#Health is a concern for all of us. The #body is witness to our presence in this world. Some people jock and others go to the gym. However it is generally accepted that with a modern lifestyle, we need some type of exercise to keep our body functioning optimally. Some people neglect this fact but they also often pay the price while others put so much stress on the body that they also pay the price. The key is for every person to find that golden range where they exercise enough to stay healthy. In my own life I decided to incorporate both #Stav and #Tai-Chi as a means of staying healthy. I have been practicing stav for a few years but only recently adopted Tai Chi.  Stav, based on a nordic martial arts system, had the advantage of being easy to learn and easy to maintain with a busy life style. Tai Chi, an eastern martial arts system, is more complex and requires more attention to details. Stav has 16 basic postures and Tai Chi has a 24 simplied forms. I can teach a person in less than an hour how to perform all of the stav postures while it can take months to learn the Tai Chi forms. The 16 stav postures, performed left and right handed (32 postures) takes about 12 minutes to perform while the Tai Chi 24 forms in one cycle takes about six to nine minute to perform.

Our classmaster recently explained the importance of being relaxed when doing Tai Chi. He said that we should arrive in a relax state when coming to the Tai Chi class. The energy, or chi as defined by Tai Chi,  can not flow properly when the practitioner is tensed. He explained the yin/yang princple of how hard and soft complement each other. Tai Chi although it incorporates both, is primarily a soft art. He elaborated that combining Tai Chi as the soft with Kung Fu as the hard, allows him to be more complete in his practice. I am far to old to go and do Kung Fu jumps and kicks. However I realised in that moment that I am on the correct path of combining Tai Chi and Stav. Staf is more a rigid or hard form and uses energy flow in a whole different manner. Again it showed that the universe will provied us with feedback on our intent and the path we take. For me it was a confirmation that Tai Chi the soft and Stav the hard are complementary to each other for a more complete system of maintaining the body.

My practice in stav definitely helped me a lot in learning Tai Chi. Through stav I learned balance, breathing and concentration. My Tai Chi practice has already influenced my stav training in return. Tai Chi puts a much stronger focus on diaphragm breathing during movements. Since having that focus I felt not only better in doing Tai Chi but I also felt better doing Stav. As a matter of fact I felt a greater and more open connection with the rune realms I constructed as reference points in my mind.  Tai Chi allows energy to flow gently while Stav channel energy through the body. I might be the only person in the world combining Stav and Tai Chi but it seems to be a very effective system working for me. Combining the two will take some more reflection but I am on the right way of combining these two system as complementary yet different styles of maintaining health.

In these two pictures the difference can be clearly seen between Tai Chi with its soft round movements and Staf with it rigid straight body stances.

Combined these two arts gives me a very good system to maintain a healthy body irrespective of my age. I do not know if one can do Tai Chi sitting but Stav has postures fro people even if they no longer can stand but is constraint to a chair or bed.

I wish all a healthy life style.

Big boys don't dance

#Entertainment

Ever struggled with a question, for which you could not find an answer?

While I was on holiday, I was continuously trying to find something to do with my son that will be of particular interest for him. Interestingly enough, I seem to connect easier with my daughters interests than with that of my son. All my pondering on the topic, did not yield any answer or flash of insight. However I did put it as a requirement into the cosmic and left it there.

Yesterday the cosmic brought an answer to me unexpectedly. During a discussion a friend of mine recommended that I take my son to a dancing commedy at a small theatre in Kalk Bay called: Big boys don't dance. Since my boy is involved with a group called Stagecoach, he is interested in drama, dancing and singing...this play contained all except for the singing part. The play is closing on Saturday so I had to go on the same day and it took some telephone calls to get tickets. My boy was excited about the prospect so the night started of on a very promising note. I was worried because we might be late and the traffic dense. We arrived at the theare. The theatre is a small and intimate theatre that houses only about 30 people in total per show. Very neat and cosy. We arrived early enough to have a cold drink before the show started.

The actors of "Big boys don't dance"

What a lovely event!!! The story line was about two brothers the good responsible brother and the naughtyirresponsible brother. The good brother is going to get married. They go to a bachelour party got too drunk, the naughty brother arranges for them to be taken home by the stripper of the party. The stripper drove them home but after dropping them off, drove away with their car (Which is the good brother's - to-be father in law's car).  Realising their predicament, the naughty brother, tries to convince the good brother to participate in a dancing competition where they can win enough money to buy a new car. They won competition as boys, but the good brother don't want to dance anymore. The whole theme is then a barter between the two brothers while the naughty tries to convince the older to dance again. The bartering gives opportunity for them to display various styles of dancing in a very humourous manner. In the end they dance in the competition and of course won the competition. The naughty brother then reveals all was a set up. The car was only taken for a service. He wanted to dance once more with his brother before his brother got married. The money they won, he would like the  good brother to have as a honey moon gift. 

A lovely story of overcoming your fears, brotherly love and living out your talents all packaged with good dancing, acting and humour. This shows you how we must sometimes just trust the universe to provide to our needs. I had a lovely time with my son and it was a worthwhile investment into my child's emotional account.

The two guys who starred in the play made a You tube video called the Cape Town Shuffle which is humourous with some scenes of the city of Cape Town.

 http://youtu.be/l8rQJFFyGAA

 I learned an interesting fact at the play which I never new. The famous Bruce-Lee was first known for being Hong Kong's champion in Cha Cha Latin dancing in 1958 before he moved to the USA in 1959.

 http://youtu.be/0Xi94SWHI3M

 Tags: #parenting

2012 - The #unconscious

Personal reflection

We do not know what we do not know....and when it comes to the unconscious mind we often do not even know what we know or intent. I think I often unconsciously sabotage my goals and objectives through a fear of failure and/or a fear of success. We need to train our unconscious mind consciously. This means that I have to regularly review my goals and objectives with the confidence that all will be achieved as I envision it. Another danger on this road is that I am so easily lured away from my true destiny by the joys and pleasures of this world. Discipline sometimes require to say know to even a free lunch. My challenge for 2012 is to program the subconscious with what I want to achieve. This might take some tactics of bullying the subconscious into a different direction but that might just be what is needed. We might not know what is in the subconscious but we can influence the sense of priorities under which the subconscious mind operates. Our conscious mind set those priorities and the sub-conscious mind just follow suite by storing ideas, thoughts and suggestions based on the list of priorities that is communicated to it over and over again by the conscious mind.

My vision is that I my unconscious mind collaborates with me in achieving my goals.

My mission is to program my unconscious with what is priority for me to achieve.

My objectives are:

• To entice my unconscious to collaborate with me
• To avoid being distracted from my purpose by the pleasures and side roads
• To program my subconscious with a prioritized list of objectives.

Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity
2012 - Health and occupation
2012 - Relationships
2012 - Resources
2012 - Spirituality
2012 - Potential
2012 - The world

2012 - The #world

Personal reflection

When we interact with the world we need to learn. My way of interacting with the world in this year would be focused around my Phd. There is still so much work that needs to be done. I have layed the ground work but will have to instill in this year the discipline of continuous and sustained working on my Phd. So scheduling time specific to my Phd and keeping to that time irrespective cirucumstances would be the real challenge. I need to get my ideas across to many people I have not even met yet. I have to build a new network across parliaments interfacing with key role players in those parliaments but also find academics that can give input into my Phd. I also want to continue to interact with the world through my participation in Toastmasters. Toastmasters had been good to me since 2003 when I joined. I have taken on different leadership roles in order to develop myself. Now I am involved simply because I find joy in seeing other people learn a new skill and increasing their confidence to act. I will interact with the world through the great powers of observation and intuition. Life has hidden paths and many surprises. The challenge is not to stray away two far from my Phd and Toastmaster interests.

My vision is that I am engaging with the world in context of my PhD topic

My mission is to build networks that facilitate the sharing of information across parliaments

My objectives are:

• To work on my Phd, against a targeted schedule in a disciplined manner.
• To play a more effective mentoring role in my Toastmasters clusb.
• To focus on sharpening my powers of observation and intuition

Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity
2012 - Health and occupation
2012 - Relationships
2012 - Resources
2012 - Spirituality
2012 - Potential

2012 - #Potential

Personal reflection

Potential is to know what is possible. To a large degree I felt as if I have not been given the opportunity to achieve my full potential. This is the wrong type of thinking but it is an honest expression of my thinking. I have been unable to fully raise myself above my circumstances to achieve the extraordinary I am aiming for. This blog is witness to my journey of dreams and hope. Some dreams and hopes were realized but most have not been realized. But within this blog pages are so much more than just a record of history. It is really my intent to continue to blog here on Xanga and reflect on both victories and failures. I am glad to have readers that read and comment on both the successes and the failures. This year is a time of healing of the failures of the past. I will take stock of all those things that went wrong that hurt or damaged my self-confidence and then slowly begin a healing process that will give me confidence to once again look up, to the horizon and dream about the great things that I can still achieve. We might not achieve our full potential in life but when we strive towards it we will achieve more than what we have set out to achieve. Strangely my true potential is not in what I achieve at work, in sport or in terms of my finances but my true potential is to bring healing, healing to myself and others. My true potential is healing damaged relationships, damaged personalities so that it is not just me who benefit but all those around me. Yes our true potential is in living a purposeful life towards those people we touch on a daily basis. 

My vision is that I will achieve my full potential as a healer of relationships as well as personalities

My mission is to document my journey so that the process is transparent to both success and failure

My objectives are:

• To accept myself unconditionally with all my weaknesses and strengths.
• To blog regularly on Xanga as my world unfold through divine grace
• To focus on healing relationships and personalities so that we live in a healthy society.

Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity
2012 - Health and occupation
2012 - Relationships
2012 - Resources
2012 - Spirituality

2012 - #Spirituality

Personal reflection

I am excited about my spiritual adventures for this year. My commitment is to continue to relentlessly seek the truth and challenge accepted facts. I will experiment to get to the bottom of things and  fully investigate everything to understand it as completely as possible. This year I will seek companionship in my spiritual quests. I have walked this path for a long time as a loner but this year my challenge is to connect with fellow travelers and to listen to the wealth of insight they gained through their journeys. This year I will start a small meet-up of people interested in their spiritual development...people who would like to discuss issues on a broad front. The group of seekers I will gather around me might be small but it will form the nucleus of future growth for them and for me as we share in the riches of our individual spirituality. 

My vision is that I grow spiritually alongside other fellow seekers

My mission is to start a meet-up where we can on  regular basis share as seekers our spiritual adventures.

My objectives:

• To seek for deeper insights along the path I am traveling currently
• To find companions who want to join me temporarily on a spiritual journey.
• To have meetings that leads to spiritual growth and insight.

Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity
2012 - Health and occupation
2012 - Relationships
2012 - Resources

2012 - #Resources

Personal reflection

 To accomplish anything we need resources. Less resources implies less possibilities and less flexibility. This year I will be financially constraint which means that resources will have to be negotiated. I will have to rely on my skill to motivate the benefit of investments so that I can achieve my objectives. Negotiation can not be avoided and I there is no time to just accept things as they are. This year is a year of learning how to negotiate win-win situations through logic and fairness. I can not afford to be seen as arrogant either...I will have to take into consideration both sides of an argument and come up with the best solutions for all parties. But this year is not just a year of hard core negotiations...it is about connecting to people by identifying with people on all levels and make use of both evocative pictures, symbols and ideas that transcends logic alone. I do not just want to foster a commitment to provide resources but a commitment towards the cause for which the resources will be applied. 

My vision for  2012 is that I am an effective negotiator for the resources I need to achieve my goals and objectives

My mission is to find win-win solution without sacrificing the core of what must be achieved.

My objectives are:

• To learn to negotiate based on clear logic and an optimal solution for all the people.
• To negotiate with fairness not abusing negotiating skills but using it to find true win-win situations
• To connect with people on an emotional and personal level when engaging them for resources.

Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity
2012 - Health and occupation
2012 - Relationships

#2012 - #Relationships

Personal reflection

This year I have make sure that I am not taken advantage of in my relationships. My relationships will be those that I choose. My relationships are those that contribute to my bigger objectives and/or people that I really car about. But relationships will have to function within the space of my discipline and being. I can not sacrifice my inner being to maintain relationships. As I embark on new pioneering ideas there will people who want to develop relationships with me with motives different from mine and not many will not have my best interest at heart. But for those who engage with me with sincerity, I will throw at them all my charm and all of myself to build amazing relationships. Relationships are extensions of who we are...it is the bigger description of who we are. We do not stand isolated and little of value can be achieved without actively working on relationships. If you put together the collective of your friends you discover yourself as a new being that might be different from who you are as a person on your own. That is good, because relationships should bring complementary features together. Relationships must be a fountain of joy for both parties...else it has no value. Those relationships that are destructive must be shed and left behind and those that are edifying must be nurtured with care and the love of a mother for her child. 

My vision is to build positive edifying relationships with people

My mission is to imbue my relationships with charm, joy and purpose

My objective:

1. To protect good relationships and avoid abusive relationships
2. To build new relationships that will support new pioneering objectives
3. To ensure that my existing valued relationships are nurtured, charmed and growing.

 Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity
2012 - Health and occupation

#2012 - #health and #occupation

Personal reflection

In terms of occupation and health I pretty much need to rely on what happens to me. This year my challenge would be to enter into different modes of consciousness to understand the drivers that influence both. It is not a year of changing my fortune but of discovering how to make best use of where I am currently.  I have to trust the divine to give me the resources to continue. My inherent nature is to chase after hard cash but now the world changed and I need to be more adaptive. I am challenged to look at the bigger picture where my needs disappear. I have to trust in that if I serve a bigger purpose that it is also an investment into a bigger future. I might not in this year move forward in terms of income but I will invest time in faith in the future. To be able to maintain the course I will have to maintain a balance between health and mind. 

My vision is that I am able to adapt to the challenges that face me.

My mission is to shape the world around me so that I can accomplish the task I set out for myself to achieve. 

My objectives:

• Cut back further on my expectation to change my living conditions in the near future.
• Balance my life so that I function optimally and can endure to complete the whole journey in front of me.

Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home
2012 - Creativity

#2012 - #Creativity

Personal reflection

Truly it is within my reach this year to transform the mundane into gold this year. Yes, the foundation has been laid last year to be creative and to bring a new vision of how legislation is passed and how oversight is ensured over government. I can not change the whole system but I can put into place a small gear in the bigger gearbox of how things operate. This is truly my mission for 2012 to influence the democratic processes in South Africa to function better and with more transparency. Here I dream big, here I set the vision, here I nurture a future for generations to come. Oh, yes, there will be no quick change...there will be no sudden solution but now is the time to crank up the momentum for a new era of accountability to the citizens of the country. 

My Vision is to be a leader in Information management to support democratic governance.

My mission is to establish accountability when passing legislation and enable oversight over democratic processes.

My objective:

• Establish a business intelligence system for monitoring democratic processes
• Establish a framework of accountability for performance, compliance and effective application of legislation.

 Other entries for 2012:

2012 - Personality and ego
2012 - Life Values
2012 - Self Expression
2012 - Home