Bit by Bit, Day by Day, Practice by Practice

While I waited for a nerve wracking phone call this morning I realized that I was doing myself no good feeling anxious. Even though I planned to do more preparations before the call came in I realized that, in fact, I was no longer being productive during my wait. What to do....

T'ai Chi Chih practice, of course. It took me awhile to come to this realization but, as soon as I did, I jumped into my practice. Oh . . . after about 10 minutes I felt much better and by the time the phone rang another 10 minutes later, I was relaxed and ready to go.

After all these years of practice it seems that TCC would immediately come to mind as a helpful intervention when I feel nervous, fearful, or anxious. That's not always the case. It still takes time for me to realize how uncentered and out of whack I am before I can focus on what I can do to help myself.

In fact, I've come a long way from past habits and behaviors when I allowed myself to drown in the immensity of my feelings. Bit by bit, day by day, practice by practice I'm learning to return myself to TCC's soothing, centering meditation of movements. And, as I discovered this morning, help is there if I simply take the time to move toward it.