“I like to describe sitting as enjoying doing nothing. Primarily, sitting is to enjoy the pleasure of sitting, being fully alive and in touch with the wonders of our working bodies, the cool air, the sounds of people and birds, and the changing colors of the sky.”
~Thich Nhat Hahn
I feel as if I spend a lot of time doing nothing, and I assume that because I spend a lot of time doing it, I must surely enjoy it. Perhaps however, it is merely that I enjoy not doing some thing that I do not enjoy. Perhaps it is not the doing of nothing but the not doing of specific things…. I don’t know how to make that less confusing… sorry.
I think what I spend a lot of time doing is distracting myself, which is not the same thing as Sifu Thich describes as “doing nothing”. I fact, it is a far-flung opposite. Zoning out in front of some ‘flix is not a very active activity – I am not doing much. But neither am I essentially connected to my body and its posture, nor the environment in which I am being. There is, it seems, a very focused way of “doing nothing” and a very distracted way of it.
In my beginners class I remember to teach the following: “If you are doing tai chi and thinking about your todo list, or things to put on your grocery list or who is currently on your shit list, then you are not doing tai chi.” Tai chi should not be done in front of a flashing or scrolling screen – that is fine for treadmill work (although maybe even the treadmill should be performed more mindfully?)
I think perhaps the magic happens when you begin to truly enjoy doing tai chi and nothing else – when you are able to enter into a flow state – mind and body. You are not divided internally or externally, but aware of the wonder as it is happening.