Reflections from my first Tai Chi Gong

Earlier this month I was able to complete my first tai chi gong, which is a commitment of dedicated practice for a certain timeframe each day, I chose 20 minutes, for 100 continuous days. In this short article, I will be reflecting on my experience of the gong, what I gained from the completion of it, and share any insights that came through for me during the journey of this 100 day practice. My life feels as if it has undergone a radical transition since the beginning of this practice, and I hope to convey the positive impacts it has had on me. A consistent Tai Chi practice has been one of the greatest gifts that I have experienced thus far in my life. I hope to inspire others to take the leap into the unknown and start their own practice, you surely won’t regret it!

I had heard quite a bit about the benefits that tai chi can have on an individuals energy levels and overall vitality, and with starting a new job going back to working night shift the prospect of this increased energy was quite intriguing. After completing this first gong I can say without a doubt, the hype is real. Despite working full time on night shift, as well as working an additional job occasionally throughout the week, my energy levels have not taken a dip at all and I have been able to be just as active physically as I was before going back to a night shift work schedule. Actually, my athletic performance seems to have continued to increase and I am performing arguably the best I ever have in whatever athletic endeavor I venture into, whether it be climbing, running or lifting. So if you feel like you are operating energetically below where you need to/want to be, you might want to consider a practice to get your chi up!

Aside from the substantial physical benefits that I have been able to experience from the completion of my first gong, the mental benefits that have come to light throughout the 100 days and the time following have been extremely impactful as well. I have attempted many different meditation practices over the last 4-5 years, and have had some beautiful experiences with quite a few of them. However, I was never able to get any of the practices to really “stick” with me and only once in awhile felt any noticeable impact on my mental wellbeing. With tai chi though, it feels like I have found the perfect practice that allows me to integrate both my body and mind simultaneously, allowing me to hit full flow and bliss out almost every single day I engage in my practice now. With normal sitting meditation, I would do my best to allow my mind to fully empty, which in itself is almost an impossible task it seems, but would always find myself so easily distracted and unable to stick to a mantra or point of focus for more than a few seconds, no matter how many days I would continually practice. During my tai chi however, the stream of thoughts is still very apparent and shows up every single day, without fail. However, the combination of the rhythmic movement coupled with a breathing sequence to pair with the movement has allowed me to see the thoughts rise up, and in my minds eyes I can breathe through them and “see” them be breathed out of me with each phase of movement and breath. 

So with each practice, I can go into it knowing that whatever thoughts that are lingering around for the day will undoubtably arise, and without judgement I can allow them to pass through me, which is when the real practice begins in my opinion. At the start of my practice it felt like the whole 20 minutes was spent just trying to allow my mind to quiet down and the short 20 minutes would feel like I had been going for well over an hour. “The timer must’ve not gone off” “There’s no way it hasn’t been 20 minutes yet” were some of the most common thoughts that would come up often. As I stuck with it each day though, the time to quiet my mind got shorter and shorter and before I knew it I would easily be able to get into my mantras and the 20 minutes would fly by, honestly leaving me shocked at how quickly the time would pass on some days. 

With this new skill of allowing the thoughts to arise and easily pass through me, it has been very cool to see how my ability to do this in my everyday, moment to moment life has improved as well. I am able to witness the thoughts that come up almost immediately, and without reacting to or having any judgement around them, I can allow them to pass through me or I can choose to actively work with whatever comes up. I feel like I am able to see any story being played out in my head purely as a witness rather than being an active participant in the story that is unaware that one is even occurring. It has allowed me to see all of the different parts within myself that come up or get triggered in different situations, and to start to develop a relationship with each one of them so they have space to express themselves and are no longer isolated in my shadow. 

Another huge benefit that was pretty unforeseen going into the start of my practice was the self confidence that completing the 100 days continuously was able to instill in me. For a lot of my life, I have set out and announced to either myself or others that I was going to do something (meditate every day, start a journaling practice, start a business) and stuck with it for a short period of time while the motivation and dopamine were running high, only to fall off when the initial appeal went away. I wasn’t truly aware of how much of an impact this subtly was having on the trust I had in myself and my word. Eventually the pattern got to a point where I could hear my inner dialogue saying “why even start? You know you aren’t going to stick with it anyway.” When this became the default, I knew that I had had enough of the half commitments I previously made and was making in my life and was ready to go all in. So I can transparently say that there was quite a bit of ego pushing me towards completing this gong, and I don’t feel like that was a negative driving force either. I was tired of the old patterns of letting myself down and not keeping my word, both to myself and to others, and knew that if I am going to reach my highest potential then this habit was going to have to be left behind. Completing this gong has given me the confidence in myself to know that with discipline and devotion, I can and will do the things that I set out to achieve. 

What initially started as a goal to increase my energy and prove to myself that I am able to commit to something fully has transformed into a practice that has created a radical shift in my life and is something that I look forward to every single day. I am still actively practicing my tai chi every day since the completion of my first gong, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I am beyond excited to see how my practice will evolve as I stick with it, and continue to soak up both the internal and external benefits that this amazing practice has already blessed my life with. If you are someone who has attempted any mediation practice before and not been able to stick with it, or even someone who is brand new to meditation, I cannot recommend a tai chi practice enough. It has been one of the most impactful experiences of my life and I am sure it will be for you as well, should you choose to commit yourself. My hope for the future is that practices like this one become an everyday occurrence for a vast majority of the population. It brings me great joy to imagine so many people getting to have such an impactful experience and time for self reflection that my tai chi gong was able to provide for me. The journey to a new world our hearts know is possible begins within each of us and I hope that my message has inspired you to find a practice that gives space for you to imagine how you want to contribute to making that new world a reality!