1+1 = 3
by John C Neubauer, Founder of Tai Chi Yoga
Aug 2022
TAI CHI YOGA PRINCIPLE #2: Floating of Tai Chi and Unwinding of Yoga
John doing yoga in the backyard in 2019 at 71
The very first question I get when I say, “Tai Chi Yoga” is “What in the world is that?”. I answer: “It is the combining into a single discipline the ancient Chinese martial art and movement meditation of tai chi with the ancient Indian stretching, breathing, and relaxation of hatha yoga.”.
The next question is always “Why combine the two? Why not just practice each alone?” Actually – I did that for a year. I began practicing daily hatha yoga in 1973 and teaching it in 1974. In 1975, I added the daily practice of tai chi as well. But something felt missing. In 1976, I began to ponder how I might combine the two into a single discipline. Then it came to me in 1977, after spending a week at a tai chi camp in the French Alps with the late renowned Gia Fu Feng, how to combine the two into an integrated practice. It is all I have practiced and taught ever since.
The 2nd question of “why” was usually followed by the 3rd question: “Why not just do one or the other?” A great question. What I discovered about yoga alone was that it lacked the flow of tai chi. It too often involved static postures that were great at stretching but failed to trigger the release of energy from the tai chi flow. Plus, I realized, for example, that the stretching of yoga alone still did not fully release the tension I carried in my shoulders and neck. That tension fully released when I combined tai chi with yoga. I also found that the balance I gained from yoga was further enhanced with the addition of the one-legged movement balancing of tai chi.
But tai chi on its own lacked important benefits that yoga provided, most notably the inversion of the body; reversing the effect of gravity on the body. When we invert the body in yoga, whether it is through a shoulder stand or headstand, we reverse the effects of the pull of gravity on the body. Those effects include sagging chins, necks, and stomachs; varicose veins, and wrinkles from gravity pulling the body down toward the earth.
When we invert the body, not only does gravity reverse its pull on the body, but the brain gets more rich, oxygenated blood which helps preserve its health and ability to concentrate. Plus inverting the body daily has made it possible to keep my natural hair color for 74 years without adding any coloring.
My favorite dreams are when I am flying, but gravity prevents humans from flying on their own. Tai chi with its flow simulates the closest thing I have experienced to flying–that being a floating sensation from feeling an enhanced energy flow throughout the body. But to best achieve that floating sensation, I found I first needed to “unwind” my body with yoga movements before and after my tai chi sets.
Best of all, I discovered that the order in which I combined the yoga stretches with the tai chi movements produced greater benefits within and without than practicing the two separately.
I call this greater effect from combining tai chi and yoga into tai chi yoga: 1+ 1 = 3.