Faulk TaiChi

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Revisiting My 2018 Word

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trees

A year ago I chose a word I wanted to focus on and embody for 2018 – ROOTED. Some of my thoughts from my blog last December:

trees

“ROOTED. I use this word often, even start all my Tai Chi classes with this word – ‘Bring yourself into the room. Feet parallel, hip-width apart, knees soft. Visualize your feet and legs like a tree, rooted deep into the earth. See if you can make the roots a little bit deeper.’

As we make our roots deeper and stronger below the earth, we will become more stable above the earth. Stable, centered, balanced, strong – isn’t that what we all would like to be and have every day? If I were not so involved with Tai Chi, I might have used the word “grounded.” That’s a good word, too, because it suggests a connection with the earth and being stable, both physically and mentally.

tai chi movements

Being rooted allows the body to move in a coordinated way. The body moves as a unit, all parts synchronized, coordinated and relaxed. I aspire to that and know it is a process not an end, nor a static state. Being rooted allows the mind to relax and focus only on the moment.

I aspire to be rooted in my standing and in my walking. I aspire to be rooted in kindness and in giving what I can to help others improve health. I aspire to be mindful and focused on the moment so I can actively listen.”

How has it gone? What hits me is that being rooted is a process, not an arrival point. Some days my balance is better than others and Tai Chi helps me accept that is okay. Tai Chi helps me with stability, with focusing on right now, this moment. I need that reminder because it is so easy to get distracted and think about tomorrow, next week. Over the past 12 months, I have focused more on trees – I look at the trees, sometimes stop as I am walking to admire a tree. Trees have so many lessons to teach me. I continue my quest to be rooted like the tree. And have patience.

Several of you also chose a word to embody for 2018. Let me know your reflections about that word, now a year later.

Rooted Like a Tree

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tree

When outside this morning, I stared at tree after tree. Although a few of the early spring trees have some blossoms or buds that will turn into leaves, others until the last few days continued to look like lingering winter. Bare branches.

Until today. Today is blossoming into a full color screen, like in the “Wizard of Oz”. Green is everywhere. The trees are signaling that spring is finally here in the midwest. I love this time of year. When the trees start to generate their spring leaves, the green is light and bright, glistening from the sunshine. And like clockwork, trees are dependable. From their roots deep into the earth, they ready themselves to spring out in their glory. They always do.They always come through.

Tai Chi in the park, China

In Tai Chi we learn to root ourselves like a tree.The deeper our roots go, the more stable and balanced we are as we stand on the earth. That earth energy comes up through our feet and circulates throughout our body. At this time of year I always think of one of the fundamental principles in the Tai Chi Classics:

“The internal energy, Qi, roots in the feet,
Transfers through the legs,
Is controlled from the waist,
And blossoms through the arms and fingertips.”

Like the trees. Pay attention today to the trees. Admire their steadiness, their blossoming and their lessons for each of us — Be stable, balanced and dependable.

More on Trees

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Trees continue to be a major focus for me. I mentioned the tree this week in Tai Chi classes, feeling our legs and feet sprouting roots deep into the earth. Feeling rooted, strong, stable, tall. I searched out the famous poem by Joyce Kilmer, that I loved when I was a child:

TREES

“I think that I will never see,  a poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed, against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;        

A tree that looks at God all day, and  lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear, a nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain, who immediately lives with rain.

Poems are made for fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

It’s not by accident that we see people doing Tai Chi in  a park, close to the trees. They draw energy from the trees and trees are a reminder of what we aspire to be like. The Taoists lived closely with nature and have informed us about lessons learned from a tree. It uses what comes its way to nurture and grow. The roots are deep and absorb the water that comes its way. The limbs and branches reach out to the sun, absorbing it’s life-giving energy. It is efficient, steady and follows the rhythms of the seasons. 

May we all set some intention to learn from and be more like a tree.