inside tai chi

a mini workshop by Brian Cooper

People practice tai chi for many reasons. There are those that love martial arts and feel that tai chi boxing is of the finest. Some just want to keep their minds and bodies strong and flexible for as long as possible. Many practice it for stress relief. Some just have a love of the art and it’s philosophy, they wish to explore the meditation aspect; how tai chi affects the mind. Mostly it’s a mixture of all these things.

Once one has learned the movements - it’s time to learn the stillness.

Dong Jing or moving in stillness is the name of the game here. This is not something to hurry. It’s all about building stillness into your movements - but not in the way you might think.

Tai chi is about yin & yang, opening & closing, going out & going in. True Tai Chi is the combining of yin & yang. When yin & yang combine, you begin to access stillness.

With more stillness inside, you will start to be aware of finer internal movements.

With more stillness inside, you will be less effected by emotional ups and downs, less wild emotions. You will enjoy a smoother more peaceful internal life experience. Who would not want that!

Part 2 continues our exploration inside the tai chi movement for meditation. Here we learn to release emotional pain, to become aware of the more subtle aspects of the mind and build stillness in the nervous system.