Many Americans prepared and waited for a total solar eclipse in a coast to coast swath from Oregon to South Carolina today. For some this eclipse was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle. Here in California and other areas, we were able to wear our eclipse shades or view from pin hole boxes and watch the stages of the partial eclipse. What I love is the non-partisan experience of this cosmic occurrence. We were a community gathered together to honor the mystery and the science of life.
Our Qigong group met from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. at the historic Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony, Wakamatsu Farm , in Placerville, owned, managed and under ongoing restoration by American River Conservancy. Our Qigong teacher, Julie Heryet, teaches a form, Qigong for Well Being, and this was the perfect place to practice, blending the energy of the eclipse with this healing and relaxing Qi.
We practiced under a heritage oak. I’m writing about this beautiful setting, the eclipse and Qigong because once we began, I was transported to a Camino state of mind. As we practiced this moving meditation, the sky darkened just a bit, a cool breeze whispered and I slipped into a healing and meditative zone, slowly clearing my mind of the everyday concerns of life. Walking long distance paths and trails on the Camino Santiago I have experienced a similar clearing and cleansing.
Last year, when I started my walk over the Pyrenees from Saint Jean Pied de Port, I began to think about experiences in my life that I thought I had reconciled and found my steps in rhythm with tears of sorrow or pain. Clearly I was still dealing with a deeper layer. Thankfully, walking was my therapy and I found that this movement provided time to think and wonder. And I did. I finally left that worry or fear behind.
Today, the Qigong and the eclipse together, the change in our universe, were healing and felt like a mysterious energy of gratitude and relaxation. The breeze continued, cowbells in the distance played a Camino mountain song right here in Placerville, a hawk flew over and we finished our practice.
Just in time, we put on our protective lenses or played with the pin hole shadows, immersed in the universal awe of the mysteries of our planet and our world and watched the magic of a partial eclipse. 
Walking through the ages 