Introduction
This is my introductory blog! I will make it short and sweet because I already laid out the essence of what this blog will be about on my “About” page. I just wanted to take the time to let you know a little bit more about me and give you guys some of the tools I will be using throughout this blog if you’d like to join.
I learned about Taoism about a year ago because I was feeling lost. I talked with my dad about a book called The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Something about it spoke to me. I thought it would give me a calm in the center of a storm. I was convinced that reading this book would fix me. It did not, of course! But it did help a lot, and it got me into learning about the Tao. For that, I am forever thankful. I have not been consistently practicing since then. This is my chance to make sure that I practice daily and share my experience.
A few things you’ll want to know before the first blog. I am starting my journey by reading the Tao Te Ching. The copy I am using is translated by Victor H. Mair. There are a lot of translations out there, so if you want to follow me step by step, I would get this one. I purchased mine at a used book store, but it is on Amazon and Thriftbooks.com. There is a page on my website with the links. I will read passages one through six in the first week and take notes.
I will also meditate daily for ten minutes. I work and have a social life, so my meditation times will vary. I typically either do it before I go to sleep or right before work. Starting out, I will do a ten-minute guided meditation and eventually work my way up to non-guided meditation. I have an app I really love for guided meditations called Insight Timer. My therapist recommended it to me a while ago, and it has been a tremendous help. It is free, and it has thousands of guided meditations. For this week, I will be listening to one of these three every day:
Body Scan Sleep Meditation - Dominique (10 minutes)
Check-in - Stressfit (11 minutes)
Before Logging In - Mick Timpson (9 minutes)
Last but not least, I will listen to a podcast I LOVE! It is called The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living By Dan Casas-Murray. I have listened to several of the episodes already, but I will start over again for the sake of this blog. In this podcast, Dan Casas-Murray essentially reads a passage from the Tao Te Ching, talks about what it means to him, and how he uses it in everyday life. It is very insightful, and I always take some wisdom away. I can not rave about it enough, so I will include listening to one of his weekly episodes in my studies. I will also put the link to his podcast on the page where the books are located. I listen to his episodes on Spotify.
So, that is the layout of my first blog, where we will start our adventure. I will begin my studies on Monday, March 24th. Expect the next post on Sunday, March 30th, at 12:00 PM ET. Participate as much or as little as you’d like!
Thank you, and happy learning!
Taylor
