Top 12 of the Tao Te Ching
The Path of Well Being 
This verse references Water again. Water can change forms, to snow, to ice, to steam. Water overcomes rock. Water can enter a crack where there is no room for anything else. We can take this to a second level. Energy, that which is without substance, can enter anywhere. Just shifting your energy can change a situation, and can be a teaching tool without using words or work. To “play” with these ideas further, reflect on the following questions: 1. Monitor your own energy. When is it kind? When is it happy? When is it soft? When is it hard? When is it yielding? When is it forceful? When is it…? 2. What energy to you want to have? 3. How can you shift your energy at will? Sometime during this month, do the following: 1. Practice shifting your energy by “pretending” an emotion opposite of the one you are currently experiencing. When you are sad – for 60 seconds, pretend to be happy. When you are angry, for 60 seconds, pretend to be loving. Allow yourself to pretend yourself into the energy you want! 2. The next time you are around someone who is upset, play with energy. Instead of trying to help or fix, or give advice, simply shower the person energetically with love and peace and compassion. Soften your eyes, open your heart. Just be there. Without words or actions, you will see the whole situation shifting to joy and peace.  The Tao Te Ching (pronounced Dow de ching) was written around 6th century BC by the Taoist sage Lao Tzu, "Old Master", a record-keeper at the Zhou Dynasty court, by whose name the text is known in China. The text's true authorship and date of composition or compilation has not ever been verified. According to legend, Lao Tzu wrote the Tao as an old man, and then walked off into the hills, never to be seen again.
Tao means "way", "road", "path", or "route," but was extended to mean "path ahead", "way forward", "method", "principle", "doctrine", or simply "the Way". Te means "virtue" in the sense of "personal character", "inner strength", or "integrity". Ching originally meant "norm", "rule", "plan". ©September 2004 by Jill N. Henry, Mountain Valley Center, Otto NC. All rights reserved.  Dr. Jill Henry is the author of Energy SourceBook – The Fundamentals of Personal Energy (Llewellyn, 2004) and webmaster for www.mountainvalleycenter.com. She is founder, with her husband Charlie, of Mountain Valley Center metastore and the Otto Labyrinth Park in Otto, NC. Jill is an Associate Polarity Practitioner, an Independent Distributor of the RichWay Amethyst Biomat, and developer and presenter of CEU workshops for nurses, physical therapists and massage therapists http://www.mountainvalleycenter.com/flow.htm
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