How I motivate myself to practise
It is said that when you have reached a certain level, you cannot stop practising, you do not need to overcome yourself to practise and nothing will distract you. The latter and the first holds true when it comes to my own practise. After years of practise, I am able to find a little spot in my mind where I can practise without being taken away from what I intend to do. NO matter whether it is at a noisy spot, tranquil beach, my lounge or even the Sydney Ferries, I can practise with a mind as clear as crystal.
Once I start practising, I develop a heavy warm sensation with at the same time a certain lightness to move and an attitude of a winning warrior. The release of the endorphine hormones certainly adds to this type of "addiction". My sometimes initial fatigueness, stress and headache is cured after just practising the form for half an hour. Many other medical conditions like positional vertigo(BPPV), a degenerative illness of the inner ear or high blood pressure have been cured within a time that doctors would not expect.
The other day I had a sudden sharp neckpain and really needed to force myself to practise. The standing meditation and reeling silk was bearable but I felt too sick and exhausted for the more challenging laojia yilu form. After telling myself over and over that practice was fun BUT necessary, I started my first round of laojia yilu. The second round felt a lot better and I began to feel an invisible warm substance crawling through my body. It felt like a little internal doctor and the pain was relieved without any pain killers. The same experience happened with minor stomach cramps, colds, muscle pain etc. Apart from this, I felt the feeling of being "high" as a sign that I have released the happy-maker hormone endorphine.
Yes, in the winter time I am less active which is normal due to less melatonin produced by the body. When I am too busy it comes to mind again:" Well, today I don't practise. Maybe tomorrow will do." On such days I really have to force myself to practise. Of course my teacher will tell me to practise but he is not always there.So in this case I need to find my own ways to motivate myself to practise.
Strategies how to keep yourself motivated:
1. Imagine how good you feel afterwards. But this is not enough. For my part, I need to visualize and memorize the feeling that I described above. This is a certain feeling of being powerful, some sort of a healing physical warmth that makes you feel like a human radiator despite cold winter. The form feels light like a cat and rooted like a tree at the same time. I feel like Halle Berry in Catwoman or Charlie's Angels defeating Demi Moore. There are times that I feel like villainess Demi Morre.
2. Thinking back of the victory of a warrior who just came back from the battlefield
3. A more practical way: Try to set a goal like teaching, a Tai Chi coach exam, a competition or demonstration at work. Even a little demo at a party would be a reasonable aim to work on. Write to a forum about your unique Tai Chi experience or start a blog.
These are just a few ideas when I feel the need to give myself a push. Practising in the mind like meditating, daydreaming and posture training while I am at the computer or on the plane have helped me to a great deal. Research has shown that those who need to complete a certain task would perform to a much higher degree when they have rehearsed everything the night before in their mindsI
Once I start practising, I develop a heavy warm sensation with at the same time a certain lightness to move and an attitude of a winning warrior. The release of the endorphine hormones certainly adds to this type of "addiction". My sometimes initial fatigueness, stress and headache is cured after just practising the form for half an hour. Many other medical conditions like positional vertigo(BPPV), a degenerative illness of the inner ear or high blood pressure have been cured within a time that doctors would not expect.
The other day I had a sudden sharp neckpain and really needed to force myself to practise. The standing meditation and reeling silk was bearable but I felt too sick and exhausted for the more challenging laojia yilu form. After telling myself over and over that practice was fun BUT necessary, I started my first round of laojia yilu. The second round felt a lot better and I began to feel an invisible warm substance crawling through my body. It felt like a little internal doctor and the pain was relieved without any pain killers. The same experience happened with minor stomach cramps, colds, muscle pain etc. Apart from this, I felt the feeling of being "high" as a sign that I have released the happy-maker hormone endorphine.
Yes, in the winter time I am less active which is normal due to less melatonin produced by the body. When I am too busy it comes to mind again:" Well, today I don't practise. Maybe tomorrow will do." On such days I really have to force myself to practise. Of course my teacher will tell me to practise but he is not always there.So in this case I need to find my own ways to motivate myself to practise.
Strategies how to keep yourself motivated:
1. Imagine how good you feel afterwards. But this is not enough. For my part, I need to visualize and memorize the feeling that I described above. This is a certain feeling of being powerful, some sort of a healing physical warmth that makes you feel like a human radiator despite cold winter. The form feels light like a cat and rooted like a tree at the same time. I feel like Halle Berry in Catwoman or Charlie's Angels defeating Demi Moore. There are times that I feel like villainess Demi Morre.
2. Thinking back of the victory of a warrior who just came back from the battlefield
3. A more practical way: Try to set a goal like teaching, a Tai Chi coach exam, a competition or demonstration at work. Even a little demo at a party would be a reasonable aim to work on. Write to a forum about your unique Tai Chi experience or start a blog.
These are just a few ideas when I feel the need to give myself a push. Practising in the mind like meditating, daydreaming and posture training while I am at the computer or on the plane have helped me to a great deal. Research has shown that those who need to complete a certain task would perform to a much higher degree when they have rehearsed everything the night before in their mindsI
posted by Travel and Tai Chi stories @ 1:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home