Mindfulness: Extending tai chi benefit outside the box, an address, by Rani Hughes Rani is an accredited occupational therapist, meditation consultant and master trainer in Dr. Lam’s Tai Chi for Health programs When I was invited to speak today, I started to reflect on the theme of this tai chi workshop ‘Nurturing the inner self’. What does this mean? How can we nurture our inner self besides practising tai chi on a regular basis? Mindfulness, or the moment-to-moment awareness of what is happening as it is happening, came into my mind. When we focus our full attention on what is occurring in the present moment, we notice how most of our lives dwell in memories of the past or plans for the future. We see how rarely we are connected to the present moment. For example, as you sit here listening to this talk, you may be thinking about how you were too busy to eat breakfast this morning, or perhaps you are wondering what you may learn in your tai chi class at the conclusion of this talk. Either way, your mind is stuck in the past or concerned with the future, it is not truly connected to this very moment. Why is it important to live mindfully in the present moment? When we consider the past, there may be tasks that we have not completed yet, or words/actions that we have done but don’t feel very happy about. When we think about the future, we may have many chores/ tasks that we need to do. Either way, our thoughts of the past or future may create stress or anxiety for us. However, when we are fully absorbed in what we are doing right here, right now, there is little stress. For example, think about a time that you were completely absorbed in what you were doing. Perhaps you were walking your dog in the park, talking with a friend or doing some gardening. When you reflect on this time no doubt your experience was one of great joy, peace and ease. So often we live on ‘autopilot’ in our life. To illustrate this, consider how you washed yourself in the shower this morning. Did you hold the soap in the same hand as you did yesterday morning? Do you use the same hand to hold the soap every morning? Did you wash your body in the same pattern this morning as yesterday morning, or the day before yesterday? Often when our mind is on autopilot in the shower, we are already imagining our first meeting for the day, solving some problem of the day. Our mind is working overtime projecting what may or may not unfold. No wonder we get so tired each day! Let us start to create small changes in our life that will allow us to live more mindfully, live with more joy, peace and ease. Tomorrow morning while you are showering, hold the soap in your other hand; start to wash yourself in a different pattern. Pay attention to what happens when you no longer shower on ‘autopilot’: instead, shower with mindfulness. In the shower you will no longer worry about what problems the day may or may not bring to you, showering will become a peaceful activity, as you are connected to what you are doing while you are doing it. The shower will become a haven from stress. Practising tai chi offers us another opportunity to break from our habitual thought patterns and live more fully in the moment. As you practise your tai chi sequence, focus on the movement that you are currently doing, not the last movement that you have completed, nor the next movement that you will do. Initially, as we learn a new tai chi sequence, it may be difficult to achieve this connection with the present moment, as we tend to focus on what movement comes next. Overtime, as we become more proficient with the sequence of movements, it will become easier to place our full awareness on our current movement. The classics say that knowing one tai chi form is enough to fuel a lifetime of tai chi practice, as it is contained within the layers of the tai chi movements, where we deepen our understanding of our tai chi practice. Mindfulness will help us to peel back these layers. If we can remove ‘autopilot’ patterns from other daily activities such as eating break-fast, driving our car, working, buying groceries, putting our tai chi shoes on and collecting our mail, then we have more and more moments in life that that are filled with joy and great ease. As these positive moments grow in number, moments that are filled with stress and dis-ease subsequently diminish. Slowing down and developing mindfulness through everyday activities enables us to enjoy each moment more – is life but a combination of these individual moments? Re-printed with permission
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 00:30:01 +0000
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