A pretty good practice this morning. Not too bad, anyway. It was OK. It wasn’t my best. It was terrible! OK, now I feel like Statler and Waldorf, the two old muppet gentlemen in the balcony that commented on every act in the Muppet Show. Actually, my practice was OK, but not my best. Room for improvement.
Today’s tai chi maneuver that I’m going to try to poeticize is the posture, Stand Like Tree. It’s one of my favorites, actually. It’s very orderly and there’s not much to it at all. Certainly it should be easier to describe than Single Whip, which has layers of complication and movement in it.
Shift your weight to the now-forward left sole,
so all of it flows through toe, ball and heel:
Attend these “three nails”: it should be your goal
to be joined to earth yet springy, like steel.
In this effort now imitate a tree:
your left leg a trunk digging into ground,
your other three limbs all open and free.
Keep your eyes open and look all around.
Lower your arms and show the sky each palm;
right heel on the earth shows mere illusion.
Drape yourself in clothes of resourceful calm
and cast aside your doubt and confusion.
Trees take their nourishment from dark and light:
be thus rooted, and unafraid of night.
Meh. It’s OK, I think. Not awesome, not great. Like today’s practice, I would guess.
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