About Clear Blue Mind

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

Diane's Journey

diane-metzler

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, watching the wind gently rustle 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 studied the art of Taijiquan, a defense training and meditation practice with health benefits with Master Yang from the Center for Taiji and Qigong Studies. She found a love for both the dynamic forces and fluid, circular, choreographed movements of the Chen Family style of Taiji. In addition, she learned the fundamental principles of Taiji practice and its foundational underpinnings, Qigong. As a martial art, Taiji is built upon Qigong, an embodied meditative movement practice involving relaxing the body while calming and focusing the mind. It emphasizes intention, posture, and precision of movement. Diane was certified to teach Evidenced-based Qigong™ in October 2013 and Evidenced-based Taiji™ in March 2014.

With the vision of melding the mindful movement of 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. As a result, she has been certified to teach SIT™(Six-week Introductory Training) in Mindfulness Meditation since June 2017.

Diane is a co-author of the course syllabus for The Boundless Qualities of the Heart—Living more fully, more fluidly, and more freely, which builds on the SIT™ (Six-week Introductory Training) in Mindfulness Meditation course. Her teachings are infused with her deep love and care for our beautiful home, this planet earth, its seas and skies, plants and trees, and for all living beings woven into this interconnected and interdependent web of life.

When the rigors of traveling for continued training with Master Yang became unworkable, an acupuncturist friend introduced Diane to an 18-movement form of Qigong practice called Taiji Qigong Shibashi. This Qigong form sings to her as it embodies the principle of practicing Qigong as if swimming in water and is a perfect pairing with the neuroscience behind Clear Blue Mind.

Taiji Qigong Shibashi combines Taiji’s slow and even choreographed movements with Qigong’s continuous breathing and meditation. Diane is currently undertaking a three-year teacher training with Fabrice Piché, an indoor student of Professor Lin Housheng, the creator of Taiji Qigong Shibashi. In the Fall of 2021, she was honored to receive her Taiji Qigong Shibashi Set 1 Teaching Certification from Professor Lin, the former director of the Shanghai Institute of China.