reducing stress Archives

something to look forward to

September 12, 2021 By Arlene Faulk

Taste of Tai Chi class zoom — Tai Chi online 2020

A new chapter begins! This week I start teaching two Tai Chi classes, live and in person at the Heartwood Center in Evanston. This is significant as I’ve been only teaching Tai Chi online since March of 2020. I have a few butterflies in my stomach just like I had as a kid on the first day of school. Anticipation. Excitement. A little anxiety about the unknown.

We are not going back to class. We are going forward to a new paradigm, one with fully vaccinated students and the teacher wearing masks. I’m warmed by the concern and care my students have relayed to me that everybody be safe. All that said, we are ready, ready to move energy together in person.

What’s so important for our psyches and sense of community is to have something to look forward to, something that excites us because we know it will feel so good. Tai Chi is that something for each of us who will gather for class this week in the beautiful Skylight Room of Heartwood.

Tai Chi in the Skylight Room, Heartwood Center

If you aren’t physically close enough to come to a class this week, then think of something you can do or plan for that you will really look forward to. Let me and others readers know what that is. We all can use some good ideas of how to connect with others in a continuing time of physical distancing.

Coping in a Difficult Time

January 4, 2021 By Arlene Faulk

A new year brings hope and here we are in January, knowing we will slowly have more light in our days ahead. That’s a given with the rhythms of nature that we can count on. Even with a new year, we will still need to cope with the demands and stresses of each day. Uncertainty about the future still permeates our minds.

In the midst of all this uncertainty, I’m grateful for Tai Chi and for connecting online with my students each week these last ten months. With three weekly classes, we take the opportunity to greet each other, smile and move our energy together. We have the ancient wisdom of Tai Chi and its gentle, slow movements to help us reduce anxiety, promote balance and well-being.

Last week I asked my students to reflect on how Tai Chi has helped them cope with the isolation, devastating consequences of loved ones contracting COVID19, and other difficult days that we’ve been living through. I’m warmed by the wonderful comments they shared with me. Today and in future days, I’m going to share them with you. Whether or not you practice Tai Chi, hearing how others cope can be helpful and inspiring.

“As with so much else this year of 2020 I have mixed feelings about class via Zoom. I miss seeing everyone in person, but am extremely grateful that we can continue learning and practicing this way — and I don’t have to drive home after class.” – Irene

“I really enjoy our time together and I’ve found Tai Chi a great way to ‘keep moving,’ not only during this pandemic but also as a regular practice with a wonderful integration of mind, body and spirit.” – Martha

“Doing Tai Chi has been a great comfort during the COVID pandemic. I always feel a sense of calm come over me when class starts and Arlene gently reminds us to bring out minds into the room and into our practice. As I’ve been doing Tai Chi for 6 years now, my body knows these slow movements and relishes the gentle release and centeredness they bring. In addition, tuning into the class and seeing familiar faces of the other students brings a nice sense of community and connection during this time of separation and isolation.” – Julia

May each of us to find a way to have a few minutes of stillness to clear our heads, breathe and also find ways to connect with others. Thank you, Tai Chi friends, for helping me do that.

“Slanted Fly” Makes My Day

March 20, 2016 By Arlene Faulk

In two of my Tai Chi classes we are working on a move called ‘slanted fly’. It’s the movement that directly follows a series of ‘repulse monkeys’. Next we will work on ‘waving hands like a cloud’ or ‘cloud hands’ for short.

For many Tai Chi students these names will sound familiar. According to mythical lore, a 15th century Taoist priest, Zhang Shanfeng, was observing a crane and snake fighting. While the snake was slow and earthbound, it was every bit the crane’s match. The priest realized that coldness (the snake) could overcome hotness (the crane). Based on his discovery, he devised physical movements that sought harmony between seeming opposites of fast and slow, hard and soft, hot and cold. Thus the movements that encompass Tai Chi were born.

You get the idea and the picture. Many movements in Tai Chi are named after animals, birds, mountains, clouds and other phenomena of nature. Nature is always moving to be in harmony and balance. Nature doesn’t “strive”, “try harder”, “set goals”, “worry”. I like the passage in the Tao Te Ching that says “The world is ruled by letting things take their course. It cannot be ruled by interfering.”

“It will make my day to say I’m starting to get ‘slanted fly’. It’s ok if my family doesn’t know what I’m talking about”, one student remarked. “What they say is I’m calmer, more relaxed and fun to be around the days I do Tai Chi.”

Right. We can’t worry when we’re shifting our weight into ‘slanted fly’. We can’t think about anything else. We focus only on yielding in ‘repulse monkey’. The stress, the worries of the day melt away. In fact, one student mentioned this week that she could feel the stress release and pour out of her body during class.

Do you have a ‘slanted fly’ that makes your day?