YinYang U

04/12/2026

Interpersonal Meditation??
“From these disciplines we are given tools to interact with others harmoniously. Mental, emotional, and energetic awareness is cultivated with a life partner via the physical body.

From the skin, to the tissues, nervous system, spine and brain, and viscera, a full-body experience transfers to the psycho-emotional body in which the partners can embody the intellectual and philosophical ideals - deep listening, centering and balancing, regulating the emotional-mind, responding appropriately to each situation, using one’s energy efficiently, engaging and communing with nature and other beings.

This is described as external to internal, a learning and training approach known in traditional Gongfu ( ) discipline.”

“A practice where two people who are invested in a long term relationship can engage with each other.
•Physically
•Mentally/emotionally
•Energetically
•Subtly/ in a nuanced way
•Through touch-communication

An exercise where you can take your meditative practice to a dynamic, level.”

Excerpt From
Taiji for Couples Book 2026
Javier Rodriguez, Nona Ikeda
Get the book and sign up for the next workshop here: https://www.yinyangtaiji.org/valentines-weekend
https://youtu.be/p0AgDQXFk9c

Get the book and sign up for the next workshop here: https://www.yinyangtaiji.org/valentines-weekendSupport our efforts at www.patreon.com/watchjaviGet your ...

04/12/2026

“ pervades our world and so what can we do when it arises in the relationship? With Taiji for Couples the interest is in moving through the relationship to see conflict as not something to be avoided, but something to be engaged as an opportunity for growth and understanding of self in ”

“Are we solely working with intimate relationships? The techniques taught in this course are not limited to the romantic couple. It can be between father and daughter, two sisters, etc., because we work with the same foundational principles and values. This said, intimate relationships offer us a special opportunity because are working to build a life together as one, and are planting seeds for future generations. If they can embody Taiji for Couples, so can their children. And hopefully it ripples out to other , to friends and family.”

Excerpt From
Taiji for Couples Book 2026
Javier Rodriguez, Nona Ikeda

Get the book and sign up for the next workshop here: https://lnkd.in/gaH4eNmE...
https://youtu.be/s76NcHdh9xY?si=-HmOzi3IuUQFrGgX

Get the book and sign up for the next workshop here: https://www.yinyangtaiji.org/valentines-weekendSupport our efforts at www.patreon.com/watchjaviGet your ...

04/10/2026

Origins of Taiji For Couples.

We met in NorCal at the YMAA Retreat Center, a live-in, full-time training center for Taiji, Qigong, Meditation, and Gongfu (Kungfu). Javi was completing a ten-year program and Nona was completing a 3-year program. A relationship grew and we aimed to cultivate a partnership.

In daily study of Taijiquan and Qigong, while honing the Listening, Understanding, and Adhering Energies, we soon found that these concepts could be applied to the relationship. It was like a light bulb. We felt that the movements we were learning for Healing and Martial Arts helped to embody concepts that were transferable to the couple in partnership.

So we began to practice movements with another intention, one of a less combative synergy.

uses partner exercises to help develop the feeling for various dynamic and subtle forces. Feeling allows us to connect the mind and the body as well as the mind to the other. Movements aim to develop attention on each person's state of being, as well as awareness of what is going on for the partner.

Exercises facilitate physical connection and nonverbal communication for movement in a coordinated fashion through space and time. These skills can transfer in a positive way to the inner workings of relationship.

Qigong principles like breath regulation, relaxation, and whole body movement are adopted to encourage sustainable movement practice. Taijiquan principles and drills, such as coiling, rooting, and more, are adopted to encourage balance, stability, and interpersonal awareness in real-time.

Get the book and sign up for the next workshop here: https://www.yinyangtaiji.org/valentines-weekend

https://youtu.be/8Wz2x6lXvPo

Get the book and sign up for the next workshop here: https://www.yinyangtaiji.org/valentines-weekendSupport our efforts at www.patreon.com/watchjaviGet your ...

04/07/2026

Blessed Day Soul Family. The Martial Mystic series will go on Spring Break this week; however, we will be posting videos that elaborate on our Taiji for Couples playlist, on YouTube.
Just as a reminder, the Martial Mystic series was motivated by 3 ideas at the end of 2025:
Unity Consciousness, Mental Health, and Conflict Resolution.
As we continue to live and learn, we will continue to update the content and share our experiences from the eastern Gongfu lens, living in our western world.
Remember to embrace the Woo, and may you Qi Flow smoothly.

04/05/2026

Soul Family. 3 Powers (三才). Conditions for Unity.
We can't talk about governance on a grand scale unless we look at self governance, and the roots of self. We all have a need for safety and security within the communities we live. So how do we create the conditions to preserve these states of being, whether we want to call it health, wellness, peace, unity, or harmony.

While reassurance of safety is important, how do manifest this environment? Can we put all of our chips in the intelligence and surveillance apparatus? If not, can we put all of our chips in the confidence of our fellow brothers and sisters?

My teacher Dr. Yang would say, "If we have to talk about morality, then there is no morality. When morality exists, then we never have to talk about it." In summary, we don't have to talk about morality when humankind knows what is right and wrong action. And let's face it, action and behavior is how we judge morality, as it will dictate the conditions of harmony within communities.

What is the root of action? Mindset? Ideology? Belief? In Buddhism, we strive to achieve skillful (right/moral) action at the root. So through meditation, reflection, and contemplation, we work, internally, toward skillful view, skillful thinking, skillful speech and then action.

In the video I bring up the 3 (cosmic) Powers (三才) idea, that Heaven, Humankind, and Earth are directly related and rooted in source energy, Wuji, and the Dao. This tells all that these three components are seemingly separate from one another; however because they share the same root, they are in effect one: Heaven, Humankind, and Earth.

With that in mind, what happens when we turn our attention to the Humankind energetic component of existence? Do we not see the conditions set for a belief in one soul family? If so, how would that effect thought, speech, and action? How might this improve our drive toward ?

Blessed day.

We can't talk about governance on a grand scale unless we look at self governance. We all have a need for safety and security within the communities we live....

04/04/2026

Martial Arts, Xin(心), Self-Regulation
Martial Artists desire to meet the world with balance, skill, and regulation, especially when times get tough. They learn to defend themselves from all sorts of attack and in all kinds of scenarios, with the aim of readiness. After all, we can never predict how, when, or from where the enemy will attack. And we spend countless hours, honing skills, and repeating techniques so that when needed, we don't have to think, and the body will respond naturally.

Even if we have to defend ourselves from an attack, we restrict emotion, we restrain judgement. It's not needed and likely not helpful. Martial Artists know this from competition as well: The first person that loses their cool, are more likely to lose the match.

Once you allow emotion to arise, or fester, or show; you show the opponent that you have lost the battle with yourself. Once the opponent see's this dissonance, this imbalance, they now have a weakness to attack. So self regulation is not a foreign concept to martial arts. And while we cannot control what happens in the large universe, we can train to control what's in our small universe: The Upper (Spirit), Middle (Heart), and Lower (Gut) Energy Centers.

This is why we are encouraged to cultivate the wisdom mind by regulating the Xin (emotional mind), aka the monkey mind. Associated with Middle Energy Center, the Xin is called the Heart Mind. The scholars saw and new that emotion could steer and influence mind, speech, and action.

Finally, the ancient masters were also known to restrict techniques from students until trust was established, and the master was confident that the student showed agency over their emotional mind.

Martial Artists desire to meet the world with balance, skill, and regulation, especially when times get tough. They learn to defend themselves from all sorts...

03/29/2026

The Body is an Antenna.
We've arrived to this Earth school for learning, growth, and development. In tough times it can feel like we are getting the lesson and the test at the same time. And that is why we have been blessed with all of our classmates spread throughout the planet - perhaps we are slowly waking up.

Taiji study asks us to look within, in order to discover the inner-workings of energy exchange and the conditions which bring about harmony. For me I can summarize the terms Connection, Communication, and Harmony, but those may just be empty words to another.

As we move about our Earth School we rub elbows and bump shoulders with our peers. We make contact, we exchange energy, and sometimes we feel that the exchange is not mutual, reciprocal, or balanced. So how may we proceed when we are short-changed? How may we respond? How may we preserve civility in our sphere of interest?

The last line of Song of Pushing Hangs, attributed to Wang Zongyue provides the following:

粘黏連隨不丟頂
(Nián, zhān, lián, suí, bù diū dǐng)
"Stick, adhere, connect, and follow without losing contact or resisting.

Intellectually these words have meaning. I've learned that through the body, and persistent Taijiquan practice, their meaning deepens and expands.

We've arrived to this Earth school for learning, growth, and development. In tough times it can feel like we are getting the lesson and the test at the same ...

03/28/2026

Persevering Through the Darkness.
It's very challenging to be on the side of team humanity these days. I can see how people become so disenchanted with others and want to throw up their hands.

With all the things going on in the world we can feel powerless and that can take the mind into darkness. It can also be argued that we are not equipped handle all this information with the abundance and speed it comes.

At the same time, Dr. Yang might say, "It's good training." He'd always help us to find the pathway forward when we were challenged. "Find your whip," he'd say. And if you unaware, the whip is the mechanism that helps you overcome the lazy (emotional) mind. And this is a such a great, easy way to look at the path of training, regulation and learning - Regulating the Xin (monkey mind).

Let's remember that everything is temporary. Whether light or dark, we can find comfort or solace when we remind ourselves, that everything is temporary. And sometimes this can help, sometimes it doesn't. But if it can provided a shift from inner suffering, toward a path of gratitude, that's half the work right there.

Happy training Earth Family

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03/15/2026

There's a lot of talk about and violence. I'm concerned about the conditions that have led us to moment we find ourselves.

Perhaps we have many opportunities to meet the moment, not as a large, grand moment of the world, but maybe a series of moments with which we are all presented in our everyday lives.

We all want to be our highest selves, divine. We want to think, speak, and act in loving ways for ourselves and those around us. But what happens when we get into conflicts, disagreements, and matters of the heart?

What happens when we feel disrespected, not cared for, angry, and in utter disapproval? We begin to think in as would call it.

We begin to move away from as we aim to set things right, seek justice, or redeem ourselves. The problem is that we are taught to stimulate and perpetuate violence. Not intentionally, of course. How then?

Let's remember Marshall's observation here: "On any given evening, in any given home, you'll find a family that is watching a movie where the 'hero' beats or kills the 'villain,' and the audience is trained to cheer when the villain gets hurt. We are taught to enjoy the suffering of those we have labeled as 'bad'—this is the foundation of violence."

We all want to be our highest selves. We want to think, speak, and act in loving ways for ourselves and those around us.But what happens when we get into con...

03/14/2026

We all like games, but what about the Who's-Right Game?

It was Marshal Rosenberg that said, "We often end up playing the game, Who's Right?" And when we play this game it leads us down the road to perpetuating violence on the planet.

As a martial artist that studies of mind and deed, I find it important to study conflict, peace, and human interaction.

In the video we take a minute to read the alligator story. Why is it called the Alligator Story though? It seems to be about Abigail. Or is it about Sinbad? Or Love?

Often when we hear about a story or watch a movie, because of pop-culture, we are conditioned to assign roles of hero and villain, or right and wrong. In real life this understanding is too simplistic as human behavior is very complex.

In skill training, Marshal Rosenberg asks us to learn a Feelings and Needs Literacy to address the nuance of human interaction. Otherwise, how are we to escape our cycles of perpetual ?

If we aren't willing to look at our own conflicts and our own behavior, how can we judge someone else to be right or wrong? But if we can identify our conditioning and upbringing, we can see that we have not been given the education to see others in a nuanced way, as we are all just striving to meet our own needs, in the best ways we can.

That's why Marshal says that all forms of expression that issue judgement, criticism, diagnosis, and anger are 'tragic, suicidal expressions of unmet needs.' And until we can learn to think and speak with a and literacy, we will continue to propagate violence on the planet.

We take a minute to read the alligator story. Why is it called the Alligator Story though? It seems to be about Abigail. Or is it about Sinbad? Or Love?Often...

03/08/2026

The art of winning, if there ever was one. What are your thoughts? Does come at a cost? While you might accomplish the goal to be the best and outcompete your opponents, it's just little old you, lonely at the top of the mountain.
It's best when we can share the mountain view with everyone. In training we learn and see when one person is outcome-based and the other person is relationship-based. Just these two distinctions will cause conflict, especially when winning is the desired outcome. We may get surprised, shocked, or hurt when a team member acts-out to win and stand out apart from the team.
Who is it that really wants to win and why? We have to look down deep because we can often disrupt our relationships, especially when we become attached to winning at all costs. As humans, we thrive on human connection, and we need it be holistically well, in . So when we develop a lifestyle to win at all costs, that can create a lonely existence.
In the video we look at balancing this with Yin and Yang . How we need to shift the focus, because at some point, all-costs become too costly.

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03/07/2026

Can turn into ? Passion can feed the follow through. Yet pursuance can lead to attachment, and attachment can lead to suffering. The question is at point on that cycle will we awaken to our attachment.
can lead to aggression. Again, awakening to intention preserves balance. What's the complimentary to impact and competition? The Buddhist philosophy of letting go, non attachment.

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