Spring Reflections

In qigong and tai chi we learn to harmonise our internal energies, and also how to harmonise them with the energies around us. One of the best ways to do this is to pay closer attention to the changing energies of each season, and adjust our qigong practice and lifestyle accordingly.

We’re now leaving the time of yin and stillness behind. The Su Wen (one of the earliest books of Chinese medicine) describes it thus:

The 3 months of spring
Are called springing up and unfolding.
Heaven and Earth together produce life,
And the 10,000 beings are invigorated.

In contrast to the careful hoarding of our energies in Winter, it’s time to open up and feel invigorated by Spring. To benefit from its upward and outward yang energies, we’re advised to get up at dawn(!) and:

…Pace in the courtyard with great strides,
Hair loose, body at ease,
Exerting the will for life.

Spring is an auspicious time to begin something new – but patiently, without rushing things or being attached to outcomes – letting things develop in their own time. Chungliang Al Huang has this lovely passage in his book ‘Essential Tai Ji’ about opening up and attuning to the natural rhythms of life:

Take time to become
reacquainted with
running down the hill,
spreading your arms like wings,
reaching up to the blue sky on the mountain top, and
extending beyond the horizon
across the sea.
Remember how your body feels
swimming downstream
effortlessly
being carried away.