Tag: tai chi

Bafa Wubu–Eight Energies, Five Directions

annebower

On June 20th a large group of Tai Chi Vermont instructors attended a certification workshop focused on this enjoyable, short style of tai chi. The workshop was led by Marty Kidder and Lisa Hilaire. We were in the beautiful Charlotte Congregational Church and not only learned from Marty and Lisa but from each other as well, with lots of mutual encouragement and a good bit of laughter too.

Bafa Wubu is now the new standard introductory form of tai chi in China. It takes very little space which means you can practice in your office, kitchen, garage, almost anywhere! It combines moves from the major traditional tai chi styles. The first half involves movements that engage the core, but the feet are stationary. During the second half we move forward, backward, right, left, and at the end there’s a one-leg standing posture to represent “up.”

Now that I’m certified in this form I look forward to teaching it; exactly how to fit it into the current teaching schedule? Haven’t figured that out yet!

Grateful to our Senior Centers

annebower

For over fifteen years I’ve been teaching at the Bugbee Sr. Ctr. in WRJ and the Thompson Sr. Ctr. in Woodstock. Big thanks to the staff at both locations for all the support they’ve provided. Each of these centers provides food, exercise, advice, cultural experiences, and fantastic opportunities for socializing.

Please support your senior centers. This is more important than ever given the kinds of budget cuts the current federal administration is putting in place.

As many of you know, I’ve had three chapbooks of poetry published, each with a different press. I’m currently selling them at the bargain rate of $5 each, with the money going to our two senior centers. So let me know if you want one. If you are a current student, I can bring it to you. If you aren’t, I can mail it to you (but the cost, incl. shipping and handling, will be $10, and you’ll need to email me your mailing address). You can pay using the cart icon on this website.

Poems for Tai Chi Players, Kattywompus Press: All the poems relate directly to tai chi

The Space Between Us, Finishing Line Press: Poems about the spaces within and around us, in nature, in relationships, and a few about tai chi too

Getting it Down on Paper, Orchard Street Press: This letter-like exchange of poems with fellow-poet Pam Ahlen, explores our histories and experiences in a wonderful give and take.

Don’t hold your breath

annebower

Throughout tai chi and qigong we want to breathe into the movements. There is no absolute method for this; each person discovers the breathing patterns that work best for their own body. We often find ourselves breathing out when it feels like we’re delivering energy or force with the particular movement–but that’s not a rule.

When anxious or uncertain, people often end up holding their breath. I really don’t know why that happens, but if it occurs to you, do try and let go. Holding back on your breathing increases tension–who needs that? For me, if I have a backache or I get myself in a state about politics or a sick friend or something else, just sitting, eyes closed, hands on belly, and breathing slowly and quietly brings me back to a state where thoughts and feelings can flow. I may not have a solution for whatever problem has been bothering me, but now I can accept that I have no solution!

Some of you may be adept at meditating–using a seated or standing form. Perhaps you have a chant or mantra that you say repeatedly (outloud or inwardly) as you breathe quietly. Perhaps you have special items you look at–lovely flowers or a picture or a statue. There are so many ways we can find a breathing practice that brings us back to center and helps us become ready to face life’s quandaries with more composure and openness.

Subzero and then

annebower

Up here in the Pomfret hills the landscape is still all white, blue, brown–hardly a leaf to be found. And it’s so cold. But it’s March, and you know what that means. Mud season will be upon us soon. Perhaps you don’t have to contend with dirt roads, but for those of us who do, this can be as challenging as ice and snow. When I first encountered the deep furrows and ridges of mud it felt like driving on a thick bed of writhing snakes! The car I drove back then had low clearance, but now I’ve a better vehicle which does help some.

Mud season means navigate carefully, don’t overcompensate, just keep going. Kinda like tai chi when you’re doing a challenging move. Or like creative endeavors where you have to overcome self-doubt and the writhing snakes of self-criticism. Just keep going.

February 28: Economic Blackout

annebower

A number of folks have started this idea: On Feb. 28th don’t buy anything from a big corporation–most of them are supporting governmental policies that are horrendous. Avoid buying from places like McDonalds, Walmart, and Amazon that have removed DEI references from their materials. If you must buy take out food, do so from a LOCALLY owned place. If lots of us take this action it will still only make a small dent, but a small dent is better than no dent at all and more actions like this may follow. Yes, you can call me a liberal and a leftist; I don’t mind. What I mind is that the billionaires who own most of the big corporations in this country are backing governmental actions that are destroying democracy. OK–I’ve had my rant.

From a tai chi perspective, sometimes it’s good to employ fa jing–the exploding release of your energy. This happens during martial applications of tai chi, but can also be used in our normal practice when we feel that urge to send our energy outward. After the energy is released, the slower, quieter tai chi moves can resume.

Snow and more snow

annebower

So cold, so sleety, so windy………

and yet we can find pleasure in the adversity!

Quite a task to shovel out of our house and clear a path past the car and onto the (fortunately) plowed) driveway. I know more snow will fall, but at least this headstart didn’t wear me down and will make it easier to clean off car and exit when I need to do that.

Hope everyone out there is safe, warm, and finding good things to do–good for body and mind. Maybe some tai chi? Some qigong? A good book? Writing?

Great time at Lunar New Year Party

annebower

About 30 participants crowded into the Bugbee Senior Center’s exercise room in White River Junction, VT, some of whom you can see below. (A few individuals also joined by Zoom.) We celebrated the Year of the Snake with lots of tai chi forms and some qi gong as well, snacks, and laughter. We got to exchange Happy New Year messages in red envelopes and nibble gold wrapped chocolates, and learn what the Year of the Snake might portend. After, many folks stayed for a tasty Asian-themed lunch.

What really came home to me during this party was the social aspect of tai chi. Watching people chat during breaks, hug friends they’d not seen in a while, feel the energy of tai chi as we attempted to move together–wow! This aspect of tai chi is so important.

How to quit worrying

annebower

In an episode of “Now Hear This,” a PBS series, the host, Scott Yoo, is with music students and asks them if they are worried about their future. Hesitantly, as if worried the question harbors a trick, a few students raise their hands, then more, and more join. Yoo nods, clearly sympathetic, but then tells them what they can do to stop that worry. “Practice!” He goes on to say that when you are practicing and doing your best to practice well you are not worried. You’re not thinking about the future and what it may hold, you’re not looking back to the past and mistakes you’ve made then, you’re simply concentrating on your instrument, the music score, your technique, listening, working hard.

Is it any different with tai chi or writing? These are my main occupations. With tai chi, the instrument is your body and your practice concerns moving that instrument as well as you can, following the “score” of a particular tai chi form. But your mind is part of that body, isn’t it? Visualizing the movements, talking yourself through the sequence, remembering what you’ve been taught. The mind and body make neurological connections and when you’re in that practice, really in it, there’s no room for worry.

With writing your instrument is thought/imagination/visualization/words/research sometimes, but also the whole nervous system that allows the mental activity to generate through the hands as they type or write. Whether it’s a letter, a poem, an essay, a grant, an article, a story, a journal entry–you’re IN it, and you are not worrying about the bills, an illness, an upcoming obligation.

Okay, folks. Practice your art, whatever it is and banish those worries!!

Please tai chi–keep me calm

annebower

Tai chi’s capacity to focus our attention, bring serenity and mindfulness is truly outstanding. Yet there are times when its temporary help isn’t nearly enough. I know its deemed inappropriate in a place like this to get political, but people, I tremble when contemplating what a Trump presidency would mean. Please, please, please do whatever you can to make sure this doesn’t happen.

If I have offended you with this post, sorry. But this is just too important a matter for silence. My values push me to teach tai chi and bring its healthy benefits to as many people as I can. My values let me honor my family, the natural world around me, all those who strive for peace. And my values will not allow silence about an election that is so important.

Do what you can. Thanks.

BaFa Wubu

annebower

The newest official tai chi form from China is designed for small spaces and only takes about 3 minutes to perform once you know it. Created in 2018, it is now being taught in many places around the world. It’s fun–combining moves from the 3 major tai chi families: Chen, Yang, and Sun. The first half is performed without moving the feet, although the torso and arms are very active. The second half uses the same motions but in a different order and includes stepping and weight shifting. BaFa means 8 energies–that is, different ways of directing your energy. Wubu means 5 directions–forward, backward, to the left, to the right, and up. I’m enjoying learning this form and look forward to teaching it one day.

There’s always more to learn, whether you’re adventuring into something brand new or deepening your understanding of something you already “know.” Both kinds of growth are good for the body and mind, and I do believe learning is one of the things that makes us humans happy!