Creating a structure for daily practice… in the modern era

Once upon a time (or in different parts of the world for people with different lifestyles), our Tai Chi “masters” practiced for hours on end, each day; subject to the pressures of nearby violence and cultural expectations, in a way it was their duty to. Many of these people were also farmers, and as such they lived fairly active lifestyles. In modern times, this lifestyle is not viable for different reasons; it is rare to find hours and hours of free time to practice our favorite arts. Sometimes we have the “luxury” of unlimited access to different hobbies, each of which we struggle to fit into the empty quiet moments of our lives.

Wherever we are, here I would like to give my own tips about establishing and maintaining a daily practice. When it comes to Tai Chi, I think this is important because it really allows us to not only “soak up” the benefits, but to maintain and digest them. Over time, if we keep a steady practice, we will find ourselves experiencing its benefits like never before. If we’re after the philosophical beauty of Tai Chi, why not try to do it every day?

Start short and sweet (10-15 minutes)

If we’re beginners and we find ourselves in a busy lifestyle with all sorts of pushes and pulls, it is not a great idea to put great expectations on one’s practice - not because we will never have the time and might as well give it up, but because we may be introducing yet another new pressure into our lives that needs to find a relatively comfortable place to integrate. Often it is the great pressure we place upon ourselves which leads us to give up or burn out sooner or later.

For this reason I think it is a good idea to first commit to at least 10-15 minutes for practice. In the beginning, we are often learning the form any way, so this is plenty of time to jog our memory through the movements, and allow some time to relax and enjoy it. In fact, we may find it quite easy to do this multiple times a day, whenever we get a good chance. Sometimes we find that an interesting challenge here… where do we practice? This is a great time to experiment finding out what sort of space is suiting to us. By all means, you can force yourself to practice in a really tight spot, but if this is unbearable, maybe step outside or clear some space in your living room.

If we’re really the kind of person who relies on structure, we may find it helpful to be deliberate about where to place this 15 minutes, and maybe what we hope to get out of that placement. We may do this early in the morning to give us a good way to wake up, or at night to give us a way to wind down. It depends entirely on the person, and I would say your experience of practice (if you find it energizing, maybe it isn’t good to do it before bed).

The main idea is to find a time for 10-15 minutes of practice each day, and a way to make it work for you.

Build it up (30 minutes - 1 hour)

Depending on where our practice takes us, we may decide that 15 minutes is good… but we want more. What better way than to just do it for longer?

Like before, we need to find - or make - the time. How this happens is up to you. But from there, there are so many different places we can take our practice.

First, we can just go through the movements we’re learning more and more until we feel confident in them. As we do, we also have good time to slow down and really try to incorporate some basic principles: head up, weight in the heels, relax the joints, etc. The more we think about those, the more they integrate into our practice. If we put in the effort to establish them and maintain them, they can only grow stronger.

We can also divide our practice up into different parts. Usually I find some way to “get in the groove” with a few simple movements, not thinking too much but gradually settling in. Then, I pick some foundational exercises, or single posture exercises derived from the form, to work on a particular principle or aspect of movement (what we call “shenfa”, i.e. “body method”). Then, with a fresh sense of calibration, I go through the form with that principle in mind. It’s a great way to tie everything together, and can be a great workout.

Or, we can choose to really focus on relation and just go super slow, bit by bit, feeling each part of the body and expanding our awareness. This is where the mind really empties and relaxes in quite a deep way.

With consideration of our goals, we can also better design our session to support those. These goals can be related to the benefits we which to obtain, or the skills we wish to develop. For example, at a later stage of practice, it is a good idea to practice more “explosively”, i.e. quickly and forcefully - while still maintaining relaxed and coordinated joints, etc. Not only does this provide feedback into our movement, it also really teaches us how to express strength in a holistic fashion.

At a beginning stage, we may find a need to hold a single posture and work on relaxing the breath and feeling different parts of the body set into place so our mind quiets down, we become more “present” to our experience, and we really feel the connections between intention, movement, and strength. Often, our guidance from a teacher may also be echoing in our heads.

These are just some of the ways we can really capitalize on our time for practice. For me, one to two hours is a really good sweet spot for finding balance between practice and my other responsibilities.

Marathons (or utilizing the emptiness of free time)

For whatever reason, perhaps if we are lucky, we may find quite a few hours to use practicing. I think this is very rare, though it does happen… although quite often it’s time we may choose to sleep away, fill with video games, or those chores we’ve been neglecting. Sometimes we’re fortunate to get this time in long workshops with our teachers.

I was very fortunate, once upon a time, to have spent months serving retreat at a Buddhist monastery. It was a place where we had to work for a few hours, 5 days a week (in the kitchen, in the forest, etc), but then we had hours of free time.

Even though I would consider myself quite dedicated to meditation (and we would all meditate together for one hour each morning and evening by default), I found it extremely challenging to fill that free time with meditation. Very often I would go to my cabin in the forest and take a nap, read books, go walk a trail, or do tai chi somewhere… but not for the whole afternoon.

If you can do this, by all means go for it. But some of us may need some more structure.

If you find yourself having hours of free time, first I would suggest you use it responsibility and attend to any chores that need to be done. You can pick just one: cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the cat litter boxes, putting laundry away… something to get you moving in the body, to resist seeking stimulation by the senses (TV shows etc), and put your mind to work. I find that free time is like a vast emptiness that we seek to fill, and it’s a great idea to do so deliberately (personally, I hate the feeling of spending hours on my phone, feeling like it was only one hour).

I would be very clear about how you intend to use this time, let’s say four hours. You can decide how you want to start your practice, what you think may be good to focus on, and even what outcome you want. Depending on your practice, if Tai Chi is intense for you, you may need to schedule breaks.

The times when I was on retreat and I resolved to meditate as much as possible, I would usually meditate for an hour in one posture, then the next hour in another (e.g. transitioning from sitting to walking). Then I could have a “break” with tai chi, or reading a book/article that is relevant to my practice. If for some reason I was having a rough day, I would just go for a walk to change perspective a little. The next hour, I would find a nice way to close the session. For Tai Chi that can be a slow form run-through, or if you only know part of the form, a repetition of all that you know so far. You can also experiment with the form a little. Sometimes it’s good to identify different “single posture exercises” you can derive from the form yourself. Whatever we do, it is a good to be deliberate and methodical, however if we really don’t know how to do that, it’s also plenty good to relax and just see what happens. This is actually how I ended up gradually finding ways to use my time well (though of course, I’m still learning).

Finishing a session

At the end, when all is said and done, maybe it’s a good idea to give yourself a reward. At the monastery, each week we would have all-night sits… but at midnight, it was time for midnight tea, where candies were served, questions were asked, and stories were told. It was a great way to energize and prepare to continue, or for those of us too tired to go on, a great way to end the night. If we made it to the final bell at 4AM, then that was a welcome signal to just go to bed! But some just kept practicing… much respect to them.

For me, Tai Chi can get pretty intense, so I like to end a good session with protein, such as a sandwich or protein shake, followed by a shower. It’s a great way to wind down, rejuvenate, and freshen up. Sometimes after a particularly insightful session, I like to take notes about what stuck out to me about my practice. This is a great way to re-iterate and summarize what came up, so we can have a good idea about what to work on next time, or any questions we may have for our teachers.

Thoughts on overcoming obstacles

In the world of meditation, eventually there comes a time when “just relax and empty your mind” is not a very viable instruction. Eventually it becomes clear that the mind needs different methods, tools and tricks to find ways to settle down, focus, and absorb in the object.

In Tai Chi, it can be similar. For some people, keeping it super simple is A-OK. But for those who are really interested in progressing, clarity of method is important and provides a necessary structure.

Hence, the writings above about using time well. But how do we own this process and make it ours? We really need to get to know what works. In the context of traditional teachings, be it Tai Chi or meditation, we end up having to be a little innovative while trying to stay true to the teachings we’ve absorbed; if we just do everything to our own whims… well we can do anything, and it might not be “Tai Chi”. We need to study our art, and learn about what defines its methods, and stay true to them while internalizing them and not just confining ourselves to a box.

As suggested earlier, a journal is one such way: to reflect on what we did, what happened, and what we can do. That’s the main part: we need to engage our analytical, or reflective thought and consider what is working, and what’s not. We need to invest and take an interest in our own development. We don’t just practice every day for the sake of practicing every day - we practice every day because we want to develop.

If you don’t want to practice every day, that’s OK. But if you do and you’re struggling, I think it’s a matter of recognizing what we do or do not like about our practice. Do we feel pain? Is it confusing? Do we hate choreographies? Some may take these as reasons to just stop (and with pain, that is certainly advisable, along with seeking guidance or help). But alas these are just another part of the learning process. This is where not only do we get the physical benefits of tai chi, but the mental ones as well. We learn to persevere and problem solve. The clearer we are about these issues and ourselves, the more deliberate and intent we can be about addressing them, and progressing beyond them.

I think this is also partly why tai chi is a “moving meditation” - not just because we do it slowly, calmly, and with a clear head… but because we often need to find the way to do it slowly, calmly, and with a clear head. The self-inquiry aspect is a huge part of it. If meditation was solely about emptying the mind, this would be a very inaccessible practice. The mind often relies on structures before it can totally “release”, just like the body relies on a solid structure to relax around.

All the writings above were ways I’ve found to structure my own practice using my own ideas… I hope they’re helpful. But how about you? Where will you go?

That’s all for now… as I work with new people with different lifestyles, I hope to learn more about how to best approach a regular practice.