Seated TCC: Breathing, Stretching and Sitting Well

It took me more than a decade of experimenting with a combination of breathing, stretching, and T’ai Chi Chih to prevent or alleviate the chronic back pain I had experienced for nearly four decades.

Sitting for extended periods of time — whether at the computer or in a car or playing marathon card sessions with my sisters — can still trigger radiating back pain. Pain can start in my lower back and then move up and out to all four limbs. Or it can start in the upper right quadrant and extend mostly to my upper body.

Being grounded and aligning and elongating my spine in all TCC yinning and yanging movements can prevent or alleviate symptoms. But whenever I go three days without a focused breathing, stretching, and TCC practice, extended sitting can trigger intense pain.

So, after my third major hip surgery five years ago I was determined to continue my regular preventive practice through seated TCC.

To my amazement, I was even more aware of the release of incipient tension in my lower back or my upper right quadrant! I had enjoyed doing seated TCC but I had never realized its unique benefits, including enhanced awareness of basic principles.

Pressing into the sitting bones creates an uplifting of my rib cage away from my hip bones, enhancing alignment and elongation.

In the forward and backward yinning and yanging, I have a deeper internal and external connection with the gentle tan t’ien expansion and contraction. Maintaining alignment and elongation, I can feel the weight move from front to back across the sitting bones, being careful not to arch my lower back or lift my chin.

Similarly, when performing side to side shifts, I can feel the weight transfer slowly to directly above the sitting bone. I then feel my rib cage ascend as I ground on that sitting bone and let the waist flow around.

To maintain relaxed elbows and shoulders, I frequently do Bird Flaps Its Wings standing up so I can continue to decompress the lower back and cervical spine area when doing seated TCC.

I encourage my fellow TCC practitioners and teachers to experiment with seated TCC to prevent or alleviate discomfort caused by chronic or acute conditions!