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Experience Exchange
Listening to Your Inner Rhythms
O
ne of my earliest memories of really getting hooked on Tai Chi took place in a class where we were practicing
the form as a big group. In one very fleeting moment, I felt three interlaced rhythms all at once: my heartbeat,
the rhythm of my breath, and the cadence of the form as we all moved through it together. Each one was
distinct, but layered on top of the others.
It was one of those experiences where, as soon as you stop and realize you're having it, it vanishes, but the effects of that
brief moment of the integrated harmony of breath, heartbeat and movement lingered. Now I had a touchstone to come
back to in my practice.
I didn't really understand how this experience worked. Later, I was surprised to see how harmonizing movement, breath,
and intention created internal space that filled up other areas of my life too.
Let me see if I can explain it. When you see people practicing the flowing movements of Tai Chi in the park, on some
level you understand that the way they are moving on the outside resonates on the inside. Intuitively, you know that
calming your body may lead
to a calmer mind, but until I
started learning Tai Chi, I
couldn't get into that state in
a reliable, reproduceable
way.
Essentially, the stillness you
find inside the graceful
movements of Tai Chi
comes from an inward
listening -- referred to in Tai
Chi as "ting jin" or
"listening energy". By
harmonizing the rhythm of
your form and the rhythm of
your natural internal
processes, you reach a still
point.
Finding the still point is
different every time you
practice. Think of it like
going to the ocean. Are the
waves smooth or angry
today? Is it windy? What
about the deeper currents in
the water?
by Dan Kleiman
January, 2012 Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) 39