The Photo:
Even though it was colder this morning, I found it easier to get out to the beach. I arrived and got my camera on it's tripod before the sunrise. Yay!
In my experience the best color starts quite a bit earlier than the actual sunrise and ends when The Ball as the sun rises higher and higher above the horizon or over the cloud bank.
There are very few cloudless sunrises here in New Smyrna Beach. Occasionally there is a perfectly clear horizon for The Ball to peak over. When that happens it's truly spectacular!
When I watch the sunrise over a clear horizon, I can actually feel the rotation of the earth.
Be amazed
It was cooler this morning in the 50's with a stiff W N/W wind. I dressed accordingly but still kept my back to the wind whenever possible.
Sunrise was at 7:35 this morning and the next low tide is 10:00 am. The tide was about midway and going out. I found plenty of hard packed sand to practice on.
Life is good!
The Practice:
This morning I was able to access a deeper level of gratitude and appreciation for being able to do this 'experiment':
Do at the least one Round of T'ai Chi Ch'uan for 10,000 consecutive days or until I'm unable to physically do it. So far so good! I started counting the consecutive days on June 30, 2001 - Today I'm in year 22 this was practice #7, 928! I attribute my ability to stay healthy enough to do a Round per day to the Art of T'ai Chi Ch'uan; Imo the very best exercise to do after 60.
With gratitude and appreciation and good fortune I've been healthy enough to complete at least one full Round of the long form every single day since I was 50! That's a testimonial to Master Liang's T'ai Chi System and his teaching as it comes down through my teachers Masters Paul Gallagher and Ray Hayward. [Bow from the waist}
My 'tools' for this experiment;
1. Solid foundation in external arts (American Karate System & Modern Arnis). In my experience, sufficient training in an external style naturally leads to an interest in Internal training over time.
2. The next step is to start learning, studying and practicing Internal Martial Arts, Meditation/Mindful Movement (Yang Style T'ai Chi Ch'uan & Bagua Zhang). This process of refining and redefining yourself internally is a life long pursuit.
3. Access to a suitable place in view of the ocean (or water body) to practice on.
4. Develop the habit of daily practice at the shore at sunrise.
GO!
I've been fascinated by my consciousness from an early age. I'm curious as to what would happen inside of me IF I were to practice T'ai Chi and Qigong/Neigong on the beach at sunrise....What would happen to me??
Notes:
I saw Bob the mailman this morning. He stopped to talk. He was walking alone, I guess it was too cold for his walking buddies!
Not many folks on the beach this morning. Not even the regulars.