Tai Chi Daily Blog

*This page contains affiliate relationships. A commission may be earned when a purchase is made through these links. Whenever I practice the Tai Chi form inside or outside I like to listen to music. It is true, music can really excite or relax you. I like to use meditation music while I practice Tai Chi it puts me in a very peaceful state which is perfect for moving meditation. Sometimes I keep the music volume loud enough so that I cannot hear external sounds, other times low enough that the music is only background noise. One day I forgot my earbuds and...

Practicing the Tai Chi outside is really good Tai Chi training to keep you in your center. When I first started practicing Tai Chi outdoors I was a little self-conscious. So many thoughts would be racing through my mind. What would others think? Often I am in the midst of the Tai Chi form when I notice someone in the distance observing me. What if I forget the next move? What if I stumble and don’t have perfect balance? Someone might think I don’t know what I am doing. So many thoughts go through my head. I am no longer able...

Last week in push hands class I was frustrated. My teacher and some Tai Chi classmates were telling me how stiff I was and how I was moving like a block. How could this be I said, I feel so relaxed in the inside. One of my friends mimicked my movements and said you are not creasing your hips. I was blown away thinking he was right. For years my teacher would tell me how the tendons, ligaments and sinews play such an important role in generating power in Tai Chi. I never really understood it until now. Creasing the...

When I first started learning the breath I would imagine filling and deflating like an inflatable raft, or the ballon at the water gun balloon game at the carnival. The top of my head and fingertips would be the outer edge of the inflated balloon.  This visualization really helped me to understand the relaxation and the path of chi. Breathe in as the balloon inflates and exhale as the balloon deflates. At the beginning of my training, I did not realize that the breath should ever stop at my head. As I practiced more I would imagine the breath passing through my head, feet,...

I made my first conscious effort to practice the Tai Chi form without thinking "no-mind". In the past, I have always practiced keeping in mind-body mechanics, breath, alignment, the next posture, etc. If my practice remains in this way my form will always be controlled from my mind. I need to learn to practice where my mind is in my center and trust that my body knows what to do. My center is two inches below my navel, this area is called the Dantian. Although I practiced my form very slowly today it seemed like time flew by, my form was...