Stress Management through Tai Chi and Qigong

        
        Stress is a prolonged and unrelieved state of arousal or withdrawal. Your autonomic nervous system is continuously being aroused or inhibited by daily events and situations. When you are caught in heavy traffic, or late for an appointment, or have to deal with conflicts in your personal and professional life, you would probably feel some tension. Your breathing and heart rate increase, your muscles tense and your energy levels increase, or you may become inhibited or withdraw, rather than become aroused. You get ready to "fight or take flight". This creates an imbalance in this system. Often you don't have a chance to return to a relaxed, mental and physical state. Either state of arousal or inhibition, if sustained long enough with no relief, becomes stress. It places wear and tear on your body, leading to exhaustion.

        When you function without stress, you maintain a state of internal balance, called homeostasis. During this state, functioning of the nervous system is brought into balance. During your practice of the Tai Chi and Qigong, you maintain awareness of posture, balance and coordination, which creates a feeling of tranquility within motion, or a state of quiet awareness. This is related to the mental component of homeostasis. You calm your mind and relax your body with the slow, continuous movements in Tai Chi and Qigong. Furthermore, these movements require less effort and energy by adjusting your posture in such a way that your own structure supports you more efficiently, thus requiring the least amount of muscular tension for support. Relaxed and effortless movement has been described during high levels of athletic performance and exercise as being in the “peak zone”, flow state or exercise “high”.

        In time, you will find your breathing and your movements naturally coordinate. As your movements become slow and continuous, your breathing becomes smooth and even. It will have a soothing, calming effect on your mind and body. It will also help your lower body to relax and be very steady, while your upper body's movements become smooth and even.

 

Push Hands: the Art of Bullfighting

        Change is always occurring. Things in your environment are constantly changing over which you often have no control. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yin and Yang are the two opposing forces of nature that are also complementary and harmonious. In nature, change occurs in cycles. The seasons change, from the heat of summer to the cold of winter. The dark of night is continuously broken by the light of day. In order to enjoy happiness you must have experienced sadness. You continually cycle between hunger and fullness, fatigue and energy, wellness and sickness. Although change is all around you, your body is constantly seeking balance. Otherwise stress and illness result.

        When practiced regularly, Tai Chi, Qigong, and “Push Hands”, a two person training exercise in Tai Chi, can help you to develop and maintain internal balance (homeostasis) as well as external balance. In Push Hands, you develop awareness and balance by constantly adjusting and relaxing your posture, while shifting your weight forward and back, and gently pushing and yielding to your partner's push. The more you practice, the more you are able to maintain a state of balance. Outside of your practice you are always seeking balance, like your internal state of homeostasis, adjusting to the changing environment around you. The more you practice Tai Chi, Qigong, and Push Hands, the less likely you become easily aroused or inhibited, with less intensity, to whatever stressor may come your way. Furthermore, you can return to a state of balance more quickly.

        In order to reduce stress resulting from change, you must adopt an attitude of accepting and adapting to change, yielding to external stressors over which you have little control. You adapt to whatever changes come your way. You let these stressors bounce off of you while you remain centered, calm and relaxed, and aware of your surroundings. The same strategy applies when you practice the Push Hands exercise. You can use the Roll Back posture to roll your partner's push to the side as you stay balanced. You remain calm yet aware of what your Push Hands partner is doing so that you can respond appropriately. When the timing is right, you push forward and assert your power.

        Similarly, you don't allow criticisms, mistakes or limitations in yourself and others to upset your center. You have your strengths and weaknesses. You make mistakes, and you learn from them. To forgive yourself allows you to forgive others. When you practice this, you become content with yourself and with others. You can be more accepting of who you are and what you have. Sometimes jealousy and greed for greater pleasures use great expenditures of time and energy and can lead to downfall. At times it helps to be reminded of the age old saying:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage

to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”