Cultivating three treaures:

jing ~ essence in body

ch’i ~ energy in breath

shen ~ spirit in awareness

Gently mix body ~ breath ~ awareness:

whole body breathing

whole body moving

floating like a feather

flowing like water

no strain

Relax the waist so the legs have power.
The lower body will be firm and stable.

Feel the contact of your feet on the ground.

Let your weight sink down through the legs.

Let your weight rest on the ground.

Let the ankles and knees be relaxed and open, slightly bent.

Let the pelvis and hips be relaxed and open.

Let the belly be soft and round.

Bounce and see how the weight can move freely.

The head should be upright so the spirit can reach the crown.
Don’t use strength (li) or the neck will be stiff
and breath and blood cannot flow through.

Massage the crown of your head a little -- where a baby’s soft spot is.

With feet on the ground, let your head be weightless, floating…

As if suspended from a string in the sky, like a puppet...

Feet rooted down... Head floating up...

Empty chest, full belly.
Sink the chest so the breath can sink to the belly.
Pluck up the back so the breath sticks to the spine.

Soften face, throat, neck.

Let shoulders relax and collarbones settle.

Let back relax, shoulder blades spread apart.

Let spine soften and round a little.

Let shoulders round into gentle vulture wings.

Let chest relax... Sink down and back just a little.

Heavy and light change based on the turning of the waist.
When you differentiate heavy and light,
You can turn lightly without using strength.
If you cannot separate heavy and light,
The step will be heavy and slow.

Shift your weight from side to side.

Know which foot and leg is heavy, and which is light.

Let heavy and light switch by turning the waist.

Sink the shoulders and elbows.
Let the shoulders be completely relaxed and open,
or breath will follow them up and the body will be without power.
Sink the elbows so the shoulders can sink.

Let the arms hang down from the shoulders, slightly away from the body.

Rotate palms to back and let shoulders blades slide apart.

Rotate palms to front and let shoulder blades come together.

Use awareness and intention (yi), not force (li).
Don’t let one ounce of force remain in the blood vessels
or in the bones or in the ligaments to tie yourself up.
Be agile and able to change; turn freely and easily.

The body has energy channels like earth has riverbeds.
If the riverbed is not obstructed, water can flow.
If the channels are not obstructed, breath and energy can flow.
When you are soft, you are strong…
Like iron wrapped in cotton…

Come alive, letting breath-awareness spread through the whole body.

Feel natural breath and gentle awareness seep into your bones,

releasing tension and softening muscles.

In motion, all parts of the body must be light, nimble, and strung together.
Let the body be without breaks or holes
or hollows or projections or discontinuities.
The breath-energy (ch’i) should be excited;
the spirit (shen) should be internally gathered.
Let breath-energy permeate the spine.
Let inhaling and exhaling be smooth and unimpeded through the entire body.

Connect your body with awareness and breath.

Breathe through the soles of your feet.

Breathe through the palms of your hands.

Breathe through the crown of your head.

Breathe through your navel.

Breathe through your spine from tail to crown.

Inhaling naturally rises and expands,
Exhaling naturally sinks down and settles.
This is by means of awareness, not strength.

Feel the sensations and movements of breathing move through the whole body.

Don’t push the breath. Don’t hold the breath.

Gently include places of tension and holding, and let them breathe.

In stepping forward or stepping back,
there is not the slightest disorder.

Know which foot is heavy and which foot is light.

Move from the waist.

Don’t step too far forward... feel the ground as if it were thin ice.

Be able to step back at any moment.

Strength (chin) is rooted in the feet.
Strength rises from the feet,
changes in the legs,
is controlled by the waist,
is stored in the chest,
manifests through the fingers,
moves in the shoulders,
is released through the spine and back,
is commanded in the waist.

When you move, push against the earth.

Turn from the waist.

Feel and move the whole spine.

Stay centered as you extend...

Keep the belly over the feet... don’t over-extend.

How is energy discharged through the spine?
It sinks downward from the shoulders
and pours down the spine to the waist;
this is called closing.

From the waist it moves to the spine,
spreads to the arms and flows to the fingers;
this is called opening.

Closing is gathering, opening is discharging.
When you know closing and opening, you know yin and yang.

Feel the outside of the body, every pore of skin and the space beyond.

Go deep inside and feel the organs, the juices, the spaces, the bones.

Feel the body expand and contract as you breathe.

Feel energy rise and open as you inhale,

sink and close as you exhale.

To gather is to close and to release is to open.
If it is quiet, everything is still.
If it is moving, everything moves.

When the body is touched it revolves freely.
If the timing and position are not integrated,
The body becomes disordered.
The defect is to be found in the legs and waist.

Awareness is to be used to integrate the body.
Advancing and retreating, everywhere is perfect.
The feet and legs and waist act tgether simultaneously.
Upper and lower coordinate.
Through practice, the body becomes whole.

Movement from beginning to end is continuous.
Moving is circular. Moving revolves and has no limits,
like a great river rolling on unceasingly.

Notice how all movement begins in the waist and legs.

Push off on the ground to move the body.

Turn from the waist.

Let movement start in the belly and roll out through body.

Up or down, front or back, left or right, are all one.
All parts of the body are strung together without a break.
Everything is one and moves with the breath.

When hand, waist and foot move together, the eyes will follow.
Inside and outside coordinate.
If you can raise the spirit, spread awareness all through the body,

movements will be naturally agile.

To make the body one you must eliminate hollows and protuberances.

Feel the numb and blank spots in your body.

Invite them to come alive, to breathe and move.

Feel parts of the body that are working too hard.

Invite those parts to relax and release,

to ride along with the rest of the body.

To make the whole body without breaks or holes,
you must first have the spirit (shen) and breath (chi) excited,

alive and expanded.
Breath-energy (ch’i) follows attention-intention (yi).
Raise the spirit by breathing and attending.
Let spirit and breath penetrate the bones.

Awareness and energy ride the breath. Let the body come alive.

Move your attention to your feet -- your energy follows.

Attend to your palms -- feel energy vibrating there.

Breathe awareness slowly up and down your legs,

up and down your arms, up and down your spine.

Attend to something across the room -- some of your energy follows.

Think about tomorrow -- some energy drains from the present.

Energy follows intention, so bring attention back

to feet on ground and breath in body.

Attend to the breathing body without manipulating.

Breathe without wrangling.

Move without tension... flowing like water...

Breath-energy spreads without hindrance.
Awareness and breath change agiley,
an excellence of round and smooth.

Rest left palm on belly, right palm on solar plexus.

Let awareness permeate the whole body.

Breathe through the whole body.

Whole body aware, whole body breathing, whole body moving.

Breathing naturally, and nimble movement follows.

Inhaling, rise and extend...

Exhaling, sink and return.

Flowing like water... Floating like a feather…

Strengthen the thighs and loosen the shoulders.
Let breath-energy sink down.

Grow roots down the legs deep into the ground.

Suspend the head from the sky.

Let tension drop down into the ground.

The differentiation of heavy and light is clear.
If the left is heavy, the right is light.
If the right is heavy, the left is light.

Light does not mean completely without strength.
Heavy does not mean bound and limited.

Spirit is concentrated.
Breath-energy is agile.
Be completely in the heart and waist, and not outside.

Don’t stand flat-footed and double-weighted.

You have a heavy foot and a light foot

Shift your weight back and forth... know which is which...

Feel the center of gravity below your navel.

Which side is heavy now? Which side is light?

Let them shift back and forth.

Tai ji ch’uan is like a great river rolling on unceaselessly.

Body rising and sinking, extending and returning.

Whole body making circles... the circles never end…

Whole body breathing, the breathing never ends…

Let breath-energy (ch’i) sink to the belly (dan t’ien).

The heart-mind (hsin) moves the breath.
Let ch’i sink calmly, gathering, permeating bones.

Ch’i moves the body smoothly, easily following the direction of the mind.
Intention and breath are agile, an excellence of round and smooth.

The waist is the axle and breath-energy is the wheel.
Attend to the waist at all times.
Completely relax the abdomen and breath rises up.
When the spine is gently, naturally erect,
the spirit goes to the top of the head.

To make the whole body light and agile, to ride the winds,
suspend the top of the head from the sky.

Nurture the breath; let the breath move without breaks
so that there is no part of the body the breath cannot reach.

When belly relaxes, breath-energy sinks into the bones.
The spirit is relaxed and the body calm.

Breathing well leads to agility.
The softest will become the strongest.

Store up internal strength (chin) like drawing a bow.

Move strength as if pulling silk from a cocoon.

Release strength like releasing an arrow.

To release energy (fa chin), sink, relax completely, and aim in one direction.

In the curve seek the straight, store, and then release.

Be still as a mountain.

Move like a great river.

When still, there is no place that isn’t still.

The body is upright, stable and comfortable.

The head is suspended from the sky.

When moving, there is no place that doesn’t move.

Walk like a cat.

Be tranquill and move in stillness.

Use stillness to control movement.

Although one moves, there is also stillness.

Slower is better.

Inhaling and exhaling are long and deep

and the breath sinks to the belly.

The body is like a floating cloud.

Let awareness ride the breath throughout the hollow body.

Let movements ride the breath.

Inhaling, rise and go out.

Exhaling, sink and return.

Stepping forward, stepping back,

looking left, looking right,

central balance.

Keep your weight low, in your legs and belly.

Keep your belly over your feet.

When the foot wants to advance, first shift backwards.

Extension and contraction, opening and closing should be natural.

Move slowly and smoothly, with intention.

Always be able to move or to stop,

to change direction, to extend or return.

Carefully study and practice.
To enter the door and be shown the way, you must be orally taught.
The words are simple but the meaning is complete.
The practice is uninterrupted and technique is achieved by self study.

Speaking of the body and its function, what is the standard?
The mind (yi) and breath (ch’i) are king.
The bones and muscles are the court.

Pay attention to the interior of the body,

but don’t limit your awareness to the body’s material form.

Be aware of the external,

but don’t fixate on the form of the movements.

You must discover by non-discrimination and non-resistance.
Follow this method and in a year or half a year
you will instinctively find it in your body.
Use attention and intention (yi), not force (chin).
If you do not practice, then you’ll waste your time and sigh.

The distracted senses are the Five Thieves.

Disturbed emotions are the Chief Hooligan.

Gently move within your range of motion.

Don’t push through pain or resistance.

Flowing like water, find an easy way.

Practice every day.

Tend your breath, refine your energy.

No regrets.

whole body breathing

whole body moving

whole body feeling

making circles

floating like feathers

flowing like water

gently

softly

open

empty

free