Using Tai Chi to train focus, concentration...

I read an article this week on the effects of aging on our ability to concentrate. READ ARTICLE HERE According to this study, done by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine there seems to be no connection between aging and a loss of concentration. So now all my "old" students will have to find another excuse for their lack of focus... ;-) In their defense, there are two ways I know for certain can affect a student's ability to concentrate; hydration and medicine. If you are not getting enough water your brain chemistry can be altered making it much more difficult to concentrate. Western medicine has, with its LOOOOOOOOOOONG list of side effects can also impair one's ability to concentrate either directly altering brain chemistry or indirectly with ugly side effects that serve to distract us.

Mental muscles... Mind over matter?
It has been my experience that we can very effectively train our "concentration muscles" The study from Wake Forest goes a long way to support that hypothesis. READ STUDY SUMMARY HERE When working with a new Tai Chi student, we work first on helping them learn to recognize and release muscle tension. We work on mechanical fundamentals until they begin to gain a better mind/body connection (communication). As they grow in their training they find it easier to concentrate, developing higher levels of communication within their bodies. Meditation is a great example of this process. When you first attempt meditation (lets say just being still and focusing on the breath) you will typically find it very difficult to stay focused for any period of time. Usually, your mind will "wander off" task and it will take you a while to even realize it. After several frustrating attempts, most students , at this point label meditation as "too hard" or "not for me". The ones that keep working on it soon find their awareness of the "wandering mind" becomes more acute and that are able to more quickly return to their meditation focus. The formula is simple
(Practice + Time = Success)

Imagine that...
I have read many books about Tai Chi and Qigong and have worked with many gifted teachers; across the board, each of them speaks of using visualizations as a training tool. For a long time, I had trouble with this; later I could FEEL the benefit but lacked understanding. Now, I realize how visualization actually provides us with another method of communicating with our bodies. For example, early in training I am asking students to focus on three points of their feet to help them establish better stability and balance; later on, as they become more aware and comfortable with this focus, I ask them to "feel heavy" in their steps or stance without compromising their posture. Once the sensations of heaviness are easy for them to achieve throughout their practice they will lose the need for the visualization and begin to simply "be heavy". The feeling of being grounded and solid stays with them without the mental effort. This deepened sense of mind/body understanding is the root of our Tai Chi and Qigong training. We are ever refining our personal mind/body connection in order to develop deep strength and flexibility; increased circulation and vitality; heightened immune function and a very powerful overall sense of unity and peace.

Relaxation exercise... Please, try this at home...
Next time you are having trouble falling asleep or just want to relax for a bit, maybe meditate? ;-) try this...

Begin by sitting or lying down comfortably and focusing on your breath. Just listen to the inhale / exhale cycle and allow yourself to be still with this focus. Once your concentration has settled comfortably into the breath, visualize that with every exhale you are sinking deeper into the chair or mattress. Don't try to "make" yourself relax, simply visualize the sinking energy upon every exhale. It may take some practice to stay focused but I have found this to be a wonderful tool on a restless night. As with everything else, the more you practice, the easier it gets...Don't give up!

Rules for visualization
The rule is... There are no rules! NO right or wrong way to "play". Identify a desired focus (like relaxation) and then create and imagery you can relate to which gives you the sensation of being relaxed. The tool came can be used to create strong posture, grounding energy and any of our other 12 principals for Tai Chi and Qigong training.

Relax, focus and have fun with it!

Thanks Tai Chi!

Being a short week with a reduced class schedule, I wanted to keep things simple in class. I felt compelled to ask everyone to join me in feeling thankful and reaching for our "smiling hearts".

Real, physical benefits...
As I have mentioned before, being able to tap into our smiling energy can bring about very real, physical benefits. Scientifically, it has been shown that laughing, smiling and feeling happy releases chemicals that help to relax muscles, reduce blood pressure and provide an overall sense of well being. Not to mention that people will want to be around you, sharing in your happiness. It is contagious! Take it from someone who took MANY years to find his smiling heart, life is much easier on this side of the fence.

We all have much to be thankful for...
In my profession, I have spent time working with people of all ages dealing with physical, mental and emotional challenges. While each person touches my heart in some way, the children have always touched me the deepest. I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with children the physical challenges of Juvenile Arthritis, Muscular Dystrophy and other potentially terminal illnesses. It took me a long time to reconcile for myself a personal understanding as to why these children are made to suffer so much at such a tender, innocent age. I have shed many tears in meditation on this subject. With all these children go through, it always amazes me how strong and mature they handle their particular challenges. They seem to always have a smile and seem grateful for everything around them. I firmly believe that these, very special children, are advanced souls sent here to TEACH US lessons of compassion, understanding and unconditional love... Are we listening?

Personal thanks....
I have many things to be thankful for in my life... My wife Fayne, our beautiful sons, our health and this amazing path of love, light and sharing we walk together. I am so grateful to each of our students who come to class each week with an open, loving heart ready to work for their own betterment. Each of you, each day fill my heart with joy and love. Thank you!

I would like to encourage each of you reading this blog entry to take 5 minutes to sit down and contemplate all of the things you are thankful for in your life. Feel the love & gratitude flow through your body; notice tension and stress begin to drift away as you focus more and more on your gratitude and love. Relax your breath, open your heart and smile.

There, you have just added to your life expectancy...

Forced versus functional range of motion...

Over the first 23 years of my martial training I was taught to push my body to it's limits in every possible way. If I could only do a flying side kick into a heavy bag over 1 chair, then I needed to practice until I could do 4 chairs. If my stretching partner could only get my heel up to shoulder height then his goal was to stick it in my ear. Everywhere I turned I was being given (what I now know) is bad advice on developing effective flexibility and strength. Ballistic (bouncing) stretches, forced stretching, Cold stretching...all paths to injury. Worse yet, in 23 years of stretching this way I never got any more flexible. It would work for short periods but then my body would heal and tighten back up. In the 7 years I have been training with Master Chen, I have become more flexible than ever before. While I am still working through scar tissue, from the previous 23 years of training and injuries, I am slowly and gentle releasing deep scars into healthy tissue; truly enjoying the positive results of this fresh (ancient) approach to flexibility.

While it is much easier to demonstrate and have you experience this in a classroom setting, I will do my best to share how we create flexibility using Tai Chi principals.

Maximum or forced versus functional range of motion...

Tai Chi and Qigong work on the premise of efficiency. Using the fewest muscles possible to achieve a particular movement or range of motion. It is in this relaxed approach to development that we find the gentle beauty of Tai Chi and Qigong training.

Try this stretch:

Stand in tall posture, hands by your sides with palms facing forward. Fingers should feel full but not tight; elbows are extended but not locked; shoulders are relaxed and the spine is straight and tall. Focus on keeping the shoulders relaxed as you VERY SLOWLY begin to raise your arms to the sides (away from your body). It is not important how far up you go, this gentle stretch is about how well you can keep your shoulders relaxed. Keep moving up until you feel you can no longer maintain a relaxed shoulder. Hold the position, breathe deeply and try to release the shoulders. If you can release the shoulders then move up a bit more slowly and repeat until you can no longer maintain a clear relaxed sensation in the shoulders. When you can no longer release the shoulders you have gone just a bit too high. Slowly release and find the point at which you are at your highest level WITH relaxed shoulders. When you find that point you should feel a gentle stretch begin somewhere in the arms between the shoulders and finger tips. Where, is completely dependant on your body's natural flexibility and range of motion. Every body is a little different in this respect. You have now found your functional range of motion, that is, the level of movement (in this position) you can achieve WITH relaxed shoulders. Of course you can continue to move up and probably overhead as well but this becomes a forced range of motion and only serves to make the joints feel threatened and tighten up. This extended range (forced stretch) may feel like a "good stretch" but it is merely a defense mechanism the body uses to protect the joints. Also, if you move from the gentle stretch to the forced stretched (even just a little) you will notice that the gentle stretch goes away completely. The muscles have taken over and the joints have locked themselves down.

Bottom line Western versus Eastern...

You do not have to abuse your body to achieve maximum results but it does take longer to do it slowly and gently, which is where most of us in the western world "fall short". We have been trained to "get results NOW" either through POWER WORKOUTS; MAGIC PILLS or some new fangled contraption that puts your body in "just the right position" to obtain "maximum calorie burn" and "great abs" or buns or something... Stop falling for the "easy fix" no matter which way you choose to train, it will take patience, consistent practice and time. Yes, time.

Smile, breathe and enjoy a loving gentle approach to deeper strength and greater flexibility. See you in Tai Chi class!!!

Tai Chi, making lemonade out of lemons...

The personal challenges I experienced teaching classes the last two weeks have led me to explore further what was helping and what was hurting my hip injury. In a sense, I took the opportunity to make lemonade out of the lemons I had been given. The first few days I was significantly restricted in my motions and had to be extremely careful with my alignment. Any guesses as to what we worked on in class? ALIGNMENT and SMALL STEPS. ;-)

Stress and the power workout...
In the western mindset of effective exercise, there is a prevailing concept of bigger, better, faster MORE! While this is beginning to soften, I still see many "Fad" exercise programs cropping up that focus on crunching as many exercises into a 20 minute "power workout" as possible to meet the demands of our ever shrinking "personal time". In the eastern world there is a clear focus on balance; working towards harmony instead of strife. If you live your life as a turtle or sloth you will suffer from the diseases related to that slow paced life style. (obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure...) Conversely, if you live the life of a hummingbird, you will attract the diseases related to that life style. (Hypertension, migraines, strokes, heart attacks...) It is no wonder to me that statistically, over 70% of the diseases we see in this country have been DIRECTLY linked to stress. CLICK FOR ARTICLE ON STRESS AND THE MIND The ideal scenario is to create a balance whereby you spend the majority of your time in the median with brief jaunts into turtle mode to relax, rest or recover from an illness or into hummingbird mode to move past a challenge quickly and effectively. Too much in any one place can clearly harm your health.

Dr. Esther M. Sternberg, M.D. has provided us some wonderful research in this field:

CLICK HERE - LISTEN TO A PBS INTERVIEW WITH DR. STERNBERG

CLICK HERE - ORDER DR. STERBERG'S BOOK - THE BALANCE WITHIN The Science Connecting Health & Emotions

Small steps + Strong alignment = Safe strength and flexibility training...
While I do not recommend going out and getting injured to any Tai Chi teacher, I have felt great personal value in the past two weeks. As I went through my week of teaching I noticed that even slight lapses in attention caused me pain while going through the Tai Chi forms. The Sun Style forms (Tai Chi for Arthritis) were more forgiving in nature while the strong steps and deeper angles of the Yang Style required much more of my attention to prevent pain. In between classes I found myself doing some gentle "step only" form movements to help loosen the hip and warm it up for class time. Keeping it simple has really helped me to increase circulation and flexibility in the injured area while not creating undue stress and pain. I have found that Tai Chi steps (forward, backward and sideways) are excellent for helping to release a stressed, painful hip joint. I have also learned that if you over do it, you will pay for it later. Keep it slow, simple and gentle to gain the maximum results. These are things I have been sharing with my students for years now, working to help them create an environment of trust in a chronic or acutely injured area, however, experiencing it for myself again, at this juncture of my training, has been very beneficial.

Keeping it simple...
For the purpose of this article, I want to keep things simple and discuss (using Tai Chi Walking) how to create effective alignment. It all begins with three points on the feet.

By staying in tall posture and keeping these three points evenly weighted to the floor you are effectively keeping the foot, ankle, shin, knee, thigh, pelvis and spine all in proper alignment. Beginning with basic Tai Chi Walking, keep your steps very small (half or smaller) and focus intently on the three points with your proper alignment. Begin by shifting weight to one leg while releasing the other leg to the floor, relaxed. When you place your empty foot forward, make sure it releases completely to the floor before you place any weight to it. The when you begin to shift weight to the front leg for a forward step, make sure you release the BACK leg to the floor BEFORE you free it and bring it forward. ALWAYS paying close attention to proper alignment. This is why you will need to take smaller steps. We are not as flexible as we think we are as proper Tai Chi Walking clearly shows us. Make sure your hips and shoulders are facing the direction you are moving and not turning out when making the steps. You can also apply these same procedures to a backward or sideways step depending on what your particular challenge is at this time.


As always, consistency and gentleness are more important than a hard, overbearing style. Listen to your body, treat it with respect and it will serve you very well.

Tai Chi and Qigong for Pain Management...

I have always felt strongly about how well Tai Chi and Qigong can strengthen and heal the body, mind and spirit. Whether the pain / injury is acute or chronic, many, many people have found relief and even resolution within the halls of Tai Chi and Qigong training. This week it was my turn to put these theories to the test... again.

Zig, zag, bam....
On Sunday I installed a new back tire on my motorcycle and proceed to take it around the block (on side streets) to make sure it was mechanically sound. With 25 years of riding experience I know that new tires can sometimes be slippery but in this case it was like ice. I barely made it out of my driveway when the bike decided to throw me left, then right, then down to the pavement. Don't worry, the bike is fine, only minor damage. I, on the other hand, ended up with a scraped up elbow and a deep contusion to the right hip that I honestly thought might be broken. A Monday visit to Dr. Chen (our Tai Chi Master and family Doctor) assured me that it was just a deep bruise. While Dr. Chen examined me, something profound happened that I felt compelled to share with my students this week and so will share here as well. Being a Chinese Orthopedist, I trust him implicitly but my hip was not so sure. As he moved my right leg through its range of motion to determine the extent of the injuries, I struggled to relax using my deep breathing to help ease the pain. At one point he wanted to move the joint in a direction that my body would have none of. He had clearly found the deepest damage and was trying to release it for healing. Pain and tension abound, sorry doc, no dice. We had reached an impasse until he spoke three simple words to me "relax your heart". Literally within that moment I reached for my smiling heart, relaxed into the exam table and my hip released. The pain was down from a 8-9 level to a 3-4 level just like that! He and I were both surprised that I was so quickly able to reach for my smiling heart and relax so completely. I have been working on this training for over 6 years under his guidance, this was the first time I have been able to present it so quickly and effectively. Smiling Energy is a high level Tai Chi and Qigong practice that starts early in training but takes many years to integrate into your practice effectively. While I am clear (and certain he will remind me) that this is a baby step in my training, using Smiling Energy and feeling that release under such physical and mental duress / pain was definitely a step in the right direction.

Creating your Tai Chi Toolbox...
Being able to use Deep Breathing and Smiling Energy to help manage this injury has again shown me the profound value of my training. There is a caveat, however, in that it takes dedicated practice to be able to use these tools (and many others) when your body, mind or spirit is under duress. Trying to learn a deep breathing meditation technique while you are in severe pain or emotional stress is significantly more difficult, in my opinion. Consistent practice is the only way that you can be assured the tools will be ready when you need them, period. No short cuts. Just imagine the amplified frustration of learning to tie your shoes for the first time while in severe pain. Whereby if you had been tying your shoes for years, prior to the pain, you might have a hard time with it but your chance of success would be greatly increased.

I'm already in pain...What now?
Many of the students that come to us for training and support are already in pain. Tendencies towards depression, stress, anger, deep frustration and significant amounts of physical tension are amplified when one is experiencing chronic pain. All three levels (physical, mental and spiritual) will be affected to some degree. Using a pain medication (pill or injections) to "mask" the symptoms does little or nothing to help alleviate the problem it only gives the patient a false sense of relief that has them "up and moving again". Often in a way that (if they were able to feel it) aggravates their original problem. In my Eastern medical training the goal is to use the pain as a path to the source of the problem. Work to resolve the problem and the pain will very often subside or disappear altogether. So we approach students in pain very carefully to avoid further damage. First we need to understand where the pain is and if at all possible what is causing it. Then we can suggest slow range of motion exercises coupled with the deep breathing to help increase circulation while not over working the area in challenge. Our goal is to create an environment of trust within the injury so that the healing process can be enhanced. If the injury feels threatened by the students movements (pushing past the pain) then it will very often increase the pain signals and further restrict range of motion through the injured area. Typically it takes more time to train a student in pain to better manage their condition(s) with these tools, however, the results are long lived and often life changing in nature.

All 12 principals we teach in our Tai Chi and Qigong classes are merely tools for your toolbox that you can reach for when you need them to attain strength, focus and harmony within your body, mind and spirit. Practice consistently and your toolbox will always be at the ready.