A tai chi exercise with bugs

Doing tai chi efficiently means having to perceive the most subtle of changes in one's environment. During push hands, sparring and real combat situations it is essential to always be aware of what is going on in the environment, so that you can place yourself in the most advantageous position. An exercise that strengthens the awareness of what is going on is to sit outside on warm nights and wait for bugs to start flying around you. Keep your head stationary, and every time a bug flies within your vision watch its every movement. While the bug stays within your vision watch all of its movements and do not lose track of it. You may notice that as you watch the bug your awareness of the rest of your environment dims- counter this by relaxing your body as much as possible and keeping your vision "wide". By doing so you will see your whole environment and not miss out on the bug's movements. When you are able to see all of the bugs movements try watching the movements of two bugs, than three. Let the bugs go as they move out of your vision and focus on two (or three) new bugs. If you begin with one bug and over time can see three bugs moving at the same time and feel what they are doing in the space around you, you have greatly strengthened your attention. This is helpful in many aspects of life.

Tai Chi - the Art of Re-Naturalization

Tai Chi and Homesteading VIDEO

The art of Tai Chi, a method of re-naturalization.


http://youtu.be/Vp_VtP3RCZg

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Get bodywork/tai chi at home in Vermont!

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<a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/Mountains-and-Rivers-Tai-Chi-Ch-uan-South-Pomfret-VT/service/881223">Mountains and Rivers Tai Chi Ch&apos;uan</a>

Bodywork Service:             

What could be better than a relaxing, deeply restorative session of bodywork right in the comfort of your own home? We are the only practitioners of tai chi traditional bodywork in the state of Vermont. Passed on through generations of traditional bodyworkers, this system allows for the release and elimination of deep seated aches and pains. Based off of the principles of tai chi, this bodywork does far more than a typical massage sequence. It cultivates bodily awareness, opens and unwinds frozen living tissue and allows for patterns of habitual tension held within the body to be released. While other massage is risky, and may produce side effects such as sore muscles and damage to tissue, tai chi body work is non- manipulative. It does not cause pain and yet is deeply effective because it is awareness-based bodywork.  You will actually feel your body becoming more alive during the massage, as old psychological, emotional and physical wounds are directly experienced and released. This is a full body, oil bodywork. We provide the massage table, sheets, oils and tai chi bodyworker.  Make your home into an oasis in which you release your worries and enter a state of complete bliss!

Tai Chi Ch’uan Exercises At Home!

 

Called one of the best treatments for fiber myalgia patients and Parkinson’s disease by numerous medical studies, tai chi ch’uan may be your gateway to a more vital, movement-filled life! For people who are handicapped and cannot leave home, we offer full tai chi instruction to help get you feeling better and perhaps even on your feet again. Tai chi ch’uan exercises can be done from a sitting position. These enjoyable and deeply relaxing exercises are appropriate for all ages, and are personalized for every individual’s needs. 

 

The creation of words

The creation of words can have two origins. One is the experiences of the past, one's learned judgements, one's learned way to create new ideas. The other origin is when one is at an utter loss-totally unprepared, as though the only resource is the current world unfolding. It is the relationship between these two sources- the experienced and the spontaneous flounderer, that matters in the real time writing/speaking. If your writing is genuine, you allow a "dance" to occur between these two origins or modes of writing. This is a skill that should be taught in schools.

Tai Chi and Animal Intellegence

I once was extremely sick as a small child, and a cat volunteered to stay with me in bed for a week. He slept on my stomach most of the time, and I still believe to this day that I recovered much faster because of his presence. There is no question that the presence of animals is healing. Many medical studies have shown this. Yet how often is the presence of another human being in one's life draining? One of the amazing benefits of tai chi is that it helps one to achieve a presence that is healing, like one of a (friendly) wild animal.

Tai chi ch'uan is based on the movements of animals, and is a practice that generates an aliveness of the body. That is what makes the practice so special, because it connects us to our biological roots. Animals being the historic source of tai chi's power is obvious if you have ever fought a tai chi master or watched them do the form. The way that the joints and muscles all seem to "melt", and the movements become like water is the same way wild animals are able to move.

I think the emphasis on dogma and elaborate mental constructs that surround tai chi these days are just a reflection of the type of intelligence that our current society values. We value mental intellect but not "biological intellect." Tai chi should not become merely another branch of cerebral entertainment, but should bring people back to their natural state of health and awareness. It is a chance for humans to remember that they are animals of the forest, to identify with their amazing life force rather than purely mental thoughts and ideas.

We are currently destroying jungles and rainforests, for the sake of the progression of our current lifestyle. Meanwhile, we are killing our most ancient teachers. As I have deepened my tai chi practice, I have realized that the power of my movements is connected to the welfare of the entire planet. Recognizing the intelligence of animals and the forests is what created tai chi to begin with. Those who work with animals recognize that they already embody the principles of tai chi. The practice is actually a weapon for the planet, because as it heals human beings, it connects them to the rest of the Earth and increases the likeliness that our society will not destroy the planet.

The rare tai chi practitioner will go to the direct source of their practice (the animals themselves) and see if what their teachers are telling them measures up to how animals move and interact with their world. That practitioner can no longer be fooled by clever words and mystical ideas of humans that are just rehearsing dogma or operating in a programmed way. Working with animals, for me, is the easiest way to stop being manipulated by other human beings, because you know the source of your own energy and creativity. You no longer need another person to tell you if you are behaving "correctly".

On leadership

The most important thing for a leader is to not be overly controlling and manipulative. The core of being a positive leader is to allow all of your followers their full reign of creativity and intelligence. You need to interact with them as living and changing organisms, and not merely view them from a templated abstraction about who they are.  If you only see them objectified through their various labels, such as “followers”, and you try and control them thusly, you will only succeed in snuffing out their fun and vibrancy and exhausting a lot of energy on your part.

There are many leaders, some of them are energetically dead and some are energetically alive. The energetically dead people tend to be aggressive or unbalanced leaders. They control the group from a position of authority that is fueled by a feeling of strength derived from tension. An energetically alive leader uses creativity and natural love to fuel his/her interactions. He/she does not need to hold up a strong ego to do battles for him/her, but simply interacts with everybody head on, completely relaxed.

Consider a tai chi form, which is a long sequence of precise movements. Many people think their way through the form. They guide their arms and legs into position through their ideas, concepts and principles they have mentally scribed as Law for their actions. This is a poor leadership of the body, because the body parts remain dead and tense while the mind simply guides them into the correct mold. The good practitioner knows not to interfere with or manipulate his/her body’s movements. The intelligence of the body has been strengthened through the practice of tai chi and each body part “knows” what to do on its own. The mind continues to analyze, but this analyzation no longer interferes with the aliveness of the body. This is a good leadership of the mind, because it fulfills its role but maintains respect for the conscious freedom of each of its “subjects.”

Consider how a snake moves its body. Its consciousness is distributed throughout its body, so that every body part can effortlessly move in coordination with every other part. This gives the animal incredible vibrancy. While a leader must be good at guiding his group pragmatically, safely and strategically, they must also have a vibrancy of aliveness so that a knowledgeable and clever mind does not overshadow his/her direct experience of his “possy”. Thus, the integration of this tai chi  ch’uan principle can directly improve the internal balance of a leader- enhancing his leadership skills and his ability to comfortably connect to his crew.