A mountain’s nature is to just be, as is the water that flows around it......focus and be still!

We were taking a short water break when a thoughtful voice offered a moment of profound inspiration. I had been in the process of sharing what my teachers describe as, ‘the shift from shape to mind.’ When this gentle voice makes the inspired connection that ‘shape to mind’ and stillness in each step’ are the same thing. Now, I too, am inspired….

I love how the most profound thoughts have a tendency to gently float to the surface and then drift as if waiting to be caught in the rolling currents of our minds. Then, caught by the flow of our thoughts, they surge forward with direction and purpose. It is the same as when we practice Taiji. We endeavour to let nature guide our thoughts and actions, and in doing so, we also learn to accept the journey we are taken on. Harmony exists only when we allow ourselves to be still, to be inspired and to be open.  Eventually we reach a place where we find, ‘stillness in each step’ and we are no longer preoccupied by thoughts of physical movement and coordinated breath. Instead, it is like the very air that we are breathing is leading everything and we no longer exist. However, don’t be fooled by the idea of nothingness, we are never empty or lifeless. In the words of Lao Tzu,

“To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.”

Tai Chi, Qigong, Xing Yi, they all lead to the same place, as does any art that encourages the practitioner to seek refinement within themselves. Stillness is the final destination of all of our endeavours. This is the pure state of being for which we practice over and over again to achieve. Like the sculptor who removes all that is not needed in order to reveal the beauty that they see, or the poet who looks for the perfect arrangement of words to describe what they feel. Through our chosen art forms, we seek to remove all that is not needed from the movements of our bodies and then the thoughts that cloud our focus. Until, finally, we are connected and in total harmony with the universe. To find ‘stillness in each step’ is to move effortlessly like a wave that flows freely around all that lies in its path. There is no thought, there are no actions, there is only the inherent nature of water in its purest form. Which brings me to more of Lao Tzu’s enlightened words,

"Be still like a mountain, and flow like a great river."

At Atubah Tai Chi we seek, ‘stillness in each step’ because this is the nature of each and every form and posture that we practice. If we can cultivate this then we no longer fight against the flow of life. Instead, we are the mountain that life flows around. We cannot be easily moved by the patterns of life in the same way that a mountain does not hide from the storm or run from waves. A mountain’s nature is to just be, as is the water that powerfully flows around it. The stillness we seek is not found in the physical realm; it is far more profound than that. It is deeper, it is higher and it is spiritual.