It’s amazing to me how much of tai chi comes down to breathing correctly. Today around 6:30, I did five golden coins, the form, and eight pieces of silk in the living room (parlor sounds so much nicer than living room —can we reclaim that word, please?)
During the form, I was breathing strongly and deeply. My sides functioned like a bellows, and my eyesight and my skin sense both changed as a result of the increased oxygen flow.
The other week I went to a group meditation session in Middletown. I love going there. I love feeling the same things – skin sense, nose scent, eyesight… perception, generally, opening up and widening as a result of breathing properly. To breathe properly in meditation and to breathe properly while in motion are two different experiences, though. I’m not sure that I can explain the difference — or maybe it’s a distinction with no difference —but it’s akin to being and doing from a state of aliveness.
And I like that.
