Tai Chi

I just completed a Tai Chi class here in Chiang Mai, and according to my calculations, I'm now a ninja. It was a series of one-hour lessons, just about every day for two weeks. I learned the 24 form, and I plan on continuing to practice. I'm finding that all these different activities I've been getting into really seem to compliment each other: yoga, meditation, tai chi...

The three other people in the class didn't get through all 24 forms, so I think we're going to meet to practice a couple times per week and the instructor appointed me to teach them the rest. Kind of a cool feeling. They were all really encouraging and supportive, and the instructor was amazing. Her name is "gai" which is the same word for chicken, and she would always remind us of that. "Gai, like chicken," she'd say. She has an incredible presence and balance about her, and her eyes will peer directly into your soul. Even in the picture she manages to have a perfect halo around her...? That's just how she works. To watch her practice Tai Chi is probably the closest that I've ever been to being hypnotized. Some of my favorite moments in Chiang Mai have been in her studio over the last two weeks. The area where we practice is outdoors under a tin roof on a concrete floor surrounded by a small garden and fountains. The first class was at night and there was an incredible storm and the floor ended up flooding, so we were practicing barefoot in a pool of water under the rain crashing on the roof. The last class was this morning and it was the most beautiful morning in weeks; the temperature was cool and the sun was out. Kind of symbolic, I guess. When she asked me to go through the full 24 forms right next to her, it was a feeling of synchrony like I've never felt before. We were all a bit sad to leave our last class, but I'm definitely taking everything I've learned to heart, ninja style.