Posture is an unconscious habit. It is not enough to remind ourselves of this when we think about it because 95% of the time we will still be hunched over. We need to make reprogramming our bodies a conscious habit. This is where Tai Chi or other posture training methods come into play. The biggest reason to go to Tai Chi as a solution is that it corrects both your posture and your breathing at the same time. Tai Chi is a meditation on our movement. It makes us aware of how we use our bodies. Awareness allows us to identify and change movement patterns that are the root cause of back pain and tension.
To achieve success in Tai Chi or Qigong postures, you must carefully apply these 5 keys.
1) Be Present This may seem easy at first, but most people have a hard time doing it in the beginning.
Set a timer for 5 minutes and just stop for 5 minutes.
However, while doing this, you will not think about anything other than "standing" for 5 minutes. You can pay attention to your body both internally and externally, but you cannot allow your mind to drift or go somewhere else. If you are having a hard time or think it is impossible, reduce the time to 3 minutes, but do it.
Experience this first and then continue reading.
2) Monkey Mind As you pause, you will see how much chatter there is inside your head. When you want silence, you will want to silence this inner chatter. In Kung Fu, this chatter is called Monkey Mind. To truly gain clarity, you must overcome the Monkey Mind.
3) Relax. What do you feel when you stand up? Are you aware of the body tension you have? If you are aware, you can now release it and relax more and more deeply.
4) Stand comfortably and upright Do you feel certain parts of your body more than others? Are there areas of your body that are uncomfortable? Can you adjust your posture and alleviate the discomfort?
This is a starting point for training for self-healing. It is amazing how much harm we do to ourselves through poor posture, and often we do not even realize we are doing it.
5) Breathe When you stand up, feel where and when your breath moves in your body as you inhale and exhale.
Is your breath high in your chest?
Does your breath go all the way to your belly?
Is your breath reaching your legs and your entire body?
If you notice and work on your breathing from the very beginning and adjust your posture and relax as needed, you will find that you can allow your breath to move in and out of your entire body.