Tai Chi & Meditation

Meditation is one of the most ancient and most common of human activities. Just think of times when you feel relaxed; when your mind drifts far away, contemplating pleasant images or thoughts, and when a good feeling rests within you. You could be lying on the grass, looking at the sky, making pictures in the clouds and then watching them drift by. You could be sitting on the beach, watching the movement of ocean and listening to the sound of the waves as they flow in and out. When you feel the sun shining on you, its warmth mirroring the warm, comfortable feeling inside you… All these simple examples reveal the meditative norm.

Experiencing such moments of inner stillness is vital to your mental and therefore your physical well being. In its normal state the mind is a constant source of mental activity, a never ending network of thought associations. Just stop for a moment and try to think of nothing. Impossible, isn’t it?

In the endless sea of thoughts, the mind gets no rest. Even in sleep, unfinished business from the day is played out in dream fantasies. In stressful situations, such as the break-up of relationships or financial difficulties, the turmoil is increased. We have natural safety valves such as sleep, leisure, sports, hobbies and to ascertain extent, daily chores, but these are not enough, so residual pressure continues to build up inside. 

Meditation has proved to be one of the most effective ways of relieving this pressure.

In essence, meditation consists of concentration and relaxation: your mind focuses on an object while your body relaxes in comfortable position. This is made easiest by having a passive attitude and a quiet environment. The basic aim is to silence the thinking mind (the inner chatter) and shift the awareness from rational to the intuitive mode of consciousness.

In many forms of meditation, this silencing of the rational mind is achieved by concentrating one’s attention on a single item, like one’s breathing, the sound of a mantra (a repeated word of phrase), or the visual image of a mandala (a circle which is a symbolic depiction of the psyche or self). Yet these can be difficult techniques to learn.

Tai Chi, however, is one of the most pleasurable forms of meditation. Its flowing movements and mental visualizations of each exercise give it an extra dimension which is not present in static forms of meditation.