Tai Chi: An Investment in Our Future

Your Future Self Will Thank You

 

When we think about investing in our future, we often think about money.

We put something aside for retirement. We invest in our homes. We try to make sensible choices about our health.

But there is another kind of investment we can make: an investment in the way we move, think and feel.

Tai Chi is one way of making that investment.

Why is Tai Chi different from simply doing exercise? The interesting thing about Tai Chi is that the benefits aren't necessarily confined to the time we spend practising it. With regular practice, we gradually develop qualities that can stay with us — in our bodies, in our movement, and in the way we approach everyday life.

You can see the difference experience makes

One of the things I notice when someone joins a Tai Chi session having practised it before, even if it was a long time ago, is that they often move quite differently from a complete beginner.

They might not know the particular form I'm teaching. Their hands or feet may be in completely the wrong place, and they still have plenty to learn!

But there is often a softness and fluidity in the way they move. They understand that Tai Chi isn't simply about putting your hands and feet in the right positions. They have some experience of relaxing unnecessary tension, moving from the whole body, maintaining balance and learning how to move.

As a result, they often pick things up more quickly.

This is one of the reasons I think Tai Chi is an investment. What you learn doesn't disappear when the session ends — it becomes something you can build on the next time you practise. 

What we learn can stay with us

I first learnt Kung Fu about twenty years ago. I studied for around four years, and although I haven't trained continuously in the intervening years, I still feel the benefits today.

There are movements I can still do.

There are principles of movement that I still understand.

There is physical strength that I developed during that period that has stayed with me.

And perhaps most importantly, I gained a greater understanding of movement itself — of stretching, strengthening, coordination and breathing.

The training didn't disappear just because I stopped attending classes.

I had learnt something.

That is one of the reasons I see Tai Chi as an investment.

You aren't simply investing in the hour you spend practising this week.

You're building a relationship with movement that can potentially stay with you for years.

The mindful muscle

Tai Chi also gives us an opportunity to practise something that is easy to neglect: relaxed awareness.

During a session, we're continually bringing our attention back to what we're doing.

Where is my weight?

Am I balanced?

Am I holding unnecessary tension?

Can I relax my shoulders?

Can I feel my feet connecting with the ground?

Can I move without rushing?

We're not necessarily sitting down and formally meditating. We're simply practising paying attention while we move.

And like any skill, attention can be practised.

You could think of it as working the mindful muscle.

Every time you notice that your mind has wandered and gently bring it back to your movement, you've done another repetition.

Over time, that ability to notice — without immediately reacting — can become more familiar.

Strength doesn't always look like effort

Tai Chi can also change our understanding of strength.

We're used to thinking of strength as something visible: lifting more weight, moving faster, pushing harder.

But Tai Chi introduces another kind of strength.

There is a particular feeling of strength that can come from being grounded, aligned and relaxed.

You can stand in a posture and feel surprisingly strong without being rigid. You can learn to support your own weight without bracing every muscle. You can feel stability without becoming stiff.

For me, this is one of the more interesting aspects of Tai Chi: the sense of strength in softness.

It isn't about having power over another person or controlling something outside yourself.

It's a quieter sense of your own internal strength that can affect how we hold ourselves and how we express ourselves.

And that can be valuable at any age.

Transforming the way we move

One of the great things about learning movement is that the body learns through repetition.

We don't want to have to consciously think about every little movement we make. With practice, movement becomes more familiar. We develop coordination and muscle memory.

This can begin to influence the way we move outside the session.

Perhaps we become more aware of how we stand up from a chair.

How we turn.

How we shift our weight.

How we bend down.

How we carry something.

How much unnecessary effort we're putting into a movement.

I experienced this myself when I was working as a carer and went on a manual handling course.

Almost immediately, I recognised many of the principles being taught from the kung fu that I had learnt.

Keeping the load close to the body.

Positioning one foot in front of the other.

Using the legs.

Thinking about where the weight is.

Keeping the arms and elbows in a strong position.

Moving in a coordinated way rather than trying to do everything with one part of the body.

Of course, a manual handling course has its own specific safety principles, and Tai Chi isn't a substitute for professional manual handling training.

But I recognised the underlying body mechanics because I had already spent years studying movement.

Learning how to move well gives you something to draw upon when you encounter movement in everyday life.

Transforming the way we feel

And then there is how we feel.

Tai Chi can be physically strengthening without being aggressive. It can be mentally demanding without requiring us to force ourselves. It can be calming without simply being about sitting still.

There is something quite satisfying about gradually becoming more comfortable in your own body.

You notice that a movement which once felt awkward has become familiar.

A posture that once felt difficult becomes more stable.

You begin to recognise tension more quickly.

You become more comfortable with slowing down.

And perhaps you begin to carry some of that feeling beyond the session.

Not every benefit is dramatic. Sometimes the change is simply that something feels a little easier than it used to.

An investment that grows with you

Tai Chi doesn't have to be about becoming highly skilled or mastering a particular form.

You don't have to be young, athletic or naturally flexible.

You don't even have to get every movement right.

In fact, learning Tai Chi is partly about becoming comfortable with the process of learning.

You practise.

You notice.

You make adjustments.

You try again.

And gradually, things become more familiar.

The movements become more natural. Your awareness develops. Your understanding deepens.

And the interesting thing is that this process doesn't necessarily have an end point.

There is always another layer to discover.

So perhaps the real investment isn't simply in learning a sequence of movements.

It's in learning how to move, how to pay attention, and how to feel at home in your own body.

That is something worth carrying into the future.