Distractions can be wonderful.

They can relieve you from boredom, help pass the time, and take your mind off of life stressors.

A distraction is basically anything that takes your mind off of something undesirable that’s happening right now and puts it on something more desirable and far removed.

If there’s one thing modern humans have become masters of, it is self-distraction.

Our favorite tool for distracting ourselves is, of course, smartphones. These handy-dandy devices help us to take our minds off of what is undesirable and immediate to what is desirable and distant.

They are the perfect distraction tool.

While this isn’t awful in and of itself, there are problems with doing this all the time.

What can happen is that the brain can become trained to be somewhere else… on something else… far away from what is happening right now… constantly.

We can become pathologically distracted.

We are no longer able to experience the present moment.

At best, this pathology takes us away from quality reflective and social time.

At worst, it can cause us to miss small, significant details that can change our lives. (like a person creeping up behind us as we walk home at night)

Distractions take our mind off of the present where we are able to produce an effect…

And puts our mind on something distant where we are powerless to produce an effect.

So how do we regain the capability to be present and have influence over what’s happening right now?

It’s really not that complicated.

All that needs to happen is for you to focus in on something that is happening right now. Then you need to train this ability until you can do it whenever you want.

This ability is often referred to as “Be Here Now.” Tai Chi has some fantastic training for helping you overcome your pathological inability to experience the present moment.

This training, however, comes with additional martial perks that you don’t normally get with some of the more common Be Here Now training.

It’s also very important in building the advanced healing skills we teach at the Fa Kung Healing workshops.

If you missed the one at the end of April, look for the next Fa Kung Healing workshop coming in November (stay tuned for details.)

Here’s Sigung Clear showing some of the “Be Here Now” training we do in Tai Chi Level 2:

New videos from Sigung Clear’s intermediate Tai Chi classes are posted every Friday, but we don’t always have room to talk about them in this newsletter.

Subscribe to the Clear’s Internal Combat Arts Youtube channel so you don’t miss any.

https://www.youtube.com/user/kuntaosilat

Stay safe,
Jared Voelker