Today was Tai Chi Sunday. I absolutely love this day of the week. I wake up early-ish, put on my Tai Chi clothes and head to the Taoist Tai Chi Society on Bathurst, just south of St. Clair. I've been doing this every Sunday for the last 4 months and it's probably one of my favourite things to do all week. It's kind of like a hot Epsom salt bath at the end of a tough day, except the tough day is actually a tough, long week of work, school and life stress compressing down into this one little area around the base of my neck and shoulders. Incredibly, Tai Chi has the ability to relieve a lot of that tension in just 2 hours! Each and every time I walk out of the building I feel centered, at peace and ready to take on the world again. I would say it's one of the most important factors in health maintenance that I've included in my regimen so far.
When I do Tai Chi my mind is clear, I am focused and I feel relaxed...but it hasn't always been this way. Tai Chi is not a physically challenging activity, at least not for a young, fit woman like myself, but it used to challenge me mentally quite a bit in the beginning. When I first started and I learned that there were 108 moves to the whole set that I was eventually supposed to know, the task seemed daunting and near impossible for me. (I can be the kind of person that doesn't like to make mistakes and I also want to get it fast, otherwise I just want to give up). I kept doubting myself or pressuring myself to work so hard to perfect each move and commit it to memory along the way. But the best advice that I kept receiving again and again was that I didn't need to memorize everything; I just needed to 'watch and do, watch and do' and eventually the little nuances would work themselves out. And how true that was.
I realized that it was all the thinking that was creating a barrier for me to fully engage in the experience and to learn. It even prevented me from really enjoying Tai Chi, which is what I was there for. Every time I thought to myself, "am I doing this right? what comes next?" or worse, when I criticized myself, "ah man, you messed up again! you should know this by now!", I was removing myself from the present moment, from what I was actually doing. (I don't know about you, but to me the present moment is where it's at. I am alive right now and I want to feel as great as possible for every nanosecond that it's true). So I made the decision to just let it all go. I reminded myself that the whole reason I started Tai Chi was to have just a couple hours a week out of my busy schedule all for myself to relax.
Now I simply watch and do, I let go and I let my muscles do all of the memorization. My whole being can now enjoy the experience as I allow myself to flow fluidly like a river through the sequence of moves. I often go into a meditational state when the whole group is doing a set, moving together in synchronicity. It is really beautiful. I guess that's why they call it a moving meditation. Anyway, I encourage anyone and everyone to try it. Contrary to popular belief, Tai Chi is not just for old people to be done in the park at dawn. If you're interested in learning more about Tai Chi, here's the website - http://www.taoist.org/ - where you can find more information about the founding principles of this internal art and a lot more of the benefits on the mind and body.
Here's a video of the founder, Master Moy, doing a full, 108-move set of Taoist Tai Chi. As smooth as silk!
(On a side note: Taoist Tai Chi is a form of Tai Chi - a Chinese martial art - which was modified by Taoist monk Moy Lin-shin to increase the health benefits of this internal art and with more of a focus on compassionate awareness for all beings on Earth.)
When I do Tai Chi my mind is clear, I am focused and I feel relaxed...but it hasn't always been this way. Tai Chi is not a physically challenging activity, at least not for a young, fit woman like myself, but it used to challenge me mentally quite a bit in the beginning. When I first started and I learned that there were 108 moves to the whole set that I was eventually supposed to know, the task seemed daunting and near impossible for me. (I can be the kind of person that doesn't like to make mistakes and I also want to get it fast, otherwise I just want to give up). I kept doubting myself or pressuring myself to work so hard to perfect each move and commit it to memory along the way. But the best advice that I kept receiving again and again was that I didn't need to memorize everything; I just needed to 'watch and do, watch and do' and eventually the little nuances would work themselves out. And how true that was.
I realized that it was all the thinking that was creating a barrier for me to fully engage in the experience and to learn. It even prevented me from really enjoying Tai Chi, which is what I was there for. Every time I thought to myself, "am I doing this right? what comes next?" or worse, when I criticized myself, "ah man, you messed up again! you should know this by now!", I was removing myself from the present moment, from what I was actually doing. (I don't know about you, but to me the present moment is where it's at. I am alive right now and I want to feel as great as possible for every nanosecond that it's true). So I made the decision to just let it all go. I reminded myself that the whole reason I started Tai Chi was to have just a couple hours a week out of my busy schedule all for myself to relax.
Now I simply watch and do, I let go and I let my muscles do all of the memorization. My whole being can now enjoy the experience as I allow myself to flow fluidly like a river through the sequence of moves. I often go into a meditational state when the whole group is doing a set, moving together in synchronicity. It is really beautiful. I guess that's why they call it a moving meditation. Anyway, I encourage anyone and everyone to try it. Contrary to popular belief, Tai Chi is not just for old people to be done in the park at dawn. If you're interested in learning more about Tai Chi, here's the website - http://www.taoist.org/ - where you can find more information about the founding principles of this internal art and a lot more of the benefits on the mind and body.
Here's a video of the founder, Master Moy, doing a full, 108-move set of Taoist Tai Chi. As smooth as silk!
@LoveKaruna (Twitter)
Hello,
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