An Exercise for Thrivival in the Modern World

T'ai Chi Ch'uan has always changed and evolved to meet the needs of its practitioners. The current evolution that T'ai Chi Ch'uan is undergoing is so beyond anything I've ever experienced, it requires a new vocabulary even to comprehend it. Words like thrivival, which I created to describe an existence that is somewhere between thriving and surviving is but a single example. I won't even begin to get into the vocabulary necessary to sync ancient Eastern spiritual knowledge with the cutting edge quantum physics that is redefining the universe as we speak. The yin yang symbol itself, delineates the energy and dynamics of the fractals the universe is using to generate itself.

I am now experiencing a wholly unanticipated personal transformation. My push hands practice, which used to be about developing the ability to move another, while simply remaining unmoved by them, is now becoming about "listening and sensing." What is my partner doing, thinking, feeling, wanting or emitting? Our bodies naturally reflect and transmit our state of consciousness. As we believe and feel, so we automatically generate it. I believe T'ai Chi Ch'uan is adapting exponentially to the changes of an increasingly aware universe and its' denizens. It is showing us how to adapt, if we can but listen. I am unaware of any exercise, in any discipline, where two individuals connect through touch in order to sense and react to each other's feelings or intentions. Push Hands itself requires a new vocabulary, so I call it Sensing Hands, which engenders the physical connection, that we as a species, so sorely lack. We are an ego based culture which thrives on separation and disconnection: divide and conquer, separate and compare. We fear what we don't know, because we don't feel we always have the ability to deal with the unknown. This pushes us towards becoming encapsulated by our jobs, families, the few we trust and even the lives we lead. Push hands is a unique exercise that enables us to reach out and explore, enabling us to develop the tools to expand and experience the unknown. We gain confidence in our abilities to deflect negatives and redirect what we don't wish to receive and be drawn towards what we do. I can allow myself to be open to embrace those I feel need it or deflect the energy of those whom I am not attracted to. If it is extremely negative or dangerous energy I can deal with that easily as well. Everything is constantly being projected by consciousness and learning not to fear or flee it, but to flow with it, can be the basis for planetary healing. The world can only thrive if the dominant species, which is us, attempts to overcome its differences and draws together for the greater good. Push hands could become the exercise of us reaching out past our limitations in order to finally embrace one another, not in fear but out of love.