When Mass Equals Zero

Last night I read a wonderful definition of the physics concept of mass; it is simply the measure of an object’s resistance to movement. The definition was in a bodywork handbook called Job’s Body and the author went on to talk about the amazing process by which our bodies, muscles, sinews, tendons, etc evaluate and inform us about the mass of an object. It got me thinking about what I remember from high school physics and the little I do know about the theory of relativity and quantum physics (stay with me, folks).

I left school understanding that the universe consists of two things basically – mass and energy. Mass is the stuff that well, has mass, and energy is the stuff that doesn’t. These odd many years later, I still basically believe this – I have just exchanged yang for energy and yin for mass – and that great mystery of how it all works that the scientists keep seeking to explain I have come to accept is Tao. and ……..yeah, so Dorian, where we going with this one?

 

Well, back to mass being a measure of resistance to movement. One of my new year’s resolutions this year is to more deeply appreciate and benefit from my Qigong practice – so as I read this and I thought about it, I realized that energy is the complementary opposite of mass so it must be a measure of resistance to stillness, a measure of ease of movement  - something like that– energy moves and I have to do something to stop it (whereas mass sits and I have to do something to move it). Somehow, my body-mind-spirit is constantly evaluating and informing me about the energy of things and the more I pay attention to this information, the better I feel and do.

 

Now the eastern concept of  Qi/Chi/Ki and the western concept of Energy are not the same: the eastern concept is much broader and more lived. But it could well be that if we let it, as east meets west, the western idea of energy could grow and expand  - it doesn’t have to be something mysterious and exotic like a neutron or quark, nor need it be reduced to the electrical impulses that provide indoor lighting. In our everyday language, we do allow that qi and energy are similar -  the vibe of a place, the chemistry in a relationship, my energy level in the morning, the love in the food she made – these are all ways of talking about something that has no resistance to movement. A mass of zero – and high energy quotient.

 

So, enough bad science ( I can see all you scientists out there reading this and just cringing) anyway, what I guess I want to say here at the end of 2007, on the brink of 2008……is get your mass in gear and keep on moving – don’t stop. As my teacher reminds me, when the energy flows easily and circulates freely, health sets in. When it is stagnant or scattered we have problems.  So keep it flowing and

 

Enjoy the new year,

Dorian

The Soft Overcomes the Hard

The soft overcomes the hard

the gentle overcomes the rigid

everyone knows this is true

but few can put it into practice.

                        Ch 78 Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell

 

 

Do you ever have those moments when something you have accepted on faith for years and years is explained in a way that it feels like it actually finally and completely makes sense?  My tai chi journey is a lot like this most of the time.   This weekend another big piece fell right into place. 

 

Deng Ming-Dao has written in a book of Daily Meditations he called “365 Tao” (This was before Whole Foods branded the days of the years - so I am pretty sure they are not related).  On day 349 he writes about water – and the classic writings that the soft and the yielding overcome the hard and the rigid. He writes:

 

“Let’s look at it another way. Water does not overcome because it yields. It overcomes because it is relentless.”

 

duh, thank you.  How is it I never got this?  This is it –faith becomes fact – I get it. No more room for doubt.

 

“It perseveres and does not give up. It is constant.”

 

yep.  

 

He goes on to note that rock can block water, even hold it in lakes for millennia – the yielding water ain’t so powerful in that situation is it? why not? It cannot move! It cannot work its magic of being relentless.

 

And you know it will wear that rock down as soon as it finds a trickle to start flowing through and before you know it, there would be a huge gorge (okay in 1000 years, but it will happen)

 

And then he really nails it –

 

“Just as water must be able to express its true nature in a relentless way, so too must we simultaneously and relentlessly express our true natures…”

 

Keep on movin, don’t stop, you are who you are, expressive eruption.  I have heard it said.  Yielding and softness are powers to be cultivated and then used– relentlessly, with perseverance, one drop at a time.  Think about that in your tai chi! ( I sez to meself.)

Enjoy life - relentlessly  - and Happy Solstice

Dorian

Practice, practice, practice – chores, chores, chores

Oh no.

Is this going to be one of those nagging blogs where the teacher goes on and on about why I should practice, practice, practice? (Maybe, if that is what you need to hear). Or is it going to be one of those whining blogs where the student goes on and on about why it is so hard to practice and how I meant to, but I didn’t and so I guess I feel bad. (Probably not – but if you need sympathy you can read it this way)

The deal is that I have been both – teacher and student, nagging and whining– so clearly I could write both. I have also been neither  - neither nagger or whiner, just someone who practices when she will and knows that is good enough - and maybe that is the place from which I intend to write this blog.

You see all day today I have been doing chores and errands, things that need doing and haven’t been done in a while – you know, like vacuuming up the dog hair, and clearing cobwebs, and then there was the unexpected but necessary snow-shoveling. And all the while, I have been practicing tai chi. The long form? Your new sword form? No….I have been practicing principles - feeling the root in my feet, the power in my legs, direction in the waist and even expression in my hands – letting the energy at the top my head be light and sensitive, keeping my shoulders down, finding the tension to release to create movement, etc.

And one thing I’ve noticed is this. If I go too long without practicing my form – and I mean without dedicating a solid 40-60 minutes to really sink into it and give it some loving attention – if I go too long. It is harder to do.  Tai chi that is….and me – I get harder. The daily, hourly tensions and unnoticed brittle shell that builds up from the inside grow tougher and harder to remove. Whereas, if I practice everyday or every other day, then the tension doesn’t have time to build up. So tai chi  is like the lemon pledge from my childhood - it helps me avoid the hard waxy build-up.

No, vacuuming dog hair from off the stairs and under the couch is not as pretty as Yang’s 108-move long form, and running the cobweb broom around the ceiling is not as graceful as the sword form ( although at this stage of learning it might be!) – but you might say I fed two birds from one hand and for sure, I practiced.  

I’m off now to practice the form  - maybe you should too instead of sitting there reading this stuff!

Enjoy your chores, enjoy your practice

Dorian

Da Lu

I love the aspect of Yang Style Tai Chi that prefers to deal with matters square on, face to face:  this is me, that is you, if we connect then, together we are what we have agreed to be and do. Would that everything in life be so clear and straightforward and simple -always. And perhaps it is to the highly evolved, but I kind of doubt it. Life is more interesting than that – there is always another way. Not everything is as it seems. Sometimes we have to take the angle, skirt around the other side to see what’s underneath. While I generally prefer to be direct, there are times when a little indirectness in my communication can actually serve the greater good. So in my tai chi, I am grateful to the Da Lu for what it teaches me about the sides and corners of life.

In the study of  the Yang Style traditional curriculum, we learn the Da Lu, also Ta Lü (or Large Rolling) after we learn to stand inside ourselves through qigong and standing meditation, after moving in the solo form – carrying our knowledge of ourselves with us, practicing the eight basic push hand drills that teach the giving and receiving of clear force through sticking, after the four hands exercises in which we study the energies of peng, lu, ji, and an and after we have learned to move with a partner in moving step exercises. The exercises through this stage have taught us much about direct straight-on force and it’s reception and neutralization. The Da Lu then builds on all that has come before and offers a means to discover the energies that take us to the sides and corners.

In the practice of the Da Lu, we can feel the escalation of the energies, we are no longer pushing and pressing, warding off and rolling back, we are striking with elbows and shoulders, even heel palm strikes. And at any given moment, because we have the skills of knowing ourselves, and the sensitivity and understanding gained through the previous partner drills, we can signal through our connection our intention to de-escalate the energies, to return to the square-on force of the four hands circle.

….it is said that the Grand Terminus (“Grand Terminus” is one way to translate “Tai Chi”), the Grand Terminus is a circle…..it is also said that the Grand Terminus is a square……When one understands the circle and the square, the outer forms and the inner significance, of the Four Sides, one’s technique is perfect and there is no need for the Four Corner Operations. However, in the practice of Joint Hands Operations most beginners stumble in these ways: under-weight or over-weight, floating or sinking, such as half weight and excessive weight. To remedy these defects, one has to learn the corner operations, which are termed Da Lu. When one has mastered Da Lu, one can turn the square to the circle and turn the circle to the square after the extreme is reached, and apprehend all the alternations of Yin and Yang. (from Tai-chi Chuan: Its Effects and Practical Applications, by Yearning K Chen)

In general, push hands workplay is the means to develop sensitivity and understanding, and ultimately wisdom. To know the other, one must know oneself. This is the practice of push hands.  I know there are many sides to me – some evident, some still concealed. To apprehend all of the changes of my life, I need to learn the both the circle and the square.

Enjoy the Da Lu

Dorian