I Studied QiGong & Tai Chi: Here's What I Discovered!

I studied Tai Chi and Qigong in China for a number of years.?

Here’s what I discovered and how I apply it to my life:

What you resist persists.

Physics teaches us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

If you push or pull against something or someone, it will most likely do the same thing back.

A constant flow of Yin and Yang energies that can either synergize for something special or clash into something chaotic and harmful.

I learned to use these principles in the relationships I had in my classroom, on the street, and at home.

But it all really begins in the Mind.

How many times have you tried to avoid a feeling or push a thought away?

It really doesn’t work, right?? It just snowballs into something bigger.

And that’s why Chinese spiritual practices urge us to become aware of when we are being resistant to what “is” in the present moment–inside and out–and allow it to be.

That’s because you cannot change, fix, or appropriately respond to what you refuse to see and accept.

It’s so very important to become aware and accepting of what “is” and all the elements of what’s really happening at the moment.

In Chinese martial arts, it’s a common practice to leverage the intentions, strength, and force of what your opponent throws at you against himself.

So, don’t just point fingers at people when you have problems.

90% of the time, you have three fingers pointing back at you, showing you that you are trying to push, pull, and resist to what “is” and just making the situation worse.

In fact, I have found that there are a lot of people out there who are very adept at using people’s fears and resistance against them for better or worse.

Consequently, whether I am dealing with my own feelings & thoughts, the words and actions of others, or just happenstance, I have found it best to first become aware and accepting of the moment before I seek to find a response to what’s happening.

Reach back to go forward. Reach down to go up.

In QiGong and Tai Chi, you learn that the masters get their fluidity & power by stretching themselves in opposite directions.

Again, Yin-Yang energies are leveraged and tapped into.

The only way to stretch up is to first have your feet be firmly planted on the ground.

When you push ahead with your hands and from your chest, you are trained to also feel and project energy & power out from your back at the same time.

When I do such things, I feel this incredible sense of presence and mindfulness–as if I am clearing away fog or waking up from a dream.

These essential understandings can be applied elsewhere in one’s life.

One way to do this is to leverage what you know to be solid & strong in order to strive for something uncertain.

Sometimes that means I can build the confidence I need to do something challenging & new by reaching back into my past to regain reserves of flow, strength, and wisdom I discovered in similar situations.

Then there are times of defeat, failure, heartbreak and pain that come with trying to transform myself into something better.

It’s here when I use the stoic concept of “amor fati” and embrace my fate by seeing that all those times of falling down are the fuel I needed to rise up and become who I am truly called to be here and now.

Move From Your Center.

I didn’t know this until I started practicing QiGong & Tai Chi…

If you want to be agile…

If you want to find balance…

And if you want to project power…

You must always twist, turn, kick, punch, and move from the center of gravity in your body.

When you become mindful and present in your body, you may feel and energetic feeling cascading down from the top of your crown to the tip of your tailbone…

…as if there is this huge pillar that extends from the heavens, through you, and down into the depths of the earth.

This is your center from which all action & movement in martial arts should come–especially when you find yourself in a fight.

But in China, I realized that there is a center I can discern as I engage with my social worlds and not just my physical world.

But first, one must find that center in the moment.

I do this by asking myself four “centering questions” when faced with challenges, obstacles or opponents:

• Who am I and who do I want to be in this moment?
• What do I (or those I care about) need and want?
• Who or what am I called to serve (and sometimes not serve)?
• And given all that I have discerned in this moment, what must I do in the Now?

I’ve found that when I use these questions I find my center of spiritual gravity, no matter how confusing, daunting or painful the situation is….

…and I have had a ton of those in China and especially coming home to America!

Centering questions now help me know how to pivot and respond to whatever befalls me in Life.

Energy Matters.

Is there anything more essential, more fundamental, and more important than energy?

Consider that an astonishing number of ancient cultures had a word that meant both “wind,” “breath,” and “spirit.”

In China, it’s called “Qi” or “Chi.”

In India, it’s called “Prana.”

In Greek, it’s called “Pneuma.”

And in Hebrew, it was called “Ruach.”?

Even Quantum Physics says that virtually everything is a matter of energy!

So, it’s our most precious resource, don’t you think?

It’s what we are.

It’s what we give.

But it’s also what we can foolishly horde and resist.

QiGong and Tai Chi studies in Shanghai gave me a multitude of profound lessons that I use to this day.

There is nothing we can hope to be, see, receive, become or share that does not come down to a matter of energy.

Does this make sense?