spiralofhope

Taijiquan >

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A good Tai Chi workout is one that is appropriate. It attends to the needs of the body, the needs of the mind, and the needs of the spirit. When one has a good practice, one vitalizes the body, one activates and stimulates the mind, and one raises the spirit.

A good workout circulates energy naturally and vigorously without over-stressing the body or over-straining the mind. A good workout clears out stagnancy and dissipates negative inertia. A good workout creates openness, vitality, and fluidity.

You know you’ve had a good workout when you feel exuberant and cleansed afterward; when both the mind and body feel alive and free of blockages. You know you’ve had a good workout when, during your workout, you have challenged the body and the mind and yet not discouraged it. You know you’ve had a good workout when the air all around seems light and buoyant and the body has a sense of ease while at the same time being rooted to the earth.

You know you’ve had a good workout when there is no doubt — no doubt that you have just exercised, that you have done enough, that you have just affected the body and the body.

You know you have had a good workout when it takes you away for a while. When you forget time, place, and petty concerns and become the exercise completely. After a good workout you realize that you have been away in another world — a world of total concentration and Mindfulness — a world of wholeness and unity.

A good workout is balanced. It realigns the edges of one’s soul and integrity. It joins one to that split off part of oneself and reaffirms the whole. A good workout unites oneself with the completion and beauty yearned for deep inside. It touches the healthy aggregate one knows one is but too often misses.

A good workout gives the body what it needs to be vital, alive, and healthy. A good workout satisfies one’s craving for substance. A good workout offers one’s spirit a chance to soar.