Grounding For Balance Of Yin & Yang

Recently a student commented on the constant wandering of his thoughts while doing T’ai Chi Chih and asked what I might recommend as an antidote.

Justin Stone explained the importance of bringing the yin and yang energy back into balance after doing a TCC movement. He referred to this as “returning to the uncarved block.” His advice in TCC was to return the attention to the soles of the feet.

When I was training to do Thai-Yoga bodywork, my master teacher trainer often referred to “monkey mind.” By this he meant the constant tendency of the mind to wander (often a habit energy), instead of remaining aware of the present moment and the present activity in which one is engaged.

Here, it behooves me to repeat from my article in the August Vital Force, the words from Justin that “awareness is the root of T’ai Chi Chih” [from the article “The Essence of T’ai Chi Chih” in Spiritual Odyssey]. This is most certainly the antithesis of monkey mind. Often one is not even aware that the mind is wandering, so this is where the antidote process begins.

Set your intention to observe but not judge the mind. Simply make note of it when you observe it wandering, and then bring the awareness immediately to feeling the soles of the feet. Be persistent in this, and it will eventually become a new habit energy that will serve you well in remaining grounded throughout your practice.

At the end of each set of movements, when the foot comes in close to the other foot and the palms of the hands come down facing the earth, feel the body weight drop down into the soles of the feet. At the same time, bring the mind down into the tan t’ien. This is easier to do if the knees bend and as the pelvis sinks a bit, we feel the front of the lower abdominal area slightly contracting, or collapsing inward, without intentionally tensing the muscles there. Just feel it happening. Feeling the tailbone drop downward might also help.

I believe that when TCC is practiced faithfully with all of this awareness, the result is a profound integration of mind, body and spirit, which effectively grounds and centers us. TCC has changed my life.