Cooling Down; Heating Up

We've been having a cold snap lately. I've had to trade in the cropped yoga pants and tank top of the summer for sweat pants, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt.

I've noticed that if I wear gloves--even fingerless ones--during T'ai Chi, I don't feel the nice tingly Chi feeling in my hands. It must really interfere with the flow. So, bare hands are required.

Yesterday afternoon it was in the 30s Fahrenheit. During my warm-ups I tried to keep my hands inside the sleeves of my sweatshirt as much as possible. Even so, by the time I started the form, the tips of my fingers were freezing! Almost starting to hurt from the cold.

Nonetheless, I proceeded into the form. About 10-15 minutes into it, I noticed my entire hands, including the tips of my fingers, were nice and toasty.

I've heard about these T'ai Chi and yoga masters in Tibet or Nepal or wherever who can sit naked in the snow and melt all the snow in a 3-foot radius with their intense Chi. I don't know how they do it sitting still, but I'm starting to get a feel for generating heat. The next time it snows, I'll see if I can melt it with my Chi.

What's Next

Now that I have learned the whole T'ai Chi long form, I wondered, what should I do next? If I want to make my practice deeper and richer (and more reliable), what's the best way to do that? I was reluctant to take a wild guess, and possibly do even more damage, by taking steps that were either too challenging or too boring. What to do?

The author of my book The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi and Qigong and my DVD Anthology of T'ai Chi and Qigong: The Prescription for the Future is Bill Douglas. The way he writes and speaks gives me the impression he's a very down-to-earth and approachable guy. I went back to his web site, http://www.smartaichi.com, and found an "Email Bill at" and his email address. An open invitation. So I emailed him.

To my surprise, he replied the same day. I say "to my surprise," because (a) you'd think he'd be a pretty busy guy, what with publishing books, DVDs, CDs, running classes and what not, and (b) he replied himself, not an assistant you might expect a busy guy to have. His reply was most gracious. He recommended re-reading the book, as you can glean new insights with each re-read. He recommended getting his audio CD of Qigong breathing exercises. And he said if I was ever in the Kansas City area, we could arrange a private lesson. How nice is that?

So, Step 1: I got his CD. And it is wonderful! Deep abdominal breathing, and visualizing cleansing any loads or tensions you have held onto and then filling yourself up with pure, radiant healing energy. Aaaaahhhh!

He recommends doing one of the 3 Qigong breathing exercises daily. The implication is that this would be on top of the daily T'ai Chi practice. But I'm going to be realistic with where I'm at right now. I'm looking to deepen my practice, but I'm also looking for a daily practice that's sustainable. So, on days when I'm "too tired," "just don't feel like it," or lately, if it's too cold outside, then I'll do a Qigong breathing exercise instead. I'm hoping that mixing it up like this, and allowing myself to choose my practice spontaneously each day, will help ward off boredom and apathy.

An interesting observation: my husband and I had planned to go see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D last night, and I asked that we postpone it, because it would eat up the whole evening, and I wouldn't be able to do T'ai Chi. That's moving in the right direction.