Rooting

 

The term Shenling refers to your body having strong roots but being agile so as to move quickly if needed. (“the Taijiquan Classics” by Zhang Yun, David Ho, Peter Capellini and Susan Darley)

This is something that I work on a lot when I practice Tai Chi and I didn’t realize that there was a term for it. I don’t need one to understand the concept though, as my Kung Fu training has been influencing this rooting for a long time. Connecting with the earth, to stabilize your skeleton, and use the earth’s Chi with my own for power and strength.

It seems like a simple thing, but I have to remind myself that I have been practicing Kung Fu for 19 years and Tai Chi for 13 years. I know that it wasn’t that easy to connect and root myself to the earth and remain agile at first and that it took a long time for me to achieve that.

It’s like how easy it is for me now to just feel my Chi, without having to work at it, or concentrate. It just happens. However that also took a long time to feel at will. I tend to forget where I started, and so I have to remind myself every so often that my journey has been a long one, relatively speaking.

Achieving shenling takes time, but it starts with a toyu stance. Simply having your skeleton aligned, pelvis tucked in, knees slightly bent with an invisible string running up your spine and past your head. It’s feeling the earth beneath your feet, rooted and strong and at the same time feeling light and able to move quickly. It seems like a simple stance, and easy to attain, however it’s more about becoming one with the earth and feeling that connection. This will take time and practice.

I am by no means perfect, which is why Kung Fu and Tai Chi are a practice and why mastery is a journey.

Highs and Lows

 

We all experience highs and lows in our day to day lives. It occurs with our mental state and our physical state. So how do we handle the lows when everything seems impossible? When getting out of bed is a feat in and of itself? Let alone complete everything that needs to be done in a day?

We have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and not hold ourselves to our normal standards as that can just exasperate our mental state. Self care if important, so how we treat ourselves has to be a priority. We need to be gentle, and allow ourselves to be less than, as long as we are still trying. It helps to remember that we are not alone, that this will pass, and you will come out the other side.

But the key is to just take a step forward even it’s a baby step. Reach out so that you are not struggling alone. There are more people that care about you than you realize.