As I arrived at my first class I was not sure where this week would take us... I have been working to simply open my heart, let the lesson in and run with it; exploring in greater detail with each passing class. Then at the end of the week I sit, ponder, smile and write about my adventures... That is all great and good but it is Monday morning, MOMENTS before my first class and I've got nothing. Then, one of my long term students comes up, we share a hug and she tells me of her trials with sciatic nerve problems. She has been in a LOT of pain, for months now, missing a lot of Tai Chi classes (and life in general) to this painful situation. I begin to speak with her about alignment and she proceeds to tell me that she has been working on that and has noticed that if she is even the least bit our of alignment when she steps or walks she notices the pain increase significantly. BINGO! I found my lesson... Alignment... Thank you.
Many Layers... Much concentration...
Because Tai Chi is much more an ongoing learning process rather than an exercise class, it holds many discoveries within its layers. Physical, mental and spiritual training all come into play, especially when we become challenged. Becoming proficient at the physical training is the tip of the iceberg, it takes a lot of concentration to be able to develop your Tai Chi awareness to higher levels.
Alignment happens at all levels...
There are many levels of alignment in Tai Chi. On the mental level, you can consider that mental clarity is a form of alignment; allowing your thoughts to flow in the same direction instead of being a constant swarm of disconnected confusion. On a spiritual level, an open, loving heart is a form of positive alignment. Think about when you are angry or frustrated, don't you feel "misaligned" and a bit confused or at the very least distracted? Each step on your Tai Chi Journey will delve deeper into one of these layers. To keep things a bit simple, I chose to focus this week on physical alignment because this is a foundational attention that is necessary to help students continue to develop a deeper awareness of their own bodies.
Head, shoulders, knees and hips; knees and hips...
Imagine a connection from your shoulders to your hips that prevents them from twisting away from each other. They stay parallel, connected when you turn, while you move gently through Qigong exercises or the Tai Chi forms. You focus is then on keeping a strong spine and maintaining a strong connection between the hips and shoulders. This may seem restrictive, especially if you are used to driving with the shoulders, however it is a great way to help establish that upper and lower body connection we need for our training. TOTAL BODY UNIT, my teacher always says...Keep your upper and lower body connected and strong.
Twisting the night away...
I can not tell you how many times I have seen people twisting their bodies aggressively, thinking that they are "stretching out". I have even seen one person hold hand weights and twist his body around. YIKES!! For a younger person, the body may be more resilient (although not always) to this type of abuse but as we get older (after 55 years old) the spine slowly becomes more vulnerable to damage. The discs begin to shrink and so the space between the vertebrae begins to decrease leaving the root nerves prone to surprise attacks from "unorganized" twisting motions. As we get stronger through the fundamental connection between the shoulders and hips, we can begin to gently twist and separate but it has to be done with full attention and clarity. ANY dipping of the shoulder when twisting becomes a potential for tweaks, sprains, pain and even worse...
Just Listen and move gently...
Pay close attention when you turn your body, keep your spine in control and you will develop a deep strength that will allow more range of motion in the safest possible way. If you want to twist, make sure your shoulders are parallel and that your are twisting with upward attention to the spine so as to not compress the vertebra during the movements. Deep breathing also helps to stimulate circulation so exhale during the twist in order to further release the mid core area and gently massaging your internal organs in the process.
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