February 1st, 2022 marks the beginning of the year of the black water tiger. This is an excellent time to find stability in oneself and work on grounding/rooting and managing our own emotions. If we’ve done the self work pertaining to the outgoing Year of the Metal Ox, then the tiger won’t catch us off guard. If we neglected our relationship to ourselves this past year, the tiger could easily throw us for a loop in the upcoming year that’s predicted to be full of shifts and changes.
Let’s be perfectly clear that I am NOT an astrologer and the information I present regarding the Chinese/Lunar New Year is not sourced from me but from numerous internet sources who specialize in Chinese astrology. A few years back, a fellow tai chi practitoner asked me about the Chinese New Year and I decided to look it up. That year I noticed my life seemed to parallel the predictions I had read. This got me more interested. Now that I’ve been paying attention for years, I’ve recognized that most of the major predictions for the Chinese New Year have held true in my life. Now that I really pay attention to the forecasts, I use the information to adapt my own life to the trends of our current lunar cycle.
Chinese New Year is celebrated based on the lunar or moon cycles—the ways of nature, not the “spreadsheet” style Gregorian calendar that marks January 1 as the new year. Since I am a product of and live in the natural world, these cycles of nature do indeed affect me. Perhaps you’ve noticed how the moon, weather and nature affect you too. The predominant messages in this year’s forecast point to numerous changes and uprootings. These shifts in foundations might be felt in our personal lives, careers, homes, politics and even perhaps natural landscapes. With lots of change comes lots of uncertainty and if we haven’t built a strong foundation of safety within ourselves, our emotions and lives could be thrown out of balance.
The emotion of anger is a major one to contend with this year as for most people big change brings frustration which can easily lead to anger. It’s said that tigers don’t play well with others and this year could be especially challenging for anyone who’s not already managing their relationships with self or others well. Those who choose to let their anger rule them may find more conflict than they can handle this year; the ferocity of the tiger is not easily overcome by strength alone. It takes strategy, mindfulness and inner courage to defeat the tiger’s power. The integrated lessons of tai chi can be quite useful here as one of our principles of practice is to “use will instead of physical force.” If we try to muscle or force our way through our relationships, ignoring or downplaying any unpleasantness, refusing to deal with situations or perhaps justifying our own behavior/position simply to prove our point, the relationship often becomes conflicted. Just as water flows around all obstacles, it is more beneficial to remain stealthily clam and silent, allowing conflict to flow by than to engage it with a loud roar, flinging ourselves into the fray. If we give ourselves away with an angry uproar, the tiger will easily find us and it’s bite is worse than our loudest shout could ever be.
As the tiger always acts on instinct, this is a great year to listen to the wisdom within, subdue doubt and leap into action instead of hesitating or over-analyzing a situation. Just remember not to act out of anger or fear, but out of inner wisdom. This is said to be a very good year to take risks in both romance and finance as not hesitating in these relationships could pay off in big rewards; tiger isn’t known for doing small things but for taking huge leaps to get what it wants. Again, tempering anger and relying on inner wisdom is key to success here.
If we haven’t yet done the inner work of managing our emotions, improving our health or rooting into our own inner wisdom, don’t hesitate to start now! The qigong practice of grounding/rooting/standing for extended periods of time is very useful in calming emotions, creating clear thinking and connecting with our own inner foundations. Most people have difficulty simply standing without moving for more than a minute or two. If this is you, what makes you so restless that you can’t keep still? Too much caffeine? Insecurity? An over active monkey mind? If you haven’t tried being still, now is the time. The tiger easily finds prey that rustles in the bushes but may walk right by a calm, still deer that doesn’t give away it’s position.
If the life we’ve designed for ourselves is overly busy, we simply cannot stand still and connect with our inner selves. When not rooted in ourselves, we may sway aimlessly to and fro in the ever shifting changes and opinions in the world instead of being able to hold fast to our core beliefs. Because of the sheer amount of change expected this year, it’s vitally important to make sure we get enough rest. If Doing is more important than Being in one’s life, rest is not possible and exhaustion eventually follows. Make sure to honor yourself and the fact that you are NOT a machine that can work endlessly without maintenance, rest and repair. Schedule an entire day off every week, not to do house work or grocery shopping or run errands but to actually rest and take care of yourself. At least one day a week, eat the most nourishing food, quiet the outside distractions, be still and allow your precious mindbody to reset and restore. It’s not lazy to take care of oneself but it is irresponsible not to. If the world and life changes seem too much to handle this year, the vibrational images of the gentle deer can calm and help quell any chaos the tiger may bring. Remember to be gentle with yourself, especially during times of change. We all now know what it’s like when the whole world freaks out at once due to changes brought on by an invisible virus. Remember that whatever the tiger brings, you can manage if you undoubtingly follow your inner wisdom instead of giving in to anger and fear.
To learn more about the qigong practice of grounding, check out this post: What is Grounding?
To learn how I used grounding to heal myself from whiplash, go here: Healing Whiplash.
To reflect on the past Year of the Metal Ox and compare predictions with your life: 2021 Year of the Metal Ox
If you want to practice managing yourself with others doing the same, check out the full schedule of classes and workshops here: www.BeachsideQigong.com.