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 Steady and Smooth 

Another meditation on qualities which we have most likely not explored enough. Our times are fast, rough, and ruthless. After Slow and Sweet here comes Steady and Smooth. Sounds boring, right? Who needs it, when we can successfully act rash, forcefully, flashy, edgy, getting attention quickly – succeeding in the short run. Increasing quick spikes of addictive highs, followed by devastating lows. Dullness that craves fantasies and passive hope. How to get into the groove of pleasurable active-ness? When you repeatedly sound the word “smooth” out loud, extending the vowel into an elongated cooing caress – mysteriously, soothing rivulets will start permeating your heart-body. Like a trance. Listen. Try. One long out-breath....


 

It feels good to sail smoooothly… all along refining sound and technique. Mindful, curious repetition, relaxing our nervous system, becoming reward, rather than achievement. In my teaching, I have noticed with old and young alike, that the constant over-whelm in daily life wears people down, scatters the brain, depletes and inhibits flow of chi, blood, and breath. Out of balance, prone to exaggerated emotional and physical swings, we become exhausted, numb. Culturally, digitally, every minute we are seduced away from presence, away from true sweetness and slow, smooth and steadfast. These qualities will not thrive in our lives without practice and awareness. Letting go of habits. Inviting inner spaciousness. Perseverance. Becoming a winged creature.


Steady and Smooth

 

precious tiny particles of infinite galaxies

can you feel and sense how we are just that?

head top touches heaven – soles of feet meet earth

between heaven and earth, we are lightning rod

empty vessel ready to be filled with spirit

resonating in multi-tonal spheres

harmonizing with invisible

gods, demons, angels

which one will

it be?


FLOW

Fließen, im Fluß, eternal yearning for wholeness

life’s longing for cycle of yin and yang, at core is

breath – Atem – open passages, bones, joints

willing, well-tuned instruments ringing with

empty and full melodies, Weltseele, trans

porting cosmic breeze, trans-forming us

 

SMOOTH

continuous, velvety, easy, effortless, stable, serene

quiet, fluid, tranquil, soothing, rhythmic, balanced



steadfast – is it in demand? only

fools are committed, dedicated, slow

steady, sweet, smooth, soft, devoted, once

we practice and widen heart, we can move

at any speed, any task, we’ll be serene

softness overcoming hardness

like tongue between teeth

like water over rock

carving canyons

stunning

us

 

STEADFAST

unwavering, loyal, faithful, enduring, unwavering, persevering

reliable, wholehearted – afraid of these demanding virtues?

 

CHANGE

interval, opening, break, crack, open space, divided, rift

chasm, hole, void, disparity, divergence, transition, turn

 


infused from below, bubbling

well, nature so much bigger than us

revealing inevitable wounds gaping open

medicinal secrets surely grow a river gushing

through our vital veins and moral fiber

washing away unnecessary thinking

let “full-empty” do their dance

changing us in milliseconds

expanding spirit’s orbit

surprise wonder

Schönheit

awe

 

Karina Epperlein, Berkeley, June 2026


fließen = flowing

im Fluß = in the river, in the flow, flowing down the river...

Atem = breath

Weltseele = anima mundi, soul of the world, or world-soul (also, title of poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe)

 

Schönheit = beauty: meaning a luminous, quiet inner light shining forth from a being, movement, mind, expression, a moment, a world…




https://karinalandriver.blogspot.com/2026/05/slow-and-sweet-where-to-turn-for-true.html



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