Tai Chi, standing and moving meditation

[NikolaiI]

Does anyone have any experience with Tai Chi, either through a mentor, a book, or a class? I learned some of the warm-up exercises with a friend, from a book, a few months ago. I've heard it's a form of moving and standing meditation, and I've been practicing them both recently, before and after I've gone to bed. I've found it to be surprisingly improving- it's restful, and you can feel it working. Helps to unwind before bed, and it's good to stretch and meditate in the morning. What I'm doing is mostly just standing meditation, and my own moving meditations which I've gotten from yoga, tai chi, and aikido, which I took for two years. Any thoughts? Goodnight for now. :)

[motherhubbard]

I took a tia chi class once. The instructor was likely an :alien: . It was wonderful and I would like to do it again sometime. I had to stop before the class was over due to some trouble I was having with a pregnancy. I did find it relaxing and it is something you could spend years perfecting. Once you have all of the moves down then you try to do them so slowly in one endless movement. It feels beautiful.

[applepie]

I done a little Tai Chi and I'm also a blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do. Both are really great. I love to do Tai Chi to both start and end a day. Nothing can both get you system started, or help you relax in quite the same way. Classes are good, but with Tai Chi, especially if you plan to use it more for relaxation, videos are fine too. I'll memorize the form and then practice it to my own music, or I'll go outside. Best of luck if you plan to continue with it. I generally think it is good for the mind, but it feels pretty good on the muscles too.

[Zippy]

I studied Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan for around seven years with Glasgow’s Traditional Chinese Wu-Shu club. I was very luck and had some brilliant teachers and attended some interesting summer training camps with Professor Li Deyin, one of China’s foremost experts.

Everything they say about Tai Chi Chuan is true. The Taoist meditation, Chi Kung and breathing techniques really do make a huge difference to your health and sense of well-being. I’d be a bit wary of trying to pick it up from a book, though. I really think you need a qualified teacher. If you’re in the UK look for someone who’s a member of the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts (BCCM).

Good luck.

[papayahed]

I've taken a few Tai Chi classes. I'm not sure about the relaxing part because I normally like to hang on to my tension but it is good exercise. I was just telling someone that I was excited because I found a Tai Chi class at the local college and plan on enrolling.

[NikolaiI]

I studied Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan for around seven years with Glasgow’s Traditional Chinese Wu-Shu club. I was very luck and had some brilliant teachers and attended some interesting summer training camps with Professor Li Deyin, one of China’s foremost experts.

Everything they say about Tai Chi Chuan is true. The Taoist meditation, Chi Kung and breathing techniques really do make a huge difference to your health and sense of well-being. I’d be a bit wary of trying to pick it up from a book, though. I really think you need a qualified teacher. If you’re in the UK look for someone who’s a member of the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts (BCCM).

Good luck.

Well, I hope to take it soon. Also, when I took aikido, one of my two teachers was also a master of and taught tai chi, so he taught us with and from that knowledge, and so taught us a little differently than usual. He was always saying stuff like "I don't let anyone mess with my chi-baby," and so I learned about center and balance there. The fundamental concept of aikido is a spiritual one as well as physical: non-conflict.

So, although I haven't had a teacher teach me tai chi, at least I've known a master and seen how he moves and heard a lot of his teachings. And I think I understand how it is a moving meditation. When I do the movements slowly I can really see how it is releasing tension and restful, and I do periods of standing and sitting meditation throughout.

Does anyone know anything specific to standing meditation? I've read that there is such a thing, as well as sitting, walking, and lying down, but I've only read extensively about the sitting practice.

And thanks everyone, too.