Flexible Body, Bendable Mind

As I drove home from last night's TCC class evening temperatures hovered in the low 50s. During the night cooler breezes rushed through the region and, at present, under clear blue skies the temps linger in the low 40s.


It was a challenge to slow down this morning's TCC class practice. Students arrived late and an atmosphere of "rush, rush" pervaded the room. About half-way through calm and tranquility began to reign once again.

After practice we delved into Verse 76 of The Tao, "Living by Bending" (per Wayne Dyer). There are a multitude of ways in which this verse relates directly to our T'ai Chi Chih practice. As Dyer points out in his discussion of this verse (p. 361):

Lao-tzu asks us to change the way we look at the concept of strength by noticing how the most solid and durable things in the natural world tend to be soft, gentle, and even weak. If we see strength as being hard, inflexible, and unyielding, he invites us to change that perception. Life, according to Lao-tzu, is defined as soft and pliable.

This verse highlights an essential principle of T'ai Chi Chih practice. First, it applies literally in terms of how we hold our bodies--joints always have a slight bend in them and are never fully extended--which we notice most easily in our knees and elbows but which holds true for all of our joints. And it also applies to what Dyer calls "thought processes and behaviors" (p. 362).

When we loosen the tension in our bodies AND in our minds, we discover that our strength comes from being flexible and by bending not just our joints but also our unbendable attitudes and convictions. I'm convinced that this is a major reason why I feel so good when I practice TCC moving meditation. When my body and mind are flexible and at ease, I'm more open, accepting, and nonjudgmental of all that is. And that place of peace and acceptance is a wonderful spot to return to each and every day.