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Long Description
Skiing can be a path to higher spiritual awareness, contributing to centering, ego effacement, and the search
for perfect mental stillness
• Shows how exploring and applying the laws that govern movement, practitioners gain access to the “right gesture,” the action that brings body and mind into balance
• Includes nine “katas of the glide” that all skiers, snowboarders, and skwallers can incorporate into their own technique
Patrick “Thias” Balmain, creator and promoter of the skwal--a type of snowboard that positions the feet and the body facing forward on the board--discovered that by applying a concentrated awareness to movement activities such as skiing, a balance in motion can be achieved that is pure harmony and joy. When the mind is completely engaged, not with its thoughts but with the attention it commits to the movement of the body, it brings forth a balance between Earth’s center of gravity and that of the individual that evokes lasting transformations in one’s stance toward life, influencing one’s attitudes, gestures, words, and actions.
The Inner Glide presents a unique and original practice that will challenge ski enthusiasts, snowboarders, or skwallers, whether experts or beginners, to make the transition from the raw quest for sensation--itself a source of imbalance--to a more subtle and harmonious practice based on internal centering. Balmain offers a complete illustrated program that includes nine “katas of the glide”--conscious movement exercise sequences to help practitioners discover the “right gesture” and “the inner glide” for any terrain or situation--to bring body and mind into balance with joy.
• Shows how exploring and applying the laws that govern movement, practitioners gain access to the “right gesture,” the action that brings body and mind into balance
• Includes nine “katas of the glide” that all skiers, snowboarders, and skwallers can incorporate into their own technique
Patrick “Thias” Balmain, creator and promoter of the skwal--a type of snowboard that positions the feet and the body facing forward on the board--discovered that by applying a concentrated awareness to movement activities such as skiing, a balance in motion can be achieved that is pure harmony and joy. When the mind is completely engaged, not with its thoughts but with the attention it commits to the movement of the body, it brings forth a balance between Earth’s center of gravity and that of the individual that evokes lasting transformations in one’s stance toward life, influencing one’s attitudes, gestures, words, and actions.
The Inner Glide presents a unique and original practice that will challenge ski enthusiasts, snowboarders, or skwallers, whether experts or beginners, to make the transition from the raw quest for sensation--itself a source of imbalance--to a more subtle and harmonious practice based on internal centering. Balmain offers a complete illustrated program that includes nine “katas of the glide”--conscious movement exercise sequences to help practitioners discover the “right gesture” and “the inner glide” for any terrain or situation--to bring body and mind into balance with joy.
About the Author(s) of The Inner Glide
Patrick Thias Balmain is a professional skier and snowboarder. In 1992, he created the first skwal, introduced the first commercially manufactured model, and established skwal races on the circuit of international competition. A ski, snowboard, and skwal instructor in Courcheval, France, he has trained countless practitioners, instructors, and competitors in Europe, North America, and Japan.
Praise for The Inner Glide
" . . . Balmain presents the case that movement on snow leads to stillness, harmony, joy, and a balance with Earth's gravity. Conscious movement results in right gesture, culminates in body-mind balance. . . . Today's Books puts The Inner Glide on 'The A-List.'"
Today's Books, Nov 2007
