Fun Games During Balances

Zhou Jinghua (Zhengzhou, China)

In the “Meridian Balances” series of workshops, there are many games that I really love. They would bring the balancing process to its climax. In the Governing Vessel Balance of the “Eight Extraordinary Meridian Balances” workshop, the game “Balloon-Bouncing on the Head” asks the player to bounce a balloon and keep it in the air using just the top of his head. When reaching out to bounce the ball with the head, the stretching and relaxing of the entire spine (especially the cervical vertebra), as well as the use of force with the head, helped me discover and feel the incoordination among various parts of my body. I enjoyed exploring how I was operating my body, and felt excited and uplifted.

Games within the balancing process allow us to learn while playing. Play is a key that opens the heart. It has taught me, an adult, to finally know what curiosity is, what creativity is, how to make use of my characteristics and abilities, how to fit into a social setting, and how to play with a child¡¦s heart.

U.S. neurologist and educator Dr. Carla Hannaford said in her book “Awakening the Child Heart” (2002, Jamilla Nur Publishing): “When I speak of play, my meaning is that of sensuous, spontaneous, connected, explorative, safe, non-competitive, lost-in-the-moment, balanced, rough and tumble, joyful play that creates a mood of bliss, flow and a sense of no time. Play, for me, is the way the spirit authentically expresses itself”; “Play impulses originate in the brain and don”t need to be learned”; “Play entails all our senses.”

In meridian metaphors and playing, and become energetic, creative, agile and compassionate. I feel safe and adventurous, and produce and apply new thoughts continuously. This is important to me.

Let us enjoy the moment, explore and create with a playful heart.