Why I Will Do Tai Chi the Rest of My Life

Why I Will Do Tai Chi the Rest of My Life

I have practiced Tai Chi for most of my adult life, and while I could talk about its many well-known benefits—balance, flexibility, stress reduction, peaceful moving meditation—those are only part of why I keep returning to it.

The deeper reason is that Tai Chi helps me understand how I hold my body—and, by extension, how I carry the vibes of the world.

The Body as a Barometer

Right now, America feels tense. We are in a socially disturbed time. Every day, people on television talk about division and conflict, and it seeps into the air. You can feel it. It’s easy to walk around unconsciously bracing for impact, like we’re all waiting for something to explode.

I noticed this tension showing up in my own body. My shoulders, especially, were locked as if I were perpetually preparing to defend myself—to throw a punch, to block, to push back. I realized that even though I wasn’t in a fight, my nervous system thought I was.

Injury as a Message

Three-quarters of the way through 2025, as winter approaches, I developed a small shoulder injury. My acupuncturist believes it’s a rotator cuff issue—probably from overuse, overtraining, and years of holding tension in one arm.

That diagnosis was humbling. It wasn’t just a physical injury; it was a message. My body was reflecting how I’d been living—in a subtle, constant state of readiness.

Returning to the Practice

When I brought Tai Chi back into focus, I realized I’d been doing the movements but not fully inhabiting them. I’d been practicing in the mountains, surrounded by beauty, but I wasn’t bringing that softness, that awareness, back to the village—back to the everyday spaces where life actually happens.

Tai Chi reminded me that it’s not about escaping tension but about learning to accept it viscerally—to let the energy move through without freezing or collapsing around it.

The Daily Reset

That’s why Tai Chi isn’t just exercise for me. It’s a daily check-in, a way to notice how I’m interpreting reality—not mentally, but through the language of the body. Every session gives me feedback: Am I fighting the world today, or am I moving with it?

Tai Chi teaches me to re-enter life with less armor and more awareness.

And that is why I will do Tai Chi for the rest of my life.