At this time of year, you hear a lot about New Year’s resolutions. This year, I was happy to see a lot of people saying “New Year’s resolutions don’t work.” We all know that’s true from personal experience, but these folks were referencing a growing understanding about how learning and skill-building take place. Most of what we now know about how the nervous system works flies in the face of changing through the strength of your willpower alone. ...
I got an email the other day that was a little bit different than the usual requests for lessons. It read: “I learned the Short Form at Brookline Tai Chi under the tutelage of Bill Ryan back about 1996-1997. For seven years, I continued to do the short form three times every morning. Then for the past eight years or so, I have done the short form four times every morning. ...
Even if you have cultivated a daily practice that takes you into deep relaxation, it’s helpful to have a set of stress reduction techniques “that work in 5 minutes or less.” You can pull these out during the day when you have a few minutes of downtime. If you are busy and really stressed out, these relaxation techniques can prevent your stress level from going through the roof. Try them and let me know what you think. ...
The next time you go to class, watch out for these 4 practice partners. While they all start out with good intentions, if you hang out with them too much, you’ll get sucked into their quirky habits and slow down your own progress. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! 1. Checklist Charlie Checklist Charlie is the tai chi student who is forever stuck in his own head. Every time he practices, instead of feeling his body, he recites a list of stuff he is supposed to be doing. For most people, “soundtracking” your way through the form is a legitimate learning phase, but Checklist Charlie is stuck there forever. ...
Z-Health Master Trainer Jen Waak is a self-described “recovering management consultant”. These days, she helps other “Keyboard Athletes” improve and maintain their bodies and stay healthy even when they’re stuck behind a desk all day. What surprised me about reading Jen’s advice on “what you should do at your desk”, was that it sounded a lot like what she did last year to get ready for a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. ...
As you’re sitting here reading this, I want you to try something. I want you to push yourself back away from your desk, let your arms hang by your sides, close your eyes and see how many fingers you can feel. Go ahead, try it. Now do the same thing again, but stand up and count your toes instead. Could you feel more fingers or toes? Chances are you have much greater feeling access to your fingers. But how does the sensation of feeling a finger compare to the clarity of a thought you just had or an image you can generate in your head? If thoughts and images are much clearer than feeling sensations in your body, you might have a problem. ...
So, I know I’m writing this on vacation where the most pressing decision we make each day is whether to hike, kayak, or swim, but I’m going to go ahead anyway and recommend that you practice twice a day. Here’s why… What I Learned from a Month-Long Tai Chi Intensive After a month in England, practicing 10 hours a day at the Short Form Instructor Training this summer, I have a renewed appreciation for daily practice rhythm. At the training, there were three distinct types of training sessions we would go through each day. In the mornings, we would practice in our groups. Most of the day, from 10am to 5pm was reserved for class time with Bruce. In the evenings, we would be free to practice again, ideally training the pieces of what we did in class that day. ...
People often ask me if tai chi is good for losing weight. If they’re asking whether tai chi is a substitute for running or lifting weights, the answer is usually “no”. When someone has been really injury or hasn’t exercised in a long time, tai chi can get you back on your feet and moving pain free. For these folks, tai chi can be a safe first step towards more demanding exercise. ...
If I’m going to practice several types of qigong and maybe some tai chi, does it matter what order I do things in? Or if I do one longer practice vs two shorter ones during the day?
I learned everything I know about practicing qigong from my wife. Or I should say, from watching my wife make magic in the kitchen! If you saw us cooking together, you’d see her doing everything right and me doing everything wrong. When I started to practice qigong the way she cooks, my whole qigong world changed. Let me tell you how. ...