My name is Susanna, I am a Toronto student of Master Chen Zhonghua. I started studying Practical Method in the fall of 2012. At that time, my first daughter was just 9 months old. I brought her to the workshop and carried her around as I learned from Master Chen for the first time.
I learned the first 13 movements at that seminar and practiced them a couple times a week. Since the fall of 2013, however, I started practicing the first 13 movements everyday, without fail, 5 repetitions per day. It would take about 20 minutes to do. I continue to practice like this today.
In May of 2015, I gave birth to my second daughter. Taiji has helped my pregnancy, my older daughter and my baby in many ways. Physically, I had an extremely easy and smooth pregnancy and delivery. My first pregnancy was already very smooth, however, here are the differences I noticed between my first and second pregnancy, after I had started practicing consistently. I had slight swelling of the feet and hands in the last 3 months of my first pregnancy – I had no swelling of feet or hands at all in my second pregnancy. I slept well during my first pregnancy, but slept even better during the second, with no discomfort in the later stages of pregnancy (back tightness, and calf spasms). My labour, from very first contraction to delivery, was shortened from 12 hours to 4 hours. When I was in labour, I remembered to use indirect power when pushing. It was much easier and less intense. My kua were more open, and I understand better how to stretch, so there was no physical trauma from the delivery.
I also use what I learned in Practical Method when dealing with my children. Indirect power is very powerful when teaching them. I talk less and show more. I keep in mind always that Grand master Hong said: “No worries in front of poverty. No fear faced with danger. No imploring in front of authority. Without guilt in life.” It’s very easy as a parent to feel guilty and fearful and this statement helps me to remember how unnecessary it is.
I continue to practice the first 13 movements every day, and have started learning the rest of Yilu – I am almost halfway through now! I am very happy to have this practice in my life and am transmitting it to my children. My spouse and my mother are also being drawn into my practice. The following link is a video of me doing the first 13 the day before I gave birth to my second daughter.
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Thanks for sharing susanna, its very good to know about the many benefits people have experienced when practicing taiji. Your post was very consistent, and detailed without being long. π
Susanna has become one of the regular participants at the Toronto workshop. I had the pleasure to meet both of her babies. I remembered we used some chairs to fence an area for her first baby to crawl, but the baby would come out of the area from under the chair. She came to another workshop during her pregnancy. For the most recent workshops, she came with her little one. Her dedication to learning Practical Method was amazing.