Softness Means Letting Go

Many people practicing T’ai Chi Chih are aware that softness is the essence of this moving meditation. Do you know that the essence of Seijaku practice is letting go? Softness and letting go are intimately related. Justin Stone, the originator of both forms, wrote much about the importance of softness in our practice. You may read many such short writings in Spiritual Odyssey.

Wherever there is bodily tension, the Chi cannot flow freely, so it is more important to relax and move with softness than do the movements perfectly. We do that by letting go. Tune into your favorite places for holding tension in the body. Taking a deep breath and allowing the body to relax are great ways to let go of muscular tension.

Relaxing and moving with softness also means letting go of thoughts, especially self-critical ones about how well we are moving. It doesn’t matter the thought – from planning your next meal to thinking “I’m not doing ‘the Taffies’ very well.” As soon as you notice the mind has wandered, let go of the thought and return your focus to the soles of the feet or t’an tien.

Doing Seijaku helps to learn how to let go. Don’t let the common reference to it as “the advanced form of T’ai Chi Chih” deter you from learning this very beneficial practice. It is recommended that you have at least one year of regular TCC practice before doing Seijaku. Yet there’s no need to wait until you perfect “the Taffies.”

Experiencing the contrast between using some muscular effort to push through resistance, and the feeling of release that comes with breaking thru that resistance, helps us let go. Softness becomes more attainable following the experience of hardness.

There is great strength in softness. Look at the Grand Canyon to see how soft water wears away hard rock. Softness is also resilience. Justin often used the image of a bamboo tree that bends easily in the storm and snaps back unharmed when the storm passes.

TCC and especially Seijaku help us cultivate softness in our lives and empower us to let go of what we cannot change and that which no longer serves us.