I woke up this morning feeling bloated and full.  Part of it was a good dinner; part of it was a possible exposure to an allergen I didn’t know I had; part of it was skipping my evening walk (I walk in the evenings now, did I mention that?).

In any case, twenty-five push-ups this morning were uncomfortable and difficult; and I felt like my belly was dragging me down.  The two qi gong forms were easier.  And the eight tai chi forms went more easily still.  Somewhere in the middle of my sixth time through the form, there was a fart of unprecedented loudness and stink.  Which is to say, just because I do tai chi every day doesn’t mean that my farts don’t stink. They do, sometimes horribly. Don’t believe any tai chi teacher who tells you otherwise.

That said, it was a pretty good set today. Sure, there was some stumbling, some weird bits. But I think, the more that I practice tai chi, that such minor difficulties on a daily basis are normal. They’re expected.  I’m far happier with the fact that I got through eight iterations of the form than that I had some internal physical challenges that made the work difficult.

Let me emphasize that: I did one tai chi form, and then thought I could stop here, if it weren’t for the readers.  I did two, and then three iterations, and thought how would this play on the blog? And then I did four and five, and thought the readers would see me slacking if I stopped here.  And six, seven, and eight followed in a short period of time thereafter, each time with the thought, a full set helps me feel good about myself, and feel like my readers will have my back.

I don’t often need your external validation to complete my daily tai chi practice, Readers. But today I did, and I’m so grateful to your continuing presence and occasional comments.

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