Stillness in Motion! I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase if you are a student or Tai Chi and/or Qigong practitioner. But what does that mean? Do we understand it? How can we achieve it? If you are an instructor, how do you explain it to your students, particularly new ones?
The world is such a busy place and our minds and attention are distracted by our cellphones, computers, social media, news reports, etc. Our minds work overtime and never stop - monkey mind!! But what about our bodies? We are too sedentary and spend too much of our time sitting and being distracted by some type of media. Bottom line: many of us need more balance in our lives!
Do we ever just sit in silence or stillness? Are we aware of our breath and the internal feelings in our body? So what is stillness (in motion or not)?
Here are two great quotes you may or may not have heard:
From the Classics: “Stillness in motion, motion in stillness.”
From Bruce Lee: “The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest.”
Most of us want stillness in our lives, however, many experts have differing opinions as to what stillness is and how to achieve it.
According to Bruce Lee, if you’re centered, your “power is the center of the storm and there is stillness there”. If you’ve ever watched a Bruce Lee movie, it is obvious that just before he attacks, he has stillness. Instead of wasting energy, he is gathering energy into his stillness.
Unlike in external martial arts, in Tai Chi “stillness controls movement”. Practicing carefully is important according to Master Jess Tsao, PhD, author of Practical Tai Chi Training,so that breathing will be deep and long. This allows Qi to sink down to the Dantian. Slower movements are more effective and should not cause your pulse to rise nor should you be short of breath. You will then be on your path to achieving “stillness in the movement”.
In his book, Pathway to Stillness, Gary Irwin-Kenyon, talks about stillness as being a situation or place that brings you to the present moment. When you reach that point, anxiety and fear are gone.
Narcisse Sadi, who is an instructor and student of Dr Jeff Lan, defines stillness as sinking and relaxing “the sinews, ligaments, joints, and fascia using the mind” to direct the energy so that Qi can flow with less interruption. It is the stillness of the mind that is generating the motion.
According to Arthur Du: Traditional Kung Fu theories believe stillness “is the place where there are no certain forms or certain moves or sequences anymore, but one does whatever it takes, like a conditional reflex, to react with opponents or nature”.
Perhaps stillness is associated with “sinking” and letting tension go down to the ground. Is it when you fill your body with “emptiness or no tension”? Is it being “Song/Sung”?
It’s Tai Chi’s slow pace and flowing movements that allow us to feel light and sensitive, which helps us to understand what stillness in motion is. Many beginners have trouble getting their head around the concept that the mind leads the moves. Consistent, usually long term, practitioners make constant adjustments in their mind, their breath, and their body when they feel that something is not right. They make these changes so that the body is consistent and in harmony with the mind. These changes or adjustments are necessary to achieve stillness during the movement and movement during stillness.
When you are practicing or sparing, strive to stay “unattached”. By being focused on the moment and not being distracted, your mind and body can flow. In the moment, you will find both stillness and motion.
Unfortunately, many new practitioners will never reach a level of stillness within movement or movement within stillness because it takes so much practice. Many students do not practice outside of class. Others quit before they achieve any level of competence. When students are new, they spend the majority of their time learning principles and copying the instructor’s movements. They may or may not practice the principles and take them seriously. Only when they consistently practice will they get to the point where they don’t have to direct all their attention to their posture, body, feet, etc and muscle memory will set in. Then and only then, can you achieve stillness of the mind, awareness of your body, and focus on the moment. Some refer to it as “being in the zone”!
Bottom line: There is no “one answer” or definition of stillness in motion! Even though it is hard to put the concept into words, there is movement within stillness and stillness within movement. Striving to only achieve stillness or only movement will not be effective. Much like Yin and Yang, they are complementary and one cannot exist without the other.
Here, once again, it comes down to consistent, correct practice in order to gain all the benefits that Tai Chi has to offer!
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