Submitted by Keith Boswell, Mindful Movement Center
Today, most of the people on the planet are moving a lot less than they were six months ago. But somehow even in these unusual times we still do not take the time to truly be still. Standing, sitting, or even lying down meditation have long been a part of traditional Taiji training systems. However it has not always been openly taught. In so many cases the beautiful, martial and artful choreography of the Taiji form has often been the focus and sometimes the only aspect shared from the teacher to the student. Stillness and movement should really have equal billing as a part of Taiji practice. Stillness or meditative practice creates an environment for building stronger connections between the mind and the body. The benefits of stillness are: stress reduction, improved body alignment, and pain prevention.
A session of standing meditation would begin with making sure you have a stable foot position, ideally shoulder width apart. Your feet may be parallel with the weight equally distributed or one foot in front with about 60 percent of the weight on the back leg. Step 2 is to take deep, slow breaths and try to remove distracting thoughts. There are many, many proven ways to accomplish this. One method is to focus on the breath and think about sinking your weight into the ground. Step 3 is to raise the arms, hold them in front of your body, palms facing back towards you. If you are new to this practice I would start with just 2 minutes and slowly over time, increase the length of your session. A good goal is between 10–15 minutes daily for a meditative practice. You can include time sitting and/or lying down as well. Reminder: These are just general guidelines and you should feel free to modify based on your personal situation and physical condition. I highly recommend that you seek out a teacher or experienced practitioner to assist you and answer questions as you progress.
So full disclosure, I confess, I do not have a magical phone booth or transporter that allows you to control time. I do know that you can control what you do with your time. Just 15 minutes a day will give you a great supplement to your mindful movement practice and will definitely benefit you in the long run.
Be still and move well!
For more information, contact Keith Boswell at 309-863-5423 or TaiJiofPeoria@gmail.com.