Yang Family: Section I

Safety Considerations

1. Environment

Be aware of your surroundings. Make sure there’s nothing that will get in the way of safe practice.

Always listen to your body. Our goal is for slow, consistent improvement in strength and flexibility. We want to remain in our safety zone. Our safety zone is usually larger than our comfort zone. As we gently stretch beyond our comfortzone, we grow. However, we must remain mindful not to stretch beyond our safety zone. Otherwise, we risk entering the “world of pain”.

2. Knees

The knees behave like a hinge. They open and close, but don’t go side to side. We don’t allow the knee to twist on our weighted leg. We also don’t allow the knee to extend beyond the toes of our weighted leg.

3. Stretching

Muscles stretch more easily than tendons, ligaments, and fascia. These tougher tissues prefer regular, consistent, gentle stretching. As we practice Tai Chi, we achieve more flexibility in our joints and throughout the body. Remember not to overstretch. We all saw how that worked out when the rubber band snapped!

4. Relaxing

Relaxing is not to be limp or collapsed, but to be soft and expanded like a balloon that is blown up with just the right amount of air.

Keeping Our Balance

1. Alignment

When our body is stacked properly and well aligned, it’s much easier to keep our balance. Gravity is constantly pulling us towards the earth, so if we’re lined up and supported by our legs underneath us, it’s far easier to remain balanced. Related to this is keeping our hips level, and our tailbone pointing downwards.

2. Lengthening the neck

Remember the feeling of having a book on the top of the head. This helps keep the gaze level.

3. Being rooted in the feet

Tai Chi starts in the feet. They’re your foundation. We want to have our weight in the “bubbling well” (area just behind the balls of the feet). You want to think of pushing from one foot into the other foot rather than just shifting the weight back and forth. Your legs will engage and get stronger, and you’ll have more control over your movements. Remember to push from the back foot and “squish the sponge” or “squeeze the toothpaste” with the front foot, rolling heel, ball, toe. Check your back foot to see if you’ve gone too far. If your heel is starting to peel up and you’re losing your root, push back with the front foot until you feel both feet rooted. When one foot pushes, the other supports it so you don’t go too far or too fast.

4. Moving from the waist

We used the imagery of drawing a horizontal line with the marker sticking out of our chests while keeping the hips still to bring our attention to the “waist” area. When we allow our shoulders to do the pulling, it engages different muscles. We want to keep our focus on the waist. To start, it’s best to practice this seated as it keeps your hips stable. It helps to think of allowing the lower back muscles to soften. This brings more flexibility to the area. Using the foot to anchor helps the turn and connect the legs with the waist.

5. Hydrate!

We want to keep our bodies well hydrated, especially in the summer heat. A well hydrated body moves better than a dried out crunchy one. Be kind to your fascia!