Last month, we discussed the sense of progress you can sometimes struggle with in your practice. At the time, I mentioned that I’ve been working up to a two-hour standing session, which is a very structured practice goal. Today, I wanted to report back about what I’ve been experiencing in standing qigong and show you how to shift your sense of the time that passes when you stand. The structure of adding one minute to the length of the stand each day is seems like it should make for a very linear sense of time when you practice.
Here is my mid-week update from Tai Chi Immersion Week 2013 at Brookline Tai Chi. It’s pretty cool to see folks come from all over to train for a week, but you really have to have the right mind set to make the most of the format. See what I mean here: http://youtu.be/tBOBhSljYNo When you practice, be sure to include a clear: Warm-up: where you settle in and transition from the rest of your day.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been teaching regular workshops in Farmington, Maine. When I went up again last week, I had a fascinating conversation with one of the students. She was telling me how the core group had been coming along and that other people have come in and out of practicing with them. She said, “you know, it’s not really for everyone.” Now, I don’t know if that jumps out at you as a significant statement, but as a Tai Chi teacher, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for years.
The Western medical community has, for the last two decades, begun to integrate Eastern medical treatment paradigms with western routines and have been getting some amazing results. Not only are movement arts like Tai Chi and Qigong working to relieve stress and rehabilitate injuries, it is now being used to treat much deeper conditions like Parkinson´s Disease. There have been several studies that have indicated that the slow controlled movements of Tai Chi significantly improve balance and stability in Parkinson´s patients.
The meaning of relaxation in a Tai Chi context is often confused with the same kind of limp, collapsed, let-go feeling you get from flopping on to the couch after a long day. In fact, there’s a very different sense of “song” or relaxation in Tai Chi, which is at once easy and loose, but also energized and alert. In his translator’s introduction to Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan, Louis Swaim nails the nuance of the concept.
Most people are familiar with the benefits of basic Tai Chi: relaxation, better balance, relief from stiff joints. As you get more internally connected and learn to listen to the inside of your body as you practice, there are whole other layers of benefits, hidden beneath the surface of the graceful, flowing movements typically associated with Tai Chi. In this video, Robert Tangora explains one of the more interesting ones, that is rarely taught with the precision he is outlining: how to use specific Tai Chi movements to target and massage individual organs in your body, like your liver, spleen, heart, and lungs.
I get the question all the time, or at least it’s always implied, “When am I going to get it?” Or, “how do I know if I’m getting good at this?” Now, let’s unpack a little bit of what’s behind this question and then I want to share some different ways that I think you can answer this question on your own, without even asking your teacher. Practice Goals I’m on a training trip this weekend out in New Mexico with Robert Tangora.
Try this follow-along practice on Emptying the Leg. We’re combining principles from Standing Qigong and Tai Chi to create a blend of stillness, movement, and internal contrast.
The progression includes: Varying your stance, increasing in complexity and physical demands. Increased contrast over time between empty and full or unweighted and weighted legs Heightened sense of sinking as you stabilize in each posture
Perhaps the most surprising element of this exercise is the way that it’s going to help you build flow.
