Tai Chi Travel Adventures

Tai Chi, on a Beach

When I took my first tai chi classes, almost 25 years ago, I immediately discovered the joy in practicing out of doors, in nature. At first, I just went to my local woodsy hiking place, Middlesex Fells in Massachusetts. I would walk the trail into the woods and then cut in off the trail, some place where no one would see. I'd find a flat clearing or sometimes a large flat boulder. Only need about 4 square feet to do the short form.  Face the north and begin.
I loved doing it outdoors! I have done tai chi on the beach at Wingaersheek (sp?) much like what you see in this photo by By Mike H from Seattle, USA (Tai chi) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. And so whenever I traveled to a new and interesting place, I started doing a bit of tai chi at exotic spots. On Cape Cod, I went out to the end of a rock jetty on Nantucket sound and did it on a flat rock while the waves crashed in. I practiced it somewhere near San Diego on a wooden pier out over the Pacific, again with the lovely sound of waves. I did it in Japan, though inside, in my Riokan traditional Japanese inn room, bare with only tatami mats and a lovely nook with scroll and blossoms. I tried to do it in India, on the balcony overlooking the Dalai Lama's residence and monastery in Dharmsala, but I found it hard to concentrate (!!) and then the monkeys came. I practiced it early one morning in Burma in a lovely garden outside our room. And I did a few movements on a balcony over the MeKong River looking into Laos on the other side, with a full shiny moon above. I am NOT an expert in Tai Chi and I can't even say that I study it. I just do it. With joy.

Follow Your Joy Into Balance

Living a good life is very much about health. It’s about eating right and about exercise and fitness. And yet, there is really so much more to a healthy life; it’s about our activities, what we do with our lives on a daily basis, and about the people we have in our lives. Paying attention to all these things is what allows a balance in life. Some of the daily activities that make up the bulk of our lives are some kind of engaging work, family and social connections, active entertainment, healthy eating and exercise, spirituality, the arts, and travel. We need all these elements in our lives and for the best quality in life we need them in balance. That doesn’t mean that we spend the same amount of time in each area, but that we don’t allow any one area to be overwhelmingly dominant of our time and efforts.

     I struggle, like all of us, to find that balance. Whenever I focus too much on any one area, I begin to feel the unbalance. Whenever I neglect any one area, I feel unbalanced. For many years, as I wanted to be a professional artist, I focused almost all of my time solely on art: making art, looking at art, studying art and artists. I learned a lot about art, yes, but also about myself since art is a foray into self. I did many other things, such as travel through various areas of Asia. I studied lots of interesting topics, such as history of plants and world religions.

     But art by necessity is a solitary occupation, and I focused on art to the exclusion of allowing people into my life. And any activities I did, I only wanted them to be connected to art. I did travel paintings. I would hike, but only far enough in to paint a scene. I neglected exercise to better spend my time on studying art. “Unbalanced” rang high.

     Now I’m spending more time at tai chi and meditation. I’m running again and exercising. I’m connecting more with family and rejuvenating old friendships. While studying art, I learned the importance of following my joy. And this is something I can recommend for everyone. Follow your joy into a balanced life.