Top 12 of the Tao Te Ching
The Path of Well Being

To live our lives, to really live, requires flexibility in mind, body, and spirit. Flexible attitudes are developed through understanding and compassion. Flexible bodies are developed through gentle exercises like Yoga and Chi Gong. Flexible spirits are developed through prayer and meditation.  That is the real work, the real lessons we are here to learn. Through flexibility we can live all our lives in joy and peace. Isn’t it time to start?

To “play” with these ideas further, reflect on the following questions:

1.     What can I do this week to be more flexible in my attitudes?

2.     What can I do this week to be more flexible in my body?

3.     What can I do this week to be more flexible in my relationship with Spirit/God?

Sometime during this month, do the following:

Make a plan for the New Year that will establish flexibility in living for the rest of your life!

May you live in freedom and joy!

Thank you for this year of sharing and peace!

Jill

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