TaiChi - Pace yourself...

A very interesting week...
Over the past 5 months, at the request of our students, we have been working on a Voice Cue CD, which would allow them to hear our "call" while they practice at home. During the holiday break we worked very hard to get a draft into their hands this week. So we gave each class a chance to listen and move to the calls during their training time. This helped us take some notes on format and flow while it allowed them to feedback to us what they would like to hear. The overall response has been very positive and yet quite interesting.

The Three Bears...
We always encourage our students to share freely and (to our benefit) very few of them are too shy to do so. In helping us to review the Voice Cue CD, we heard that the pace of the CD calls was too slow, too fast and PERFECT! As I gave this mix of feedback some thought and watched the students doing the form to the CD, I noticed that some were ahead of the call, others were behind and a few were right on the money. Which students were at which pace, had less to do with how long they have been training this form and more to do with their personal spirit. It seemed that the ones with the most patience, did the best work with the CD.

God grant me patience, AND HURRY!
Each of us has our own pace in life. A flow, energy, vibration or whatever you want to call it. When we practice Tai Chi on our own, we are able to embrace this personal rhythm and flow within the form. When we practice in a group environment, the teacher sets the pace and because students are there to learn, they conform to his/her flow. When we played the Voice Cue CD for them, the students lost their visual cues and had to somehow try to conform to our voices while finding themselves alone in the movements. This is when the differences in energy surfaced into the comments of too fast, too slow and perfect. I feel this all boils down to patience.

Can we surrender our desire to control; allowing ourselves the opportunity to experience a Tai Chi flow within someone else's voice?

Can we let go of second-guessing and our self critical, judgmental natures long enough to enjoy the Tai Chi experience?

Can we give ourselves the space to be less than perfect?

I don't like being uncomfortable...
So often, the students that walk away from Tai Chi training do so because they became uncomfortable with something. Either they felt they would never get the movements, or they did not like the feelings of frustration, impatience, confusion that they experienced during training. I have found that the most powerful growth experiences in my life have come from the times when I was most uncomfortable. It can be physical, mental or emotional discomfort but it is always when we have to pick ourselves up and say - "You can do this" that we get the most out of whatever knocked us down. Each of us who trains in Tai Chi, experiences these setbacks on a regular basis, if you are truly paying attention. That is the beauty of Tai Chi, it makes you uncomfortable, helps you grow and learn, physically, mentally and emotionally.

Tai Chi helps us to experience and appreciate life more fully. Is that not why we came into this world?


On a side note...
We have several students facing serious, life threatening illnesses head on right now.

Will they be stronger on the other side of their personal struggles?

Will they appreciate the life they have more fully?

Will we be a better people for working with them, helping them on their challenging journeys?

Will we all gain a little life perspective that allows us to be more patient with our families and ourselves?

Absolutely!