BY ANUJ GOYAL
CFO, Razorfish India
Nature maintains its own balance. We, as humans, disturb this balance to meet our escalating consumption demands. This has also been aggravated with the hyper-digital world we have immersed ourselves in leading to angst, stress and a hyper-wired existence.
Growing automation is resulting in diminished movement of our body parts leading to their deterioration. Today, we are more inclined towards the use of our intellectual capabilities and try to maintain our physical health by cutting down on our eating habits. We commonly believe, “an idle body is the host of many diseases.”
Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art that, today, is practiced as a gentle and graceful form of exercise. It is uniquely bound to nature and involves extracting energy, known as ‘chi’, from our natural surroundings. It includes a series of movements performed in a slow and focused manner accompanied by deep breathing. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion. It’s a moving meditation.
Tai Chi has both physical and mental benefits. Its slow and subtle movements provide relaxation to both mind and body that in turn improves our immune system. A regular practice of Tai Chi tones our muscles, increases flexibility, helps maintain body balance and relieve stress.
In the corporate life, we are so engrossed in our daily routine that we rarely find time to meditate and exercise. Our commercial thoughts continue to lead our mind despite the physical efforts to engage ourselves elsewhere. Also, it is the demand of today’s fast paced corporate and professional world to stay as agile and fit as possible.
With continuous practice of Tai Chi, we are able to delve into a meditative stage spontaneously. And, even a slight deviation of our thoughts makes us forget the next step and we have to make ourselves focus on our Tai Chi moves. After we complete one set of forms, which takes about 21 minutes, we have accumulated a considerable amount of Chi, or energy, within ourselves so that we are ready to start our day full throttle. Also the development of calmness in our mind brings the much-needed freshness to our thoughts enabling us to take up new challenges without any fear or conflict.
Just like emptying a glass full of water, our mind becomes unoccupied and is ready to be indulged with new concepts, ideas and strategies. We become optimistic in our approach and are always distant from the cynical thoughts surrounding us. Tai Chi gives us an inner strength that doesn’t let us get demotivated easily and helps us in making continuous efforts to reach our goal. A regular practice of Tai Chi teaches us to strive hard for improvements and refinements in our methods and techniques and makes the sight of our goals crystal clear.
The practice helps body-balance using our core strength and lower body rooted while the upper parts comprising of waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, head, gaze etc. continue to move in a guided and controlled way. Our mind constantly regulates the physical movements in order to accomplish the internal and external harmony. Our focus on the soft moves unintentionally releases our mind from the hold of stressful thoughts. The slow and refined movements also converts our aggressive and destructive attitude to determination and a constructive approach.
The digital world around gets more complex and create dimensions within dimensions and as our lives get pulled deeper into this matrix, we need to Tai-Chi our world to remain in balance. Only then will we get the perfect view of the matrix without being consumed by it.
Feedback: anuj.goyal@razorfish.com
