Saturday, February 9, 2013

When you just can't practice

I practice my Tai Chi and Kung Fu pretty extensively everyday. Everyone marvels at how disciplined I am about the whole thing. But the truth is it is just as hard for me to practice as it is for everyone else. One of my teachers once addressed this problem of just not wanting to practice. He suggested a wonderful method that helps me every time. Go to the place where you normally practice and gently talk with yourself about all the reasons you don't want to practice.

In my experience every time I do this I end up practicing. At first maybe just the Tai Chi form, or walking the  Bagua circle just a bit. By the end of the time I usually end up having practiced for an hour or more. Our minds are vast and complex. They are simply tools. If we put our awareness on our motives for not doing something we can usually tame the mind and do the exercise we have set ourselves to do.

For me today was like that with my kung fu practice. I had been experiencing a dry spell in writing and posting to this blog when the inspiration hit me. I could talk about the negative. The "I can't" syndrome. The whole idea that you can't do something or lack the time to do it is complete bull. The world is full of wonderful impossible people. Strive everyday to be one of them.

This video is about Yoga but really it applies to any exercise from running to Tae Kwon Do to Tai Chi.

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