Teaching Tips for Around the Platter

Around the Platter: Within Reach & Pizza Plates

By Alice Holden, CCVI, San Antonio, TX

Each morning, after a brief stretch-prayer to honor the Trinity, I begin my usual practice of TCC. Rocking Motion and Bird Flaps Its Wings set the stage and prepare the system. Then I am ready to begin the whole series with Around the Platter.

From the grounding position my left foot moves forward – heel touching the floor as my hands, cupped and subtle, rise to the center of my chest. Slowly and with intention, I shift my weight to the left foot as my hands move along the rim of an imaginary platter. When my weight is fully on the left foot, my hands have come to the outer rim of the circle. As the weight shift begins to flow to the back right foot, the hands follow along the right rim of the platter back to the center. Immediately, the process continues, forward and back, around the platter until, after nine circles, my hands, feet, and concentration come to the rest position. I stay in the rest position for a few moments, concentrating on the soles of the feet.

The right foot then goes forward, resting its heel gently on the floor, a good stride ahead of where it had been. Simultaneously, the hands again rise to the chest. Gently, they move to the right around the rim of the platter, as the weight shift moves completely to the front. At full weight, the hands continue to move around the platter, wrists turning gently as the fingertips touch the left rim of the platter, following the weight shift from the right front foot to the left back foot. After nine soft, subtle circles to the right, the body again comes to the rest position with concentration on the soles of the feet.

Recently, while teaching this movement, I mentioned that it was like having a pizza plate in front of me. One of the students brought a cardboard pizza dish to the next class; it was just the right size. Students took turns holding the plate in front of each other and discovered the art of flexible wrists, as well as the temptation to over-reach. For me, this movement often speaks of my need to accept my own limitations, to mind to my own responsibilities, and to attend to what is within reach. May this article help you in some way to enjoy the Chi more fully while going Around the Platter.

Around the Platter: Weight Shift

By Anna Gunderson, Racine, MN

First we introduce the forward/backward or yin/yang weight shift. Students start from the resting pose with feet in a natural stance, knees slightly bent. Step straight out with the left foot, allowing the heel to land with the toes pointing straight forward. Allow the weight to shift forward from the T’an T’ien. As the weight slowly shifts forward to the left foot, allow the back leg to straighten. When the weight is fully shifted forward (i.e. when it’s evenly distributed to the entire sole of the foot) allow the back heel to come off the ground slightly. Slowly shift the weight back to the right foot, allowing the front leg to straighten. Let the weight shift gradually pick the left toes up off the ground.

The entire weight shift should be done at the same level. Think of the spine as a string of pearls suspended from clouds; this way, the spine stays straight throughout the entire weight shift.

Once a student masters the forward/backward weight shift, we add the arm movement. Bring your hands (with palms facing the earth) up to heart level. The hands are relaxed and slightly cupped and will travel together throughout the movement. Allow the hands to trace a circle at heart level, as the weight is gently shifted forward and back.

The size of the circle depends upon the student’s body size and shape. Encourage the student to create a circle large enough to completely fill the space they are moving through but to avoid overextending the arms. The hands return to the heart area before starting the next circle. Allow the weight shift to move the arms through the circle. The circle is the same distance from the ground at all time (i.e. it is not a roller coaster). When the left leg is forward, the arms create a circle in a clock-wise direction. When the right leg is forward, the arms circle around in a counter-clockwise motion. Another way to think about it is this: if the left leg is forward, the hands pass the left shoulder first. If the right leg is forward, move past the right shoulder first.

After completing the movement with the left leg forward, then the right leg forward, you will return to resting pose.

Around the Platter: First Intro to Yinning & Yanning

By Pat Flynn, Glenville, PA

This is the first movement where we learn the yin/yang step: “Watch me bring a foot forward and then back to the resting position. Now gently shift your weight onto the gently relaxed right knee. Then slowly bring your left foot forward as if testing a tub of very hot water with only the heel. Then gently bring your left foot back to resting position and evenly distribute your weight onto both feet.” (We do this several times on both sides until I see that the students understand that the torso does not move forward and the foot is placed in a comfortable forward position.) Throughout this process, I have the opportunity to explain anticipation of the movement when a student’s torso moves with the foot, why concentrating on the soles of the feet is very important. It gives the mind and body a place to concentrate so it quits anticipating the next move.

The next step is actual yinning and yanging: “Watch me yin and yang. The torso does not lean forward or backward or to the side. Watch my knees.” (I change my position so the students see the movement from the front, back, and side.) Once in position with one foot forward: “Gently relax the front knee and move forward over the toes. Is your right knee straightened? Is your heel lifted off the floor? Relax the back knee and roll backward on your hip to the beginning position.” We do this several times on both sides.

After yinning and yanging, I demonstrate the full movement. After three repetitions, I bring my forward foot back to resting position but continue the arm movements. This shows students that TCC is truly not an exercise. There is no over extension in the arms and no need for the upper body to lean into the movement. I ask students to try the arm movements while the lower body stays in the resting position.

Then we put the movement together: “The hands weightlessly float upward to chest height as the left foot gently moves forward to test the hot bath water. As we move forward onto the left foot, the hands flow toward the left and complete half of the circular platter. As we move gently back, the hands continue to flow around the right side of the circular platter to the beginning position.”

This method seems to work well. However, the biggest asset I have is the actual TCC practice. By practicing regularly, I find most of my classes simply flow with the Chi.

Teaching Around the Platter to Beginning & Advanced Students

The Legs

How does one step out without simultaneously shifting the weight forward? I encourage students to put a hand on the T’an T’ien. If the T’an T’ien has not moved and the student has truly sunk into the back leg, then the extension of the front foot should be appropriate in finding a good length of stance. Can the student step out, gently placing the heel as if stepping onto an ice-covered pond without breaking the ice?

How, and from where, does one initiate flowing forward? With beginning students, because it is easier for them to focus on the soles of the feet, I encourage them to soften the front knee to initiate the weight shift forward and to soften or release the back knee to initiate the weight shift backward. This approach seems to reinforce a deep stance and one in which the weight shift is flowing into bent knees, not stiff ones. With intermediate students, we play with focusing on the T’an T’ien as the initiator of the movement.

How does one encourage the back heel not to rise to high off the ground? To begin, we shift our weight forward through various points along the journey. To begin, the students find the “double weighted” point where the weight feels equal in both feet. Then we shift forward a bit more, just until the back heel is light but has not come off the ground. Has the upper torso begun to lean? Straighten up at the waist. Then we proceed further, ever mindfully, until the weight shift has pulled the back heel up. We experiment with “counter examples” (things not to do). What happens to the back heel when we push with the back toes? What happens to the front toes when we shift too far forward, or find ourselves leaning in the torso?

The Arms

Students create a circular shape with their arms in a plane parallel to the floor. This circle is the path the hands will travel around. Note that the circle is not much wider than the width of the body. I also ask them to imagine the circle as a clock. The near point and far point serve to help students synchronize their arms and legs as they are beginning to learn the form, helping them reference whether the arms are getting ahead of the legs or vice-versa.

The hands rise to the level of the breastbone, elbows hang gently by the side of the body, completely supported by gravity. Be aware of the hands floating higher by accident. Let thumbs be at the same level as the hands.

Carmen Brocklehurst suggested the following in her recent workshop: Notice what happens to the attention if the thumbs have dropped. (Has the attention dropped as well?) Note the position of the hands. Let the hands begin with a slight angle upward, lifted up by the Chi. Note the ability to feel the Chi more strongly as the hands move intentionally through it. And then, for example, in flowing forward with the right foot extended, the right hand curves around the circle and the left hand points slightly into the right hand. At the “far point,” where the weight is shifted as far forward as it is meant to and the hands are farthest from the body, the hands are equal and thumbs are never more than an inch apart the entire time. (Use the same example from above with right foot out.)

Carmen continued: With more advanced students one can go further. Did the T’an T’ien initiate moving forward or did something else initiate (for example: the chest region? the shoulders?) Knowing whether the T’an T’ien initiated the movement is a felt sense in the body and it can be felt! Pay attention to the ball of the back foot – placing the attention in the ball helps encourage the heel not to come up too high. The circle you are tracing is the entire universe, a universe that is right here in your body. It’s not happening out there! The Chi is well-distributed throughout the limbs.