Space

The more I live, the more I am realizing the importance of space. Space between thoughts and actions. Space which has room for possibilities despite being crowded with opinions. Space which makes choice possible. Space that allows me to respond instead of having a knee-jerk reaction....

And sometimes, holding a free and open internal space, or presence if you will, can result in a transformation of the environment around you. The environment around me, and I suspect for most if not all people, is mind-blowingly complex and full of divisive groups at odds with each other....

But if I hold an internal space that ... allows people to come together towards a common objective, I find that sometimes it results in almost magical co-operation. Where meditation comes into this equation is that it allows you to open up to all your opinions, pre-conceived notions, irritations and reactions on the cushion and have equanimity with this so that when they surface in the middle of a meeting or any work-interaction, they have a lessened chance of making you react blindly. [My emphasis.]

          --Ashvin Iyengar
          From: Daily Good, August 3, 2010

The above quotation speaks about seated meditation practice but the same holds true for T'ai Chi Chih moving meditation. When we move into a clear open space around and within us, we can more easily detach from all the ego identifications and struggles, both large and small, that circulate through us constantly. That's one of the reason why TCC practice feels so good ... and so freeing.

I thought about space this evening while performing my TCC practice on the deck. Clearly I have tremendous space around me given the location where I live (in the middle of 25 acres of woodland). But it is my TCC practice that brings me into an internal space that empowers me to live larger than my own "opinions, pre-conceived notions, irritations and reactions." The circulation of the Chi brings me into a psychic/spiritual space that offers me the opportunity to move beyond my personal limitations to embody the person I wish to become (and already am if I only allow it).

Space ... what a simple concept. Yet, unexpectedly, it allows us room to grow.