Clouds and more

Taking Tai Chi seems to have activated more than just my body.

Today, Patrick was saying that although it is a good shortcut to have habitual ways we do things, it is also good to sometimes be open to new ways of moving.  One of the people in the class said that yes, she tended to always repeat exactly the way she had been thought something at first, and she saw that it might be useful to be open to examining what she had been doing and consider changing it.

After class, I said to Patrick that I have the opposite problem.  I am always looking for different ways to do things, and waste a lot of time and energy doing that.  As I spoke, I physically expressed what I was saying by reaching out off-balance and unfocused.  He said that it was good the way I expressed it physically, and he demonstrated another physical image - that of the Tai Chi horse pose - an open legged upright squat with arms in an open circle at chest level.  He showed how that was a stable (heh-heh ... horse/stable) pose, but flexible.  He also showed how it was a protected position with the circled arms, but open at the heart level, since they don't meet.  That image is helpful.

During the class, Patrick talked about cloud arms and flexibility.  He emphasized how when we say "cloud," we are not conjuring up a static image, since clouds change shape and yet are still clouds.

It reminded me of the koan, "What was your face before you were born?"  In other words, we are like clouds too, perhaps changing shape but still being whatever we are....