Faulk TaiChi

Learn the beautiful, flowing movements for health and relaxation.

One World. . .One Breath

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Join us, breathe and connect your energy with others you know and don’t know across the world. Yes, connect with a stranger on another continent thousands of miles away! On the last Saturday in April we celebrate World Tai Chi and QiGong Day. We can participate with others at an indoor event, outside in a park moving through gentle Tai Chi movements or at home in our living room.

Join me on Saturday, April 25, 10am in your time zone. Stop. pay attention and breathe. Imagine and feel the connection with others who are stopping to breathe and connect with you. This wave of breathing and connecting our energy starts at 10am in New Zealand and Australia, then travels across the world in every time zone on earth. What a positive way to spread good will, spread our good energy and connect with others, a positive gesture of giving of our best selves and sharing a positive moment with no agenda and no personal gain.

Thousands, maybe millions will be joining us. Just to share energy and connect.

Join me and if you are outside, take time to enjoy the trees, the grass, the flowers, the birds.

Why Tai Chi – Why Now?

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Why not? Kids are returning to school. Summer outside activities are in full-swing but it won’t be long until we shift into an autumn mode and in many climates, more inside activities will predominate. Although decades have passed since I was that child looking forward to a new school year, so excited to shop for my school supplies, including paper, pencils, eraser and ruler (showing my age!), I still feel that anticipation of looking forward to starting the school year.

I hope as adults we can generate that excitement for ourselves, for new activities and new learning. It should never get old.

NOW is a good time. A good time to commit to new learning. A good time to bring nourishment to our bodies and clear out all the clutter and chatter in our heads. I’m partial to saying “now” to Tai Chi because I know first-hand how beneficial it is for relaxing, managing anxiety, chronic health conditions and improving balance.

Why Tai Chi now? Because putting off, saying ‘maybe later’ could easily lead to doing nothing at all. Gear up and say ‘yes’. You don’t need any equipment nor special clothing, just youself and an open mind. I have classes you can join now, or, if you aren’t physically close, look for a class or start with a YouTube video.

You can join these students who have said already said ‘yes’. Recommend a class to a friend or come together. I’d like to hear from you.

I’m making my plea for action because I’m in my 26th year of teaching Tai Chi and I’m passionate about Tai Chi. As a teacher I know the distance can be very long from saying you want to take a Tai Chi class and getting out the door to go to a class. So many people say they are interested in learning how to relax, do something positive for their health, take a class and don’t because something else comes up. Don’t let that be you.

Tai Chi – NOW is your time. NOW is our time.

Shimmering Leaves

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Where I live in live in the midwest part of the United States, the trees and bushes continue to show us spring and new life, with small buds, leaves and blossoms. The tulips are up, standing erect with their tall with their slender green stems and some of the pansies are still smiling back at us.

In Tai Chi class we bring intention and attention to the present moment, to how we are standing and moving, to our alignment and our breathing. The Tai Chi Classics say that our internal energy, Qi, roots in the feet, transfers through the legs, is commanded by the waist, moves up the back, then through arms and flowers in the hands and fingers.

That’s like the trees. Think about all the work they do to bring up nutrients and energy from the earth, through their trunk and branches and flower at the tips, with leaves and blossoms. I start every class asking students to stand with legs and feet parallel, hip-width apart. We shift our weight slightly forward, then to the center, to the outside, inside of the feet, returning to center. We move in a small circular motion, visualizing our feet connected to the earth, feeling the energy and bringing it up through the entire body, flowering in the hands and fingers.

I love that image because we become like the trees, particularly at this time of year, when the leaves are new. The new leaves are a light green and have a shimmering quality. New life and a new season, nourishment and renewed energy.

Walking outside after class in downtown Chicago this week, right in front of me were city trees, with new leaves shimmering in the sunlight. Take a minute to really look at these trees. What a message they are giving us with new life, a new chapter and season. Let us pay attention and start a new season for ourselves, thinking about possibilities, a new way to move forward and nourish ourselves

Almost Spring

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Exciting signs that spring is near — more sunlight in our days, little buds and leaves on the trees, a touch of warmer weather and lighter jackets on our backs. Yes, those of us who live in climates where winter seems to linger, anticipate and talk about the promise of spring. It is close at hand and we anticipate what is coming by paying attention when we’re outside by trees, near the soil with seedlings, listening to the joy of birds singing their springtime songs.

Scott Street, Chicago

In Tai Chi class we often visualize rooting our legs and feet like a tree, feeling the rich soil filled with nutrients and energy. Like the trees and plants, we bring that earth energy up through our bodies to nourish and refresh us. We let go of tension, relax. We connect with the natural flow of nature and the universe.

Taking time to watch the growth and blossoming of the trees, bushes and flowers start to show their colors is a good antidote to all the negative news and turmoil that keep trying to monopolize our attention. Put the phone away the minute before you walk out the door and while you’re outside, notice. . . every living thing around you. Smile and say hello as you pass someone on the sidewalk. Stop to look at the trees in your neighborhood. Maybe you can say hello to them, too. They will answer soon with a glorious display of bright green leaves, beautiful blossoms, and when we pay attention, bring a smile to our face.

Photos from Chicago, West Des Moines, and Wilmette