Hi, I’m the Jade Turtle*, The lone goose collective is focused on how daily Tai chi is a support for de-prescribing because it is so effective strengthening body mind and spirit. This internal art can play and important role for those of us who, after decades of taking whatever our doctors have prescribed — with no actual healing but perhaps some taking the edge off, and great big cup of wow it feels like this stuff is doing my body no good at all — want to take de-prescribing action. The Lone Goose Collective takes it’s name from the Sun style Tai chi sword movements of ‘Lone Goose leads the Flock,’ and ‘Lone Goose emerges from the Flock,’which also occur in the other Chinese internal art of Liu He Ba Fa. And, I’m guessing, I’m not the only one who has found a long term chronic condition “treated” with pharmaceuticals has been an isolating experience.
My Journey
My own de-prescribing program has been 100% effective since 2015. A success grounded in a specific Tai chi sequence that I now offer in Active Step style. Active step style is known for its fluid movements, upright postures and unique stepping, setting it apart from other Tai chi styles. For me, this style isn’t just another form of Tai chi, it has been and continues to be a deep personal journey of transformation and connection. The distinctive flowing movements and the emphasis on powerful, integrated steps has bought a new dimension to my practice. A dimension that is now energising and grounding.
Active Step style has enabled me to explore a more meditative and connecting approach to Tai chi. In a way it’s a blend of everything I need to keep practising with my distinct physical impediments – energy, tranquillity, and a mindful connection between each movement and the cosmos.
I learnt this form, after nearly 20 years doing Yang styles, by starting with an instructional video of a short form. Then thanks to covid, I was able to do a year long course over zoom in that short form. The following year I was able to do another year long course over Zoom in the long form. This was of course nowhere near as effective as the instruction I had been getting in person before covid broke down our familiar ways of doing things together. However, it was, by no small margin, for more effective than the instructional video. Once those courses finished I continued practising and soon appreciated I would need to develop my own method and become my own instructor if I was going to make progress and develop my form.
For me, the Active Step style has been transformative, inviting an appreciation of the depth that flows from the simplicity and mindfulness of daily practice. The absence of external guidance, despite being an actual impediment to learning, is also a gift in disguise. My physical capabilities have been profoundly restricted since my teens, sometimes in the extreme after a damaging viral infection in the 1990’s. So not attending classes enables me to always be going at my own pace. Which in turn has made it possible to practise everyday, and to learn from the practise itself – observing the nuances and insight that emerge naturally within time and practise.
Which is not to say it has been easy or even very successful. I would not think my Tai chi form rates well in the eyes of practitioners in the various academies and schools doing other styles. But daily Tai chi is so rewarding in and of itself. In the absence of regular feedback and correction I’ve relied on being able to ponder the parts of the set that don’t seem to be working, or are creating actual problems for me, to improve and deepen my understanding of Active Step style. The resources at my disposal include various books and the video lessons I first learned from.
I practise daily and, after a longer period of time than would ever have occurred to me, have started to work my way into each movement, refining and exploring the intricacies of the form. Cultivating the internal stillness that is a mark of true Tai chi, and a daily sense of connection that makes it all worthwhile.
A Process Approach to Tai chi
The connection with nature facilitated by Active Step style has also brought me closer to the Western poetry that concerns itself with nature and the place of human life within it. As I journey through Open Close Active Step style (to give it’s full name), I’ve found it closely aligns with the cultivation of the poetic principles of mindfulness, simplicity, presence and a deeply felt sense of connection to nature and the Cosmos. From time to time there will be posts that explore how these ideas can enrich our form, when we practice alone.
I know the journey can feel long and lonely when circumstances distance us from suitable local instructors, but one thing I have learnt from teachers and my previous years of practice in Yang style and Cheng Man Ching’s form, is that at some point, the community of Tai chi practitioners is just there for us. Even if we are not together in space, we are together in time. So, together let’s find meaning in the small moments, patience in the challenges, and inspiration in our shared commitment to instructing ourselves to a higher level in this beautiful and enchanting art.
The Jade Turtle
*Whilst not a keen advocate for the gamification of life, McGonagal’s book Superbetter makes a good case for adopting a pseudonym in some of our activities to help foster wellbeing. A practice Cheng Man Ching also mastered in his writing.