Dear Inky, Anita, and Tracy,

Thank you all for your kind replies!

I would ideally like to take up both Tai Chi and Yoga at the same time. I suspect that both would be a significant benefit to me. The additional social interaction would be nice, too, however slight it may be. For now, though, my budget is fairly tight, so I will limit myself to only one until I have a larger income. My hope is to get the biggest bang for my buck on as many levels as possible: mindful, meditative, physical, physiological, etc. I’ve considered buying DVDs for the one that I don’t attend classes.

Inky,

I am a moderately active person, biking 20+ miles two to three times a week, plus other aerobic activities, and lifting, in addition to all of the yard work I do, so I could probably handle the Yoga. But I am also on the tail-end of decompressing from an extremely stressful two months (in my personal and professional life), and a subsequent three very stressful months in my personal life. For the last few months I’ve only had the mental and emotional energy to tread water, so to speak, but it is getting better and better every day. Considering that my energy level is increasing, Yoga may be the way for me to go.

Anita,

The variations in the instructors’ backgrounds, and the particular schools of philosophy to which they adhere, are things that I hadn’t fully considered. I will have to do more research on that. Any insight you can share about what may be the most beneficial would be greatly appreciated. As an Agnostic, and one who has academically studied many philosophies and religions, I am not particularly interested in doctrine or dogma, but I am willing to be open-minded. If I decide on Tai Chi, I will take your advice and try to find a Sifu.

Tracy,

Kripalu Yoga sounds like the Yoga in which I am more interested. I get my more strenuous workouts in other ways. Your suggestion of taking a few classes of each is excellent advice!

And thank you for your kind wishes. Right back at ya’!

Again, my thanks to, and my best hopes for, all of you!

CMI

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Call Me Ishmael.

I’ve done some research and found two locations right next to each other, one that teaches Tai Chi, and one that teaches Yoga.

The Tai Chi style that is taught is the short Yang style. The web site does not give the instructor’s name or his student lineage to Yang Lu-Ch’an as do some other sites I’ve seen from schools around the USA. It’s the only Tai Chi school in town though, and would be a good place to start.

The level one and two classes of Yoga are Iyengar Yoga, with a mixture of Hatha and Vinyasa styles taught in the higher intensity classes.

Does anyone have any insight to the short Yang style, or Iyengar, Hatha, and Vinyasa schools of Yoga?

Anita,

Thanks for your follow-up and for pointing me to your Sifu’s site. If I go with DVDs on Tai Chi, I can tell from Sifu Gore’s videos that it is important to find videos that show the movements from two angles, not just the front.

My thanks again to everyone!

CMI

Dear Anita,

Thank you again for your reply.

Hmmm. The props seem a bit pedantic, and perhaps even distracting, but then what the heck do I know? Maybe that is what is necessary.

One of the aspects of Tai Chi and Yoga that I am hoping to capitalize upon is mindfulness.

Many years ago, I practiced meditation based only on a few instructions given to me by an acquaintance of mine: instructions pertaining to a combination of tensing the body followed by a focus on relaxing it, all while deep-breathing from the diaphragm, as a preparation to meditating, as well as clearing my mind and stopping my eye movement during meditation.

During this period of my life, I was also very intent on moving myself out of the center of my experience, and becoming more empathetic.

After a period of time (I don’t recall how long), I don’t know if it was – what seemed to me to be – the deep levels of meditation I achieved, or the effort I put into becoming more empathetic, I eventually found myself experiencing everything, even myself, as if I were an observer as well as a participant. It was such a wonderful way of experiencing existence! Everything seemed to be just the way it should be, no more and no less, and I was participating in things as positively as possible, no more and no less. (I could dilate so much more on this, but I’ll let that suffice.) Although I didn’t know it at the time, I suspect that I had (at the very least) achieved some small state of mindfulness, and it was one of the happiest times in my life.

I have recently tried to recall and practice that process of meditation, but I still have a long way to go. I have read a few books on mindfulness, but I have a hard time implementing their suggested practices. Nonetheless, I suspect that there are several paths to mindfulness, and I do not intend to give up.

Based on your experience, which would you suggest is the shorter path to mindfulness: Tai Chi or Yoga? From your earlier reply, I suspect that you might suggest Tai Chi.

Of course, all insights are welcomed from all others who have experience with these things.

Thanks again,

CMI

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Call Me Ishmael.

Thanks for your insight, Anita.

I’m going to take a Tai Chi class and see how I like it.

The objective state of being and participation is something I would really like to achieve again. The mindfulness you describe was part of that as well, but what I experienced was much more than that. It might have been a fluke, and I’m not completely sure how I achieved it, but I’d like to get back there.

Have a great week!