Faulk TaiChi

Learn the beautiful, flowing movements for health and relaxation.

Changing the Way You Look at Things

By

A few days ago I posted a quote on my FAULK TAI CHI Facebook page, from Wayne W. Dyer, a prolific writer and inspirational speaker:

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

The reach was far and readers liked it. It makes sense to me that people do want to broaden their perspectives, think more creatively or embrace change. How do we do that?

Faulk Tai Chi demonstration

One of my Tai Chi students had a profound experience of this change, which I want to share. She is a new student, in her fourth month of weekly Tai Chi class with me.  She is motivated to learn and is inquisitive. Early on she asked, “Does my arm go here? Should I try to relax my fingers?,” wanting to follow and do the moves ‘correctly’.

“The most important thing is to relax and focus on is where your weight is. The benefit of Tai Chi comes from intentionally shifting your weight in a very methodical way,” I explain to her and the class.

“Tai Chi and QiGong are about ‘allowing’ rather than ‘trying hard’. Letting go, relaxing can be a challenge in our busy lives. But for this hour, we have no ‘to do’s’ and no ‘shoulds’,” I add.

After class one day, this student came up to me.

“I’m so excited and  just have to tell you something,” she said. “I always thought of  energy as something I use to get me through my days and when it’s low, I know I need more sleep. I’ve never consciously felt it and frankly I haven’t, before now, thought about it intentionally. But with Tai Chi I’ve felt warmth in my hands and a few ‘a-ha’s’ when I start to relax. I was out walking my dog last night and I felt centered and thought to myself, I’m moving my energy. I’m feeling my energy!”

She has shifted how she looks at energy and now her energy has changed. Wonderful!

Dangling Days of August

By

The London Olympics have finished, but individual stories continue. Some athletes walked away with medals, the pride and talk of their countries. A few landed lucrative endorsements, which we will see in TV ads, billboards, clothing endorsements and for Gabby Douglas, her picture on a cereal box. Most finished with just having had the opportunity to compete in the big games, with the memory of being an Olympic athlete. Many need to figure out how to pay their bills, need to figure out if they can financially make it to train for the next four years in hopes of making it to Rio.

A friend of mine said last week that he was going to be happy getting his evenings back. He was glued to the TV every night of the games, and although enjoying it immensely, he wanted to focus on other things.

We’re at that time of year when there’s not much on TV, vacations are ending, children are back or getting ready to go back to school. It’s definitely noticeable that the sun is rising later in the morning and setting earlier in the evening. Although change of seasons is in the air, these last two weeks in August just seem to dangle out there. It’s an interlude. An in-between time. A time not to miss.

In Tai Chi class, I often ask students to stop and reflect on a tree. We want to be rooted, strong and upright like a tree. In addition, we want to  look at the spaces in-between the leaves. Yes, the spaces. There is a lot of energy in those spaces, sometimes making the leaves and branches sway in the breeze. Sometimes still. Focusing on the spaces changes our perspective. We’re looking at the spaces where up until now we might have thought there was nothing there. Actually, we probably haven’t thought about it at all.

What a good thing to do sometime in these last two weeks of August. Take a few seconds and look at the spaces between the leaves and branches. What do you see? What do you feel?