What are you carrying?

Halloween is a funny kind of holiday.

For one evening, we put on something that isn't quite us.

A mask.
A costume.
A character for the night.

And then, sooner or later, we take it off and come home.

It's a small, playful reminder that we are able to set things down.

But most of what we carry doesn't come off so easily.

The tension in our shoulders.
The tightness in our jaw.
The breath held high in the chest.
The expectations we've absorbed.
The stress we carried home on Friday and carried back out again on Monday.

Many of us have carried some of these things for so long that we've stopped noticing the weight.

We Pick Things Up for Good Reasons

Carrying isn't a mistake.

Tension often begins as protection.

We tighten the shoulders to get through a stressful day.
We hold the breath while we concentrate.
We brace ourselves for something hard.

In the moment, these responses make sense.

The trouble comes when the moment is over and the body doesn't get the message.

So we keep carrying something that was only meant for a short walk.

What Tai Chi Means by Sinking

In Tai Chi, we spend a great deal of time learning to sink energy down. 

The shoulders drop.
The elbows soften.
The breath settles lower.
The weight of the body falls down through the legs and into the ground.

This isn't collapsing.

We stay upright, supported, and attentive.

But we let the legs and the earth do the work of supporting us, instead of the shoulders and the jaw.

When the lower body does its job, the upper body no longer has to try so hard.

The Weight Isn't Only Physical

Of course, not everything we carry lives in the body.

Some of it is a worry we keep rehearsing.
Some of it is a role we play so well that we forget we're playing it.
Some of it is an expectation about how we should look, move, age, or keep up.
Some of it is a standard someone handed us years ago that we never questioned.

In practice, body and mind aren't separate.

Often, the tension in the shoulders and the tension in the thoughts are carrying the same load.

When we soften one, the other sometimes begins to loosen too.

A Simple Question

You don't have to figure out everything you're carrying.

You only have to ask:
Do I still need this?

Not every answer will be yes.

Sometimes we need the vigilance, the effort, the preparation.

But sometimes the honest answer is no.

That was for a season that's over.
That belonged to someone else.

That doesn't need to come with me any further.

A Gentle Reflection

Try this today, wherever you are.

Take one slow breath in.

Let a long exhale go out.

As you breathe out, let your shoulders drop an inch.
Let your jaw loosen.
Let your feet feel the floor.

Notice what you're willing to release and let go.

You don't have to set everything down at once.

Start with the part that's ready.

Sometimes the lightest thing we can do for ourselves is notice what we've been carrying, and quietly put some of it down.

With Gratitude, 

Cheryl - Lady Tai Chi