When is the body ever completely still?
Only in death is there no movement.
If you are living, you are breathing.
If you are breathing, you are moving.
The movements of tai chi ride upon the breath wave
like flotsam following an ocean current.
The hip bone is connected to the thigh bone.
The thigh bone is connected to the shin bone.
The shin bone is connected to the ankle bone.
Thus when one thing moves, so does the next
and the next
and the next.
How could it be but thus?
As long as sequential movement is not arrested
by tension, resistance, and stress
the breath moves the body
and the body, in turn, moves the breath
and the chain is unbroken
so that the crown of the head
and the tips of the toes
are bosom buddies.
What affects the minutest part
affects the whole
and what affects the whole
affects the minutest part.