When we are born we do not have a very good sense of equilibrium. As we grow we slowly learn to stand, walk and eventually do all kinds of things that require balance. While we are going through the early processes we are bottom heavy and very low to the ground. Picture a toddler as they waddle across the floor, if they happen to fall it will probably be on their butt, like a squat, and they don’t have far to go to the floor.
As we get older we start to become top heavy and the distance from our head to the floor increases. If we fall our heads are in danger of hitting something, like the ground or other objects, and causing serious injury. What causes us to become top heavy? The stresses of life often reside in our shoulders in the form of tension. Our breathing becomes shallow over time and we begin to breathe using our upper chest only, as opposed to when we were born and our breath was deep and low. Sometimes our senses get narrowed down to our eyes and other input sensory organs of the head, or the top of the body. All of these things mean our energy and our focus is upward. If we slip, trip or fall then we are going down hard.
When we learn arts like Tai Chi we learn to stand and move in ways that bring our weight down to our true center instead of being top heavy. By doing certain exercises like the ones in this video, we learn ways of strengthening our connection to the ground. Once we can release the tension in the body we become more rooted as well as becoming more sensitive to our whole body. Exercises like Zhan Zhuang are great ways to do this.
Another essential component in Tai Chi is to have the joints loose and open. When we have tension in our body we are like a tree branch that is stiff and brittle. What happens when you drop it against the ground, or apply a little pressure to it? Now imagine a tree branch that is still fresh and green or has some moisture in it’s phloem. If this branch falls or has a little pressure applied to it, it has a better chance of not breaking than the previous example. When we can relax and keep the joints loose and open even if we were to fall we can minimize the damage. This leads us into the next section which gives some ideas on what to do if we are falling.