The Difference Between Yoga and Tai Chi

Yoga starts from body perception and explores the boundaries outwards, while Tai Chi starts from the guidance of thoughts and converges energy inward. The two are completely different from the origin to the practical logic and even the suitable crowd scenes.

The first time I clearly understood the difference between the two was when I signed up for an Ashtanga morning class near my home and a Chen Style Tai Chi experience class in the community at the same time last year. During the yoga class, the teacher walked around the mat, cracking everyone's hips and pressing everyone's backs. The most popular shout was "open another centimeter, feel the stretch of the muscles, don't hide." At the end, everyone would be asked to take photos of their postures in the mirror to check the standard of the movements. ； The master of the Tai Chi class covered the mirror on the wall of the classroom during the first class and said, “Why are you looking at the mirror? Don't you feel whether it's going well or not? ”When I started to stand, my feet were numb and I couldn't help but sway. The master came over and touched my tense shoulders and smiled: "You have brought the energy from practicing yoga. Tai Chi does not require you to compete with yourself. Just relax and let the energy sink to the soles of your feet." ”

To be honest, I thought both were slow-paced health-preserving exercises before, but I realized how far apart they were when I started using them. Traditional yoga originated from the practice system of ancient Indian Brahmanism. Among the eight branches recorded in the "Yoga Sutra", the first two are to uphold the precepts and practice diligently, and the third branch is the familiar posture method. The essence is to first slowly calm down distracting thoughts through absolute control of the body, and finally reach the state of "the unity of Brahman and self". Even the mildest Yin Yoga now requires you to stay at the extreme position of stretching for several minutes to actively fight against the tightness of the muscles. The anchor point of the entire process is always the "feeling of the body."

The roots of Tai Chi are ancient Chinese Dao Yin Shu, Yi Li and Taoist inner alchemy thought. No matter which school is Chen or Yang, the first requirement for getting started is to "stand still and loose", clearing the mind of distracting thoughts before starting to move. I only mentioned breathing after practicing with Master Sanyue. He said that novices don’t need to adjust it specially. If the movements are smooth, the breathing will naturally follow. If you stick to the rhythm of "raising your hands to inhale and lowering your hands to exhale", it will be easy to hold your breath and become stiff. Its anchor point is never whether the movements are standard or not, but "when you are aware of it, you will be angry, and when you are angry, you will be strong." When you do the cloud hand, you think about the energy being transmitted from the feet to the waist and then to the hands. It is completely different from just making hand movements, and the feeling after practicing is completely different.

Hi, there are many people doing a combination of the two. I once took a "Tai Chi yoga class" before. The first half hour was standing postures, and the second half hour was hip stretching. After class, some people said that they felt warm all over after practicing Tai Chi, and stretching was too comfortable. There was also a lot of controversy. The inheritors of traditional Tai Chi think this is nonsense. After Tai Chi practice, the Qi is gathered in the body. If you immediately do the stretching that requires muscle strength, if the Qi is completely dispersed, it means that the practice was in vain. ； Senior yoga instructors also said that yoga meditation requires the attention to be anchored on the breath or a certain body feeling, while the mind of Tai Chi wanders with the energy. If you practice them together, it is easy to lose focus and neither side can benefit from it. In fact, there is nothing right or wrong in this matter. If the original purpose is to move the shoulders and neck, do whatever makes it comfortable. If you really need to go deeper into the practice, the differences in root veins cannot be circumvented.

I practice both now, and I have never been confused about which one is better. When I stay up late late at night and my shoulders and neck are as stiff as rocks, I spread out a mat and do yin yoga for 20 minutes to rub away all the hard lumps on my body. When I stand up, my whole body is stretched. ； If you feel restless and restless recently and can't calm down even while sitting down, go downstairs and see the master twice for the old fight. The real feeling of your feet stepping on the floor tiles slowly comes up, and you can hear the sound of the wind blowing in your ears clearly, and your mind will be clear instantly.

In fact, to break it down, whether it is yoga or Tai Chi, the attributes of practice have been far different from the original ones. How do ordinary people practice and what sects and origins do they need to care about? You can calm down while standing on the mat and relax when boxing. Whatever makes you comfortable is the best fit for you.