Greater body awareness

         I've been really enjoying Tai Chi so far, but the most unexpected benefit from it has been the feeling it gives me going into the next class.  I feel a lot more connected to my body, which makes sense.

        I'm sure I've talked about it before, but I'll describe it again- proprioception.  Essentially your proprioceptors are in charge of letting your body know where it is spatially.  Think walking up stairs, your body kind of knows how much force it needs to go up each step, so you're not tripping over each step, but you're not taking huge ridiculous steps either-- unless you're apart of the Ministry of Silly Walks.  Your internal body is covered in a layer called the fascia, which is what interconnects everything, and it is in the fascial layer that is rich in the nervous tissue known as proprioceptors.  Now what is interesting, is that when there is injury or scarring, your body is smart and essentially cuts communication from the central nervous system to the receptors in an effort to protect the area.  Can't do further damage if you're not using the area right?  That is a good strategy in the short-term, in the long-term it hinders you because you're body is then left to adapt different patterns of motion to compensate which eventually leads to imbalances and further injury.  The slow intentional movements of Tai Chi really fire on these proprioceptors so that you have more body awareness in all those tiny stabilizer muscles you tend to take for granted, or even in the bigger muscles that may not be recruiting all those muscle fibers.  Have you ever watched power lifters before they go for a lift and someone is smacking them?  It's not just to hype them up, its creating awareness to the site so that when they go for their lit, they are recruiting more.

        What I believe is happening is all the intentional slow movements is creating a lot more awareness in my body that when I go to do techniques at regular speed, more of my body is being activated than normal, and thus I feel more.  I feel more stability and grounding, I feel more activation in my lower limbs as I'm stepping or throwing a kick.  Overall I feel more connected in my harmonies.  Just another reason to do Tai Chi.  Going forward I think just doing some of the Tai Chi warm ups before class can help get this sensitivity.