Experiment: Doing Taimyo Kata Meditation in the aisle at Walmart

Brad LarsonFeatured Posts, Shintaido4 Comments

There’s a moving meditation developed in Shintaido a decade (or two) ago called “Taimyo Kata”.  It involves a ten to fifteen minute sequence of relaxed and deliberate steps, reaching motions, and, my favorite, a section where you hold your hands together over your head and slowly bring them down across your face and chest.  In my mind, it’s as if my hands above my head are covering my body with refreshing energy, and as my hands come down, they gently brush away any anxious thought, sadness, or fear, leaving me standing tall in a new world.

But the question about meditation is: how long does it last?  The feeling can quickly disappear if I jump in the car and drive through traffic. Or if I start worrying right away again about the vast unknown future.  So I decided to do Taimyo Kata meditation, or at least my favorite part, whenever I feel anxious or sad today. Whenever or wherever. So as I walked into Walmart to buy an iphone charging cable, it happened — that feeling. Uh-oh. Am I really going to do it here?  In the aisle at Walmart?  Taimyo Kata meditation?

OK, not the full on fifteen minute version with deliberate stepping.  But at least the part where I put my hands over my head, feel the refreshing energy, and then draw them down across my face and chest.  That I should be able to do.  But then, there’s social expectation — it does look a little weird, even just raising your hands over your head.  What’s that tall guy doing in the detergent aisle?

But why not? I tried it.  Maybe not the most demonstrative version I’ve done, maybe a bit rushed.  But I did raise my hands. Layered them over my head, felt the refreshing energy, drew the cleansing sweep over my face and chest.  And I felt good.  Or, maybe I just felt amused with myself.  Anyway, I’m going to keep trying this experiment…

4 Comments on “Experiment: Doing Taimyo Kata Meditation in the aisle at Walmart”

    1. Thanks Rumni! Appreciated. I haven’t written much in a while — reminds me to play with my experience (even play with uncertainty or sadness)…

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