And for me too, Vancouver is the peaceful side of my
dichotomous existence distinct from my frenetic Stateside life. And so, I’ll try to distill it for you.
Altogether, I've made 21 trips to Vancouver totaling 14
months of which I’ve spent 12 months studying Chen style (original form) Tai
Chi which places me chronologically as a beginner.
My daily rhythm circumambulates the Tai Chi practice
schedule, and all other activities avoid Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Monday,
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoons. I've dedicated myself completely to improving my
Tai Chi form and avoid traveling whereas I wing 75,000 air miles the rest of
the year. Without a car, I bike and walk
and use Sky Train (100 yards away) and bus as needed. I also swim twice a week and try to go on one
long 20-30 mile bike ride on Sunday morning.
In July and August the weather is usually pristine with pure azure skies embracing looming mountains
and shimmering sea in a singular vista.
It is rain-free with low humidity and in the comfortable 70’s
daytime and sleep enhancing 60’s nighttime.
Different from the sweltering Midwest, it is largely bug-free and the
windows are screen-less. I chuckled when a heat advisory was announced in the low 80’s! However, in a harbinger of climactic change,
over the past two years forest fires have sullied the air rendering it 10+/10
air quality rated as the worst on the
planet … a mask failed to alleviate the coughing and congestion.
The food offerings in restaurants, food courts and Night
Market are ethnically diverse, abundant and superlative especially the Chinese dim sum. I curtail eating out unless with friends as the
tasty foods are all too gluttonously tempting.
Instead I eat simply relying on vegetarian
zonzi, dofu skins with mushrooms,
gluten with cloud’s ear mushroom as well as a variety of dumplings to which I
add vegetables and noodles. Based upon
the messages from the Longevity Plan and China Study previously reviewed, I’m shifting
from animal protein. Now perhaps 3-4 of
20 meals a week contain chicken, pork or beef and instead I eat seafood, eggs and plant proteins.
Richmond has become my annual Chinese immersion as most
(80%) of the Choy Lee Fat club members are native Cantonese speakers from either
Hong Kong or Guangdong Province. My parents both
from Guangzhou spoke to me primarily in Cantonese up to age 3, so deeply
imbedded phrases are now percolating up and I am understanding more (sick tang)
and speaking a little (em sick gong). I
study Mandarin and some Cantonese for 4 hours a week. Mary, my Tai Chi disciple-teacher (Dad’s former graduate
student) dispenses linguistic lessons as well.
Because she has degrees in Chinese literature, art history and Buddhist
philosophy she is adept at providing much appreciated background to the
vocabulary.
Tai Chi has become the epicenter of my Canadian life. Our Sifu (master) Paul Tam differentiates external kung fu (Choy Lee Fat that trains
muscles for power) from internal kung
fu (Tai Chi Chuan trains muscle, circulation, chi) the latter being a deeper
practice. He stresses that Tai Chi should
become more than exercise for health … to training with perfection of the forms. So in the last 2-3 summers, it has become a 2
hour a day 7 days a week boot camp
and … some days I can barely walk. Mary
has become my Tai Chi Tiger Mother – ‘do it again’ ditto, ditto, ditto. This summer with her help, I revamped my
back, hip and knee postures.
In a personal breakthrough, I can now experience the key internal hip sinking/relaxing. And, I can feel the surge in circulation out
to my fingertips. At the Taiwan Fest in downtown
Vancouver, we performed multiple synchronized routines of Tai Chi with the
advanced disciples using straight swords and curved swords. As a result of all this, I am unequivocally
in the best health – balance, flexibility, weight and core strength – of the
last 20 years. Better for fall
prevention and aging gracefully. However,
it is not all fun and games. In front of
the entire class, Sifu yells a critique (‘stick out your butt’) at me from 30
feet away or freezes my position to hold me up as a bad example … this I have
come to learn is his expression of respect for my efforts to improve. Ahhh, I have become a full-fledged member and now have the scars to prove it!
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| Taiwan Fest - Labor Day - Downtown Vancouver - Where's Waldo? |
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| Ages 20 something to 83 |
Warming up
One book worth mentioning is a mind changer aptly titled How
to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (Carnivors’ Dilemma). It concerns the psychedelic experience and its
potential therapeutic use. What? Yes. He
describes his ‘trips’. Then documents
that psilocybin is more effective in treating refractory depression, drug
addiction and fear of dying than anything else! The mechanism of action appears to be dissolution
of the ego which produces the mystical vision of oneness with the world. He cites neuroimaging studies that localize
the ego to the default mode network that includes the posterior cingulate
gyrus. And the serotonin receptor 5HT2A mediates (or blocks) the
psychedelic effects. Of necessity, the
analysis intertwines psychology (distorted visions), neurobiology (brain function),
philosophy (meaning of life) and places them in a somewhat comprehen-sible
context. I can’t even begin to do it
justice. But mind bending, mind expanding …
In Canada, I continued my unpaid academic work that
maintains my mental activity including publishing a paper, editing guidelines on treatment of CVS in adults and several
textbook chapters as well as preparing several talks for the fall. And, I was notified that I was awarded a second career
award from our national pediatric GI (NASPGHAN) society for educational
contributions – the Master Educator Award.
It is a brand new award and I am to be the inaugural awardee! This is parallel to the Teri Li Award for
young faculty except that it is designated for a senior member. I received the Murray
Davidson Award from the Academy of Pediatrics in 2012. I wish Teri and my folks could be there.
Transitioning
I returned to the emptied condo in Milwaukee that has been staged and readied for sale. Teri’s jade tree fragrant blossoms welcomed
me the moment I opened the door. The echo
of my steps reverberated in the newly empty space.
It was different. I took down
paintings from the wall and with professional help moved them to Madison (90
miles away) where I will settle for the next several years while awaiting Rachel
and Ben’s next stops. I'll be sharing
a condo with best friend Steve’s sister and her husband who live in
Southern California. Met with stager,
realtor, photographer, art manager …
Not everything is smooth riding back at home. The day after I arrived home, with the sunny crisp fall weather in the 60s, I went on a 20 mile bike ride and had two missteps. Because my 30-year old bike that I ride daily in
Richmond has no clips that lock my feet to the pedal, when I mounted my carbon-frame bike in Milwaukee with clips, I forgot to unclip them when I
stopped and promptly lost my balance and fell over.
Fortunately, just minor bruising. And it happened a second time ... ugh.
So, my dichotomous existence persists. The political craziness, the scheduled trips and talks and upcoming surgery all before New Year’s, plus the impending sale
and move … contrasts with the ascetic, peaceful, physically-taxing, Chinese
immersion experience. I think you can
see how the latter has become an anchor for me to pursue intensive health, explore
cultural roots, and experience simplified living. Nancy the realtor told me that as the condo sale progresses
I will experience emotions and so it began yesterday when our cleaning lady-friend
began to tear up as she finished … as we were both flooded with memories of
Teri and this place. We hugged.
P.S. New pictures of Flora are uploaded below.
For added perspective from a very talented fellow Tai Chi student Maki see the new link @ http://kfstudy.wordpress.com
For added perspective from a very talented fellow Tai Chi student Maki see the new link @ http://kfstudy.wordpress.com
