Yoga and Tai Chi are connected

Yoga and Tai Chi are two physical and mental practices that may seem to originate thousands of miles apart and have completely different external forms. However, their core essences are the same - both ultimately aim to achieve the balance and unity of body, mind, and spirit through the coordinated regulation of body posture, breathing rhythm, and concentration of thoughts.

At first, I thought that these two poles were incompatible. After all, one originated from ancient India and was full of various awkward postures, and the other was a traditional boxing technique native to China. The old man in the park rowed back and forth slowly. No matter how you look at it, it is not all the same. It wasn’t until I sprained my ankle in the third year of practicing yoga that I couldn’t do strenuous exercise. My mother dragged me to the park to practice Tai Chi with Master Chen, and I slowly realized something was wrong.

That day when I was standing on the Wuji Zhuang, Master Chen came over and cracked my shoulders: "The shoulders are sinking and the elbows are sinking. The collar is weak to support the strength. There seems to be a thread pulling up on the top of the head. Don't collapse the spine." ”I was stunned immediately. Isn't this the request that the coach whispered in my ear when I practiced downward dog every day? In Downward Dog pose, you need to lift your tailbone, extend your spine, and relax your shoulders and neck without hunching. The force of pushing your heels down and the force of lifting your head upward are in direct contact with each other. This is exactly the same model as the core logic of Zhanzhuang. Don't tell me, I used yoga to find the feeling of body alignment, and I stood for 20 minutes without shaking for the first time. Master Chen even praised me for having "good bones." Who knew that it was the yoga foundation I had accumulated for three years that was exerting my strength.

Later, I became more familiar with the cloud hand technique. In the past, I could not stabilize my core when practicing vinyasa flow yoga's turning balance. Later, I tried to use Tai Chi's "belt hand" logic. Every turn was exerted from the hip root, and the upper body was naturally stable. I also secretly used the Ujjayi breathing method of yoga in Tai Chi. I punched out, breathed in when I closed the posture, and breathed evenly and long for the entire set. I didn’t gasp at all. It was much smoother than before when I followed the instructions of "breathing in conjunction with the movements."

Of course, not everyone agrees with the idea of ​​"interconnection". The Ashtanga teacher at my yoga studio scoffed, saying that the high-intensity sequences he practiced could reach a heart rate of 120 in one set, and that he didn't sweat even after half an hour of Tai Chi. It was not the same thing at all.； There are also old boxing friends who practice Tai Chi with me and say that yoga is all nonsense. It stretches your muscles every time and hurts. How can Tai Chi slowly and slowly nourish people? In fact, this is normal. The external performance of the two is different, and the practice goals of different schools are also different. If you compare the energy requirements of competitive Tai Chi to slow-paced Yin yoga, or compare the consumption standards of hot yoga to the health routine of Yang-style Tai Chi, you will definitely feel that something is wrong. At present, there is still controversy in the academic circles as to whether the two theoretical systems have the same origin. Some people say that the chakra theory of yoga and the meridian theory of Tai Chi are completely independent products of two cultures. Others believe that both are concrete expressions of the flow of human energy. For example, the somatosensory sensations of the Dantian corresponding to the Muladhara chakra and the Dantian corresponding to the Heart chakra are highly overlapped. There is no unified conclusion yet.

But for ordinary practitioners like us, body sensation cannot fool anyone. Last month, I practiced the Sleeping Swan Pose of Yin Yoga, which requires me to lower my hips for 3 minutes. The pain made me gasp. According to my previous habit, I must grit my teeth and count the time. That day, I suddenly remembered that when my legs were shaking during the Tai Chi stance, Master Chen said, "Don't compete with the pain, focus on it." Just focus on your breathing and guard your Dantian and you will be stable." I tried to shift my focus from the pain in my crotch to my breathing, and gently placed my mind on my lower abdomen. I managed to hold on for 3 minutes smoothly, and I didn't feel tired at all when I got up. On the contrary, my whole hip was extremely relaxed. Also, I always liked to compare the difficulty of poses with the sisters in the gym, always thinking about when I would be able to do the splits and handstands. After practicing Tai Chi, I heard Master Chen always say, "Punch a thousand times, and the meaning will appear on its own. Don't ask for speed or difficulty, but find your own rhythm." Gradually, I no longer care about the difficulty of yoga. I care more about whether my breathing is smooth and whether my muscles are compensated in each movement. Instead, I started doing the wheel poses that I had been stuck in for half a year.

What’s interesting is that many offline training camps are now combining the two. I went to a physical and mental relaxation salon last month. The teacher combined the cloud hands of Tai Chi and the cat-cow pose of yoga into a short sequence. During the practice, the movements were slow, but the core was exerting force throughout the whole process. The stiffness in the entire back was completely eliminated after the practice. It was much more comfortable than practicing either one alone. There are also many Tai Chi studios that now teach yoga shoulder and hip opening movements to help veteran boxers solve the problem of tight muscles. Many yoga studios also use Tai Chi's center of gravity shifting logic in teaching balancing postures, and the results are very good.

After all, whether we are stretching on a yoga mat and listening to soft music in the gym, or wearing cloth shoes and paddling our hands in the wind in the park, we ordinary people find ways to talk to our bodies. They are all the same, so why is comfort important? If you get stuck in practicing yoga one day, or you can't find the feeling of relaxation while doing Tai Chi, you might as well try practicing cross-border practice for two weeks. Maybe the answer your body will give you will be more accurate than any theory.