In my swim class a few months ago, the fastest swimmer in
our class, who had been recently studying Yoga at a very high level, told me
that she had started to improve immensely by relaxing as she swam. This
reminded me of something that Mrs. Chow used to say:
Relax and Concentrate
- Mrs. Chow
When I heard Mrs. Chow say this oft repeated statement, my
first thought was, “How can one both relax, and concentrate, at the same time?”
Concentration seemed to me to be the opposite of relaxation! It seemed to require
intense effort and focus. The very Idea of doing both at the same time was for
me a Zen koan, and did not lend itself to an easy interpretation.
As my understanding grew, it became obvious that
if I thought of her statement as “Relax and pay attention”, the three words
might engender the very heart of the practice of T’ai Chi.
Relaxation and Balance
Recently I was working with a student in class who had a lot
of prior experience in martial arts, but was having difficulty in acquiring the
form. This same aphorism seemed to apply. I worked with him on the basics of
Balance, and explained how one couldn’t relax without first being in balance or
one would fall over.
This seemed to be a turning point for him. The T'ai Chi
form, which he had worked on extensively, finally started to come into focus
and begin producing the Chi energy at a much higher level. An awareness of his balance seemed to come into play at a new level.
He was able to
relax, and as the parts began to be more able to connect and work together, the larger organism became more coherent, and produce a new energy.
The energy blocks created by his tenseness began to dissipate and his
effort and study finally began to pay off.
(This would not have been possible
without his prior effort and excellent teachers up to this point, I was just
able to give him his next step.)
Namaste,
Daniel
