“Awareness always increases faster than ability if we are training correctly”. My teacher, Larry Johnson, has said this me this may times over the years. At times I have despaired that I was getting worse instead of better even though I put a lot of attention into my practice. I find this to be one of the most challenging things about learning Tai Chi and Qigong. Because awareness increases faster than ability we become more cognizant of our limitations. This can feel like we are not progressing in our practice when in reality it is quite the opposite. For example, when we first start practicing we begin to notice how much tension we hold in our external large muscles and joints. Over time awareness will shift and we start noticing the tension underlying the large muscles. If we keep training, the practice becomes much more subtle. As we go deeper we may feel tension around our bones. Since we have lived for a long time holding ourselves in certain ways it takes effort to change patterns and responses. Once we realize that we want to make a change then it is in our consciousness. At this juncture we may feel like our practice has gotten worse when in reality it is our mind and awareness that has become more sensitive. We’ve now made a discovery of information which is neither inherently good nor bad. Using observation without judgement allows for the greater development of potential. Happy Training!!!
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