Why We’re Off Balance

We live in changing, challenging, and dynamic times. We feel uneasy, out of balance, and off-center. Our world is divided. We have, unfortunately, segregated into camps, tribes, politics, income levels, and age brackets. Institutions that humanity has relied on for millennia seem unable to help. Some of these institutions are themselves embroiled in, if not instigating the disturbance and division. Family and community are torn apart, unable to cope with their differences. No longer are they a haven or sanctuary from the turmoil. We feel hurt and lacking the infrastructure that has always been there, that we have counted on for generations.

Emotionally, relationally, financially, and in community we find ourselves off balance. We can’t find a life posture that gives a sense of security and stability. No wonder we daily experience stress and anxiety. Heart rate and blood pressure move higher. Breath becomes shallow in the chest. Shoulders and stomach are tight, emotions frayed, and conversations difficult. Our security is threatened by fear of the unknown. We hold a sense that things are out of control.

Find Your Place Between Heaven and Earth

Body, Mind, and Spirit are not divided.  They are united as one—in Unity with Holy Spirit. The Unity Praxis helps find our center again in Christ. The Unity Praxis is a method of movement, meditation, prayer, contemplation, and stillness refined over many years through diligent study and practice of Contemplative Christian and Taoist Tai Ji Qigong methods. Founded by Mathew Francis in the early 2000’s, this systematic progression of practice, experience, and study is a unique synthesis of wisdom teachers that can help us understand why we’re off balance and help us return. Connecting the personified experience of God in Christ with the embodied experience of “The Great Mystery” of the Tao is the core of The Unity Praxis.

氣 Chi/Qi, pronounced Chee or Key, is transliterated energy, inner energy, breath, wind, and power. It is the animating force of all things within the universe. Qi refers to the many types of energy that are at work within and around us every day: emotion, thought, will, chemical, and spiritual. Everything that influences or is influenced within and around us is known as Qi; 氣. We recognize when the energy, the Qi, of stress, anxiety, fear, and conflict take hold of us. Embodied contemplative practice helps us transform that Qi into stability, peace, harmony, and centeredness in Body - Mind - Spirit.

氣功 Chi/Qi Gong is a physical expression our intention to bring balance in ourselves between heaven and earth. The practices within The Unity Praxis are intended to provide methods of exploring and experiencing that balance and harmony in simple movement— to feel stable, secure, and safe in your place between heaven and earth. To do that kind of work, you need to be aware of your own energy. Is your energy open, joyful, and free – or is it constricted, is your attitude tight and aggressive? Qi Gong 氣功 can help determine the life you want to live, the energy at work that you want. It helps guide you as to how you want to use energy in your life and in the lives of others.

Finding Balance in Community

The Unity Praxis community, supported by St. Columba’s in Inverness, meets to do this embodied contemplative work. Meeting four mornings a week via Zoom, this growing group gathers to learn and practice embodied techniques that help integrate body, mind, and spirit. Supported by St. Columba’s Inverness, the group also offers in-person and online seminars that probe deeper into embodied contemplative practices.

Together, participants explore standing meditation, breath work, postures, life stances, and movements rooted in Christian prayer, Buddhist, and Taoist wisdom, fostering balance, harmony, and centeredness in Christ. We do these practices in Community, a Common-Unity of Intention, Attention, Focus, and Qi. Whether you’re seeking stability, a deeper spiritual connection, or a path to peace, The Unity Praxis invites you to join this transformative community. To learn more and receive a link to participate, email Mathew Francis at Mathew@theunitypraxis.com.

Experience a practice that helps us live, move, and have our being fully aligned with God’s presence.

Finding Balance and Embrace Your Path This Lent

Join us during the season of Lent as we mindfully and heartfully

embrace nourishing sacred practices to

replace that which no longer serves us and thereby

cultivate spiritual growth as individuals and as members in community