The "monkey mind" is never still. The mind roams topic to topic often unbidden and untrained. In taiji, as we train, keep bringing the mind back into the body. The mind wanders; we bring the mind back to the body. What muscles are felt and how, and how are they connected? Where are we heavy or light, tight or loose? How is the foot connected to the hand? Do we notice how the dantian is connected to the body in each movement. What is the breathing like? Is the breath long, smooth, and deep? Are we in balance, centered? And even as we think, it is not the thoughts but the feeling of the body, the mind in the body that is the practice.

Put the mind inside of the body for internal focus. When the mind goes away one cannot sense the feeling in the body. When one gets the feeling of the body the body gets stronger. The spirit concentrates when the mind is not going outside of the body. When the mind is in the body you can feel the energy and put the mind with the energy found in the body, with the chi flow.

Concentration on the postures brings internal energy into the body. Slow movements help the body to relax and to watch the timing of the body's movements. This helps to stop the mind.

September 30, 2014