This article is a personal reflection on how Tai Chi practice can become a dialogue with the natural world — a form of moving meditation in harmony with life itself.
A moment in the park
I was maybe 10 years into my Tai Chi, Qigong, Meditation journey when one day I was doing my normal lunch time practice in the park in Southern Washington State, USA. Historically in my practice I would work through the form, remaining present, but rather solely focused on my own internal reality, the movements, the weighting, the breath and the sensation of it all, normally too focused on what I was doing to understand what was happening around me while I practiced. I must say it takes a long time and many, many repetitions to have the form down solid enough to be able to perfect the form itself while also paying attention to something else and normally this is not recommended to get distracted in this manor.
Movement in sync with nature
For whatever reason, on this particular day, I stepped outside of my own personal reality while practicing and started noticing how the world around me moved while I moved. In that hyper-present moment and started to make sense of the connections between all things. Whereas before I would practice in the park, on this day I realized I was moving and practicing with the park.
Let me explain: As I moved, I watched the branches of the trees swaying, dancing, the pine needles yielding and moving at their own speed, the blades of grass pulsed and moved like a wave, birds flying through my space, clouds passing through the sky, ripples on the lake expanding, kinetic. Insects hovering, moving from flower to flower. As I inserted and observed my own movement within this seemingly random canvas of movement, it hit me that at times it was not random at all, but rather connected, perfectly synchronous, much like a tai chi group class when all the students practice together, watching, timing, adapting speed to be in perfect timing and speed with the other students, moving as one.
Nature does this as well as I now discovered, almost like it was watching me, adapting to my pace, connecting and I would do the same, adapting to the speed of nature, in perfect unison, moving as one. It was from this moment of clarity that my understanding of myself and how I am part of the larger picture has changed my practice.
A new understanding of Tai chi and nature connection
The texts of Tai Chi and Qigong recognise 3 categories of Chi:
- Heaven Chi (moon, sun, stars, galaxies)
- Earth Chi (mountains, rivers, trees etc)
- Body Chi (movement, breathing, speaking)
All sources of Chi that should be drawn upon while playing. But this moment for me tied everything together and taught me how important it is to not only internalize and draw upon these different energies while practicing, but also being mindful of my place in the universe. Seeing it in action while understanding the big picture is even more impactful. “It is not about me, it is not a competition, I am just a small part of the big picture and everything is connected.”
Once I was mindful of this, my practice changed. I developed a sense of empowerment: I was now not just a person doing tai chi for his own personal benefit but I existed and moved amongst all of it, connected to everything else. I could draw upon and interact with other energies aside from myself. I was not alone.
Tai Chi at the speed of nature.
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