The effort, the journey, is also one of the gifts that practicing Tai Chi has helped me to somewhat grasp over the last 3 consecutive years of my life. The liberation from the tyranny of perfectionism. There is no such thing as perfect, we say that theoretically, but practicing, the constant space for change and deepening of Tai Chi makes me perceive it experientially and this affects other areas of my life steadily and increasingly consciously. It also helps me to leave behind more and more of my constructed self-image and the labels with which others categorize me, the activities, the confines of my life. By practicing Tai Chi, I feel that I am reacquainting myself with the most uncharacteristic and free side of myself. The one that rejoices most purely, the one that is most grateful, the one that is completely open to everything.
I don’t know how to explain it better, but mentally Tai Chi brought and brings me grounding, puts things in their proper dimensions. And it offers me the invaluable value of belonging to a group full of interesting people, and a feeling that everything is shared and everything is in communication, calmness, energy, vitality, spirituality, joy.
Tai Chi, in addition to my spirit, has also benefited my body. I don’t fall so easily anymore, because throughout my life there have been several times when I suddenly looked at the world from the ground. I have gained greater flexibility, my posture is much better and the pains- a reflection of my sedentary life are less. Every time I do the form, despite any fatigue, I feel filled with energy. I feel its flow, I feel parts of my body that I had no idea existed, I feel in touch with it and with my organism. Above all, I am learning to listen to and respect my body, and this is perhaps the greatest benefit.
Growing up in a society and an era in which the body was always the object of criticism (and, ultimately, self-criticism) and where staying on the surface of things was probably the only thing that was required, Tai Chi has become the counterweight I needed to practically and metaphorically balance my life, to dive a little deeper, to find peace. And in peace I discovered myself.”
Lia Papaioannou.
