Revolutionary

T’ai Chi Chih is revolutionary. Does this seem like a strong word to describe such an effortless and soft practice? Roget’s Thesaurus says revolutionary implies change or reversal. That’s an apt description for TCC. Change is eminent if you continue the practice, and isn’t it a reversal of thinking to become aware of our physical strength and spiritual nature by practicing these soft movements?

I began practicing about a year ago without expectation. A body worker by trade, and an explorer of life by commitment, I have traveled many roads to find what is already inside of me. I have taught yoga, travelled to India to learn to approach life from a more spiritual and meditative place, practiced T’ai Chi (the martial art) and been certified to teach Qigong. All of these practices lead me to the acute awareness that the body holds the key to understanding our connection to the Divine nature of our being.

As life would have it, the culmination of these different ways to become aware was a wonderful precursor to understanding TCC. After studying T’ai Chi and Qigong and enjoying both for their individual gifts, I found TCC to be a beautiful balance of both. I believe Rocking Motion is the difference that speaks uniquely to balancing the awareness of both the energetic and physical aspects of the body. This awareness came after a year of practice. The movement from the toes to the heels – with a moment of being grounded in the entire foot – speaks to our energetic and physical self. With the weight in the ball of the foot, we experience our energy and as the weight shifts more toward the heel, we feel more of our physical body. Each plays an important role in grounding our experience here on earth.

No matter what we choose to do in life, the body and mind must connect the physical and energetic to understand our humanness. It is not an either/or situation but rather a combination of both balanced that creates the space to experience the beauty of our entire being – both our physical presence on earth and the connection to what brought us here. With a sincere practice of TCC, perhaps we can also find our purpose – to follow the Divine path to our “higher Self.”