Monday Morning Tai Chi Training Tip # 299
The Pacific Northwest has a reputation for being cold and damp, with lots of wind. On New Years week-end we had our 180th Tai Chi session in Chetzemoka Park without missing a single meeting since we started this Covid induced practice in March. I give thanks to the powers that be, and all those who show up and share their interest in, and love for, Tai Chi. Actually, we have been doing our Saturday Morning Tai Chi practice for over 40 years in the Park, but we always had the Studio as a bad weather back up. Now we just have the Park. It has been a blessing.
Working with Chi
1. Chi is everywhere – it is the building block of everything in our known Universe.
2. Your Shen (spirit, mind, intelligence) is a higher refinement of chi than normal daily activities. It is like steam compared to ice and water.
3. If you want to increase your available chi:
a. Relax. Chi follows the path of least resistance.
b. Strengthen the body. Chi is very powerful and can do harm if the body is not ready to work with it.
c. Blocks (tension) are like dams. Everything upstream from them gets flooded (too much energy); everything downstream gets dried up (too little energy).
d. Chi follows the mind. You must concentrate. You must imagine what you want to happen.
Form and Function Work Together
Does form follow function or function follow form? Do I become a baseball pitcher because I have an abnormally strong arm or does my arm develop because I like the idea of pitching? Are we born with a body pre-disposed to certain activities or do our bodies develop because we hold certain desires?
I think both are true. If so, it follows that we can change our structure by what we think or do later in life. If we change habit patterns that are limiting, we can open ourselves to new possibilities of growth in body and mind.