The Simplest Tai Chi Walking Exercise

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Here is a simple exercise which can help you improve your balance and get out of your head and into your body. This is usually the first thing I teach in my Intro to Tai Chi class.

The emphasis in this exercise is on feeling your feet. There are several important reasons for this:

  1. Your feet are your foundation - how you are using your feet plays a huge role in your ability to balance your body when you are standing on them

  2. Your feet are sensitive instruments - the sensations in your feet can give you a lot of information about how to balance, if you are paying attention to them

  3. Your feet are the furthest part of your body from your head, so resting your awareness in your feet will help to bring your energy down out of your head. An important principle in qigong and tai chi is that “the mind moves the qi.” This means that by directing your awareness into a part of your body, you can cause more chi to flow there.

Warm-Up: Find the Centers of your Feet

As you do this warm-up and the exercise that follows, try to feel the sensations in your feet, rather than just thinking about your feet or visualizing them:

  1. Stand still and feel the soles of your feet. Try to feel every part of your foot that is in contact with the ground, including your toes.

  2. Notice where your weight is in your feet - which parts of your feet do you feel more or less pressure against the ground?

  3. Now alternately shift your weight forward into the balls of your feet and then backward into your heels. Do this a few times, and notice the sensations you feel in your feet as you do it.

  4. Now try to bring your weight into the centers of your feet - or, in other words, try to evenly distribute your weight between through the whole of both feet.

Tai Chi Stepping Exercise

Now that you have your mind in your feet, let’s try the tai chi stepping exercise. As you do this, try to keep some of your awareness anchored in your feet. It is this simple:

  1. Shift your weight onto one foot. Take a moment (or many moments - as long as you want) to get stable and balanced on top of that foot.

  2. Take a small step forward with your unweighted foot - but don’t shift any weight into it yet. Just place the foot on the ground.

  3. Shift your weight into your forward foot. Take your time getting stable and balanced on this foot.

  4. Take another small, slow step - again without shifting your weight into the foot you are stepping forward.

  5. Repeat for as many steps as you like. Remember to go slowly, and take your time getting stable before you take your next step.

This exercise contains the two most fundamental movements in tai chi - shifting your weight and stepping. These two things underlie all of the complicated movements of a tai chi form.

This exercise also begins the process of learning to move from the lower body, which is very important in tai chi - and very helpful in life in general - because it can make you more efficient, more stable, and more powerful. The first requirement for learning to move from your lower body is to be aware of your lower body, and your feet are a great place to start.

What did you notice as you did this exercise? Please feel free to let us know in the comments below.