What is Tai Chi Walking? Step-by-step Practice

Hello and welcome. Today we will be practicing Tai Chi walking forward and backwards together. A very short intro to start, so watch this if it's your first time watching this video. But if you're coming back to practice with me, you can skip to this time stamp. My name is Anne Swanson and I am a Tai Chi for Health instructor. And if you want more videos like this, then please click that like button. It means so much to me. So Tai Chi walking is sometimes called sceptrals. And this is something that traditionally your Tai Chi master would give to you to do for possibly even years before you learn the Tai Chi forms. And this particular style of Tai Chi walking is from the Yang style. So this preps you for the movements and the footwork of Yang 24 in the Yang style. Tai Chi walking forwards is basically the footwork for parting the wild horse's mane. And Tai Chi walking backwards prepares you for that footwork for repulse monkey from Yang style. Research has shown many benefits for Tai Chi, particularly for balance and fall prevention. But also Tai Chi is helpful for arthritis and pain relief. As well as improving focus and mood. Come to standing and get as close to the screen and me as possible. And look behind you and make sure you have plenty of room to step backwards. We'll be walking backwards. You can clear anything out you might trip over. And then turn your toes facing out for 45 degrees, whatever is comfortable. We can either have our hands on our hips the whole time. Or you can put your thumb and your belly button, drop the hand down, other hand on top. Shift your weight to one side, doesn't matter which. Tap the empty foot and you're ready to go. Pause, feeling that standing knee slightly bent. Taking your surroundings and begin. Toes down, heel down, shift and tap. Toes down, heel down, that foot's empty. Now shift back and tap. Toes, heel, back and tap. Toes, heel, back and let that heel a little, when I say and, and then you come into tap wherever it's comfortable. Toes, heel, back and tap. If you have room for one more step, even small. Toes, heel, back and tap. Either keep your hands on your hips or bring them behind you in that position. And empty foot goes forward now. Heel down, toes down, the toes are facing forward for this. Weight forward, 60% forward, 40% is back. Weight back 100%, lift those toes up, turn out from the to tap. Heel, toes, forward, back, out and tap. Heel, toes, forward, back, out and tap. Heel, toes, forward, back, out and tap. Heel, toes, forward, back, out and tap. Going backwards. I'll be a little more quiet. Maybe you repeat this mantra on your head. So it starts with toes, heel, back and tap. Toes, heel, tap. Toes, heel, back. One more step. Walking forwards. Heel, toes, forward, back, out, tap. Heel, toes, forward, back, out. One more step. Move out back. One more time together. Toes down, heel down, shift, and whenever you run out of room, just switch to walking forwards. And whenever you run out of room walking forwards, just switch to walking back, finding a meditative rhythm for you. And feel free to comment below if you have any questions at all. And double check that you are subscribed with that notification bell turned on. And to learn Tai Chi with free resources, head to annswansonwellness.com slash Tai Chi. You'll get instant access to my Tai Chi playlist and learn how you can take live weekly classes on Zoom with me with the first week for free. Just head to annswansonwellness.com. Thank you so much and be well.