We often talk about the way Tai Chi can improve your physical health and mental and emotional well-being from the point of view of the practitioner. But not everyone out there is as familiar with practical ways to use Tai Chi to support their health and wellness goals as you may be. Later this year, I’m thrilled to have the chance to share Tai Chi with physicians in a course at Harvard Medical School.
As Tai Chi Master Cheng Man Ching is famous for saying, “Tai Chi Chuan, the great ultimate, strengthens the weak, raises the sick, invigorates the debilitated, and encourages the timid.” I believe that many of these benefits come from building stronger legs. Not only do these exercises solve the obvious physical problems that come from weak legs, but when you feel more stable, planted, and connected to the earth, you get a major boost of confidence, self-assurance, and drive.
When you go to the gym and hit the weights or take laps at the community park the exercise that you get does a great deal of good for your body. The problem with exercise programs like this is that they are entirely focused on external development. The muscles are developed, excess fat is shed and joints are strengthened, but at a cost. These high impact exercises put stress on the joints that will eventually develop into injury and the increased circulation will wane soon after the session is complete.
The biggest question people ask me about standing qigong, especially when they hear about the 2-hour project, is “what do you do, just stand there?” There is actually a really delicate balance between “doing” and “feeling” when you stand. You learn lots of different techniques, like breathing, sinking, dissolving, and pulsing, but how you apply them internally when you are holding a static posture is a tricky topic. If you rev your engine too much – activating strong diaphragmatic breathing the entire time, for example – then you miss the potential stillness in the posture.
The spine is the frame upon which our body hangs and keeping a healthy spine means paying attention to your posture. The way that our body is constructed is quite strong but if you keep negative pressure on an area, especially a joint, it will begin to adjust itself to the new position, which might or might not be natural. When this position is maintained it can actually reshape the joint, causing pain and lack of circulation.
A few months ago we talked about the signs of progress in your qigong practice. For so many of us, the issue of “progress” is central to qigong or Tai Chi practice, since we are driven by the desire to get it right, to solve a problem like a health issue, or to reach an amorphous and elusive spiritual goal. But what if we completely abandoned the idea of outcomes and perfection in practice?
In all Taoist practices, there is a theme of moving like a newborn. We look to the softness, connectedness, and smoothness of their movements to re-learn and relax how we normally get around. Taoist breathing trains you to move your belly, sides, and back in a gentle compress and release pattern that tones the internal organs. The Opening and Closing of the joints that we train in the Marriage of Heaven and Earth qigong, teaches you how to minimize muscular force and lead your movements from the natural hydraulic pumps in the joints and cavities of the body.
Anyone who has suffered back pain, especially lower back pain, understands from listening to doctors and therapists that much of their problems are the result of years of bad posture. The spine is meant to curve in a certain manner to allow the nervous and circulatory systems to function at their optimum. When we slouch, sag our shoulders, even stand too straight, such as maintaining a military like posture, we force the spine into unnatural positions.
