Withdraw to Advance (welcoming the Year of the Horse)
I recently picked up Tai-Chi again after not having practiced regularly for more than 10 years. I had been looking for the right school in New York. I tried a few classes here and there, but nothing really clicked. I had almost given up on finding a safe space to rekindle my passion for this ancient form of kinetic meditation. Until two weeks ago the teacher found me. While heading to the local YMCA swimming pool I was drawn by the aura of a man who was neither too cordial, nor too distant. Our eyes crossed and without a word I followed him to the studio across the front desk. There was a whole crowd waiting for him as he slipped on his Kung-fu shoes, and played a Chinese tune to bow and begin the Tai-chi class. I was unprepared – didn’t have the proper attire, but quickly threw a t-shirt over my swim gear and joined the practice.
The teacher took us through a fluid warm up that drew upon the main animal movements from Kung –fu – the Chinese Martial Art that emphasizes the perfecting of skills through hard work over the emulation of form. In an hour and a half we experienced the entire animal kingdom. We curled like snakes, crouched like dragons, spread our wings like a crane, grabbed like monkeys, leapt like tigers, nestled like sparrows and trotted like horses. We were instructed to always find our center as we shifted our weight to advance or withdraw. Our arms turned into clouds, our feet into lotus roots, our head into a floating buoy, and our chest into a helium balloon that inflated and deflated through the breath. We were initiated into the sacred Taoist principle of Wu-Wei or “stillness in motion”. Being attuned to the Tao required equal amounts of determination and retreat, of rising of falling of expanding and contracting.
“Wu-wei” refers to the cultivation of a state of being in which our actions are quite effortlessly in alignment with the ebb and flow of the elemental cycles of the natural world. It is a kind of “going with the flow” that is characterized by great ease and awake-ness, in which – without even trying – we’re able to respond perfectly to whatever situations arise. I could suddenly feel this energy of spontaneous movement sweeping through my body as I morphed from a snake that sneaks under a stone to incubate, to a horse that forges forward to progress. Both actions fed of one another. Both animals complemented each other’s virtues to highlight different qualities of the natural world.
According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar we are on the cusp of transitioning from the Year of the Water Snake to the Year of the Wooden Horse. This natural progression heralds the need to move from the inner recesses of our subconscious into a clear projection of our drive. We are asked to emerge from a place of incubation where we refined our lives, choices and relationships to an outer place of conscious and determined action. We are guided into generating momentum, while unleashing our creative power to boldly stand up for our convictions. We are called to prepare for an external wild adjustment while diving into internal exploration – navigating both with care and hope. The 2014 Year of the horse is a time of fast victories, of unexpected adventures and surprising romance. We are allowed to flirt with chance and destiny, to forge new horizons, to form new alliances that benefit our inner and outer ecology. How to harness natural power without harming the eco-system, how to ride the high tides, while taming the wild? Decisive action, not procrastination brings success.
The Chinese astrologers warn us that in the year of the Horse there is no cessation to movement, no middle ground. Intuition is the guidepost to keen judgment. Sincerity is encouraged as there is no room for hidden agendas. There will be ample room for self-expression and authenticity. Rules should be modified to suit the situation or completely broken. Mainstream projects won’t work – they have to be radical, courageous and impulsive. It is a year of spontaneous energy, challenging and ground-breaking discoveries and innovation.
The Chinese regard the horse individual as our evolutionary pioneer, the charming rebel, who calls on his genius when old ways no longer work. Prepare to watch old structures rattle to the bones. As they tumble and crumble new space for metamorphic cultural shifts will open. Revolt for true progress will be launched. We have to carve a sustainable ecology in the wildness outside, in our flowing economy and in our personal relationships, suspending all anger and rushed decisions and paving way for empathy forgiveness and connection. Moving wisely from the year of the snake to the year of the horse we need to balance the needs of all involved so we can move together forward in healthy interdependence.
Wu-Wei is the natural key to maintaining this radical balance. To find this balance in Tai-chi we make sure to shift our weight consistently so we’re never solely on one leg or the other, but rather in the flow of what is happening. We are constantly negotiating with the forces of opposition in order to find the alignment with the “Tao” – with the rhythms of the elements within and outside of our bodies. Then our actions are quite naturally of the highest benefit to all who we contact. At this point we have gone beyond the need for defining and identifying. We have become the embodiment of our highest purpose. We have realized our place within the web of inter-being, within the cosmos, and – knowing our connection to all-that-is – can offer only thoughts, words and actions that do no harm, that are spontaneously virtuous.
Yogea Tai-Chi based Flow: Withdraw to Advance
This brief Tai-chi inspired Yogea breathing and moving meditation is intended to create a strong sense of sturdiness in motion and improved concentration so we can target our ideas clearly and more deliberately. The movements are derived from Chinese Kung-fu, and particularly the style of the horse that is brisk, powerful, grounded and explosive. Smooth weight shifting is practiced with the legs, while swift coordination is conducted with the arms. The breathing is continuous and emphasizes exhalation at every forward motion, and inhalation at every retreat. The practice trains the quality of “Wu-wei” or “doing in non-doing” and allows us to juggle with paradox both in our meditative and kinetic practice and in life.
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