The Tai Chi Explorer - Paperback

by Ralph Slavik (Author)

It was my fourth year participating in Tai Chi classes, and I became conscious of how the class had transformed for me from repeated gentle movements with gestures of meditation to more of a state of providing a positive purpose and direction in my life. The connection between the physical world and the spiritual world made me feel the joy of life.

The book is a memoir about my exploration in the north in the summer of 2010. It was a crucial time of my life that needed to take place. One can discover many things about themselves through a variety of paths you make in your life, but unless you are willing to take that chance, the path can disappear leaving you with no clear way out. At one point in my life, my spiritual side was controlled by dark forces that I was able to hide from the people I worked with and my family but was eating at my insides. Through one of my dreams, I was able to connect with a childhood memory that allowed me to accept that I could find a solution to my depression. Luckily at that time, my position as an educational administrator changed back to being a teacher. This gave me the opportunity to find out what this dream was telling me to do.

This book explores the one summer when I left my home to find out what I knew was missing. A summer I spent in Canada and Northern Michigan. The exploration had its lighter sides along with my understanding of the Canadian culture. But It's a book full of self-discovery and spiritual events that I only started to understand after the years of my Tai Chi training. Even if I did not recognize the connections with Tai Chi during this trip, the experience was woven with events that connected me and allowed my chi to cast out the darkest parts of me.

During this exploration, I not only made a connection with Canada but a variety of people I interacted with. Little did I know that I would end up back in the USA in a city where we lived for five years. I was able to reconnect with the one person who I would call my Shaman which would end up being one of the most important days of my life. Even though I made progress in my spiritual healing prior to our meeting, it was that day we met that finally made me believe I was a good man.

During the past years, I was contemplating writing this book, seeing I was now retired I put the excuses away and completing this book even though it brought back some painful memories to me. There were many parts where I told myself why would I let all of you know the inner workings of me. The answer became clear when my daughter-in-law told me if it helps just one person benefit from reading this book it is well worth it. This book is for all you who have lost their way but have the ability to hide it from their friends and family. The book is for all of you who can function so well in their job, enabling the lies about their inner self to be so well hidden that no one would have any ideas about your anguish. This book is especially for me and my children. I need to let them know it is all right to take risks and be open about their feelings. Lastly, this book is for you. May it help you to see the light and follow it to true happiness.