This post was inspired by the poems by Henry Ponder in a video titled as Mind Your Head.
“I Like Tai Chi, and I Like Chai Tea. They Both Bring Equal Contentment To Me” - Henry Ponder.
Evening Chai Tea.
I love my cup of Chai Tea , in the evenings. Especially during the rainy season here. People who know me, know for a fact that I like to have all, and I mean all of my beverages (except for Beer of course; them I like chilled) at room temperature. Which means that no matter what hot, or cold beverage I am served with, or make, ends up becoming an experiment in Newton’s Law of Cooling; which in turn means that I like to thaw my beverages to room temperature, before consuming them. Most people who know me, and have experienced this are generally irritated with this fact. For me, I think it’s a form of meditation, or just something quirky that I do.
Newton's Law of Cooling.
That aside, I do think that a good cup of tea, or two in the evenings as meditation. Why do I think that? Well, for me it’s a sign of slowing down, and thinking back on the day. Write some stuff in my notebooks, and so on. But during the rains, all bets are off. When it’s pouring outside my window, I like to have my tea hot . At such times, watching, and hearing the rain drops falling by the window is meditational enough.
I generally love having Ginger tea, and Japanese Matcha (a recent addition) no matter the seasons. I become a lousy bum on days that I don’t get a good cup of tea, in the evenings. This fact alone, says lot about my tea habits.
Me, without some evening tea.
Tai Chi
I started this year with a list of goals that I did like to accomplish before this year ends. One of them was getting fitter, and healthier. To that end I started practicing Tai Chi again. I’ve been practicing Tai Chi since the last 3 1/2 years, with some breaks in between. I started learning Tai Chi back in 2007, and since then it has made a lot of difference to my overall wellbeing, both, physically, and mentally. Naturally, Tai Chi is what I started with this year. I’ve learnt, and am currently practicing the Yang Style. Going forward I would like to learn the Wu style of Tai Chi .
Fu Sheng Yuan - Yang Style - 8 Forms
What I love about Tai Chi is the fact that it’s slow, but can be fast too. And, if you have a good sifu to teach you, you not only gain the health benefits, but the muscle memory required for martial arts. This fact I experienced first hand on two separate occasions. Once while I was new at learning Krav Maga last year, and some boxing this year (more on the boxing coming up soon in a post). During the Krav Maga class, I preempted a strike using a tai chi block, and hit step. I quickly realized that I had to keep in mind that I was learning Krav Maga, and not Tai Chi.
Currently, my knowledge is rusty so getting back on track with the 85 forms, along with completing my sword course, is this years milestone to the goal of getting fitter, and healthier.
If you’re are looking for some meditation, and want to strengthen your back, and your core then I strongly recommend learning one of the Tai Chi styles. It is worth the effort, and investment.
My Chi Flow.
A week ago, I decided that I wanted to see my Chi flow when I practice Tai Chi. So, I setup my iPhone, wrapped some LED torches around my hands with boxing wraps, and captured my Chi Flow (see below). A post on how exactly I did this with the iPhone is coming up soon on Sojourner.Photography.
