Graceful Conclusion, by Lorraine Lepine (May 2023)

All of the T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) movements form a unit of Chi circulating. Each movement has its unique Chi pattern circulation, yet it collapses with the Chi field formed within, throughout, and around the body. The circulation of the Chi implies a movement of the body, an action up/down, forward/back, side to side.

The architecture of the TCC practice is around the repetition of 19 movements and one pose in a set of nine, interspersed with the resting position, also called the graceful conclusion. We start with the resting position and end the series of movements with the graceful conclusion.

What is the purpose of this graceful conclusion throughout the TCC practice? We experience flow and rhythm in the body as soon as we start moving and experience quietness, groundedness, unity within. This happens as soon as we sink down into the resting position, bringing the Chi into a graceful conclusion.

As we enter a natural Cosmic Rhythm of movements and rest, we become balanced.

Perhaps Justin referred to the dance of Shiva and Shakti of the Indian Tantric philosophy, or the yin-yang dance of the Chinese Taoism, balancing the male/female energy within the left/right brain. 

During meditation, if we allow our body to sway gently following the flow of the breath in and out, and then visualize ourselves doing a TCC movement up/down, forward/back or side to side, we may start to experience the Cosmic Rhythm. When we bring the movement to a graceful conclusion, or resting position, the body becomes still, at a deep rest, grounded. We may experience an empty fullness where the body feels full and the mind is empty — yet expanded, aware, awake.

Is this the power and wisdom of TCC and Seijaku, simply expressed in this dance of the Chi flowing and the stillness of the body into a graceful conclusion?