8 TongTianCheDi 通天徹地
Connect with Heaven and Penetrate Earth
I've really been feeling this one recently. The moves up to this build momentum and it feels like there's a bloom of energetic connection that happens here.
There's a World Tree kinesthesia (and I have been exploring the World Tree in imaginal practice recently).
And a sort of lightning feeling, Summer thunderstorms in the Mid-West, how lightning sends out tiny feelers arcing through the air until it connects to the ground, then the ionized air is conductive and the whole charge thunders down out of the sky, burning Lichtenberg fingers of fused glass into the ground.
Uhh... what was I talking about?
But that's how it is -- I often notice my eyes have shut.
It's nearly overwhelming, this kinetic sense of bridging heaven and earth, past and future flowing up and down through the spine, simultaneous, interpenetrating.
Yeah, OK, wow. 🥵
"Feel the whole body expanding like a dragon to connect with Heaven and Earth."
This moves around though, which movement is most alive, most intense. One month it's one, then next it's another. This one has been most intense for a while and now it's this move's Jie Qi. So, yay.
It sure is Summer-ey.
But about intensity -- it's not everything everything. Not that I distrust intensity or that I am blasé about it, striking some kind of pose like "Hey, I'm so upekkhā, intense feelings are nothing special, check how equanimous I am."
It's just "nothing happening" or subtle experience is super important too.
ritual instructions:
do these things
feel what is there
don't decide
don't be afraid of not feeling anything
"nothing is happening" is an important experience
thread...
I do try my best to bring this power spiraling into the lower Dan Tian in the next movement though.
And the next... and the next...