Whisper Beauty's Tai Chi Garden Why Tai Chi?
Why do I do Tai Chi?
  • To bring stillness and peace into my life
  • To gather my scattered self to a center
  • To learn how to be soft instead of brittle and tense
  • To find contentment in my life
  • To learn my boundaries and how not to be pushed around
  • To find something to believe in, even if that something turns out to be me
  • To know my own body and take pride in its movement and form
  • To find balance in all things
  • To unite my mind, spirit, and body
  • To find inner strength and power
  • To find patience
  • To appreciate the now, to be present
  • To yield without surrendering
  • To listen and hear
  • To be calm
  • To be whole, complete
  • To be stable even in the midst of change
  • To be a resting place and source of strength, a spring that nourishes but is never drained

Tai Chi is not about fighting for me, although I want to learn to be strong.  It is not about living forever, although I am happy for the health benefits.  Tai Chi is a spiritual journey for me.  I have much that I am thinking about -- much that I want to discover.  Tai Chi focuses me.  It is a journey that I am taking in my own body|soul|heart.  It is not a short journey.  It is a process, a flower unfolding.

For much of my life, I focused on my mind, separated myself from my body.  I was not at peace in my own skin.  Tai Chi is showing me that I am more than just my mind, and that I should learn to accept and integrate all the parts of me.  It is hard, a lesson I am still learning.  When I feel all elbows and awkwardness, frustrated that I am not able to master a certain form, it is easy to lose sight of all the progress I have made. 

There are moments when I am in sync with the form, and there is no future, no past, no thoughts, just the flow of energy.

I love the concept that I meet people who have been doing Tai Chi for 10 years, and say "Oh, I am just a beginner."  Tai Chi is something that can take you a lifetime to master, much more than learning a 24 movement form.  I am a beginner too, so I claim no special wisdom or insight.  Join me here, in my garden, and ponder the words.  Or perhaps you can teach me, share your thoughts and what you have learned.  I want the garden to be a place for anyone interested in the beauty of nature and Tai Chi. 

You can send me your thoughts at Whisperbeauty@lycos.com