Workshop 9 · Phase III
The Living Practice
Integration day — bringing it all home
Every workshop opens with a 10-minute grounding ritual — feet, three breath cycles, orientation. The same each time, so you can arrive from anywhere.
Habit formation research — most comprehensively summarised by neuroscientist Ann Graybiel at MIT — shows that behaviours become automatic through repetition in consistent contexts. The basal ganglia, the brain's habit centre, encodes sequences of action as single chunks over time, reducing the cognitive load required to perform them. This is why a 5-minute daily practice, done consistently, eventually requires no willpower: it becomes as automatic as brushing your teeth.
The critical factor is not duration but regularity. Studies on habit formation show that missing one day has negligible effect on long-term retention — but the intention to return matters enormously. A practice that is yours — built around your life, your rhythms, your body — has a fundamentally different survival rate than one you were given.
In Taoism, the daily practice is not preparation for something else. It is the thing itself. "A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your feet" — Lao Tzu's observation points not to destination but to the step that is always available, always now. The Taoist practitioner does not practice to become; they practice to remain — present, rooted, moving. This final workshop is not a graduation. It is the beginning of a practice that will outlast the workshop series, changing shape as you change, lasting as long as you return to it.
Live on Tenerife? There's a reduced rate for residents — send me a WhatsApp and we'll work it out.
No fixed dates yet — workshops launch later this season. WhatsApp me and I'll let you know when there's a date.
WhatsApp BastiaanThis workshop stands alone — and it is part of a journey. Each of the 9 workshops carries a bridge to what comes before and after.
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