About Clear Blue Mind

"As you start to walk on the way, the way appears. —Rumi

Diane's Journey

Diane didn’t come to Mindfulness Meditation in a traditional way; she didn’t take a meditation class, read a book, or go to an introductory session at a public library.

During a challenging time in her life, she spent a year simply being with her favorite tree just outside her window, mindful of the play of light and color as the golden afternoon sky turned to sunset. She watched the wind gently rustling through its leaves or bend and toss its branches through a ferocious windstorm.

They weathered the storms in her mind and the changing of seasons—buds and blossoming tree flowers in Spring, leaves opening to the green of Summer and changing to vibrant hues of red, yellow, and orange before silently returning to earth in Fall as they ushered in the New England Winter.

Diane hibernated with this majestic maple standing cold and bare under the moonlit sky, draped in billowy puffs of new snow, or sparkling like a thousand jewels from the ice of a winter storm. She grieved and healed in the shadow of her faithful friend.

This magnificent tree succumbed to salt damage from two hurricanes. Yet, moments of clarity may well be the greatest gift of practicing mindfulness—life is change, the edges soften, life moves on, and all is well. Diane had learned to sit in peaceful silence and simply be in the midst of it all.

Diane's Training

Diane Metzler is the founder of Clear Blue Mind. This contemplative practice encompasses the neuroscience of Blue Mind as taught by Wallace J. Nicols in his book entitled Blue Mind, The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected, and Better at What You Do; the ancient wisdom practices of Insight Meditation (Vipassana) widely taught in the West as Mindfulness Meditation; Taijiquan, an ancient Chinese martial art; and Qigong, an energy cultivation work based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

For nearly 10 years, Diane studied the art of Taijiquan, its fundamental principles, and its foundational underpinnings, Qigong with Grandmaster Yang, PhD, of the Center for Taiji and Qigong Studies of New York City. Grandmaster Yang is a former researcher and instructor of Tai Chi and Qigong at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and the author of Taijiquan: The Art of Nurturing, the Science of Power. Diane was certified by Grandmaster Yang, PhD to teach Evidence-based Qigong™ in October 2013 and Evidence-based Taiji™ in March 2014.

With the vision of melding the mindful movement of Taijiquan and Qigong with Mindfulness Meditation, Diane undertook a yearlong professional teacher training through the Mindfulness Training Institute co-founded by Martin Aylward and Mark Coleman, both internationally renowned Mindfulness Meditation teachers. Diane has been certified to teach SIT™ (Six-week Introductory Training) in Mindfulness Meditation since June 2017.

Diane co-authored the course syllabus for The Boundless Qualities of the Heart—Living more fully, more fluidly, and more freely. This course builds on the SIT™ Mindfulness Meditation course and offers a secular approach to the traditional Buddhist meditation trainings of Metta (Friendliness), Equanimity (Steadiness), Sympathetic Joy (Joy), and Compassion. Diane's teachings are infused with her deep love and care for our beautiful home, this planet Earth, its seas and skies, plants and trees, and all living beings woven into this interconnected and interdependent web of life. During sailing season, Diane teaches SIT™ Mindfulness Meditation on the S/V Blue Mind at Herrington Harbour North Resort Marina, in Tracys Landing, Maryland.

Diane was introduced to Soaring Crane Qigong and Taiji Qigong Shibashi by her Acupuncturist and friend Maureen Goss of Maureen Goss Acupuncture. Taiji Qigong Shibashi combines Taijiquan's slow, even, intentional movement with Qigong’s continuous breath and a meditative state of mind. It embodies the principle of practicing Qigong as if swimming in the water, a perfect pairing with the neuroscience behind Clear Blue Mind.

Diane has completed a rigorous three-year teacher training in Sets 1 through 3 of Taiji Qigong Shibashi with Fabrice Piché, an indoor student of Professor Lin Housheng, Taiji Qigong Shibashi's creator and the former director of the Shanghai Institute of China. In the Fall of 2021, she was honored to receive her Taiji Qigong Shibashi Set 1 Teaching Certification from Professor Lin.

In 2024, Diane completed a six-month continuing education training in Set 4 of Taiji Qigong Shibashi to further deepen her understanding of the health benefits of Qigong and how to support individual students with their health challenges by offering suggestions for specific movements within the first three sets of the form, Zhan Zhuang posture training, Qi massage, and meditations to cultivate and strengthen Qi.

Mindful Movement Offerings