Back to school
Hello friends,
It feels strange writing this today on such a warm day, but autumn is coming. I have lots of schedule updates, and then a few thoughts about the season itself.
First, the James Bay Centre is back to its full schedule as kids go back to school. Registration is now open for the next two sets of Tuesday morning taiji classes (each 5 weeks long):
November 12th to December 10th inclusive.
You can also register in person at the Centre, or by phone at 250-389-1470.
I last emailed to ask for feedback about evening classes. We’ve decided to add Thursday evening sessions in November and October. They’ll be at the James Bay Centre, probably 5:30-6:30pm, the same weeks as the November-December session listed above. I will send another update when the details are 100% confirmed and registration is open.
The qigong classes at theDock will stay on Thursday afternoons for the rest of September. Then I’ll take October off, and move them to Monday afternoons starting in November.
There’s a longish break between the next two sessions, to accommodate some travel to see relatives and old friends in October. For my next newsletter I’ll write up some thoughts about keeping practice going, but right now is the time to think about [re]starting and getting that momentum going in the first place.
As the equinox draws near, I start to really feel the days getting shorter. Once the weather cools off and the leaves start to turn, the temptation to hibernate will be strong, and I find that putting some focus into good self-maintenance habits can help to keep my energy through that. Taiji and qigong are a big part of that for me, I hope they can be for you too.
Many cultures seem to recognise some version of this. The Jewish New Year starts on the new moon of autumn harvest season, this year it’s October 2nd-4th. As with everything in Jewish culture the New Year has many meanings, but most of all I think of it as a reminder to take some time to regroup after the summer, and think about how we want to be in the year ahead.
The cultures of China and most of its neighbours take a day to pause, make lanterns, and admire the full moon closest to the equinox. This year the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 17th. I don’t know of any local observances that are specifically for that day, but there are multicultural lantern festivals at Esquimalt Gorge Park on the 13th, and Gordon Head Rec Centre on the 14th. I’ve been to each of these in previous years and highly recommend them, and I’m hoping to get to the Esquimalt one next week. If you don’t make it to either, just remember to look up and admire the moon on the 17th.
In this part of the world, the salmon are starting to run, with the big runs waiting for the autumn rain to call them inland. The W̱SÁNEĆ call this month ĆENŦÁWEN, “coho return to land”, and the next is named for the chum salmon that follow. These are also times of regroup and preparing for the months ahead.
In honour of the salmon, I’ll leave you with a photo from last year’s Esquimalt Lantern Festival:
