~ T’ai Chi: A Mind/Body Healer ~

© Margaret Emerson 2008
Published in Qi Journal Autumn 2008

     It’s early morning and the air is cool and new. I stand in an empty soccer field, springy blades of grass forming a sea of green under my feet. Above me there’s just the moon in a pale blue sky. The school building on one side of the field is flat, low, and utilitarian but the other three sides are bordered by a mix of redwoods, firs, and willows. Further away, Fickle Hill rises up to form a solid backdrop of forest to my left. I run through the traditional warm-ups and then begin the slow, circular sequence of movements that I’ve done most mornings for the last twenty-nine years. The fact that I’m still intrigued by this practice is proof that if you delve deeply into something, it’s endlessly fascinating. T’ai Chi provides me with a chance to use my body (my state-of-the-art laboratory) to explore my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self. It’s also good therapy because when I practice I become porous, absorbing the vitality of nature and releasing what needs to be released.