Tai Chi - Long Form First Part (and Prom Nigh fallout)

Because of the long weekend and my high amount of stress I was really looking forward to, as well as dreading Tai Chi this week. All day today I was exhausted and my muscles were aching. However when we started there was another student who had a bad cold so we all joked around about nasal decongestants. When we finally started the muscle tension caused for me to be in immense pain as I tried use some of the moves a simple as the core movements, but as I kept on doing them and battled through the pain and found out that the more I kept doing the movements the looser my body got, and the pain and muscle tension went away. This showed me some of the positive health benefits of Tai Chi in relieving not only mental stress but physical as well. This of course made me feel a sense of relief and satisfaction that I was no longer uncomfortable. This was the first time in a while that I attempted to battle through pain using non-aggressive movement or a heating pad

Tai Chi - "Grasp Sparrow's Tail" (First form)

Monday May 11, 2009
It was my second week of Tai Chi classes and already I feel the positive effects. Since so much of Tai Chi is based off of balance and concentration I found myself really working hard not only at doing the moves right, but also to keep myself on balance. This focus not only lasted throughout the whole practice, but also throughout my way home. Also since all of the movements were new I also used muscles and muscle combinations that I do not normally use not only stretching those muscles, but also giving them a much needed work out. Even in the beginning of the exorcise I felt invigorated and focused.