In this Integral Being tribute episode, Mark V. Wiley revisits his conversation with the late Stuart Alve Olson on Tai Chi, Taoism, yielding, humility, aging, and the deep intelligence revealed through embodied practice.
FIELD NOTES What the Body Reveals Over Time What sustained practice gradually reveals beneath visible movement by Mark V. Wiley There is a stage in training where the body begins revealing things the mind alone could never fully understand. In the beginning, most practice is external. We memorize sequences. We correct posture. We imitate mechanics
Poet and interdisciplinary artist Kythe Heller joins Integral Being for a profound conversation on poetry, mysticism, spiritual transformation, Sufism, art as praise, and the search for living truth through direct experience.
A reflective exploration of how embodied learning unfolds through contact, resonance, entrainment, internalization, and integration across martial arts, meditation, and internal cultivation traditions.
A reflection on Daoist thought, presence, and the natural self inspired by a conversation with Dr. Livia Kohn. Exploring how practice refines perception, softens the constructed self, and reveals that the Dao is not elsewhere, but already present within ordinary life.
A rare contemplative essay by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee exploring mystical silence, emptiness, and the dissolution of the spiritual seeker after a lifetime of practice.
A deep conversation with Felix De Haas exploring Chinese medicine, Daoist internal cultivation, Japanese acupuncture, palpation, qi, meditation, and the role of presence within healing practice.
A field note inspired by a correspondence with Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee exploring mystical emptiness, the dissolution of the seeker, and the stage at which even the spiritual path itself disappears.
A reflection on Tai Chi, transmission, and internal practice through the teachings of Alex Dong—revealing what remains when style and form fall away.
