For readers who haven’t read earlier articles, Laingholm Eleven is a home studio where I offer Tai Chi and Meditation classes in a large converted living room. Despite teaching professionally in the past I’ve decided to run the classes here on a non-commercial basis, so there are no fees and our only advertising has been via the Roundabout, community notice boards, the web site and word of mouth.
The classes have been going for about 1.5 years now and we have a group of several regular participants as well as new participants who periodically come to try the classes. This article is an invitation to those who are looking for a new hobby to fill some wintery evenings.
Tai Chi – Wednesdays at 7pm
Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercise simultaneously for the body and the mind. Tai Chi is very different from many types of exercise because it is not concerned with strength, speed, stretching or endurance. Instead, Tai Chi is concerned with balance, relaxation, focus and accuracy.
In Tai Chi we learn to focus our mind on the movement and to perform the movement with ease, balance and accuracy. This is the complete opposite of a work-out where a strenuous movement is repeated until exhaustion while the mind is focused away from the activity (ex: gym workout while listening to music).
We begin the class by practicing meditation. Meditation is a set of techniques for focusing the mind away from verbal thoughts and onto perceiving what is happening in the present moment. We then apply this state of mind to performing movement exercises. The movement exercises are designed to improve the posture, the balance on the feet, the coordination between limbs and torso and the relaxation of tense muscles and energy blockages.
Practicing Tai Chi can produce wonderful results in terms of having better balance, ease of movement, relaxation in the body, better blood circulation and flow of energy, improved ability to stay focused, and a feeling of inner peace. But Tai Chi is not magical and not instant – it takes some time and effort to attain these results. Just like with anything else.
I am passionate about teaching the fundamentals of how Tai Chi works. This class is not about learning to perform long sequences of movements, instead it is about learning to do a few movements properly. This approach fits best with those who are detail-focused or want to be.
The class is informal – there is no uniform, attendance is casual, we sit on bean bags to meditate and participants are welcome to stay for a cup of tea after class. There are no ranks or titles, no gradings, nothing to buy and no belief system to adopt.
Meditation – Fridays at 7pm
Meditation is a non-religious practice designed to calm an overactive mind and to learn to direct our attention. The direct benefit of meditation for many people is being able to direct their attention away from thoughts about the past and the future and onto the present moment, the “here and now”.
Most of our unease is either about the past – what has already happened, or about the future – what could or will happen. When we focus our attention onto the past (regrets) or onto the future (worries) the feelings we experience in the present moment are as if these undesirable events are happening to us right now. It is problematic when this activity becomes a regular habit – our experience of the present moment can become contaminated by these regrets and worries.
In meditation we learn to experience what is really happening right now. Most of the time it is our breathing, heartbeat, sensations in the body, sounds around us, and thoughts arising and dropping away like waves in the ocean. Meditation brings us back to “what is”. For some people it is about becoming aware of the core of whatever is unresolved, and for others it is the experience of calm and yet alert stillness – a deeply restful and yet fully awake state of mind.
Like Tai Chi, meditation is not instant (except for a lucky few) and not magic. It is a practical skill that needs to be developed over time. Our Friday class is open to everyone – people who never tried meditation and are curious to learn how to do it, and for people who have been meditating for a while and want to join a group. During these colder months we meditate by a nice warm wood fire.
If either class sounds interesting, you are welcome to come along and try it out. You will need to let us know that you are coming by filling out a form either on Tai Chi Class page or Meditation Class page of L11 web site.
L11 is a home studio and not a public venue so we have a few house rules: socks on, cell phones off, no perfumes or fragrances on the day of the class. Koha optional – $5 suggested.
PUBLISHED IN MAY 2014 ISSUE OF LAINGHOLM ROUNDABOUT.