Allow me to share with you a Tai Chi principle so simple and clear that it is often overlooked, even by practitioners who have been doing Tai Chi for 10 years or more. The Five Movement Centers is a template for understand HOW you move and applying it to any form you know or any repetitive movement you can perform, like going for a walk, is going to have a serious impact on how grounded, fluid, and connected you feel. ...
When my first Tai Chi teacher, Bruce Frantzis, came back to the US forty years ago to spread the Tai Chi he learned in China, he found out that many basic Tai Chi concepts were not being taught, either because of communications issues or lack of knowledge. Only a fraction of the vast potential of the art was being shared. Bruce set out to teach the Inner Form of Tai Chi and that’s what I have studied for the last 15 years. ...
If you listed to the recent Qigong Radio episode on Rooting, Central Equilibrium, and Balance, you probably want more insight into how to put Tai Chi balance training to work in your practice. Now you can start Tai Chi balance training with our new eBook , “An Introduction to Rooting and Stability,” where you will take the Tai Chi Way to re-gaining, one of life’s simplest yet most essential treasures–the gift of balance. ...
In a recent post, we looked at 5 Ways to Build Strong Legs. When I posted the video to Youtube, someone replied: I think nowadays there is a great misunderstanding of internal martial arts goals and methodology. The great issue is not to become strong but to become very weak! Now, I think the commenter is kind of right, but misses a critical point, by simply reducing Tai Chi to the art of getting weaker and weaker. Just look at these Tai Chi Masters, specifically in the legs , and tell me if they seem weak: ...
In this episode of Qigong Radio, Don Miller and I explore the essential elements of Tai Chi Balance Training. As you probably know, Tai Chi is being used more and more for falls prevention programs for the elderly and becoming a mainstream part of the Western medical vocabulary. But what are the actual elements that make up a great Tai Chi balance training program? How can you use them for your own well-being? ...
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. It’s always exciting to be able to present a combination of research and practice to knowledgeable caregivers, especially because in this case, the focus of the course is on promoting healthy, active lifestyles to their patients. What do you think I should share with them? If you have suggestions for what I should cover, please leave a note in the comments. ...
In his new book, the Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi, Dr. Peter Wayne lays out the “8 Active Ingredients of Tai Chi” to help us understand the interface between traditional Tai Chi practice and the Western biomedical paradigm. As the Research Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, jointly based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and the founder of the Tree of Life Tai Chi Center, Peter blends more than three decades of teaching experience with ongoing inquiry into what makes Tai Chi an effective medical intervention. ...
I was talking to a friend last night about standing qigong and different meditation traditions that we had both tried. When we say “meditation” in this context, we were including all practices like breathing for relaxation, Tai Chi, qigong, and sitting practices too. Part of what I’d like to hear from you (see below) is how you define “meditation” in a way that’s practical and part of your everyday life. ...
Tai Chi has the potential to solve many common posture-related problems, but only if you follow the correct Tai Chi principles. Specifically, you want to pay attention to the body alignments that unify the arms, legs, and spine, creating effortless openness throughout the skeletal system. In Tai Chi, the way you hold your neck and head and release the pelvis into the legs are the exact opposite of what those of us who sit all day do. This is good news if you want to change your posture, but tough, because you probably spend lots of time in detrimental sitting positions each day. ...
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. Ramp-up: where the real “training” happens and you work on specific attributes of your practice. Integration period: where you don’t try to do anything new, but let the work from the ramp-up period settle down. Buffer: where, without making an abrupt shift, you transition back into the rest of your day. Whether you practice for 20 minutes or twice a day for a week, if you look for these rhythms, you will build more energy and deepen your Tai Chi practice.