April 7, 2022

As spring finally arrives and the pandemic seems to be easing, we are all tempted to socialize more, to go on trips or host visitors, to let spontaneity re-enter our lives. We can be outdoors practicing tai chi together (no masks!) and that feels great. We can take our tai chi with us wherever we go. But in spring, summer, even fall, our delight in other activities may disrupt our regular tai chi practice. We miss classes or an instructor cancels a class. My thought here is that we need all these other activities in our lives just as much as we need tai chi. If you're motivated to do tai chi while on a beach in Florida or Hawaii, if you decide to try seated tai chi while waiting for a train, if you are on a tour of the Grand Canyon and take a moment for some tai chi fundamental exercises--that's wonderful. And if you forget about tai chi for a while, it's OKAY! Remember, tai chi will always be there for you and you can review and resume whenever you're ready.

March 18, 2022

Mud Season is upon us. Driving on the local dirt roads is a challenge  as the ruts deepen, the mud gets squishy, and the vehicle bounces, swerves, skitters, and feels like it has a mind of its own. I try to breathe deeply, keep hands firmly but not tightly on the steering wheel, and let the road's ever-changing contours push and pull as I remain--as calmly as possible--in something like control. This becomes a balance between my fearful, anxious desire to direct the car where I want it to go and the road's condition which has great power over my car and me. BALANCE--that's what's needed.

Feb. 28, 2022

The view from my house looking south includes a stump, a lilac bush and small sour cherry tree, a big maple, a couple of ash trees (that may have to come down eventually), and in the distance, my neighbor's big barn, trees, sky--the gentle slopes of the land, the snow on the ground, a constantly changing sky. All of this is part of CHI--that elusive concept that we refer to when thinking about/feeling our tai chi movements.

The air we breathe, the earth, rocks, snow, mud, or grass or stones beneath our feet, the plants' activities (no matter how quieted by winter), the light and shadows that stimulate our eyes--chi, chi, chi.

Add that to your own body, with its genetic make up, experiences, physical and mental properties.

Add that to the food and drink you take in.

Add that to the people and animals in your lives--from parents, lovers, children, ancestors, pets, work animals, wild visitors, insects, birds, even the slugs and microbes.

Add that to the social, economic, and historic forces that act upon you, that acted upon your forebears.

Turns out CHI is one very large concept!

Every time I look at this wonderfully silly visual some genius created I have to smile.

Hope you do too!