We all need ways to cope with uncertainty and fear that invade our lives. I asked my students how Tai Chi has been helping them cope with these difficult times. May we all have moments of calm and ways to reduce stress and anxiety. Read how David is experiencing that through Tai Chi:
“1. Through the pandemic, tai chi has been my constant. With so much uncertainty and change in our current lives, wondering (and not knowing) on a daily basis what the future will bring, tai chi remains unchanged: the warm up exercises we do and the form itself provide constancy. The moves remain the same week after week; the energy which infuses them are the same. Doing tai chi provides reassurance, the comfort of the familiar.
“2. Getting through the pandemic can be overwhelming — so much to think about, worry about, wonder about, to do. Life is simply more complicated these days. What once took one step now takes six.
“Tai Chi is a welcome and much needed antidote to this. Tai chi shifts your focus to small, elemental things — the position of your foot, the sweep of an arm, the bend of your elbow, the inhale of a breath, the weight of your leg as it presses into the ground, providing mental and physical balance as it sends roots deep into the earth.
“3. The community Tai Chi has provided has been a gift. With so much we can now do whenever we wish – with an app, or a YouTube video or a streaming service — meeting weekly (via zoom) in real time, live, to practice Tai Chi creates true community. Knowing that we all are moving in unison, at the same exact time, in our respective homes, creates a powerful energy which cannot be duplicated on one’s own.”