Breathing & TCC (August 2014)

As I finish the last repetition of a movement, the weight is flowing into the back leg and there is a slight rise in my stance. With that expansion of my body I notice my breath is expanding, I’m breathing in. As my front foot moves back and settles next to my back foot, my weight sinks down into graceful conclusion and my breath responds, breathing out. The downward body motion in conjunction with the exhalation draws the attention and focus downward increasing awareness of grounding, and settling my attention and weight into the soles of my feet. There is no conscious effort to match my breath with my movement. It seems to be a natural connection that is happening.

Justin taught that in T’ai Chi Chih we do not need to coordinate our breath with our movements. He writes in Spiritual Odyssey, “There are no special breathing techniques for T’ai Chi Chih. I am not interested in what goes on in martial arts.”

In Chapter 2 of Heightened Awareness, he writes, “Nothing is as vital to life as breath yet we take it for granted and breathe unconsciously. This is probably for the best, for when breath is regulated or made the object of concentration, it tends to become rough and uneven. A self-conscious breath is never natural.” He continues in the chapter to write about the benefits of working with the breath, but not coupled with TCC.

While many other disciplines and movement practices use the breath in a specific way, Justin has always been emphatic that a specific way of breathing should not be taught when teaching TCC. Practitioners should allow the breath to regulate itself. New students may hold their breath as they concentrate while learning and applying new information as they move. A good teacher often reminds students to check in with their body and look for tension in the belly or abdomen and notice if they are holding their breath. When teaching I occasionally breathe in and out loud enough for the students to hear. It is a subtle reminder for them to notice their own breath.

A student of mine once asked if the class could do a practice regulating the breath with the movements. We talked about the different ways this might be done. As they did the practice they were encouraged to experiment with the various ways to connect the breath and the movements. At the end of practice we talked about our experiences. Most students felt it was distracting and an extra. Many felt their natural breathing pattern was slower than the practice and they had to breathe a bit quicker, even with a slow-paced practice. This was my experience. When doing TCC I find my breathing slows down. My breaths out and in are not of the same timing. If I were to regulate my breath to my practice it would make it artificial.

In TCC we do the movements without intentionally moving and directing the Chi flow. The softness and evenness of the movements, the movement patterns with their circularity and polarity, the shifting of weight – yinning and yanging – these are the principles when applied to the practice, which facilitate the moving and balancing of the energy. With the attention focused low, the grounding further assists the balancing and integration.

There are some movement practices, activities and sports where it is important to couple the breath with the movement in order to reap the full benefit. It is not necessary in TCC. The only time I find my breath moving in tandem with my body, other than the Joyous Breath movement, is when I come into stillness at the end of a movement. Breathing out as I am sinking into stillness helps gather my full attention and intention, feeling as if my body were draining into my feet with my breath and continuing into the earth. At the same time there is this dichotomy that my upper body is light, upright, open and spacious, yet with substance. While there are these two feelings, the lower part of my body sinking into the earth, rooted and the upper part of my body light, almost ethereal yet with substance, I feel no separation. It feels the same. How can this be? I have no answer, nor need one. It just is.

As it says in the T’ai Chi Chih Photo Text, “The yin and yang element separate when in motion, and they come together again in quiescence. So, when we begin the motions of TCC, we are dividing the two forces; then we balance them as we practice. Finally, when we are still again, they reunite.”

Breathing out as I come into that stillness heightens my awareness of letting go if I have been holding, softening if I have been constricted, refocusing attention if it has wandered, being here now in the present, not going on automatic. I do not do this intentionally; it seems to have become part of my practice naturally. I do not teach this to my students nor do I suggest it be part of anyone’s practice. It is my experience.

Forcing the breath to fit a pattern, whether in movement or stillness, is unnecessary tension, effort and distraction. Justin felt it was important for each of us to allow our body’s natural rhythm of breathing to integrate itself without effort into our practice of TCC. As we move softly, breathe softly – without effort. As we yin and yang fully, breathe fully – without effort. In stillness shed the mind and body of movement and breathe without thought.