I can has tap-dancing class?
Our classical Indian dance class ended in December, and the Thursday lunchtime activity being offered by Employee Health and Well-Being this semester is Tai Chi. The instructor kept talking today about communing with nature and pulling energy from the ground and storing our qi in the "qi bank" just below our navel. It made me just as uncomfortable and out-of-place as when I have to go to church, and this distracted me from the mind-opening and consciousness-awakening or whatever it was we were supposed to do. I really like the concept of qi¹, just like I agree with a lot of the stories in the Bible. I appreciate all these things as symbols and parables and interesting ways of looking at the world, but I don't actually believe in them. But the way Tai Chi is being taught here, belief in the qi seems to be assumed. You can't just accept it as a symbol, because you have to push it all around the room and feel it flowing through you. I feel nothing. I have an active imagination, but not that active.
Indian dancing did not require faith in the supernatural! Give me back my Indian dancing!
I'm pretty sure Tai Chi is supposed to relax and energize you, and not fill you with existential angst. I think I'm doing it wrong.
srah - Thursday, 10 January 2008 - 9:40 PM
Tags: employee health and well-being, exercise, faith, religion, tai chi
Comments (7)
Aunt Pam - January 10, 2008 - 11:11 PM - ℓ
It might be beneficial to keep it simple Sarah. The breath work you learn has all kinds of benefits in a physiological sense and reaping those benefits require no spiritual belief whatsoever. And remember, though we are comfortable in our Western culture & thought, it's a goodly thing to step out of our comfort zones from time to time.
Beyond that, realize a vast majority of folk have shallow breathing patterns & you are learning some truly valuable skills!
srah - January 10, 2008 - 11:21 PM - ℓ
That was why I went to the class - I thought I might learn some useful relaxation/energizing techniques. I think it really depends on the teacher and their approach. When I did a yoga class once, I really appreciated the teacher talking about breathing and muscles and things like that. Then I went to another one where a different teacher kept talking about the supernatural and wouldn't focus on what was actually going on. Blech. I probably won't give up on the concept of Tai Chi altogether, but this is not the teacher for me.
moe - January 11, 2008 - 12:03 AM - ℓ
Do you think that the uncomfortable part in the class and in church is when the people talking seem to assume that we DO believe in the same thing they believe? I feel that way when somebody has a political discussion next to me and holds views that I disagree strongly with. I don't want to argue with them but somehow it feels really uncomfortable if they assume I agree with them when I don't.
That shallow breathing (without the yoga or tai chi) could come in handy if you ever decide to have a baby !
aunt pam - January 11, 2008 - 7:47 AM - ℓ
Sorry to hear you have a bad teacher, but glad to hear you haven't given up on Tai Chi.
One of my favorite Hebrew texts is from Proverbs: "As stone is against stone, so one man sharpens another." Someone once said in regards to this text "If both of you agree, one of you isn't needed". When thoughts, opinions, & beliefs are able to be expressed freely we are sharpened in our thinking.
Because of the vast differences within our household I like to tell folks "We celebrate diversity!" And it is a learned process to listen to someone expound something they are passionate about when you hold an opposite viewpoint. Sometimes it gets messy, but as long as you are willing to hold love at the center and clean up after yourself it's all good.
Within our family we have Wolverines, Spartans, Buckeyes, and Badgers all loving one another. Democrats & Republicans. Conservatives and Liberals. Christians - Catholic & Protestant, Agnostic and Atheist. Ya gotta be able to listen to each other and encourage one another along their path - even if it's different.
Although there are a myriad of social situations where it's best to side step such discussions and you make a choice not to share a differing viewpoint, never be afraid to use your voice. You are an intelligent young woman with much to share.
Your company has an employee health and well being program? I am so jealous. I would kill to have one of those where I work.