Our Story
Article - A Stellar Approach to Wellness
by Daniel Lally
Most nights in the winter of 1999, after teaching a tai chi or yoga class, I’d lean against the rail on the porch of my old log cabin and watch Orion drift across the southern sky of Kentucky. I’d look for the constellations that I knew, breathing in the cool night air. One such night, thinking about how I had heard tai chi and chi gong described as “connecting to nature through movement,” it occurred to me, “What if there was a form of tai chi that could connect to human nature through movement?”
A steaming mug of tea later I had a series of creative flashes, and dove for my journal to scribble down my ideas:
Exhilarated by the ideas, soon my friend and professional astrologer Jeff Baugher - whose new moon astrology workshops I'd been taking since June 1998 - were creating these unique movements. And as we invited inspiration for each sign of the zodiac, we found clues everywhere!
There were intellectual clues for each sign: we knew what characteristics to look for for each movement, ie, Aries the charging ram might appear really fierce.
There were body-centered clues for each sign. Just like in external chi gong where energy is focused in certain body areas, we noted which areas of the body were associated with each sign of the zodiac, and tried to incorporate them into a fluid movement. For example, because Cancer is associated with the breast and lap areas - the primordial nurturing parts of the body - the Cancer movement literally feels like holding a child and rocking, alternating with a reminder to “step back” - literally - and allow others to nurture you as well! This ‘physicalizing’ approach was how we honored the body in the creative process.
There were elemental clues for each sign’s movement. We asked ourselves, “Is the sign fire, earth, air or water?” The element’s characteristics would certainly have a bearing on what the movement would look like and feel like. And there were clues to be found in the mode: “Was the sign cardinal (initiates movement forward or backward) fixed (set in its ways somehow) or mutable (could go back and forth)?”
We used astrological timing in creating the movements for the signs. Each month at the new moon - when the unconscious and conscious are more closely aligned and it is easier to access our intuition - we would invite guidance on what the movement should look like and feel like. Sometimes we had a vision of what the movement could look like, other times we were inspired to move spontaneously, expressing the essence of the sign.
Over the course of a year, we fleshed out all these clues into these unique fluid movements and partner movements. And to this day, it feels more like we remembered them.
Most nights in the winter of 1999, after teaching a tai chi or yoga class, I’d lean against the rail on the porch of my old log cabin and watch Orion drift across the southern sky of Kentucky. I’d look for the constellations that I knew, breathing in the cool night air. One such night, thinking about how I had heard tai chi and chi gong described as “connecting to nature through movement,” it occurred to me, “What if there was a form of tai chi that could connect to human nature through movement?”
A steaming mug of tea later I had a series of creative flashes, and dove for my journal to scribble down my ideas:
- Millions of people read their horoscope everyday. What if there were movements to match?
- What if a movement could activate the energy of a sign, just like accessing a program on your pc?
- The famous psychologist Carl Jung called the Zodiac "a complete projected theory of human character" and "the summation of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity."
- After all, who doesn’t know their zodiac birth sign?
- What does it look like when a sign is online? How does one carry oneself?
- Each of the twelve signs has certain characteristics, or a way of expressing itself.
- Each sign also is a particular element and mode, and ‘rules’ certain body parts or functions. What if these could all could be combined into a movement for each sign?
- Just like the yin and yang/tai chi symbol, each sign has a yin and yang opposite/complement: Aries-Libra, Taurus-Scorpio, Gemini-Sagittarius, Cancer-Capricorn, Leo-Aquarius, Virgo-Pisces.
- Like biceps balance triceps and chest muscles balance the upper back, what if, through movement, people could become familiar with and balance every sign of the zodiac, and experience healing by moving into balance on a powerful archetypal level?
Exhilarated by the ideas, soon my friend and professional astrologer Jeff Baugher - whose new moon astrology workshops I'd been taking since June 1998 - were creating these unique movements. And as we invited inspiration for each sign of the zodiac, we found clues everywhere!
There were intellectual clues for each sign: we knew what characteristics to look for for each movement, ie, Aries the charging ram might appear really fierce.
There were body-centered clues for each sign. Just like in external chi gong where energy is focused in certain body areas, we noted which areas of the body were associated with each sign of the zodiac, and tried to incorporate them into a fluid movement. For example, because Cancer is associated with the breast and lap areas - the primordial nurturing parts of the body - the Cancer movement literally feels like holding a child and rocking, alternating with a reminder to “step back” - literally - and allow others to nurture you as well! This ‘physicalizing’ approach was how we honored the body in the creative process.
There were elemental clues for each sign’s movement. We asked ourselves, “Is the sign fire, earth, air or water?” The element’s characteristics would certainly have a bearing on what the movement would look like and feel like. And there were clues to be found in the mode: “Was the sign cardinal (initiates movement forward or backward) fixed (set in its ways somehow) or mutable (could go back and forth)?”
We used astrological timing in creating the movements for the signs. Each month at the new moon - when the unconscious and conscious are more closely aligned and it is easier to access our intuition - we would invite guidance on what the movement should look like and feel like. Sometimes we had a vision of what the movement could look like, other times we were inspired to move spontaneously, expressing the essence of the sign.
Over the course of a year, we fleshed out all these clues into these unique fluid movements and partner movements. And to this day, it feels more like we remembered them.
