Four Ways to Find Your Piece of Time for Tai Chi

Even students with high interest in Tai Chi who attend class regularly don’t always find time to practice at home. Practice is essential for following up on the skills learned in class, leading to overall progress. But how can you find time for  Tai Chi  in today’s busy world? 
The key involves using your time more efficiently and creatively. 

First, you need to determine your priorities. Next, I recommend creating a log to figure out what you spend time on every day. Take special note of time wasters, such as excessive TV watching, playing video games or use of social media. Lastly, you should plan to remove or reduce these time wasters from your life and concentrate on the important things you want achieve. I suggest the following: 

1. Prioritize tai chi. 
What is the purpose of  Tai Chi  in your life? Are the benefits important enough to prioritize it? Some students want to gain balance from Tai Chi; others aim for correct body structure to reduce joint pain; yet others want to relax and clear their minds. Some of my elderly students attend class to achieve slow, gentle exercise to maintain their flexibility and mobility. Some of my college students want to learn Tai Chi for self-defense. Find your purpose in tai chi will give you motivation to move forward and keep up practice. 

2. Determine your time wasters.

Next, try to record a few days’ activities in a log to find out what the big time wasters are in your life. The top time wasters in mine are listed below with ways I have overcome them:

• Watching TV.  I watch a movie or two once a while using a DVD player. I don’t subscribe to cable.
• Playing computer games. I don’t play computer games. I play chess or the Chinese game “go” once a while with friends.
• Social media. This one is hard since I use social media for my  Tai Chi  class, as well as connecting with friends. However, I still try to reduce my time spent on social media by checking only once or twice a day.
• Waiting for water to boil. I use an electric boiler called Zojirushi CV-DSC40 VE Hybrid Water Boiler and Warmer, which has three different temperatures for different teas. When you have that, hot water is always ready when you need it.
• Finding the right CD and book. I converted all my music so that I could store it on my phone. I also use a Kindle.
• Cleaning and organizing things. I reduced the amount of stuff in my house, so I don’t have to clean as much. 
• Cooking and eating at restaurants. I cook more easy, healthy dishes and occasionally I go to a nearby restaurant (that doesn’t have long lines!) I also use an automatic rice maker called the Zojirushi NS-LAC05XT Micom 3-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer
• Running fewer errands. I generally create a plan and run all my errands in one trip. One example is checking my mail once a week rather than every day.

3. Follow my father’s advice!
My father held a PhD in mathematics and taught university level math. For this reason, I’ve always trusted his sense of time efficiency. His top three suggestions (from what I remember) are:

• Muti-task in some situations

In general, I’m not a proponent of multi-tasking. Focusing on one task at a time leads to a better outcome. However, there are exceptions. One idea is try to stand on one leg while brushing your teeth to practice balance. Another is to do tai chi breathing exercises while waiting for the bus.

• Don't stay in bed when you are awake

I remember when I was a child, my father always told me, “When your eyes are open and you are already awake, don’t delay. Get up immediately and use your time to do something meaningful. Wasting time is a shame.” 

• Get up early

No time for Tai Chi? My father would suggest waking one hour earlier in the morning and going to bed one hour later at night.

4. Try the 6 mini forms from The Zhang System
If you don’t have time to finish all of the 85 traditional forms, you can try the 6 mini forms that I have created, each of which has 6 new movements or less. They are conclusions, or culminations, of the traditional form without sacrificing or eliminating important moves like the simplified tai chi form. You can finish each form in a few minutes. If you only have few minutes in the morning, that will be plenty of time to fit one in!

One of the mini forms is listed below:
 The brush peacock’s tail form
1.      Preparing form
2.      Opening form
3.      Brush peacock’s tail
4.      Single Whip
5.      Cross hands
6.      Closing form

I hope this article was helpful for you to tame the “time” tiger in  Tai Chi . If so, please pass on the link to this article to help more  Tai Chi practitioners. 

2016 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

Tea and Patience

Many things I enjoy require patience, including gardening, Tai Chi, golf, feeding my fish, and having tea.

I love to have tea because it trains you to have a lot of patience. Water is the mother of the tea. Waiting for the water to boil just slows down the step of your daily life. Waiting for the bubbles to surface, the steam to appear, and the water to begin hissing, are all time-consuming.

Before even drinking the tea, steps such as smelling the tea, warming the cup, putting the tea leaves in the cup, and wetting the tea leaves to let the taste seep out all require time. You need to quiet down your mind, just feel relaxed, and try to enjoy the whole process. The process will become a pleasure once you are able to quiet your mind.

Sometimes, although you may try to drink your tea one sip at a time, you may end up swilling the whole cup at once like a donkey. It takes patience to do everything slowly and gracefully. If your mind is not empty and relaxed, how can you enjoy the color, taste, fragrance, or shape of the tea? How can you identify if this tea is smooth, sweet, bitter, light or strong? Can you visit a village for just a few seconds and still enjoy the view? Imagine your cup of tea is like a village. Have patience and be relaxed, and then you can enjoy the details of your tea. Wander around and look for its character, its personality.

Why must we hurry to finish everything fast? The next time you are walking to work, or shopping in the grocery store, try doing it slowly. Be aware of the good feelings and let them last, just like having your tea.

copyrights Huan's Tai Chi 2011

Find Peace within Nature

李白: 望廬山瀑布
View of a Waterfall at Mount Lushan
By Li Bai (701-762): Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong

日照香爐生紫煙
Sunlit is the Incense Summit, aglow in smoke and steam;

遙看瀑布掛前川
To afar, like a drape that glitters, a waterfall hangs upstream:

飛流直下三千尺
Flowing, flying, fluttering ~ plunging three thousand feet,

疑是銀河落九天
As if ‘twere the Silver River, falling from the heaven supreme.

This is one of my favorite poems by Li Bai. Although I haven’t been to the Famous Lu Shan, but I have been to many waterfalls here in new England. It’s very rewarding after a long hike, to reach the beautiful waterfall. I found it’s very pleasing and relaxing being in front of a waterfall. Negative ions and fresh airs flows around you. So quiet without any people around, yet noisy because of the sounds of water , but quieter because there are no other sounds. This is the power of nature. It relaxes you as opposed to man made things such as computer, phone and car. Only things in nature are truly beneficial to you; The real taste of food without any chemicals or spices. If you want to have a longer and more relaxing life, stay away from the computer, TV and cell phone( check your email only once or twice a day, silence your phone), stay close to nature. Visit your city park, go hiking, go canoeing, do your Tai Chi.

You can also try to bring nature to your home by having plants, or a little aquarium, and get a copy of a New Calendar I made - The Flow of Nature - Wisdom of Lao Tzu. Have a fun and relaxed Holiday and New year.

Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi 2009

Do Heaven and Hell exist?

Zhang Chu asked monk Zhi Chang.
“ Do Heaven and Hell exist?”
“Yes, they exist.” Monk Zhi Chang answered.
“ That’s confusing, when I was meditating with Monk Jin San, Jin San said ‘No’ to this question.” Said Zhang Chu.
“Do you have a wife and Children?” Zhi Chang Monk asked.
“ A wife and two kids.”
“ What about monk Jin San?” Zhi Chang Monk asked again.
“ Monk Jin San is a monk, he can’t get married!” Zhang Chu became angry.
“Well, just on the family situation. If you were in the same situation as Monk Jin San, then you could say ‘No’.”

Why might I give two different corrections to the same posture on two different students on Tai Chi? Why does their final posture look a bit different? Why do I give two different usages when I teach in two different Tai Chi Classes? It’s the same answer Monk Zhi Chang gives to us on Heaven and Hell.

Copyrighted By Huan's Tai Chi '09

Will God or Buddha help you when you really need them?

Many people are very dependent on others. You can find these people every where. Co-workers, friends, relatives, they need your help on many things. The first type is they don't know that they can also do some things; they are not confident on them selves. They believe they can't do it, so they don't even want to try. The second type is they think you are doing much better job than they do, because you are superior, you got to help them. The third type is they are just lazy, they believe you are their God and Buddha, you can help them whenever they needed.

Will the real God or Buddha help you when you need them? I believe the answer is no.

That's why they give you your hands, and brain, so you can be independent and you will be able to help yourself. That's why when co-workers ask me for help, I would show them the detailed steps first time, or maybe two more times. If they asked the fourth time, they have to take care it by themselves. When I teach Tai Chi to my students, I mentioned to them, will you able to do the basic movement in home without me. If you are, then you are really learning.

The Meaning of Life

My Tai Chi/Kung Fu classmate Jim sent me an email today. I remembered when we last emailed, he was sick from food poison. Jim is a good Martial Artist and always pretty healthy, but you never know what will happen in your life. Life is short and I never feel I had enough time to finish things. It doesn't matter how busy I am, I always spend my time to water my garden and do my Tai Chi. It's the enjoyment of my life. They keep you relaxed and bring you energy.

Everyone want to have a meaning of your life. Most time, you are trying to prove yourself or impress others. You are getting a Ph.D. or working hard or trying to prove your worth in this human society. That's wonderful. Helping the society is a great thing to do. On the other hand, I am little selfish. I spend time on gardening and Tai Chi for my own enjoyment. I felt once you can enjoy your little moment, your life has a real meaning. If you have read some articles on Buddha, you know he see through the meaning of life of everybody in their life. Holding a flower in the garden with a smile, that's how Buddha Shows the Meaning of Life.

Do you still have your vase?

After the strong wind and shower two days ago, my peony is falling apart in backyard.
I need to use string to pull them together. After done some yard work this morning,
cutting some flowers and putting them in to my vase, I remembered the vase story I have heard.

A war general was cleaning his desk. He accidently knocked off his favorite vase. Just right before the vase touch the ground, he caught with his quick hand. He realized he was sweating at the moment. “Why?” he asked himself. “ While I was in the battlefield, fighting with the enemies, I never sweat. Why today, why now. I could lose my life then during the battle but this is just a vase.” After he thought it over, He broke his vase.

I always tell myself, I don’t have any thing when I was first born, and I will not bring any thing with me after I die. Anything I have here are some thing I gained. I should be happy on what I have. Sometimes, arguments and conflict came because something you never had and will not bring to your coffin. I wanted to lose all my vases as well. What about you? After you read this, Do you still have your vase?

Are we really all going to Heaven?

What a beautiful sunny weekend we had! I did some gardening and then joined my friend Teresa’s BBQ at rooftop. If you read our website, you saw we auctioned one of our classes to support woman who had Aids, that’s where Teresa use to work. Teresa is only visiting Boston this weekend because she accepted a job in NC a year ago. She love the food and entertainment here and she had a good job here in Cambridge, but she took that job anyway because she think people need more help there.

Here is a Buddhism story,

Once, a person asked the Buddha,

“Where will you go after you die.”
“Hell, of course!”
“Why hell, you suppose to go to heaven, right?”
“If I don’t go to Hell, who is going to teach these people in hell being a good human?”

I didn’t try to imply that NC is hell, of course not. I am trying to say that some time the most wonderful decision ( good for you) is not the most wise decision( good for the world), so before you make the decision, think three times and choose wisely.

Caterpillar and Butterfly: The Meaning of Life

Last week, I got an email from one of my students, his dog for many years passed away last week and he has tried to stay alone for a while. I have emailed him that he need to talk with friends and go on with life. I am sure his dog wants him to be happy in rest of his life but being sad.

After I wake up today, I see a beautiful day with Blue sky and sunshine! It’s another happy day as always. My tulips are blooming today. ( will post picture tomorrow) As Helen Keller used to say, Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. There is so much great things you can enjoy in your life, why bother to have negative thoughts.

What the Caterpillar calls the end, the world calls a Butterfly. Things can be change all the time. Ying can be Yang. The grass is turning green. A great season for wonderful activities has begun. Have friends over, drink tea, talk and enjoy the literature and art.

Enjoy food, enjoy work, enjoy your study, enjoy helping people. Being creative and trying to think what kind of fun I can have from this little thing I am doing. When you can turn every little things in your life into enjoyment, you life has it’s own special meaning!

This Article is copyrighted By Huan’s Tai Chi

Tai Chi and Fears

It’s been raining for last two days. Hope it didn’t kill the seeds I planted. Am I worried about the plants or I just love the natural or flowers?
As the classic book “Think and Grow Rich” written By Napoleon Hill mentioned,

People have 6 fears.
1. The fear of POVERTY,
2. The fear of CRITICISM,
3. The fear of ILL HEALTH,
4. The fear of LOSS OF LOVE OF SOMEONE,
5. The fear of OLD AGE, and
6. The fear of DEATH.

I thought I don’t have any of these above, because I have been poor, I have been criticized, I have been sick, I have lost love, and I know it’s human nature we all going to die in the future, I have been on the edge of life and death at least three times. Now, it’s funny to think about sometimes, I am still worried on the flower seeds I just planted. As Napoleon mentioned, worry is based on fear, so I guess I still have fear in my life. In a human society, your joy of life is related to others. When you care about people, you worry. When you care about people, you fear. For example: I was worried what students would do when I was late for class last Thursday.

Why people doing Tai Chi? There are so many reasons people told me.
“It’s really cool.”
“It’s fun and healthy.”
“It can make my life less stressed and healthy.”
“It can make me more flexible when I am older.”

All of these applied to three of the six fears
3. The fear of ILL HEALTH,
5. The fear of OLD AGE, and
6. The fear of DEATH

If Tai Chi can conquer 3 fears for you out of total 6 human fears, isn’t this a great activities to do?

This Article is copyrighted By Huan’s Tai Chi