Points to Ponder to Improve Your Tai Chi

Tai Chi Posture

Tai Chi posture benefits your posture and balance and greatly reducing your chances of falling. Practice this posture not just when doing Tai Chi, but incorporating it into everything you do sitting and standing.

1. Stand with your feet about a shoulder width apart (or two fist widths) with your arms relaxed at your sides. Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth and have a gentle smile on your face. Take a couple deep, slow, belly breaths and feel all the tension drain down through your body and into the earth.

2. Now feel your head float up as if “suspended from heaven by a golden thread.” Make sure you do not lift you chin or tilt your head back. The head’s highpoint is the middle of the crown, not the front. Feel the neck open and relax.

3. Relax the lower back so the tailbone is pointing to the earth and sit gently into your hips. IMPORTANT! Do not do a pelvic thrust. The knees flex but the weight of the body is BEHIND the knees not in the knees. Imagine your tailbone is sinking into the earth.

Notice that when you do this correctly, your whole spine elongates and takes pressure off the discs. Watch for an upcoming 4-week session on Relieving Stress and Improving Lower Back Health or call 540/476-1789 for details.

Practice this posture often and incorporate it into everyday activities.

Check Your Weight Shift!

Check your weight shift often by lifting your “empty” leg after you placed your weight in the “full” leg. If you have to shift your weight back to lift your empty leg, obviously it is not empty and you have let your weight fall into your leg when you stepped. Remember the mantra: Step, shift, turn. This means you step forward, keeping your weight in the back leg and your body turned at a 45 degree angle, once your foot and leg are stable and ready to receive your weight, shift the weight (about 70%) into the front leg. Now you are ready to turn your body forward so you are pointed in the same direction as your lead or full leg.

More Points to Ponder coming!

If you are interested in learning more basic techniques associated with Tai Chi and Qigong, join a Basics Class at Trayfoot Studio!

Important Note! The information in Wholistically Speaking is for educational purposes only and should not be used to diagnose and/or treat diseases. If you have a health problem, I highly recommend you consult a competent health practitioner and educate yourself before embarking on any course of treatment.