Day 1 … was perfect!

This week was the first week of my 200-hour Qigong Teacher Training with Forest Rock Qigong, and Day 1 was the most gracious, and perfectly perfect way to begin … with the bow.

I felt it immediately … a full circle moment home!

In the Forest Rock Qigong tradition we shall always begin with a bow, as a formal opening to our practice.

Then there is the beautiful ‘gong‘, drawn from the monastic teachings; a gesture signifying respect: for self, for others, for nature, for the planet, for animals… for all of life.

The Bow is our acknowledgement, and quiet reverence, to give thanks … for the opportunity to be here, for our teachers, for the lineage, and for the community we are part of (both seen and unseen).

In this simple act, we are:

• placing the mind back in its rightful place before practice
• letting go of whatever is happening in our outer world
• returning to presence, to this moment

After our first morning of meeting everyone and getting the ‘admin’ sorted, I was eager to begin our first lesson, The Bow. And then in my dreams that night, I remembered something.

One of my very first ever blog posts, back in 2008 with Quiet Mind Meditation, was titled “To Bow.” I had written it after a participant came up to me at the end of a meditation class and commented on the sense of grace she felt when she saw me bow at the close of our session. I remember feeling quite taken aback, because I hadn’t thought it would be noticed. It’s almost involuntary because I bow at the end of each of my meditation practices .. it’s just a small, personal ritual that I embrace from my time within the buddhist path.

So, today, I found that original post (long archived from this site). Here is a part of what I wrote back then .. in 2008

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“Here in the West, we don’t often bow to anything or anyone… and perhaps we don’t have much in our lives that we consciously honour in that way. To be fair, it simply isn’t really part of our culture.

In the East, however, bowing is everywhere. A greeting. A sign of respect. A spiritual gesture. Always a gracious, gentle, peaceful act.

Bowing is a practice of reverence and mindfulness ... a way of honouring, through the body, our connection to all people, to simplicity, and to compassionate awareness. It is also a perfect opportunity to pause and take a breath.

"When I join my palms to greet .. I don’t do it simply to be polite. I do it because this is my practice... Joining my palms, I make a flower ... It’s beautiful in appearance and it’s beautiful on the inside. In joining my two palms, I realize the oneness of body and mind. My left hand is like my body, my right hand is like my mind. They come together, and in an instant I arrive at the state of oneness of body and mind. When mind and body come together, they produce our true presence. We become fully alive. Oneness of body and mind is the fruit of practice that you can get right away -  you don’t have to wait." Thich Nhat Hanh

Bowing, when done deeply and authentically, can be a truly heartfelt and sacred ritual.

I first learned about the bow, and how to prostrate, in my local Buddhist gompa. I remember being very much in love with the sense of sanctity, grace, and connection that I felt in those moments, to the lineage, my teachers, and the community around me.

At the end of my own meditation classes, when I bring my hands together and bow, I am honouring the shared experience we have just lived and shared. And, acknowledging the long line of teachers and practitioners who have walked this path before us ... and those who will walk it after us.

To bow is to recognise the quiet wonder of having been truly present.

And when I bow at the end of my own practice, it becomes a personal ‘thank you’ …

A thank you to myself - for showing up.
A gesture of respect to my teachers, and their teachers.
An honouring of the path ahead, whatever it may bring, which I hope to meet with an open and willing heart.

I bow to you.”

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And here I am, all these years later … bowing again.   Not something to just do, but something to enter into.

I bow to you!