Ancient China is full of stories of Taoist adepts who had miraculous powers. While some of these old stories seem implausible to the modern mind, and some may in fact be lavishly embellished, there are kernels of truth within the pulp. One such popular Taoist practice that has made its way into our modern world is the art of tai chi chuan (note that this is also spelled “taijiquan” in the pinyin romanization).
Millions around the world use this sophisticated yet simple practice as a holistic health activity, and some use it as a martial arts discipline. No matter which one you use it for, it helps to cultivate human being’s least developed sense of our “five senses” – the sense of “touch”. Actually, not the sense of touch as limited to pressure, pain, or temperature at a reflex level; instead, it develops our kinesthetic and proprioceptive abilities. “Kinesthetic” refers to your acute awareness of your body’s position and movement, and “proprioceptive” refers to your awareness of stimuli in your body and environment, and what you do with that sensory information. Engaging in a consistent, dedicated, and meditative practice of tai chi helps take these rather weak senses of “touch” and revitalizes them into powerful abilities. These strengthened abilities are believed to be the bridge to higher powers of intuition and manifestation.
While this may sound a bit “outlandish”, let me illustrate why this is quite rational. Let us consider the following fact. Our mind determines how we feel and how we move our body. Right there is a perfect example of how to use your mind to manifest something in the physical world. The interface with the physical world is your body. Before physically manifesting getting up from your chair to walk to the door, you must first have the intention in your mind. Then your mind creates a game plan, in a split second, of how you’re going to play this. Which leg, which arm you will move, which direction you will go… all of this was established on a mental plane (the non-physical aspect of yourself) even before it reached your muscles (the physical aspect of yourself). The event manifests in your mind instantly, but it takes at least several seconds or minutes before your body can reproduce the entire event in the physical world. There is a lapse of time between the mental plane and the physical manifestation of that plane.
“Manifestation” is a hot topic in the current literature on self-development. Not too long ago, it was relegated to the back seat of science, belonging more to the realm of metaphysics and new age studies. However, as our understanding of the mind/body connection matures, we can see how something like the example above is simply a mundane example of the art of manifestation.
On a higher level, experts mention that the way you focus your mind and how strongly and efficiently you do so will lead you to take actions that increase your opportunities for your manifested intention to occur in the physical world. You will also attract very supportive energies towards you. Traditional tai chi offers special training techniques that focus your mind with synchronous movements of your body. That is why throughout the centuries, those who practice these tai chi techniques have exhibited amazing prowess and longevity, along with an improved quality of life. They were participating in a turbocharged demonstration practice.
However, this is the little secret that so few tai chi practitioners don’t use. They don’t realize that they can take many mental and energetic techniques from tai chi and apply them to manifest a situation in their life. The way to do this is to focus on developing “yi” or “spiritual intent,” as it roughly translates from Chinese.
The problem is that most people get too attached to memorizing the physical movements and techniques of tai chi instead of making the effort to imbue those movements with a strong meditative “yi”. When people understand and use yi, they begin to manifest more deeply the energetic aspects of tai chi. These energetic aspects include: stronger “qi” before life (vitality), wisdom, improved artistic or problem-solving abilities, inner peace, and spiritual wisdom. Those energies are intensified beyond those of the average person.
So if “manifesting” works for average people, imagine what can be achieved if you use tai chi to develop your energy. The biggest problem is staying committed to the disciplined meditation and “qi” training of traditional tai chi. if you can do that priority over simply memorizing some physical abilities and moves, then you will possess turbocharged manifestation abilities. Then follow any book or program on manifestation or the law of attraction, and meticulously apply your new skills there. Put in some consistent effort and fasten your seatbelt – you’re in for the ride of your life!
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