No Big Deal

It’s no big deal. Really. It isn't. Let me explain.

You’ve gone to your first Tai Chi for Health class and discovered that there’s a movement which is challenging, if not impossible, for you to perform as your instructor has demonstrated. Maybe it’s that first hip warm-up exercise, where all the weight is in one leg while the other leg moves forward and back, lightly touching done with the heel in front, and the toe behind, while the hands float up to shoulder height as the leg moves back, and the hands drop down by the hips as the leg goes forward. Maybe you found that you had to make the movement smaller than the instructor’s to maintain your balance. Or maybe you had to shift some weight into the foot when it touched down to give the weighted leg a break. Or maybe you needed extra support to move the legs at all, and had to hold onto a chair to stay upright, leaving the arms out of the movement entirely.

It’s no big deal that you need to modify one or many Tai Chi movements. Here’s why:

1. The hardest thing to do in Tai Chi is to show up for practice. You came to class. You worked hard to the best of your capabilities. You’ve already earned your A for the day.

2. Everybody has unique innate capabilities and every body accumulates trauma which impacts its functional abilities. Some movements which are easy for others might be hard or impossible for you. So you weren’t able to perform a movement fully today, but with perseverance you very well might be able to tomorrow.

3. All TCHI Certified Instructors are trained to encourage their participants to work in their comfort zone, and to modify movements as necessary. And every Tai Chi for Health program is designed to be accessible to any and all participants

4. Even if your health challenges preclude performing a movement, you can use the power of the mind to visualize that you are performing the whole movement. Visualization can have tremendous health benefits, for both the mind and body. For instance, the authors of one surprising study found that “mental training…enhances the cortical output signal , which drives the muscles to a higher activation level and increases strength.”

NIH: From Mental Power to Muscle Power-Gaining Strength by Using the Mind

So it’s no big deal. You’re doing great. Keep showing up to class. Practice with a happy heart and an engaged mind. Remember that just because you haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to do it eventually. And if health challenges prevent you from doing a movement, deploy the power of the visualization, to do the movement fully.

No big deal.