I run into the dressing room of the gymnasium. With my head too full, my heart too heavy – my brother still dead, my daughter a teen from hell and I’m not sure about anything anymore. And argh....! Gymnasia! The smell! This typical smell of childhood memories of sore spots thanks to climbing ropes, sadistic ballgames, foot warts…

Stop! Or: how a gymnasium can transform into a temple.

It’s quiet. So quiet. Marc is practising the ‘24’ form with some other Tai Chi students. Their movements are slow and focused. There’s a sense of sacredness. An atmosphere of candles, incense, Buddha statues, flowers…I find a spot and prepare myself. I focus on my chakra’s, my heart chakra starts to glow. I feel the energy vibrating in my hands. Energy that is flowing up and down through my body. From earth to heaven and back. Chi.

Ping! Marc is chiming the small gong to bring us back, to prevent us from escaping with our thoughts. Ping! You are here, nowhere else. We move, concentrated and intense.

Movement is familiar language for me. Tai Chi, Body & Mind, dance. Anchors that I drop – splash – right into the ever present, ever flowing ocean that we call life. Thoughts and resistance disappear. The connection is back. Ahhh! Say chi!