Yin-Yang-Yoga

Category: Tai Chi

  • Living The Path

    On the spiritual Path, every single moment is part of your Practice.

    Whatever you are doing right now, is what you are Practicing.

    What are you Practicing right now?

    In our Wednesday AM TaiChi class, we discussed the importance of practicing outside of class, even if it is something very small or seemingly inconsequential.

    The important thing is that we are developing the capacity to focus and invest some Time and Energy in the present moment.

    The ability to be mindful in this manner gradually expands, and as it does, the scope of our Practice also expands.

    When practicing a TaiChi movement or posture, what other qualities are you Practicing?

    Judgment?

    Jealousy?

    Frustration?

    Relaxation?

    Contentment?

    Taken in its broadest sense, every single moment of Life is your Practice.

    How you choose to respond to, and engage with, the world and your experiences is your true Practice.

    What are you Practicing?

  • Always Fresh

    “The Present” is perpetually renewed and you must become adept at flowing with It.

    The instant you try to pin it down you lose It, so the only option is to keep a very casual focus, not thinking or analyzing anything, just allowing yourself to observe and notice Things…

    If you are truly doing this, there will not be sufficient Time to Like or Dislike anything. It takes too long to discern and contemplate.

    Nothing should make sense or no-sense.

    Making Sense takes too much Time.

    Staying in this radical state of “Is”-ness can be difficult, which is why there are Practices, and why most of us need to Practice daily!

  • WuJi Wednesday

    The infinite manifestation of Things can all be reduced via YinYang,
    yet YinYang cannot be reduced.

    It can be dissolved, perhaps, but not reduced.
    In this way, Wuji (No-Polarity) is not a true reduction; it is a sublimation.

    Oneness already contains YinYang as the polarity of Existence/NonExistence;

    To-Be or Not To-Be.

    Furthermore, once there is Some-Thing, it can be divided.
    Only NoThing cannot be divided.

    WuJi is Indivisible.
    Irreducible.
    It is like the Origin of Things, not unlike an Uncaused-Cause.

    YinYang arises from It, which blossoms into all manner of complexity (Entropy),
    yet all of That can be reduced by YinYang.

    The Universe is complex, yet simple; simple, yet profound.

    WuJi is Nothing; Zero.
    Yet Everything blossoms from it.

    If you aim to understand TaiJi (Great-Polarity), you must aspire towards WuJi.

  • The Important Information is Inside

    TaiChi sequences are designed to develop an internal, and self-referential, compass. Too often we practice with our eyes looking outward, using external references to orient our Body and Mind in Space.

    It is not wrong to utilize external objects, such as a clock or window, to help make sense of our Movement. However, it is incorrect to rely on such external objects.

    The window (or whatever external-referent you have) can help you be sure you are facing the correct direction but it is critical that you have an internal experience or understanding of how you arrived there; what it means to have turned 90 or 45 or however-many degrees in order to face the external object.

    What you can see in front of you should never change your internal-understanding of Left and Right, Front and Back, etc.

    TaiChi sequences begin from Stillness- a static and centered position, so that every Movement can be understood in reference to the initial position. If your attention and Awareness are not drawn inward and centered both physically and cognitively at the beginning, then every Movement you make is lacking it’s full meaning.

    Every single step occurs with the context of the starting position at heart. If your full Awareness is present before you commence the sequence, you can understand all the positions and postures with much more depth.

    When your primary point of reference is yourself it doesn’t matter where you are or what is happening around you, Left is still Left, Front is still Front, and there is no need to hesitate or measure.

    When TaiChi is leading you toward Internal Awareness, you begin to move completely Free.

  • Three Seconds is More Than Enough


    This morning we were reminded that the quintessential skill of genuine TaiChi Practice takes less than three seconds.

    Cultivating Awareness of your Body and Mind happens the instant you allow it.

    Checking in with your posture and making physical adjustments can happen in less than three seconds.

    Noticing that your Mind is wandering, and bringing it back to the task at hand, can happen in less than three seconds.

    The only impediment to Practice is your commitment to the belief that you cannot.

  • What is Taichi?

    Taichi might be best translated as Paradox.

    Extreme Polarity, Ultimate Limits, or Vital Axis are more literal renderings of the term, but if we want to maximize the efficiency of our understanding, Paradox is the idea we want to discuss.

    The fundamental duality of our Reality is expressed as Yin and Yang. Traditional Chinese Medicine says there are two primary forms of Energy (Ch’i), there is Yin Ch’i and there is Yang Ch’i.

    Taichi is even apparent at the level of Ch’i.

    The arguably most-fundamental substance in the Universe, the Ch’i, is still subject to the principle of Taichi.

    Taichi is apparent in all facets of existence.

    The uniquely Human polarity of Good and Bad is the most interesting.

    All of our desires and preferences have an opposite. I like many things so much, that I can barely tolerate their absence. I am trapped in my preference so strongly that anything other than my preference makes me a mess. Siddhartha Gautama recognized this, which is how he became known as the Buddha.

    Much of the difficulty in the Human experience is self-imposed by our strong preferences. We are trapped in the matrix of Taichi, perpetually bouncing between our feelings of highs and lows.

    When we have properly understood the nature of Taichi, we can readily understand the value of Wuchi.

    Wuchi means that the polarity has been removed, there is no Good or Bad. Wu is emptiness, or non-being. If we lose our preferences, then anything is essentially Good. If we look at things truly and objectively, without filtering information through our matrix of Taichi, the world looks very different than we are used to.

    This is the true purpose of all Taichi Practice, to break out of the paradox by seeing the prevalence and absurdity of it. There are numerous beneficial side-effects, which vary by method and intention, but the most important benefit of Taichi Practice is gaining the perspective of Wuchi, which allows you to find Peace despite the constant churning and change that is Life.

  • Balance is about TaiChi

    Everyone loves to say “TaiChi is about balance.”

    It’s a plenty-true statement, but when we’re approaching TaiChi Practice through physical exercises (more specifically the moving sequences of Taijiquan) it is more important to remember that our balance comes from TaiChi.

    TaiChi is “Great Polarity” and for the postures which express physical balance most blatantly there is one distinct key (which, yes, applies to ALL of the postures/movements to some degree).

    Whenever we seek to stand on one leg, the key is to release or sink down.

    A skyscraper does not stand up because of the part in the sky!

    Even the fourth floor is dependent on something below it.

    You’ve got to get to the bottom of things if you intend to stand at all, especially if you intend to stand like a Golden Rooster on one leg!

    When your body is allowed to fully sink into one leg, the other can have a feeling of emptiness which allows to “float” or even lift up significantly without disrupting your balance.

    On a very simple and practical note, this is so because your center of gravity is lowered and so balance is less difficult.

    A more subtle way to think about it is to recognize that the combined action of sinking and raising creates a fairly large combined-range of motion. Rather than raising your knee two-units, you raise the knee one-unit and sink into your standing leg one-unit which still creates the same total movement but splits the effort into halves!

    Of course, effective sinking depends on correct posture and alignment which is most rapidly cultivated in your standing meditation (Zhan Zhuang).

    Practice makes possible!

  • “What” Shift

    So much of the full-potential of T’aiChi Ch’uan gets lost in translation.

    When students are told to “shift the weight”, in a sense they are only being given half of the directions.

    In my observation, there is a critical distinction between where we are carrying our weight and where we are expressing or generating our power.

    When standing on a given leg, we tend to say that leg is full. It’s Yang, it’s substantial, and indeed it is carrying our weight. However, standing is a decidedly passive, or Yin, activity in the TaiChi Practice.

    When stepping with with a given foot, we describe it as empty. It’s Yin, it’s unsubstantial, and indeed it is not carrying weight. However, stepping is undoubtedly a Yang activity. It is the visible and apparent aspect of Forms practice.

    In other words, where we are holding or carrying the weight of a posture is not where we will find the power. 

    The principle of YinYang separation suggests that as the weight is shifted forward or backward, there is power or intention moving in the opposite direction. What we see occurring is functional because of the opposite action, thus as a result the appearance of shifting forward actually entails a maintaining of Center.

  • How to Make Your TaiChi Look Good

    The only sure-fire way to make your TaiChi look good is to follow the TaiChi principle.

    It will not matter which style you practice or are attempting to utilize.

    If you tend to the principle, the appearance will take care of itself.

    The unique appearance of all the styles of TaiChi stem from the same root of the TaiChi principle.

  • Grasp Bird’s Tail Sequence

    13 years later, this sequence is still a mainstay of my personal Practice.

    Sifu Smiley often said that the sequence is short but full of depth, and I can confirm that he is correct.