“To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else”
- Emily Dickinson
When we are really attending to a task, it is possible to forget, even for a little while, all of our usual distractions that often keep us from giving it our very best effort. Further, this process of prying us away from the many addictive habitual thought processes that often clog our consciousness may provide a space within which growth and healing is immensely facilitated. Such attending to our immediate situation is often called meditation.
By focusing on what is here and now, we become free of much that clutters our mind. Our minds may then practice operating at optimum levels. This can then be applied to any new situations that arise. It allows us to be prepared not by carrying a larger and larger list of solutions with us, but rather by cultivating the ability to create solutions as they are needed.
T’ai Chi is such a meditative process, and may be developed to higher levels by attending to one’s balance, and also, by attending to the task of creating all the movements from one’s center. This requires a lack of energy blocks between the center (hips/spine/shoulders) and the extremities (arms/hands/fingers, and legs/feet/toes). These energy blocks may be described as muscle tension, required whenever we are not in balance, in order not to fall as we proceed through the form.
The balance and relaxation and movement from the center needed are all present in each moment. Focusing on these aspects of our form brings us fully into the present moment. It is like paying attention to the breathing in sitting (Vipasana) meditation and it allows our consciousness to reside fully in the present. This process may begin when we become comfortable with the form and no longer find our minds busy attending to lists of instructions about body part positions and movements.
As we become more aware of our present condition and environment we are much more able to work with situations as they arise. Of course, Practice makes Perfect.
