Tai Chi

This week, I had the opportunity to attend a two day Tai Chi for Kids conference here in Knoxville. There was loads of planning involved to get me there. First and foremost, I needed to find a sitter for the kids. My sweet friend Meagan graciously agreed. She and her 8 month old daughter, Lydia came over Thursday and Friday from 8:30-5:15 both days. I was very thankful to still have the kids' pack and play that my sweet mother-in-law gave me 10 years ago before Andrew was born. I still have a booster seat, baby toys and gates. I know it definitely helped Meagan. She was such a trooper to go from being a mom to 1 to caring for 5! I am so thankful for her. The kids were great too! I let them have their Fall Break those days and they played all day. I could tell by the time I got home today that the younger two were missing me most. Hannah mostly. She's been hugging and kissing me since I walked in the door. It was good for me to get a break too to realize that I do enjoy being with them and teaching them daily and miss them when I'm gone.

Thursday was filled with lots of teaching instruction and practice. My legs and back ached terribly by the time I got home. At the advice of the Tai Chi Master Trainers, a long soak in the tub and some pain reliever helped me sleep. I honestly haven't felt those spaghetti legs since I ran 8-10 miles when training for the half-marathon last year. I also have never done 6+ hours of Tai Chi in a row. Imagine the position you are in when riding a horse. Now, imagine you are in that wide stance standing and moving around for hours on end. It hurts! Well, it hurts those of us who don't do Tai Chi very often.

I had misconceptions about Tai Chi, especially what the other teachers would look like. I envisioned them all slender and young and some of Asian decent. WRONG! The majority of the teachers were all over 50, grey haired, some overweight and your typical looking American. What surprised me was how they all kicked it in Tai Chi. They were amazing. Tai Chi requires recertification every 2 years. Most of these students were actually teachers getting their recertification and not newbies like me.

On Friday we had a written test and were required to practice the full Tai Chi form in front of the Master Trainer, Dr. Paul Lamb from China. That sure had my blood rushing, but I did it! I received my diploma and am ready to start teaching Tai Chi for Kids. My focus will be the homeschooling community. There are so many possibilities and a great potential for a second income. My next step will be to get my CPR certification again and then I'm ready to go!

Maybe by January, I'll be ready to share some stories of what my first few classes have been like. I'll keep you informed.

By the way, the Tai Chi I learned was started by Dr. Paul Lamb called Tai Chi for Kidz. It was designed for health. Created to increase kids' concentration, strength, mobility and inner health. It is a slow form of martial arts. It is NOT a form of religion and is not done with any contact of other students.