The Benefits of Tai Chi: Mind-body Integration
Tai Chi is often called a “moving meditation” or “meditation in motion”. While this is true in a way, it might not always start out that way! Learning choreographies and different principles can be quite the task. However, this is exactly where the “meditation” begins, which is why I like to say “mind-body integration”.
Throughout my whole Tai Chi journey, I always had a problem with over-thinking (don’t we all?). Sometimes even when I thought I was doing well, my teachers would say, “that was good, but you need to stop thinking so much”. This kind of goes against the grain for me, personally: I value detail and precision, and if I stop thinking… sometimes that stuff seems to go out the window.
But alas, as one of my teachers explained, there are stages to learning. One of my teachers, Nabil Ranné, defines learning in stages. In the first stage, we are often learning different points or principles: move the hand here, keep the head raised, step like this, and so on. In the second stage, we begin to connect these to each other by seeing (and feeling) how they relate. In the third, we begin to fully embody these principles and express them in our own way. This is an organic process that happens over time, and is not necessarily linear.
To me, this is describing the process of mind-body integration.
In meditation, as I have learned it, it is quite similar: we learn a method, we try to practice it and in doing so we learn about it, and only after some time (or if we have a favorable disposition) do we begin to really get “deep” into the meditation.
Similarly, in Tai Chi, when we get to a certain stage of learning where things begin to really be absorbed, it is much easier to naturally embody what we have learned. However, at this point it is necessary to tone down the “rational” thinking mind, which tries to control things by breaking everything into different components. Although this takes practice in itself (and can be very challenging for some), it is the point where practice can become quite pleasurable and increasingly relaxing, thereby making it even more rewarding. Although learning to focus on individual parts and connect them intellectually and physically is in itself an act of focusing, and meditating in a way, this is the next level where Tai Chi really becomes a “moving meditation”, where the mind is settled and quite naturally empty.
I think some people can be intimidated by this and begin to think that they aren’t “truly” meditating until they have gotten to this point (or they think I’m saying they aren’t really meditating!), but I like to remember a Buddhist simile: where we see a tree, there are different parts such as the leaves, branches, bark, and heartwood. Whether we’re looking at the branches or the bark or the heartwood, we’re still looking at the parts of a tree! But the heartwood is the real “meat”, the part of the wood we can use to build a house or strong fire. In the same way, the early stages of learning are still very much “meditation” - however, it takes time and practice to deepen that meditation.
Of course, we can start our Tai Chi practice by not thinking about any principles and just moving in a way that is relaxing to us. But then we run the risk of injury, and our strength may not be at its fullest. For this reason I encourage everyone to give the foundational principles a sincere try!
