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Being a new dad coupled with crushing deadlines at work has piled more than enough stress on me lately. I also have been to my t’ai chi class in nearly a month, and home practice has slipped. This past Tuesday I went straight from work to class, and stayed the full three hours.

I had been nervous all day — I left for work in the morning and wouldn’t be home until around 11:00 pm. That meant I’d only see a bleary-eyed Sarah for a few minutes and I wouldn’t see Olivia until the next day. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go to class or stay for all three of them — I just thought about the girls all day.

As soon as we started the form in corrections class I could feel my muscles relax and all my worries drain away. It felt really good to be out.

Even with the little practice I’ve been doing at home, doing the form with some 20 other people is much different. After the stress and tension melted away, my joints began to loosen up to their old state. I was surprised at how quickly my body recovered to it’s pre-neglected state.

After the corrections class I was completely relaxed and ready for push hands. Since I hadn’t played push hands for an even longer time that the form, I figured I would just get pushed about by pretty much every one. Much to my surprise, I think I was even better than before. I wasn’t in a caring mood — it simple didn’t matter if I got pushed out or not. And that mindset allowed me to be receptive to what my partner was doing, and to not worry about doing anything myself.

With Sarah getting ready to go back to school, time alone and away for both of us will be very important. I plan on going to t’ai chi every week and Sarah is going to get back to the gym. I think it should really help us both.