{"id":23,"date":"2011-10-12T23:08:19","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T22:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/?page_id=23"},"modified":"2021-05-17T09:43:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T08:43:36","slug":"other-interests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/other-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"Other Interests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Other Interests<\/h2>\n

\"Tai<\/a>Having studied and practiced Tai Chi Chuan for many years (including 2 periods of learning from a Chinese Master based in Thailand in the late 1970\u2019s and early 1980\u2019s) I fully recognise its power to promote physical, mental and emotional well-being.\u00a0 In my case, it also helped me to transform the somewhat frenzied energy of my teenage years into a more sustainable energy that has enabled me to juggle lots of things because it taught me how to focus completely on one thing at a time.<\/p>\n

A totally unexpected discovery from my time in Thailand was Tai Chi Sword which made my heart beat faster the moment I saw a class in Lumpini Park. I don\u2019t think I have ever worked so hard before or since as I tried to learn the whole form in the limited time I was there.\u00a0 My hard work was rewarded when, despite the fact I did not complete the course, the Master on hearing that I had to leave, gave me his wooden sword. It was (and remains) a humbling moment.<\/p>\n

This, combined with my stint as CEO of the Marylebone Centre Trust (1989-92) a centre promoting the integration of \u2018alternative\u2019 therapies into mainstream primary health care, have meant an on-going interest in well-being. And having recently qualified as an Indian Head Massage therapist has fulfilled a long-standing desire to be able to help people feel better.<\/p>\n

In recent years, when travel and training courses have almost taken over my life, it has been a pleasure and a relief to be able to escape just work with clay or make art or write \u2013 sometimes listening to classical music, but more often in silence. The pleasure of creating something new and the joy of beginning to know when to work further on a piece and when to just stop is intense and immediate. It is a new and continuous kind of learning \u2013 an experiment in letting go of intention and just seeing what happens.<\/p>\n

\u201d First, put aside the desire to judge immediately; acquire the habit of just looking.
\nSecond, do not treat the object as an object of the intellect.
\nThird, just be ready to receive, passively, without interposing yourself.
\nIf you can void your mind of all intellectualisation, like a clear mirror that simply reflects,
\nall the better.
\nThis non-conceptualisation \u2013 the Zen state of No Mind \u2013 may seem to represent a negative attitude but from it springs the true ability to contact things directly and positively\u201d<\/p>\n

from:\u00a0The Unknown Craftsman<\/strong>, 1972, Soetsu Yanagi<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Chinese call this phenomenon \u2018Wu Wei\u2019 \u2013 \u201cDoing by not doing, doing by allowing things to happen\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Other Interests Having studied and practiced Tai Chi Chuan for many years (including 2 periods of learning from a Chinese Master based in Thailand in the late 1970\u2019s and early 1980\u2019s) I fully recognise its power to promote physical, mental and emotional well-being.\u00a0 In my case, it also helped me to transform the somewhat frenzied energy of my teenage years into a more sustainable energy that has enabled me to juggle lots of things because it taught me how to … Read the Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"gridview.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rostennyson.info\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}