taiji toothbrush

[wenwu]

so i have started toying with a few things,

 

Taiji is a great excerise, qigong etc but if it is only used for that 15/20/40 mins in a day and the rest of the time you run around with your mind all over the place we are not really getting what part of taiji is teaching us.

 

recently i have been trying to put the same attention and focus in to normal everyday activites, such as brushing my teeth, when doing this paying attention to every little detail/ or at least noticing it and quietning my mind for a while.

 

i am finding this quiet helpful in noticing how much i do these things automactically and let my mind run wild during fairly mundane daily tasks.

[Spectrum]

so i have started toying with a few things,

 

Taiji is a great excerise, qigong etc but if it is only used for that 15/20/40 mins in a day and the rest of the time you run around with your mind all over the place we are not really getting what part of taiji is teaching us.

 

Amen. Preach it. It's funny that the Yang 103/108 is long enough to focus the attention and quiet the mind rather effectively when practiced at the proper speed. s - l - o - w . The effect of whole body movement on mind is profound. The circular grace of continuously reeled silk spirals cyclically through breath and body. After 30 min of continuous movement, it's rather like taking off a pair of roller skates... hopefully we continue to carry around our kinesthetic learning through the day into other activities.... these types of training quandaries abound; not enough time to "train"; but I think here your observation comes into play, if during our practice we cultivate yi, then certainly that awareness easily translates into the everyday routine...

 

recently i have been trying to put the same attention and focus in to normal everyday activites, such as brushing my teeth, when doing this paying attention to every little detail/ or at least noticing it and quietning my mind for a while.

 

I met a gentleman who asked right away about the wrist movements of tai ji quan. I was surprised at this question right off and he went on to say that his wrist was bothering him from playing the violin so much... but.. he went on to explain, he had only been recently performing the movements correctly, it seemed what was at first just back and forth... became a small spiral in which the wrist rolls through the movement. I'm always looking for little details like this, and it was an honor to share in his discovery. To answer his question I said I felt one of the landmarks of anyones tai ji practice is a certain relaxation of the wrist, where the wrist and hand become the edge of the moving center.

 

i am finding this quiet helpful in noticing how much i do these things automactically and let my mind run wild during fairly mundane daily tasks.

 

Sometimes the most profound is found in the most mundane. Inquire answers unspoken questions. Kindest REgards,

 

Spectrum

[freeform]

Great question, wenwu.

 

One of my most deceptively powerfull techniques is a simple awareness excersise that takes all of 15 seconds to perform (I try to do it 10 - 30 times per day), it's so simple it seems almost pointless... I shift my gaze slightly up and notice what I see then shift my eyes down to the right and notice what I feel in that moment; finaly I look down and to my left and listen to what can be heard in the moment.

 

This little drill works on the "wiring" of the brain and if done often and over a period of time has a profound effect on how I think, my internal dialogue, my presence etc.

 

 

I've also recently been experimenting with 'being on the ground'. Throughout the day I notice how I relate to the ground... usually this involves noticing the feet (and below) and how the rest of the body is positioned from the feet up. This also relates to whole-body movement... doing simple things like opening doors, picking up books etc. becomes very fun when you really pay attention to how you can do it with the whole body from the feet upwards and from the centre outwards.