrating her birthday, we’ll get up and dance a jig. If a poem needs to be written, we get out our pen and jot it down. When the sun sets over the hills we smile at the transitory nature of phenomena and celebrate the ordinary experiences of life.
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