by Juliet Batten | 31, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
The wet summer has made the trees very happy. The hibiscus is particularly bright this year.and the jacarandas that line the streets running down to the seaare blossoming profusely, with their beautiful blue. Magnolias are sending up white spears, that open... 
by Juliet Batten | 29, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
Auckland’s water front on a fine day is sparkly and refreshing. Some come to walk or play on the beach and once you’ve got your sun hat on, you can take your timewhile others simply sit, and enjoy gazing at the restful slopes of... 
by Juliet Batten | 27, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
I’m scooping up the sea. That’s one of the Tai Chi movements in the sequence I’m doing each morning. It consists of bending low, one foot behind the other, and with crossed hands, scooping and bringing the sea up high until it merges with the air... 
by Juliet Batten | 25, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
The tide is as full as it gets. As I do my Tai Chi, I hear the water sloshing up over the nearby boat ramp. Despite the clouds, and heavy rain forecasts for the south island, the sky still has plenty of blue. The pohutukawa, long past flowering, watches... 
by Juliet Batten | 23, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
I couldn’t believe it! As I walked down to the jetty this morning, the sun was shining and the sea was blue.A cold wind blew in from the south, but as I descended to the sea, all was calm. I stood in a patch of morning sun, my gaze drifting out across the blue,... 
by Juliet Batten | 22, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
‘Be not deterred,’ says Dr. Baolin Wu of the Nine Palaces tradition from the White Cloud Monastery of China. ‘Always practise your Tai Chi outside, in nature.’Not only was it raining this morning, but it was also rather cool. But,... 
by Juliet Batten | 19, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
The tide is further out each morning now, as I do my Tai Chi by the sea. Rock pools have formed everywhere, as the sea’s edge recedes.A black oyster catcher stalks the edge, watched by a lone gull.’Stagnant water no good for Tai Chi,’ says Dr... 
by Juliet Batten | 16, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
Shall I reveal what I discovered, or leave it as a mystery?I can’t resist telling you.Yesterday I was helping with a Retreat Day, called Setting the Compass (for the new year). It was held in a beautifully renovated church hall, and I had been invited to create... 
by Juliet Batten | 14, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
After enjoying my Tai Chi by the sea, I noticed something on the ground. It looked like a sculpture, a wave of the sea. Then I found this little vessel, like a tiny raft to sail the waves in.And another one. Such beautiful gifts from the sea –... 
by Juliet Batten | 13, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
Tai Chi is best done outside. The whole point of this practice, according to Chinese teachers, is to unite with nature. Dr. Wu, of the Nine Palaces tradition, says that morning is a good time.At the bach, I had found a good spot, where I felt close to the... 
by Juliet Batten | 9, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
The holiday is over, and I have returned. But I’m remembering the blazing skies of my last night at the bach. The rain clouds, that never departed, did scatter a little that evening, and there were just enough of them to create more magical... 
by Juliet Batten | 8, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
I noticed that Madame Kereru dropped something else, each time she visited. Yes, she tears off a whole bunch of kawakawa in the course of her feeding, and drops it on the ground.You could say that she’s an untidy eater.But there’s more to it than this,... 
by Juliet Batten | 6, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
In the late afternoon, this is what I found: a feather on a fern.It was hard to photograph, but I captured it at last.What a poetic gift from the Empress, leaving her fluffy feather perched so exquisitely.I think of Hildegarde von Bingen’s music, called ‘A... 
by Juliet Batten | 3, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
As I walk to the beach in the rain, my attention is drawn to the grassesthe reeds alongside the swamp, and wildflowers everywhere. There are clusters of clover here and there, both red and white. On the dunes, seed heads are fulland the spinafex... 
by Juliet Batten | 2, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
When the mosquitoes are biting, having penetrated every nook and cranny, and even finding their way through screens and mosquito net, then you don’t mind that the wind is now following the sultry days and the rainy days, and is shaking the tops of the... 
by Juliet Batten | 2, Jan, 2012 | Uncategorized
There are 72 steps from the carport to the bach. Must have been too much for the three wise men of Christmas, because I didn’t catch a glimpse of them. The path way was covered with weeds, and overgrowth was encroaching from the sides, so that might have been an... 