Author: Richard

A Father’s Day poem for my Dad

He Set Me Free

He was hard working, dedicated, disciplined;
Ended school after 8 grades, all As:
His dad insisted he go to work
Farming for his uncle.

In war he wanted to serve in the Navy.
They said “no” – color blindness disqualifies.
Farming was essential then too:
The troops needed food.

A Master Electrician apprenticeship came his way.
He had to say “no” – low pay for too long
Wouldn’t put food on the table
For a new, growing family.

He farmed for Uncle, then Dad, then moved
When war was done, to a farm 20 miles
Away with new wife and son:
A rental, shared crops and cattle.

We prospered through hard work and discipline.
Years went by, son joined in the work,
Another son came along. The farm went
For sale; he bought it for his own.

We worked side-by-side, first son and he.
He pulled that son aside one day and said:
“Don’t get stuck on this or any farm.”
He set me free that day!

Ever and always grateful.

100 Poems & Possibilities for Healing

I am about to be a published poet, again! On January 9, 2024, “100 Poems & Possibilities for Healing” hits Amazon “bookshelves.” I have 4 poems to be published in this volume along with my story of “A Healing Journey through Community.”

 

I’ll post a link here when it goes live. You’ll be able to purchase the  e-book for a limited time for only $1.99!

Remembrance: a poem about surrender

Remembrance

I feel a distance that is not there,
separating, carving an empty gulf
that’s not real, only imagined in a
foolish mind.

As the distance narrows, disappears,
I sense resistance pressing hard to
release the powerful pull of a
longing heart.

As the resistance softens, collapses,
remembrance grabs my wandering
soul. The Sufi Zikr lights the way
showing all I need to know.

Mergence is that simple way, no distance,
no resistance, only remembering:
There’s no reality but God;
There is only God.

©2023 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.

Heart Sutra Vibe

Heart Sutra Vibe

Picture a plucked string:
See it vibrate to invisibility,
Moving from something to nothing:
Beyond sound,
Silent stillness.

Picture a still string:
See it stretched to stillness,
Its potential waiting, surrendered:
Beyond sound,
Silent stillness.

There is something in that stillness:
A waiting note not yet heard,
An emptiness filled with hope.

There is nothing in that high vibe:
A note beyond hearing ear,
A form, a new song of hope!

Locked by the Clock

Locked by the Clock

Teaching Qigong I often say:
“Locked knees block Qi.” Energy:

It flows from the earth, through the feet
Into the core of our being. Feel it,

The force of that flow surges
Like the tide lifting the heart. Listen:

The roaring surf, the salt spray
Glistening in the hanging mist, suspended:

The shimmering light of winter’s
Sun. Such times at the shore!

It is easy to float, drifting within the
Tide, not locked by the clock. Free:

No thought, merging with the
Ocean, emerging as One.

January 3, 2020
©2020, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.

Living Inside Out

Living Inside Out

Nei Gong – inner practice:
It begins with breath –
Doesn’t everything?

Sense the slow inhale:
Feel it rise through chakras,
Earth-gate to Heaven’s gate.

Sense a relaxed exhale:
The downward flow as
Face, chest, belly, sex sink.

Extend awareness to the body:
The extremities – fingers and toes,
Outside and inside, energy running.

Become aware of the skin:
Air moves whispering fine hairs,
Tingles ripple with the grace of Qi.

Sense the tongue resting on teeth:
Smooth surfaces at the tip,
Ridges midway, a tickle toward throat.

Tune the ear to inner music:
Body bubbles and gurgles with Jing,
Low hums and thrums of life-tones.

The nose knows many scents:
Flared nostrils invite the inhale;
Hairs filter and warm breath-smells.

The inner eye sees all in the field:
The quantum mirror is free of dust,
The vision ahead is open and wide.

Inner senses lead the mind:
It quiets, chatter and spin subside;
Abide – living inside out!

January 9, 2019
©2019 Richard W Bredeson, all rights reserved.

Levels

Levels

At the quantum level
There is nothing,
Then there is something,
Then nothing, emptiness:
Reality Flashing in and out,
There then not.

At the atomic level
There is probability:
Matter is probably there;
We can see it, touch it,
Smell, taste, hear it.
Observation pins it.

At the DNA level
Quanta and atoms form
Base-pairs, form strands,
Double helix twists that
Probably exist to perform
Their replicating functions.

At the cellular level
DNA housed in chromosomes
Spin off proteins in hundreds
Of thousands of transactions
Per second, sustaining life,
Fitting neatly into the body matrix.

At the body level
The matrix of cells
Living, breathing, beating, dying
On an unimaginable scale
Of numbers and transactions
Numbing the mind to unconsciousness.

At the consciousness level
We can imagine all these levels
Humming, spinning, winking
In and out of existence, all
Across the Universe in no
Space-Time, sustained only by love!

What is Qi?

One of my favorite recent gifts and addition to my Qigong and Chinese Medicine library is “Alchemy of the Extraordinary, A Journey into the Heart of the Meridian Matrix” by Peter Shea, L.Ac. This relatively slender volume covers all of the meridian matrix, the energy network of the human body, and focuses on the Eight Extraordinary Vessels; what Shea refers to as the “heart” of the matrix. I highly recommend this book to go deeply into the anatomy of the energy body.

I was recently invited to explore the intersection of Qigong and Reiki with a group of Reiki Masters and practitioners. To introduce the meaning of Qi (Ki in Japanese where Reiki originated) I read the following “definition” from Shea’s book:

Qi is the energy of relationship. When two or more things have enough resonance with each other a connection is made. This quantum connection now becomes greater than the sum of its parts and activates the life force. This is the energy of communication, connection and relationship. This is information and as such, it is faster than light, or more correctly exists outside the time-space continuum. These connections can be illuminated through the power of our intention and focus, what is known as the Yi. When our intention is aligned with the principles of gravity and force this Qi can harness great power. If our intention is solely to manipulate this energy, we will consume our Jing [life essence] faster. If our intention is to participate with this force, we can become a conduit and a battery that can sustain and support us.<

I believe this definition brings a new dimension to the concept of Qi/Ki, or life force energy. Bringing the idea of “relationship” into the meaning establishes the need for “two (yin and yang) or more” to the “equation of reality.” It also demonstrates the power of Reiki healing that can arise during a session. The “energy of communication, connection and relationship” is the healing force.

And then this happened…

Once again there’s been a delay between posts here. Many of you already know why:

Sometime, just after the “Lion’s Gate” event on 8/8/2017, I had a heart attack. I am a bit vague about exact time here because my symptoms were pretty mild – no great drama, no race by ambulance to the hospital, no life-saving actions by first responders. No, just a few days of chest pressure and a restless, mostly sleepless night on 8/10.

On 8/11 I taught my Friday morning Qigong class. This felt good, but the pressure in my chest continued and began migrating to my back. Hmmm! Between Rosemary and me we decided to give our local “urgent care” a try. Good experience. They sent me to the emergency room with EKG, chest X-Ray and instructions to Rosemary to get me through triage fast.

Long story short my troponin level, a protein marker for heart attack, was through the roof. By early morning on 8/12 I was on my way via ambulance to Washington Hospital Center for catheterization to determine the cause of this heart event. In at 8:30; by 9:00 they knew I had blockage that needed CABG (the cardiology short-hand for Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft) – three of them in fact.

My CABGx3 got scheduled for Tuesday, August 15 (Mary’s Assumption Day, so I knew I was in good hands!). I spent the rest of Saturday through Monday in the hospital under acute observation; I had this time to prepare.

I continued my Qigong practice. There was this lovely atrium window on the fourth floor where I could go through my morning routine in nice light. I knew at this point that Qigong had saved my life, kept me healthy and strong enough  to endure/survive the heart attack. I certainly wasn’t going to stop practice now, especially prior to surgery!

Surgery was routine, as these things go. I suspect splitting open a person’s chest to access the heart’s arteries is never quite routine. My care at Washington Hospital was stellar! I can’t imagine my experience going any better. (OK, the food was not gourmet but it was edible!). By Saturday, 8/19, one week after admission, was released with new drugs and a few restrictions. No Qigong for a few days! But I walked out with the “heart of a 20-year old” (according to the cardiologist who read my echocardiogram) and new plumbing.

And I have been on a fast-track to full recovery ever since. I started my Qigong classes up again on 9/22 – added two make-up classes to cover the missed August classes.

And now I am launching my next series of classes for the Fall 2017; they run from October 6 through December 29, 10:30 am in West Annapolis. And these classes are available LIVE via internet. You can find the details here on the website.

Qigong saved my life. It continues to speed my recovery process. And I am committed to bring this ancient, life-saving technology to as many people as I can reach.

Join me!