Tai Chi: Meditation in Motion
By Patricia McNally
It’s over 5,000 years old but the ancient art of T’ai Chi still offers the potential to enhance everything we do. It improves circulation (chi/energy), aligns our mind, body and spirit, increases our flexibility and balance, relaxes us and even slows down the ageing process.
It’s often described as a ‘meditation in motion’, as a slow, gentle series of movements bring you to inner focus, easing us away from our chattering mind. Cheng Man Ch’ing, master of the Five Excellences, T’ai Chi and Medicine included, said that among his patients, those who practiced T’ai Chi were the healthiest. Incorporating T’ai Chi and its principles into our daily lives, we can gain the pliability of a child, the strength of a lumberjack and the peace of mind of a sage.
Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, also recommends it. He has said that T’ai Chi takes us into stillness and that the body is a great porthole, a way beyond form. Tolle advises us to pay attention to the ‘space’ around things; a tree or a fl ower or a person and at times, the word itself will take me to that awareness. Maybe T’ai Chi has the same vibration as Tolle’s work, both help to align us with our true nature and take us beyond form, creating a beautiful space to centre ourselves, and where with practice, we can stay longer each time to continue to live in the power of now.
