Meditation

In order to understand the multi-faceted art of T’ai Chi, we need to be aware of the underpinning knowledge associated with it.

As T’ai chi players, we clear and centre the mind. To create this state successfully we must let go of the past; not worry about the future and be in the moment. Our breathing becomes a pathway in which we can travel into our body and mind.

Students often remark that they feel ‘spaced out’ in their T’ai Chi practice: this is because they are not ‘grounded’. By using the mind, meditation enables us to ground ourselves. Chi is lead by the mind through the ‘meridians’. By sinking down and settling our minds we become ‘rooted’. The more relaxed the breath, the lower the ‘chi’ will sink.

‘Once in motion
Entire body must be light and agile,
It especially should be threaded together.
Body should be whole, connected and unified
Like ancient Chinese coins connected together.
Ancient Master.

We live in the target driven west, where life is fast pace and quick fix. We grasp at materialism and, most of the time, create our own tensions. This in turn can create blockages in our mind, body or spirit. Meditation helps us to quieten the mind and sink the ‘chi’ to the ‘dantien’. In silence, the mind naturally turns within to observe its own nature.