How to Feel Your Life Energy in Tai Chi

Many people who learn Tai Chi are usually curious about ‘chi’. They often wonder if chi or life energy really exists and if it can be physically felt and experienced.

The answer to that is yes! Unfortunately, many ‘masters’ and teachers of Tai Chi today are not able to generate and harness chi. It is sad that commercialization of Tai Chi has degenerated the art into just a gentle dance in many schools.

As a result, the experience of chi is absent and for many it only remains in the mythical realms of kung fu movies. The good news is it does not have to be that way. There are some masters around who are able to generate chi flow and will freely teach this to their students.

Though they form the minority, they actually do exist. If you make the effort to do some research and look them up, you will definitely be able to find a Tai Chi master with this ability.

In order to feel your life energy in Tai Chi, it is extremely important to be relaxed. One should not be tense or stiff, as this will impede the chi flow in your body. Learning to relax sounds simple, but it is surprising that many people find it hard to do.

This could be due to stress or the pressures of modern living. To generate chi, a person needs to relax the body, mind and soul. Besides being physically relaxed, a person should also be mentally relaxed.

This means that one should learn to focus, still the mind and prevent all distracting thoughts from coming into the mind. Once you have relaxed your body and mind, you also need to relax your soul or heart.

This means that you would have to be in a state where you are emotionally relaxed. Therefore, you need to cast aside all your worries, anxieties and fears.

Adopting the correct posture and stances are also important in generating and developing chi flow. In Tai Chi, one of the most important stances that can help one to develop chi flow is the Three-Circle Stance. Keeping the back straight is one of the requirements in developing chi flow.

The use of special breathing techniques is essential in developing chi flow. One of the breathing techniques that are used to develop chi flow is the abdominal breathing technique.

This is a deep breathing technique whereby students breathe from the diaphragm and focus on their ‘dan tien’. When combined with all of the above, it will enable a student to develop a strong chi flow with regular practice. With proper instruction from a qualified teacher, a student can usually experience chi in days or weeks.

After completing a Tai Chi set, if a student goes into the Three-Circle Stance, continues with abdominal breathing and puts both his palms facing one another about 6 inches apart, he will be able to feel a ball of energy in between his palms if he moves his palms in and out slightly.

The feeling is similar to the magnetic energy created by putting two magnets facing one another. Some people may also feel a tingling sensation in their hands, while others have described the feeling as ‘ants crawling on their hands’.