After your initial practice period, you have hopefully managed to create a tai chi habit. It is time to go a step further and start focusing on specific tai chi exercises which are considered priorities. Probably the most essential tai chi exercise is standing. While you stand, your body will become physically stronger and more relaxed. Your body awareness will increase, your mind will be calmer, and your breathing will connect your internal and external worlds.

Silk reeling energy exercises and qi gong breathing are also essential, as they allow your body to memorize tai chi movements and remain centred and relaxed.

Now, this is what GrandMaster Chen Zhenglei and Master Liming Yue have to say about practising (quoted from Tai Chi for Health, p. 22)

“During practice, keep quiet, calm and relaxed. Follow the principle ‘When one part of the body moves, the whole body moves accordingly. When one part of the body is motionless, the whole body is still.’ Let awareness, body movements and breathing combine to complement each other, co-operating and working together simultaneously.”

They also have something to say about how long one should practise:

“The amount of exercise one should take depends on the individual level of fitness.  For a healthy person, after you practise your body should feel a little bit tired. This will vary according to each person’s level of fitness, but one should pay attention not to overdo it. Your mind and spirit should feel revitilised.”

Independently of how long you have decided to allocate to tai chi in your daily routine, don’t forget to do some standing, and you will reap more health benefits.

In my last post: Starting a tai chi practice — Time matters, I wrote a few tips of things that I found useful in my early beginnings of tai chi. As a starting point, I recommended to consider time issues in order to create a tai chi practice habit. My tips are based on personal experience, but each person is different. What worked for me may not work for you. Feel free to try other ways. As long as you manage to start practising, every method is welcomed.

So, let’s recall that it is recommended to commit to practise most days (as opposed to every day) at a convenient time during the day for 5-15 minutes during a specific period of time (3 months).

My students often wonder whether one exercise is more important and is recommended for their daily tai chi practice. If you haven’t started a tai chi practice yet, my recommendation is to focus on creating a habit, being very flexible about what to practise. It can be useful to let yourself enjoy your favourite exercises for a little while. It is all entirely up to you, depending on how long you have committed to train, and based on your personal preferences. Do warm-ups, qi gong breathing, silk reeling, some tai chi moves, tai chi standing. At this stage, be flexible and treat yourself to your favourites.

As an example, I would let you know that my first three months of tai chi regular practice went like this: at first, I prioritised breathing exercises and as the time went on, I focused more and more on qi gong body movements and tai chi standing.

Remember that at this stage, your aim is not to train itself, but to create a habit.

I doubt there is a “one size fits all” approach to starting a tai chi practice, so I’ve decided to share my experience and see if that may be helpful for you. For me, starting practising tai chi, like any other discipline, and any other regular activity, required starting a habit, so here is what I did and my tips based on what I did:

1) Find a suitable time

Do you have a preferred time for exercising? Is there a ‘dead’ time in your daily routine you could fill with some moves? Can you wake up earlier and feel good for the day? Would you rather practise after work to gather energy for the evening?

I changed my preferred time a few times. First, I thought I would rather do it after my working day was over. But at that time I was so hungry I would prioritise my food over my tai chi. Then, because I work from home, I decided I’d do it at mid-morning before lunch, but this never really happened. Finally, I gave my health priority and I decided to practise some moves at first time in the morning. It worked.

Tip: Play around with times until you find the best for you.

2) Commit to an amount of time per day

How much time will you have for your tai chi practice?

At the time that I was planning to start a practice, I attended a meditation workshop where the facilitator recommended five minutes of meditation every day. Who doesn’t have 5 minutes? He said. I thought 5 minutes was maybe a bit too little but I started practising for 15 minutes.

Tip: Don’t try too hard. Remember all you are trying to do is creating a habit, so commit to 5-15 minutes of practice. It may be enough at this stage.

3) Commit to a specific time framework

Are you planning to practise only while you are doing a course? Do you intend to start a regular practice? Would you like to try a couple of months and see what happens?

I wanted to create a regular practice, but I thought it would be impossible for me with the thought of waking up early every day forever to practice tai chi. Forever is a bit too much. So at the beginning I committed to three months.

Tip: Select a convenient time framework and stick to it.

4) Do not practice every day

This may sound crazy, but you will need a break from time to time. If you become too perfectionistic, you may burn out sooner than you expect.

I told myself I would practice most days, and I usually take one day off, sometimes two, in my weekly practice. Staying in bed a bit longer that day is my reward for all the days that I do get up and practice, which are also a pleasure.

Tip: Take a break from time to time. Or find a way to reward yourself for having started a practice.

So the beginnings of my tai chi practice went like this: I committed to practice most days (as opposed to every day) at first time in the morning for 15 minutes during 3 months.

Now it’s your turn. Choose your time commitment and incorporate this new habit into your routine. But I must warn you of the side effects. Once it becomes routine, you may not be able to get rid of this practice. Are you sure you want to start a tai chi practice? I hope you do.

Have a look at the next post: Starting a tai chi practice — What to practise