Blaise Stephanus |
Tai Chi, An Essential Skill in Stressful Times
About three years ago I returned to practicing Tai Chi after a long absence. I became a student at the Gu Feng Tai Chi Club and have realized many many benefits. One set of benefits that surprised me was the strength that I got from Tai Chi during a set of family tragedies. This Spring my wife of 17 years suddenly and unexpectedly died. Two days later my Mother died. And a few weeks later my dog died.
I cannot express in this article the heavy burden of grief that occurs. The grief has its own schedule and can be overwhelming at times. There are moments to cry and moments lost in some other realm far from the present moment. I have learned that grief cannot be avoided but that Tai Chi can help mitigate its effects.
The first thing Tai Chi gave me was awareness. I can tell when I am drifting off. When that happens I often focus on my breathing and awareness of my feet. This brings me back to earth and the breathing makes the sadness less acute.
Tai Chi also gives me a break from those thoughts that have been in my mind for a while. When I am doing the form my thoughts stop and I am focused on my body and the movement. After the practice I feel refreshed and often it breaks the spell of the tough thought I had before I started.
Gu Feng also offers very special friendships. We all share special interests and the friends are deep on a level I really can’t explain. I am very thankful that I am a student of Gu Feng and really believe the skills I have learned are helping get through a tough time in my life. There are many more benefits I could go into but they are for another article. |
| Sean McCollum
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A Practice 20 Years in the Making
About 20 years ago, I was teaching English in Hong Kong while living at a retreat center in the New Territories. Each morning as I left to catch my train, I was greeted by perhaps a dozen people practicing Tai Chi on the grounds. The scene and movements made an impression of peace and harmony in motion, and something in my gut longed to join in.
A few years later found me living and working in New York City. I finally took the step and joined a studio in Manhattan, though I was only able to move through about a third of the 24 Posture form before relocating to Colorado. On my own, I often repeated the postures I knew as a form of meditation.
Finally, last year I found Gu Feng Tai Chi Club thanks to Chris Liu Perkins and in January was offered the opportunity to join. With the very patient, caring instruction of Laura, Tony, and Eladia, plus the shared support of other “newbies,” I started over and built my practice posture by posture, then began to link and weave them together. By August, I more or less had the basic postures in my body’s memory and was nervously happy to take part in the club’s demonstration at the 2009 Boulder Asian Festival.
Finally, after two decades of wishing, I now feel that I have a toehold in Tai Chi practice. (And the clear recognition that I am only at the beginning of a multi-layered and multifaceted journey!) In moments of stress or distraction during a day, I will pause and practice standing meditation, silk reeling, or part or all of the form, as a way to draw back toward balance and the center.
Perhaps someday I can return to that place in Hong Kong and take part in a morning practice, and offer a thank you for planting the vision in my mind. In the meantime, I thank Gu Feng Tai Chi club for helping it take root in me in the here and now.
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