Attention, Attention — Seated TCC

“Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” This applies to seated T’ai Chi Chih. If you have never tried it, perhaps it is time. The principles are the same that we use with regular TCC: softness, continuity, flowing from the center, and moving like slow motion in a dream. Let’s begin by sitting down, not in a comfy chair, but in a straight-back chair. After all, we wouldn’t do our practice slouched over. It is also a good idea to pick a chair without arms. We sit with our body straight but comfortable, ready to give our practice our full attention, feet flat on the floor. We can rely on the form; we have done it hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. Again, the principles are the same. You don’t have to take my word for it. Justin gave us many examples of doing seated TCC.

In Rocking Motion, as our hands and arms come up to mid-chest level, our whole body comes up onto the balls of our feet solid, and steady. If we are giving our full attention to the movement we are making, we honestly can feel the energy as it travels through our bodies. It is rejuvenating and revitalizing; even if we are tired, we would probably have trouble falling asleep. Seated TCC does not have the bad aftereffects of a sleeping pill, like grogginess the next day.

During Around the Platter we start by sitting close to the edge of our chair. The left foot is slightly forward from the right foot with the toes pointing up, not uncomfortably. It’s the same as if we were standing up. We follow the same flow of shifting our weight on our sits bones, keeping our back straight, but comfortable. We do not bend forward at the waist, as this would restrict the flow of the Chi. As we start the flow from below the waist with our attention on the left heel, we move forward on our left sits bones and lower the left foot. As our hand makes the usual chest level forward curve of the platter, the energy moves over to the right foot and the right toes come up and then the energy moves back to the back right heel. With the shift, the energy moves over to the left back heel, we then start a new platter at the chest. This is all repeated nine times, coming to a graceful conclusion. We then repeat what we just did on the right side and come to a graceful conclusion.

We continue with the rest of the movements using the sits bones and the tan t’ien to guide our movements. If this is your first experience doing seated TCC, write it down and email it to The Vital Force journal. We would love to celebrate your experience with you.

What might be the reason for doing seated TCC? We might be older, or even younger without strength in our legs; we might have a twisted an ankle, or a leg in a cast. We may be waiting for an appointment in the doctor’s office or for an airplane. We many have done too much earlier and don’t feel like getting out of our chair.

But we remember that even a little TCC can begin to renew us. Sometimes it may simply feel like the right thing to do. If intuition is nudging us, it is foolish not to listen. Take the time today let yourself have a Chi moment. This could be one of those special times when we are gifted with a call to be attentive, an opportunity to love and share the Chi.