Goddess path:
Meditate on Kuan Yin this lesson at least 2ce. Journey with her to the upper, lower, and
middle realms of your consciousness and begin to understand what she has to
teach you. Consider her aspects of
compassion and caring. Take away at
least one thing from your trip and apply it to your life, in the form
of schoolwork, coaching, or just the way you interact with people or yourself.
Research the legends of 3 different warrior goddesses from
any tradition. Record these stories,
and list key points from at least 1 that you can/would like to add to your
daily routine.
Warrior path - martial:
Do at least 30 mae ukemi this week. At least 10 of these should be done without
using your hand as balance. Use ONLY
unbendable arm for these 10. If you are
able, do the other 20 the same way. If
not, try to at least resist relying on the opposite hand too much. In your ukemi, focus on not holding your
breathe, but on breathing correctly – inhaling when coming up, exhaling when
rolling.

Practice bokken katas 1 & 2 at least 3 times each this
week. Review ikkyo and nikkyo on your
own and practice the technique. In using these techniques, focus on your
breathing and your extension.
Wake up at 5:30 to practice tai chi 3 days this week and yoga 2 days each week. Do Stress Relief yoga 2x in the afternoons or evenings this week.

Breathing: Inhale
deeply and slowly through your nose, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Try this ten times. Life your arms so that they are parallel to
the floor, keeping your shoulders back.
Take a deep breath. Bend your elbows
and slowly push your hands together, exhaling as you push. Feel the air entering your body, and your
body expelling the tension and stress.
Progressively slow down your breathing.
Reveling in awkwardness: For this lesson, when you feel
that you cannot figure something out…do not get frustrated. Instead, understand that you cannot master
everything at once, and ask for help.
When someone offers to help you, don’t become defensive. Accept their help with ease and thanks. Keep a beginners mind – open, uncritical,
and accepting – for as long as you can.
Zen: Sit in stillness at least three times this week, for at least 10
minutes each sitting. To keep your mind
still, focus on making your inhalation just as long as your exhalation. Also, try to make your breathing deeper and
longer each time.
Tao: This
week we focus on breath, one of the three treasures. Also, focus on compassion.
Try to bring compassion consciously into your everyday practice: in
class, sports, or life in general.
Magickal path:
Set up temple this
week at least once, and when doing so, really consider the breathing portion of
calling each aspect in each direction.
How does your breath bring power to the circle? How does it help with
protection of your sacred space? You
can even do this to prepare for your Goddess meditation or your Zen meditation.
Bringing it all together this week:
This week was about
compassion, beginnings, and learning to breathe. How do all of your experiences with this lesson tie in
to these three things? Write as much as
you need to regarding what you have learned/gained from concentrating on these
things during this lesson. Discuss how these
aspects were incorporated into your daily routine (work, coaching, personal,
etc).