Evolution one – week eight
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Hello Folks,
Another Free day. Even on a free day I try to pay attention to how MUCH food I eat, but not WHAT I eat. Food is the more challenging discipline for me than exercise; so I know I have to be on top of things in that area. Also, I tend to feel better throughout the day when I don’t stuff myself. They say it takes your body 10 minutes to recognize that it is full; a good reason to eat slower!
I want to talk a little bit about Tai Chi Chuan. I did Tai Chi for seven years as a discipline. The form of Tai Chi I practiced was called Taoist Tai Chi . I learned a series of 108 slow movements that made up a form. Each movement had a symbolic meaning as well as a physical purpose. At first, I found it challenging, because I am an active person and I generally like faster paced activities. I also felt like I wasn’t getting any exercise from it.
However, since I first started practicing Tai Chi, I learned many things about how much it exercises the body; which means I can’t ignore the benefits. When I first started Tai Chi, I remember witnessing other people doing it and breathing hard. I remember, also, thinking to myself "why is he or she breathing so hard when I don’t feel anything at all?"
After a year of intense training, with lots of correction, I started to breath heavier while doing the set. After three years of training, I had my first realization about the discipline. My breathing was lining up with my movements. I was breathing through my belly instead of my chest. The more I practiced Tai Chi the stronger my body became.
I had knee surgery as a result of an old childhood injury, and recovered quickly. I think my fast recovery was because of Tai Chi. The Tai Chi movements (108 moves) are so slow, your muscles, ligaments and tendons become stronger without injury. It is like you are gently guiding your body to function more efficiently.
Supposedly, the movements help posture, balance, breathing and movement of blood and oxygen to all of your body’s organs. The idea is that you keep your body’s internal fluids moving and it acts as a lubricant for all of your joints and organs, which keep them from building up toxins and becoming hard and useless.
The movements keep your internal body young and supple. When I think about Tai Chi it reminds me of weight training. There are many fitness experts who recommend breathing through an exercise, and suggest slower movements to fully benefit from any given exercise; much like Tai Chi.
I wonder what Tai Chi blended with weight training would look like? I will have to experiment with that and report back. I will call it Tai Chi Weight Training (ha), stay tuned! Next time I am going to talk about toxins and weight and health.
Hello Folks,
Another Free day. Even on a free day I try to pay attention to how MUCH food I eat, but not WHAT I eat. Food is the more challenging discipline for me than exercise; so I know I have to be on top of things in that area. Also, I tend to feel better throughout the day when I don’t stuff myself. They say it takes your body 10 minutes to recognize that it is full; a good reason to eat slower!
I want to talk a little bit about Tai Chi Chuan. I did Tai Chi for seven years as a discipline. The form of Tai Chi I practiced was called Taoist Tai Chi . I learned a series of 108 slow movements that made up a form. Each movement had a symbolic meaning as well as a physical purpose. At first, I found it challenging, because I am an active person and I generally like faster paced activities. I also felt like I wasn’t getting any exercise from it.
However, since I first started practicing Tai Chi, I learned many things about how much it exercises the body; which means I can’t ignore the benefits. When I first started Tai Chi, I remember witnessing other people doing it and breathing hard. I remember, also, thinking to myself "why is he or she breathing so hard when I don’t feel anything at all?"
After a year of intense training, with lots of correction, I started to breath heavier while doing the set. After three years of training, I had my first realization about the discipline. My breathing was lining up with my movements. I was breathing through my belly instead of my chest. The more I practiced Tai Chi the stronger my body became.
I had knee surgery as a result of an old childhood injury, and recovered quickly. I think my fast recovery was because of Tai Chi. The Tai Chi movements (108 moves) are so slow, your muscles, ligaments and tendons become stronger without injury. It is like you are gently guiding your body to function more efficiently.
Supposedly, the movements help posture, balance, breathing and movement of blood and oxygen to all of your body’s organs. The idea is that you keep your body’s internal fluids moving and it acts as a lubricant for all of your joints and organs, which keep them from building up toxins and becoming hard and useless.
The movements keep your internal body young and supple. When I think about Tai Chi it reminds me of weight training. There are many fitness experts who recommend breathing through an exercise, and suggest slower movements to fully benefit from any given exercise; much like Tai Chi.
I wonder what Tai Chi blended with weight training would look like? I will have to experiment with that and report back. I will call it Tai Chi Weight Training (ha), stay tuned! Next time I am going to talk about toxins and weight and health.
Exercise: softball practice
Menu: anything I want
Until next time...
Think, Believe, Act, Achieve
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: Breath. Breath. Breath.
No comments:
Post a Comment