Michael P. Garofalo
September 1, 2004
Garden Harvest
October 2004 Valley Spirit Journal
September 30, Thursday, 2004
Qigong and Taijiquan on back porch for 40 minutes at dawn.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting for 40 minutes, and then yoga class with
Gudrun Volpat from 5:30-6:40 at TFFC.
Before class tonight, Cori Dittner, Program Coordinator for TFFC,
spoke to me
about teaching a yoga class on Saturdays. I would teach the class from
11-12:30 on
Saturdays at TFFC. The first class would begin on October 10th. I
was very pleased
by the invitation and accepted the offer.
"Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the
uninhibited energy of the
child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of order imposed on
the
disciplined adult intelligence."
- Norman Podhoretz
September 29, Wednesday, 2004
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes
in late afternoon.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your
sources."
- Albert Einstein
September 28, Tuesday, 2004
Qigong and Taijiquan on back porch for 40 minutes at dawn.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting for 40 minutes, and then yoga class with
Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:40 at TFFC.
"Frugality without creativity is deprivation."
- Amy Dacyczyn
September 27, Monday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
"Creativity can solve almost any problem. The
creative act,
the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything."
- George Lois
September 26, Sunday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Karen drives Norma to the Sacramento airport.
Watering tasks because irrigation ditch was running.
Work on new shed and on garage.
"We know where most of the creativity, the innovation, the stuff that
drives
productivity lies - in the minds of those closest to the work."
- Jack Welch
September 25, Saturday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Debbie, Jordan, Norma and Karen enjoy a morning conversation.
Taught Qigong and Taijiquan class at TFFC, 9:30 - 11, to Nancy, Jim,
Betty, and Karen.
Watering tasks because irrigation ditch was running.
Sightseeing trip with Norma up to Redding: lunch, shop, Sundial
bridge,
Lassen Park.
"We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of
circumstance."
- Benjamin Disraeli
September 24, Friday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 9:00 - 4:00.
Norma Forgnone arrives for a weekend visit from Los Angeles.
We enjoy a dinner at the Green Barn. A very busy weekend in
Red Bluff with the annual Fair.
"To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what
we normally take for granted."
- George Kneller
September 23, Thursday, 2004
Work for CUESD
7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting for 35 minutes, and then yoga class with
Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:45 at TFFC.
Very busy with work projects - little energy left for much else.
"While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow
part of us to die whether it is our spirit, our creativity or our glorious
uniqueness."
- Gilda Radner
September 22, Wednesday, 2004
Work for CUESD
8:30 - 2:30.
Mabon Holiday - the autumnal equinox.
After work I mowed the front and back lawns, water the gardens and
potted plants, weeded, and helped clean the house.
"Smoke hangs like haze over harvested fields,
The gold of stubble, the brown of turned earth
And you walk under the red light of fall
The scent of fallen apples, the dust of threshed grain
The sharp, gentle chill of fall.
Here as we move into the shadows of autumn
The night that brings the morning of spring
Come to us, Lord of Harvest
Teach us to be thankful for the gifts you bring us ..."
- Autumn
Equinox Ritual
"The primary benefit of practicing any art, whether well or badly,
is that it enables one's soul to grow."
- Kurt Vonnegut
"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude."
- Friedrich Nietzche
September 21, Tuesday, 2004
Yoga at dawn for 60 minutes using the 8 week home yoga program
developed by
Rodney Yee and Nina Zolotow.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting for 35 minutes, and then yoga class with
Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:40 at TFFC.
"The principle of using interactivity as a creativity-builder is not
restricted to
computer games. Once we become fully conscious of this principle,
we can
find ways to become more interactive everywhere. We can make
conversations
with our family and friends more interactive than they once were.
The more
thoughtful our questions get to be, the more interactive the
conversations."
- Steve Chandler, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself
Now reading:
Moving
Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee. By Rodney
Yee with Nina Zolotow. Photographs by Michael Venera. Emmaus, PA,
Rodale Press, Gaiam Books, 2004. Index, 394 pages. MPG.
ISBN: 0875969216. An excellent program for developing a home
yoga practice.
September 20, Monday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Drop of gift of banjo to Abbie Ehorn at Evergreen Elementary School in
Cottonwood.
She is starting a bluegrass group at the Middle School. Afterwards,
shopping
in Redding.
Semi-annual visit with my physician, Dr. Plett. Full battery of test
results.
Very positive test results this time. I need to keep the the variety
of
exercises, add more aerobics, and eat less.
Gerber school board meeting. Only two more Board meetings to go!!
These meetings take lots of preparation time: reading, consulting with
people, follow up letters and actions. I have served four years on
this school board.
"Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations,
the
latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms
which are essential to the work of art or poem."
- Rollo May
Updated links on my Yoga webpage.
September 19, Sunday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
It began sprinking this morning as I started my walk at dawn.
By the time I stopped walking it was raining steadily.
Teach Greg Yang style Taijiquan and we did some push hands.
September Rain
Rain, rain, welcome back,
We've missed your song,
Your splatter and smack
On our dusty brown clay, dry so long.
Since last May we've not had a drop,
From grey-black clouds swriling by,
Or smelled wet earth, or stepped in muddy slop,
Or listened to thunder from the sky.
Karen and I went to Chico this afternoon. Visit to CSU Merriam
library and get
books on American Indian religion, purchase a chair, lunch and general
shopping.
"Artistic creativity is a whirlpool of imagination that swirls in the depths
of the mind."
- Robert Toth
September 18, Saturday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 80 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Taught Qigong and Taijiquan class at TFFC: Nancy, Jim, Betty, and Karen.
"Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees. "
- Karle
Wilson Baker
A cool overcast morning, and cooler most of the day.
Finished the roof on the new shed. Put up lots of tools for
protection from rain.
Booked YogaFit class and updated personal
training page and
Valley Spirit
Taijiquan Club wepage.
September 17, Friday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 10:00 - 3:00..
Updated the webpage on September.
Worked on shed roof and walls.
"Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep."
- Scott Adams
September 16, Thursday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting for 35 minutes, and then yoga class with
Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:45 at TFFC.
"Creativity is our true nature; blocks are an unnatural thwarting of
a
process at once as normal and as miraculous as the blossoming
of a flower at the end of a slender green stem."
- Julia Cameron
Little energy for much intellectual activity after work. It is
sometimes
hard maintain reading for long at night. My best reading time is
in the early morning as soon as I wake up. My job involves a lot
of reading and writing and meetings.
September 15, Wednesday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
"Then I was standing on the highest mountain
of them all, and round
about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood
there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for
I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit,
and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.
An I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops
that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the
center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of
one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy."
- Black Elk Speaks, The Great Vision, 1932, p. 36
I'm nearly finished reading the book:
Black
Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux.
By Black Elk as told to John Gneisenau Neihardt. University of
Nebraska
Press, 2000. 21 Century Edition. 230 pages. ISBN: 0803261705.
"Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making
something out of it after it is found."
- James Russell Lowell
September 14, Tuesday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 40 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting for 35 minutes, and then yoga class with
Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:45 at TFFC.
Updated wepages on String
Figures. I practice string figures
for a few mintues each day.
Reading about labyrinths at night.
Prepared yoga class letters and registered.
"Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. When we
are involved
in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life."
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
September 13, Monday, 2004
Worked around the house, reading, added quotes to
gardening webpages.
Feeling a bit stiff and tired.
"It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept
anything
but the best, you very often get it."
- William Somerset Maugham
September 12, Sunday, 2004
Foggy morning in the fertile Salinas Valley. We enjoyed the drive up
through the valley and
breakfast in Gilroy. We drove over highway 152
past the San Luis Reservoir and then
up Interstate 5 to Red Bluff.
We arrived back home at 3 pm.
Mowing lawns and watering in the afternoon.
98 degrees
in Red Bluff.
"A man can do anything he wants to do in this world,
at least if he
wants to do it badly enough."
- Edward Whllis Scripps
Updated links in the Labyrinth webpage.
September 11, Saturday, 2004
Visited my parents grave in the morning in Rowland Heights,
at tje Queen of the Angels Cemetery.
We attended the memorial service for Bill Forgnone. He died
last Tuesday after a nine month illness with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS).
When he died he was completely crippled, speechless, and could not
eat. He was 66 when he died.
Over 200 people attended the funeral. It was one of the best
memorial/funeral
services I have ever attended. It was at St. Mark's Lutheran church.
Bill's brother,
Bob, gave a nice eulogy. A piano and vocal quartet provided some
music.
The pastor delivered a nice sermon. Everyone, and rightly so, had praise
for
Bill. The parish pastor gave a good sermon and highlighted many of
Bill's contributions to the church.
Afterwards, we visited with former neighbors and friends and family
of
Bill and Norma. Norma Forgnone has been one of Karen's very best friends for the
past twenty years - they talk by phone every day.
In the afternoon, we drove up to Valencia, west to Santa Paula, and then on
to Highway101
along the Pacific. We enjoyed a nice lunch on the pier
at
Ventura. After sunset, we stopped
in King City to sleep. A lovely clear day.
Flags at half-mast everywhere in memory of the 3,000 people who lost their
lives three years ago today in New York City at the World Trade Center
buildings.
"If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life
ceases to have
meaning. The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual
dialogue
with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living."
- Marion Woodman
September 10, Friday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Karen and I drove to Los Angeles. We drove down Interstate 5.
It was a beautiful clear day. We left at 8:30 am and arrived
in Los Angeles at 7 pm.
We visited with Norma Forgnone and her daughters from 7 to 9 pm.
September 9, Thursday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Yoga class with Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:45 at TFFC.
"Hildegaard of Bingen was a twelfth-century
mystic, composer, and
author of a theology that knitted together nature and spirit, cosmos
and soul. She described the Holy Spirit as the Greening Power
of
God. Just as plants are greened, so we are as well. As we grow up,
our spark of life continually shines forth. If we ignore this spark, this
greening power, we become thirsty and shriveled. And if we respond
to the spark, we flower. Our task is to flower, to come into full blossom
before our time comes to an end."
- Lauren Artress, Walking
a Sacred Path
September 8, Wednesday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD
11:00 - 4:00. Attend CUESD School Board meeting
starting at 7:00 p.m.
"The great need of our time is for people to be connected
to spirit; for people to be
connected to a core of feeling in themselves that makes their lives vital and
full
of meaning, that makes life a mystery evermore to be uncovered."
- Harold Stone, Sandplay
September 7, Tuesday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Weightlifting and then yoga class with Gudrin Volpat from 5:30-6:45 at TFFC.
"I were required to guess off-hand, and without collusion
with higher minds, what is the
bottom cause of the amazing material and intellectual advancement of the last
fifty
years, I should guess that it was the modern-born and previously
non-existent
disposition on the part of men to believe that a new idea can have value."
- Mark Twain
September 6, Monday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work at home on outdoor and indoor projects. Watering
all day with irrigation ditch water.
Labor Day holiday. Karen and I were both home all
day.
"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas."
- Linus Pauling
September 5, Sunday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 90 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work at home on outdoor and indoor projects. Watering
all day with irrigation ditch water.
I started reading Black Elk Speaks today.
Black
Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux.
By Black Elk as told to John Gneisenau Neihardt. University of
Nebraska
Press, 2000. 21 Century Edition. 230 pages. ISBN: 0803261705.
For tree days in a row I have drawn the Hanged Man card
from various Tarot decks. This card symbolizes a surrender
of body-mind to a higher calling, turning matters upside down by
reversing some expected reaction, sacrifice or martyrdom
of the body for higher purposes or salvation, and waiting in
awkward circumstances.
Most of the commentators relate this to Jesus Christ's sacrifice
of his earthly life for a higher purpose.
This got me to thinking:
Jesus Christ had to present himself as a human blood sacrifice so that
the father god, Yahweh,
would finally have some love and compassion for
human beings who he condemmed to suffering and often
killed.
This Jesus Christ was a kind wizard. He is reported to have
been able to walk on water, turn water into wine, feed thousands out
of a few baskets, heal lepers, cure the blind, and even raise up the
dead, including himself. He escaped harm in crowds numerous times
by simply disappearing (circa 3 BCE). He never wrote anything nor was
he portrayed
as a reader/scholar as most wizards. Thus, he had some of the
powers of a true wizard, but not all.
He had the power and could have easily avoided torture and death at any time.
Instead, he gave himself up as a human blood sacrifice to appease a
vindictive and angry father god. This father god was mad at humans because
they disobeyed his command not to eat the fruit from a tree of
knowledge.
To this day, Christians every Sunday, celebrate a "communion service."
Unleavened bread is broken and shared to commemorate the body of
their savior, Jesus Christ, who gave his body in a human sacrifice to
please the angry god. Wine or grape juice is shared to commemorate the
blood
of their savior, Jesus Christ, who shed all his blood in a human sacrifice
to please the angry god.
One common symbol of Christianity is a crucifixion cross. People wear
these
around their necks, and place them on walls, altars, doors, and
churches.
Recalling this human blood sacrifice seems very important to
them. They believe
that Jesus Christ volunteered to die for their sins, free them from damnation
and
punishment for being born human, and give them a chance for their souls to
have eternal life.
Some compare Christ to other heroes, martyrs, and good Samaritans who have
given their lives in times of war, revolution, crisis and unrest to save
others. They gave
the ultimate sacrifice because they were never seen again on the earth; unlike
Jesus Christ who was walking about and talking with his friends two days after
being tortured.
The sacrifice of human beings and animals to placate angry gods, to beg
from powerful gods, to hail and honor divine supernatural beings has a
long
history and his found in many cultural groups. Eating the flesh or
blood of
the sacrificed human or animal, or a ritual symbol of the sacrificed being,
seems essential to many religious rituals. All these behaviors, aside from
cultural conditioning and metaphorical aspects, would seem to be
rooted in our carnivorous nature, our aggressiveness, and our lust for violence.
People used to flock to watch public executions (remember the pensive crowd at
Braveheart's torture), and people recently flocked to theaters to watch the very
graphic execution of Jesus Christ in The Passion. Hollywood knows
very
well that humans are fascinated and strongly attracted to scenes of bloody
violence
and death. These film producers dish out more bloody violence in film
after film for
mostly Christian viewers in the United States. The Roman Empire
(mostly pagans)
had colleseums built so huge crowds could gather to cheer as humans and
animals
were tortured to death. Crowds will cheer tommorrow in Hispanic countries,
for a mostly
Christian audience, as some sweaty, frightened, and beaten bull will be slowly
tortured
before being knifed in the head. Ole!! Ole!!
Ole!! Bravo!!!
As for myself, I would prefer religious rituals that did not celebrate the
bloody sacrifice of humans or animals to appease or supplicate distant
gods. I'm put off by the Christian and Islamic infatuation with
martyrs,
sacrifical victims, scapegoats, bloody heroes, torture of people,
killing people for god, etc.. Their religions smell too much of blood and
gore.
September 4, Saturday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and
Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Taught Qigong and Taijiquan class at TFFC.
Shopping in Redding for construction materials, at Cal's used bookstore,
at an art print framing store, and Tokyo Garden for lunch. This is the
busy
Labor Day weekend and many people were out and about town.
Watering all afternoon - the irrigation ditch is running.
I get an email or two each day with various questions about the subjects
treated in my webpages. Here is a sample from today.
"My name is Tomohiro Watanabe. I am Japanese.
I am very interested Kriya
yoga (Rahiri Mahasaya lineage). I have a
question about a kechari
mudra.
My tongue is short. If a tongue is short, I will think
that kechari mudra is
impossible.
In this case, what does it become? I
wish a reply. Please tell me."
I wrote:
Dear Tomohiro Watanabe,
Most people simply place the tip of the tongue on the
roof of the mouth where the upper palate meets the
roots of the front teeth. Most Chinese Qigong and
Taijiquan teachers ask us to do this. They believe
this touching completes a circuit that enables
psycho-physical energy (ki, chi, prana) to move
in a circuit through the body.
What is important in the practice of bandas,
mudras, yoga asanas, qigong postures, aikido moves,
etc. is the controlled use of the breath, the body, and the mind to still
the troubled waters of ordinary consciousness
so that you might more easily achieve passage into
higher states of consciousness towards peace,
big mind, bliss, joy, wisdom, compassion, and enlightenment.
Do not worry one bit about a short tongue or short legs
or short whatever. Never worry or fret about trying to
do what your body cannot.
Concentrate on doing what
you can do.
Kriya (action, ritual) yoga involves the daily
practice of
right actions based on right thinking aimed at the
unification (yoga) of body-emotions-will-mind-spirit.
Best wishes for a fine autumn.
September 3, Friday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 11:00 - 2:30.
Make sure your set against the right tree before you try to climb to the top of the ladder.
A garden is something that should not have been.
The garden, like the labyrinth, requires a going in and a coming out.
Keep one corner of the garden for explorations beyond the ordinary.
Watching the winds singing the song of the sea.
- Pulling Onions
Currently enjoying reading:
The
Hero's Journey. The World of Joseph Campbell: Joseph Campbell on
His Life and Work. Edited with an introduction by Phil Cousineau.
New York,
Harper and Row Publishers, 1990. Index, 255 pages. ISBN:
006250102X.
A wide ranging series of interviews with Joseph Campbell.
Born on March 26, 1904 and died on October 30, 1987.
Worked around house and yard, and watered, from 2-8.
Extremely windy all last night and today. Winds from 20 to 40 miles per
hours,
and temperatures in the low 90's in the afternoon. All trees and shrubs
appeared
very dehydrated.
September 2, Thursday, 2004
Walking, Qigong, and Taijiquan for 60 minutes at dawn.
Review Part III of Yang
Style Long Form.
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00 pm.
I select one card each from the following Tarot decks each day:
Wanless - Voyager, Crowley-Harris - Thoth, Power - Andrews,
Osho-Padma - Osho Zen, and Froud - The Faeries Oracle.
The books and decks I use are listed in Meditation and Contemplation - Tarot.
TFFC: weightlifting for 30 minutes, yoga class with Gudrin 75 minutes (5:30 - 6:45).
Reading and research about the month of August.
Garden
and Climate. By Chip Sullivan. Foreword by Marc Trieb. New
York,
McGraw Hill, 2002. Index, 263 pages. ISBN: 0070271038.
Ancient gardens
in the Mediterranean climates are considered in terms of their function to
provided a more comfortable living space amidst the four
elements.
September 1, Wednesday, 2004
Work for CUESD 7:30 - 4:00.
Gerber School Board Meeting at 4:30.
Asleep by 7 pm.
I've been reading about Labyrinths.
Updated a few notes on Gu
Shen - Valley Spirit.
"Follow your bliss. Find where it is and don't be afraid to follow
it."
- Joseph Campbell
One reader wrote to me, "How do you manage to read so much,
and find time for engaging in the activities you enjoy and write
about? Do you really do what you say you do? Where do you
find the time?"
Each person could free up huge blocks of time by simply not
watching television or videotapes/CDs/films anymore. You
will not have to see so much violence, free yourself from
commercials, avoid silly fake laugh tracks, and not bother with
the constant flow of irrelevant information. Really, lets admit it,
most of television time is trivial, self-serving for the entertainment
industry, filled with commercials, and repetitious. TV is aimed at
an
audience that likes to cheer over game show gifts, dance the night away,
pop a beer over a touchdown run, fret over the unrealities of
reality TV, cry over soap operas, frisson over another action
heroes bloody gun battle, gaga over the body of a shapely
young actress, and laugh about a Jerry Springer brawl. Are
you part of that audience? Your free to watch what you want on
TV in America, that's OK by me, and I'm free to turn off the TV. By
simply watching very little TV, you will free up plenty of time for
gardening,
walking, contemplation, reading, art, taijiquan, yoga, rituals and other
more peaceful, productive, meaningful. and imaginative activities.
You make the choice! You take the action!!!
© Michael P. Garofalo, 2004, All Rights Reserved
Cuttings: Haiku and Short Poems
Cloud Hands: T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Ch'i Kung Website
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2,700 Quotes Arranged by 130 Topics,
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Ch'i Kung Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
Classes, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Instructional Program
Cloud Hands: T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Ch'i Kung
Cloud Hands T'ai Chi Ch'uan Journal
Cold Mountain Poets: Wanderers, Mystics, and Sages
Confucius (K'ung Fu-tzu) (551 - 479 BCE)
Crane - Bird - Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi)
Crane, Soaring Crane, Intermediate Program, Level 3, Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Cuttings: Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
The Deer: The Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi)
Diabetes Therapy - Exercise: Taijiquan and Qigong
Disclaimer of the Cloud Hands Website
Eight Section Brocade Ch'i Kung
Embrace the One - Zhan Zhuang - Standing Like A Tree
Entering Tranquility (Ru Jing) Meditation
Exercise - Diabetes Therapy - Taijiquan and Qigong
Feedback, Kudos and Reviews for the Cloud Hand's Website
Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi): Tiger, Bear, Crane, Deer, and Monkey
Five Elements (Wu-Xing) and Taijiquan
Five Stepping Movements of Taijiquan
Gardening: Quotes, Poems, History, Sayings
Gardening: Quips and Maxims by Michael P. Garofalo
The Four Gates: Grasping the Sparrow's Tail
Michael P. Garofalo's Biography
Michael P. Garofalo's T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Practice
The Goddess - Quotations, Poems, Sayings, Prayers, Songs
Goose - Bird - Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi)
Green Way Research - Taijiquan and Qigong
Gu Shen (Valley Spirit) Taijiquan Instructional Program
Health and Fitness - T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Hidden Tiger, Beginning Program, Level 2, Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Index to the Cloud Hands Website
Instructional Program, Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Journal - Valley Spirit Journal by Michael P. Garofalo
Kundalini (Coiled Serpent) Energy
Kwang Ping Taijiquan of Kuo Lien Ying
Links and Bibliography: Qigong
Links and Bibliography: Taijiquan
Long Form 108 Yang Style Taijiquan
Master Chang San-Feng (circa 1350)
Master Cheng Man-Ch'ing (1901 - 1975)
Mastery, Self Control, Self Mastery, Choices, Will Power, Strength of Character
Meditation Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
Meditation Methods and Techniques
Meditation - Standing Like A Tree
Meditation - Wu Ji - The Edge of Emptiness
Michael P. Garofalo's T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Practice
Months of the Year: Quotes, Poems, Links
Moving Hands Like Clouds: T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong
Northern California T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Directory: Instructors, Schools, Information
Nine Movement Temple Ch'i Kung Exercise Set
Older Persons Exercise and Wellness Programs
Oregon T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Directory: Instructors, Schools, Information
Original Waving Hands Like Clouds URL
Photography - Valley Spirit Photography Gallery
Pranayama: Breathing Techniques from Yoga
Private Instruction by Michael P. Garofalo, Instructional Programs
Pulling Onions: The Quips and Maxims of a Gardener
Qigong: Bibliography and Links
Qigong Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
Red Bluff, Valley Spirit Taijiquan Instructional Program
Reviews of the Cloud Hand's Website
Self Control, Self Mastery, Choices, Will Power
Senior Citizens Fitness Programs
Sensing Hands: Push Hands - T'ui Shou
Shoong, Sung, Song - Loose, Relaxed, Open, Yielding, Responsive
Short Form, Yang Style, Beijing Simplified 24
Simplified 24 From, Yang Style
Soaring Crane, Intermediate Program, Level 3, Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Speaking to the Spirit Meditation
Staff Weapons: Jo, Bo, Can, Staff, Spear
Standing Bear, Level 1 Ranking, Valley Spirit Taijiquan
Standing Like A Tree - Zhan Zhuang
Stork - Bird - Five Animal Frolics
Subject Index to the Cloud Hands Website
Swordsmanship and T'ai Chi Ch'uan
T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Bibliography and Links
T'ai
Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Directory: Instructors, Schools, Information, Workshops
Northern California,
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
T'ai Chi Ch'uan Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Red Bluff, CA
T'ai Chi Ch'uan Short Form, Beijing Simplified 24, Yang Style
T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Links and Bibliography
Taijiquan: Bibliography and Links
Taijiquan For Good Health, Fitness and Vitality
Taijiquan Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
Taoism, Nature Mysticism, Alchemy
Temple Qigong - A Nine Movement Exercise Set
Thirteen Postures: 8 Gates and 5 Steps
Thirteen Treasures Walking Qigong
The 300 Missing Poems of Han Shan
The Tiger: The Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi)
Tiger, Hidden Tiger, Beginning Program, Level 2, Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Tree Qigong - Zhan Zhuang - Standing Like A Tree
Trees - Quotations, Poems, Lore, Wisdom
Trees - Lore, Magick, Myths, Magick
Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Club
Valley Spirit Journal by Michael P. Garofalo
Valley Spirit Photography Gallery
Valley Spirit Taijiquan Instructional Program
Valley Spirit Taijiquan and Qigong Journal by Michael P. Garofalo
Vancouver, B.C., T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Directory: Instructors, Schools
Walking - General Fitness Exercise
Washington T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong Directory: Instructors, Schools, Information
Waving Hands Like Clouds: T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong
Will Power, Self Control, Self Mastery, Choices, Strength of Character
Yang Style Taijiquan Long Form 108 Movements
Yang Style Taijiquan Short Form 24 Movements
Yin-Yang Sensitivity Training: Sticking Hands - T'ui Shou
Zhan Zhuang - Standing Like A Tree
Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Club
Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, Northern California, U.S.A.
Cities and small towns in the area: Oroville, Paradise, Durham, Chico, Hamilton
City,
Corning, Rancho Tehama, Los Molinos, Tehama, Proberta, Gerber, Manton,
Cottonwood,
Anderson, Shasta Lake, Palo Cedro, Igo, Ono, Redding, Shasta, Colusa, Willows,
Fall River, Montgomery Creek, Alturas, McCloud, Dunsmuir, Yreka, Happy Camp,
Shingletown, Burney, Mt. Shasta City, Weaverville, Williams, Chester, Orland,
Susanville, Weed, Gridley, Marysville, Yuba City, NorCalifia, CA, California.
August 30, 2004
Cloud Hands: T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Ch'i Kung