I managed to do a really slow round of tai chi today. Like, almost 45 minutes from beginning to end today. That’s nearly triple my usual speed, and it was awesome.
I have no idea how I did it. I mean, I was breathing five or six times, deeply, on every movement. So that helped. But I also don’t know how I was able to maintain that speed and process throughout the form. Usually I start that slow at the beginning, speed up toward the middle, realize I’m speeding up and manage to slow down for a few postures, and then speed up again before the end. Silly, but there you are.
And yet, I don’t know how I did it. Sometimes the really excellent work, like today, comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. It’s not repeatable, because you’re not entirely sure how it was done. Today felt like that. And we’ll see what tomorrow brings
Andrew, I wonder if you have ever tried setting a very Formal Intention to ___… whatever you want in tai chi… like slowing down to half-speed, or whatever. I know this is something you have been focusing on, but I have not heard of you working on a Formal Intention, however you would do that. A ritual maybe? When people want to play around with dreamwork but cannot remember their dreams, sometimes doing something like repeating to themselves (or writing) “I want to remember my dreams” three times can create that change. Cod Liver Oil has been known to increase dreaming vividness, in people (patients) that have uncomfortable dreams, even nightmares, I tell them to intend that unwanted effect to go away… and it works. Maybe some sort of formal intention on you part would aid in this process you are working on.