It all started with the Beatles
I first became aware of yoga when the Beatles went to India in February 1968 to study Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Over the following decades, I bought books about yoga and attended the occasional classes. I always felt something was missing.
My wife and I were on a business trip to San Francisco in the 1980s. Our hotel was in Chinatown. There were all kinds of people practicing Tai Chi in the parks near the hotel.
At the time I did not think much of Tai Chi. “How can moving so slowly be of any benefit?” I asked Shirley.
In the 1990s I discovered Ashtanga yoga and found what I was missing in my yoga practice. Ashtanga yoga brought organization and structure to my yoga practice and we were off to the races. I soon developed an early morning daily practice with my teacher Jody Manley. Over the following years I increased my strength, flexibility and mental focus.
It was during this time that I discovered an old injury. When I was a teenager, we would often play tackle football in the park next door to my home. During one of the games, I dislocated my left shoulder. We wacked it back in place and carried on with the game.
While working through one of my yoga poses, I discovered that some of the muscles in my left shoulder did not work. After some physiotherapy and more yoga practice I was able to restore my shoulder to full strength.
I, like the Beatles, made a trip to India with my teacher and several others to study Ashtanga yoga with Nancy Gilgoff in the fall of 2009.
A few years later that old shoulder injury came back to haunt me.
That old football injury causes a change
I started waking up in the middle of the night in agony. My left arm was in sever pain. I had to get up and move around for a while before the pain would go away. That old backyard football injury came back to haunt me.
No amount of yoga was helping.
My business coach suggested that Qigong and Tai Chi might help me. Thus, began my exploration of these healing energy arts.
I joined the Zen Wellness Qigong program and started practicing Qigong daily along with my yoga practice.
After many months the middle of the night events became less frequent and eventually went away entirely. I also noticed that my Asthma had disappeared at the same time.
Every now and then Shirley reminds me about the statement I made in San Francisco many years ago about the benefit of Tai Chi.
There is more to life than yoga, qigong, tai chi and the many other mindfulness-based practices.
I am also passionate about knitting
I started knitting when I was about 10 years old. My mom was always making sweaters for us and other people. I asked her if I could help.
Now many decades later I am knitting gloves, mittens, scarves, socks, sweaters, slippers and many other things as a fund raiser for my church.
Once a year they have a craft sale at the church. All funds collected go to the support of the church and the community. Anything that is not sold is donated to the foodbank that is housed in our church building.
Nothing goes to waste.
Jack Godfrey
Southdale Wellness
P.S. Ready to start your healing journey with Qigong? Click the subscribe button below.
P.P.S. In need of something knit? Send me an email at the address below and we can sort something out.
