Meditation does not require a quiet mind. Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and Portland Tai Chi Academy, breaks down the five regulations of the meditative arts, the three pillars of yielding, and why getting distracted fifty times in twenty minutes is fifty repetitions of finding your way back to center.
Jeff has spent 37 years in the meditative and martial arts, 32 of them teaching. He tells the story of the two monks and the mud puddle, which is really about what we keep carrying, and he lands on the practice underneath it all: catching the first sign of imbalance before it gains momentum.
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EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00 "You're still carrying her" — the two monks
00:54 What if the strongest thing you could do is stop pushing
02:48 Chopping wood, the first school, and the Marine Corps
03:40 The boxing coach who changed everything
05:10 "Isn't that for old people in the park?"
07:42 The five regulations of the meditative arts
08:12 Regulating the body, and what your posture is telling you
09:35 The myth of the quiet mind
10:21 Distracted fifty times, and why that is the practice
11:20 The mud puddle, told in full
12:26 Mental health, and what we choose to leave behind
14:39 Why the euphoric state is not the point
15:55 Yielding, broken into three pillars
16:47 Physical yielding, redirecting force instead of meeting it
17:34 Mental yielding, and the first sign of imbalance
18:54 Emotional yielding, the decision before the emotion
19:35 Why everyone yields, and why almost no one sees it
22:31 Six months in the basement, and the day it clicked
27:32 The free Yielding Warrior app
29:07 One year of consistency, and the cave you do not need
WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY
🌀 Why yielding is redirecting force rather than giving in, and why it works in a conversation the same way it works in a push
🧘 The myth that meditation means a quiet mind, and why getting distracted fifty times in twenty minutes is fifty repetitions of finding your way back to center
🌿 What one year of consistency gives you, and why you do not have to retire to a cave to get it
ABOUT JEFF PATTERSON
Jeff Patterson is the founder of The Yielding Warrior and Portland Tai Chi Academy, where he has taught Tai Chi, Qigong, breathwork, and meditation for 32 years, with 37 years of his own practice behind it. He holds black belt equivalency across Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eskrima, Muay Thai, Kenpō, Tai Chi, and Qigong, and he is the author of "The Yielding Warrior."
Jeff's free app (reset practices, ritual practices, tracker, journal): https://app.theyieldingwarrior.com
https://theyieldingwarrior.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@TheYieldingWarrior
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PRODUCTION CREDITS
Hosted and executive produced by April Chavez.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilmchavez/
Video production by Manlee J. Chavez.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manleejchavez/
Music by Steve Stuntz.
https://www.youtube.com/@stevestuntz9303
The views expressed by guests on The Wellness Driven Life Show do not always reflect those of April Chavez or The Wellness Driven Life Show. For more details and a disclaimer, visit https://drivenlivin.com/guest-agreements.
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