Date: December 21st, 2024
Winter Solstice - Is often either the longest day of the year or the shortest day of the year. Often having the longest night of the year, At the end of a long darkness, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
World Meditation Day is a new holiday established this year by the UN as a reminder of the value of inner peace and mental well-being. A day that was started by Shaolin and made into an international phenomenon. Meditation is a long running practice that’s helped people with maintaining both physical and mental health. By bringing awareness to meditation, it brings to light all the cultures that practice meditation and improves overall health awareness to a larger number of people.
Meditation and martial arts go hand in hand. As there is an inherent aggression to most martial arts, there needs to be moments of peace to balance it out. Martial arts without meditation can be intimidating and even unhealthy at times, causing practitioners to become violent and vulgar. With meditation, it allows martial artists to become more at peace with themselves to avoid seeking out unnecessary violence. Kungfu establishes a form of meditation through practicing Taiji and Qigong. These styles often give the practitioners time to self-reflect and internalize while avoiding staying idle for a long period of time.
Try it out!
Everyone should meditate once in a while. It’s easy!
First sit in a cross-legged position. Try to maintain an upright posture. Bring your thumbs into your palms. With the rest of your fingers, wrap them around your thumb forming a ball. Do not wrap tightly. Everything should be relaxed. Place your hands on your knees with your palms facing up. Now close your eyes and relax your face. Use this time to organize your thoughts. Ask questions, create solutions, you can think about both important and useless things. Meditation is all about clarity no matter how significant or insignificant it can be.
Share with others!
After meditating, on your return to the SKZ training hall, please share your thoughts and feelings from meditations. Maybe you had a revelation. Maybe you only solved a small problem. If you accomplish something through meditation, it’s still a great accomplishment！
As a message to everyone, try to pick up meditation as a habit. Try to get your family involved, get your friends started on it. Make it a family event. By meditating, you are promoting the culture of martial arts, meditation, physical health and mental wellness. Use this holiday season to become Zen. Happy World Meditation Day!