Corporate Tai Chi For Adults & Kids

Gabrielle Roth, 5Rhythms Founder: How Her Joyful 5Rhythms Interpretation And She Embodied Corporate Tai Chi

by Diane Gold

Corporate tai chi is defined as a way of being and a method of body movement to relax and empower the individuals in a group setting. For Gabrielle Roth, I want to talk about the way she led her life (akin to Corporate Tai Chi), culminating in a message that continues to grow and evolve and the method she professed (akin to Corporate Tai Chi).

Whereas the corporate ta chi method instructs step-by-step by concentrating on moving all body parts in unison, Gabrielle’s message (according to what I have researched and my( so far) 10-hours of experience with Amber Ryan) made suggestions of instruction for people to interpret as individuals letting one body part follow another. Whereas the movement of corporate tai chi prescribes that everyone follow a similar pattern, 5Rhythms delights in creating a comfort with each person moving to her (his) own individual rhythm set.

In terms of embodiment, Corporate Tai Chi is a philosophy of being: balance, peace of mind, flexibility of mind. The corporate tai chi artist creates flowing movement by the very nature of her (his) walking the planet. S/he cares more about the passing on of joy more than in collecting joyous moments for her (him)self, although knows how to live on the path of happiness. S/he knows how to empower others without taking energy away from anyone. Sounds a little like love. At least, it is loving.

This description fits Gabrielle Roth as I have come to imagine her, always figuring I had enough time to meet her after another day passed by.

A quote by Gabrielle completely parallels the way of Corporate Tai Chi and many other movement bodies,

“The whole idea of meditation is to still the mind, and the fastest way to do that is to move the body.”

Through many years of teaching, this statement resonates true to me. After becoming a student in a 5Rhythms class, it resonates even more. Being able to give to the group as if giving to one, being able to have everyone be more free after experiencing the method are what happens from the method of Gabrielle Roth.

I will also compare Trance Tai Chi, my beloved tai chi and electronic music combined, to the outcome felt from 5Rhythms. Again, as with Corporate Tai Chi, whose method is tai chi in any group setting such as school, work, government, the sports field, the way I teach it is by instructing a framework.

The framework taught by Gabrielle Roth in her beloved 5Rhythms Method had to do with whispering an instruction so as not to tread on any student’s freedom or creativity. The subtlety of 5Rhythms was so impressive that I want to put it into both Trance Tai Chi and Corporate Tai methods. The grace of the impression of Gabrielle Roth, I want to emulate.

CORPORATE TAI CHI IN 2012

by Diane Gold

Corporate Tai Chi as with many other corporate wellness programs, has been rapidly integrated into the corporate environment, the academic world and organizations of all types. This is a result of the many studies that demonstrate how medical, biological and psychological health correlate with positive return on investment.

As we have probably read, Corporate Tai Chi, aside from being tai chi class in a group setting, is a technique of five minutes of movement training that develops focus, motivation and relaxation. What if we started our day off with some kind of stress, let’s say, about money, family, personal ability? And what if every morning, we walked into our office and did a five-minute strategy that took the stress away? We’d do it, right?

What if we were a high school student and we were being bullied at home and bullied at school? And what if every morning, when we walked into our classroom, we did a five-minute strategy that relaxed us so much that the bullies would feel so good about themselves that they wouldn’t want to bully any more and the victims would become so relaxed that they would feel and be courageous, productive and happy? Corporate Tai Chi is this technique.

Whether we call it Incorporated Tai Chi, United Tai Chi or Chi Dance, when people feel good, they do and create good things. They produce good work. They are kinder to each other and they enjoy what they are doing. Corporate Tai Chi makes us feel good. Its mission is to elevate all feelings to the positive range. This, in a matter of five quick minutes, at work, school or club, and repeated regularly until we are able to reproduce the experience with no leader and teach it to someone else.

We can all think of a time when we were negated, criticized, disagreed with, rejected. Since we always have a choice as to how to react, going forward we can choose to see the positive side, be gracious, humble and gain power from it. Corporate Tai Chi gives us the ability to do this, rather than cave to our gut reaction of sadness or anger.

Scientific data show(s) that negative reactions can drive us to produce less and do poorly in school, translating to the school’s getting less state revenue due to lower grade point averages and the corporate revenue’s dropping as a result of negative rather than optimistic and open ways of behaving. So, we will be better off if we have the training to find the positive side of the picture.

Here is a list of 9 applications that could and do benefit from regular mind/body tai chi training, given by a professional mentor of tai chi or by someone in the organization who has been trained by a mentor to pass it on:

(1) in the graduate school environment. As students advance in their studies, the concepts they consume become more complex. Instituting  regular 5-minute training (even 1 minute) creates a vacation for the mind.

(2) at the sales meeting. When employees get together to learn sales techniques, they need a clear and focused mind. 5 minutes of Corporate Tai Chi can give that extra energy needed to absorb information and be attentive to the learning process.

(3) at the government meeting. Government employees have stress and need a way to relax it. The first several minutes of a meeting should include this great technique for putting a little clarity on the table.

SIDEBAR: I heard this one today, relayed by the mom of a school girl quoting her elementary school teacher: The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. The interpretation is that if we are jazzed to do our work, we will quadruple our results and have so much energy (and shall have produced so much revenue) that we will want to and be asked to create anew.

(4) on the factory floor. OK, you can’t picture automobile workers doing a mind/body exercise at the start of their shift? What if they felt so good from it that they made 1.5 cars in the same time it took to make 1 car, as long as they were doing their regular morning five minutes?

(5) at the non-profit meeting of the Red Cross. By doing a five minute program before the onset of the regular meeting, people would become extra energetic and creatively come up with new programs to help the cause.

(6) before taking a test. Imagine the benefit of calming down before a test and what it would do for our ability to succeed?

(7) before a theatrical opening. Now we are seeing an application which is akin to centering ourselves. If the people in the play are focused and act well, their production will thrive and score big with critics.

(8) at the corporate office of the customer care division of a major telephone company. How do we think the customer care people would be after doing five minutes of Corporate Tai Chi? They would treat us with more respect, therefore, we would be customers longer because we loved their customer service and their revenue would increase, as a result.

(9) before instituting a peaceful rally. In order to implement a rally or movement, people have to be centered and focused. Five minutes of taking time out as a group is a great way to get it done.

CONCLUSION
I have presented this simple five minute program at an international sales meeting at the multi-national corporate level, in school environments, at organization meetings, always with similar reactions: we didn’t know that five minutes could make such a profound difference. We really feel supercharged.

These reactions parallel the statistical data showing the original correlation of health and revenue. And it is becoming mainstream information that corporate wellness dollars which would support programs such as Corporate Tai Chi generate three times as much as they cost.

Sometimes we balk at change. We keep the status quo longer than is sensible. We like social proof. Oh, those Boards of Directors are doing it, so we should do it. Oh, the State of New York has implemented it in the public schools, so we should do it. We like celebrity. Look what Governor Shwarzenegger did for physical fitness. Without it, often, our eyesight is poor to view the positive impact on our long term lives.

Finally, the technology that is Corporate Tai Chi is slowly filtering into society as study after study confirms its financial impact. Five minutes of perfect focus on ourselves. It removes stress. It pumps us up. It makes us prepared. It improves our mindset and our ability to reason. It makes us healthy. It makes us money. Let’s recommend Corporate Tai Chi.

We have applied for a grant for the Kid Calmer Project, Corporate Tai Chi For Kids. Read full article below or go straight here. Check it out, and then vote at that site or by texting 106422 to 73774. App store has pepsi refresh everything app, too. Let’s make this happen!

To make kids calmer at school and in life, shouldn’t we use the same tools we use to calm ourselves? Yes. We, the gurus and generators of our ever-changing and wonderfully rich culture, know this, inherently but are usually too consumed with calming themselves to realize that our kids need what we need.

Why is it so important to go to the mani/pedi appointment or the golf game regularly, or why do we meditate or go on a retreat? Isn’t it to release, relax and rejuvenate? Of course, that is part of it. And the way we need it, our kids need it.

In order to have calm kids, we must understand how we are calm adults. Obviously, we have given thought to personal balance, healthy environments, peace of mind. All we have to do is walk down Main Street, Anywhere, USA and count the spa, tai chi, massage, yoga, acupuncture and other studios that dot the body of merchants to see how important serenity is in our lives.

Our ENVIRONMENT is a key to our serenity. What our location looks like, how spacious it is, the surrounding smells, our comfort level in the space and more factors affect how calm we are. The temperature of the building we are in or the placement and type of lights in the classroom all have to do with our peace of mind. When these factors are physically built into the arena where our kids spend their time daily, we are using the first way to calm kids.

POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM. Although it is nice to be in a nurturing but empowering atmosphere, not all schools or institutes, where kids receive a large part of their education, provide these traits. Some believe in the tough love type of teaching, where the student must keep up with the teacher. Other teachers consider it a responsibility to reach the pupil. Depending upon how a student learns, these two standards make a tremendous difference in the peace of mind of the student. If the student learns and evolves well through “the very old school method” of getting the ruler to the hand for not understanding the lesson, and the school provides this; the student’s self-esteem will be positively affected by these lessons. Likewise, if the student learns well from an instructor who is determined to teach without embarrassment or learning from fear, and the school offers the more compassionate side, again, the student will learn. In the scenario where the student’s innate nature and the method are mismatched, the student can experience stress which may lead to negative self-esteem.

How to cause harmony to flow aka, The Fix: the discipline watcher, the teacher, the principal, the coaches must be on the lookout for students in stress. Some students will act out; others will not; some will look stressed or sad or angry. The knowledge managers, meaning all the staff in a school and parents for home schoolers, can notice, say, a kind word and provide a program that addresses peace of mind. This method depends upon the responsibility of the people in these roles. Is it possible to be a diligent observer and provider when everyone is multi-tasking and has multiple roles? The answer, IMHO, is, “Yes.”

MIND-SET. It is the school’s responsibility to prepare the student’s outlook on socialization, commerce, art, and fitting in or out, whichever the student chooses. It is also the school’s responsibility to discuss the state of well-being. Yes, this is work for “at home,” but it is not exclusive and must be discussed in school. Many public and private schools hide behind the banner of the fine line not to cross between what belongs at school and what belongs at home. Students can’t excel without personal balance. So the topic of how to maintain and accelerate calmness must be available at school (again, it needs to be available in an designed way for home schoolers).

Take writing and penmanship as an example. When we are in the process of learning it, we don’t really know how it will open up our lives. But after our knowledge of it becomes part of our life, only then do we see its benefit. The same goes for talking about the state of well-being. In school, we are told to put our heads down to rest, to run around the track, to eat nutritionally. Are we taught why all this is important? Do teachers realize that this has to do with mind-set as well as code compliance? It is crucial to mention the state of well-being topic so that the student knows it is normal to consider it and so that, when the student is offered a class in well-being (such as tai chi or yoga), the student will connect the training to the topic and both to her (his) life and gravitate toward it. Also, talking about the topic is an important part of generating the result.

CALMNESS TRAINING. It’s one thing to talk about getting calm and another to be taught how to do it. Some type of mind/body training should be offered as part of regular curriculum. Although a period-long class would be great and should be an elective in phys. ed, the best training would consist of a five-minute segment on a daily basis. It should be part of the routine that goes along with checking into homeroom, saluting the flag, placing books in a locker, sharpening pencils, erasing the blackboard. These activities are daily, ongoing and are preparations for learning. This method of kid calming training is like erasing the internal blackboard so that the student is feeling well before taking the first step into the daily school schedule.

This regular mind/body daily training should be a standard in every educational institution. This training does not replace specialty training in a mind/body program such as tai chi, chi kung, yoga, meditation, kung fu. It is a separate tool.

KIDS CALMING THEMSELVES. The most important part of kid calmer training is for a youth or a teen to be able to take the kid calmer (aka corporate tai chi for kids training) from school into her (his) own life. Translated, this means that kids hear about peace of mind at school, are exposed to the physical training it entails at school and can easily use it to balance their lives away from school. This most important kid calming method is also the most challenging. What’s easy to do as part of a class is not always easy to do for ourselves. The purpose of training a small 5-minute segment of tai chi or chi kung training every day as opposed to one to three 40-minute classes a week helps us in consistency training. The mind gets used to daily work, the muscles start to remember the daily calmness, the student gets to consider the topic of peace of mind, the roller coaster ride of class, then no class, class, then no class is replaced with a daily, consistent body of work which makes the student calm.

IN CONCLUSION, relating in-school training to external life is what every good teacher tries to accomplish. When schools give kids kid calming tools, students can maximize their lessons and give them meaning. Students realize that going to the corner spa, tai chi, yoga studio is similar to what they do in school. They have some idea that working on a mind/body lesson is about beauty on the inside, rather than who can be the most attractive externally. They have established a small foundation in training for calmness. Because of this, they can call the training up when they are afraid to enter the next grade, when taking a test, when combatting peer pressures or bullies, when going to the college interview. when going on a job interview and other times because they like being balanced and peaceful.
We, as adults, find many ways every day to keep our cool, calm ourselves, balance our lives. The same opportunities should be afforded our kids at a much earlier age. If children begin mind/body training as 5-year-olds, they will have less stress and more temperance throughout their childhood, as teens and as adults. The experience of kids doing kid calming training will account for greater personal balance in kids today and tomorrow.

Jump start this type of thinking by going here to read about the grant I am applying for. You can also text 106422 to 73774 to vote for the project. Votes could mean adding 50 Kid Calmer programs in Florida School systems and more. IT’S FREE AND HARMONIOUS.

Defining the word “corporate” would seem to be an easy thing. Or is it? The second dictionary definition of “corporate,” not the inferior one or the one that is not preferred, but one of the two main definitions is of or pertaining to a unified body of individuals. I am rejoicing now because this discovery means that my precious “Corporate Tai Chi” is the perfect name for its function: to empower unified groups through the tool of tai chi and chi kung exercise. Hallelujah! Now, let’s look at what belongs in this category of UNIFIED BODY OF INDIVIDUALS. what comes to mind now are the following distinctive groups, although please send in your thoughts as they come to you, and I will add them in.

1. students in pre-school and K-12,
2. students in university or college,
3. residents in hospital, nursing home, prison,
4. government personnel,
5. military groups out of combat,
6. social clubs and religious group affiliations,
7. community groups,
8. corporations (factory/office),
9. volunteer groups,
10.alumni or alumnae groups,
11. family daily life, gatherings and reunions,
12. etc., etc., etc.

With this list, we can see how each of these groups is a unified group. So, the term “corporate tai chi” would correctly identify a tai chi activity with these people. In fact, the very purpose of tai chi is to unify. So, corporate tai chi is a perfect name. Maybe with an added asterisk like so:
CORPORATE* TAI CHI, always followed by the list.

This post was inspired by my phone call with Jeff Herring, the Article Guy, with whom I just spoke. I mentioned that I was looking for another name for Corporate Tai Chi since everyone relates it to business, instead of what it is, unified groups, such as schools, organizations, government, hospitals and business entities.

Jeff’s tag line, Go Use This Stuff (G.U.T.S.) led me to act immediately upon having a few unexpected extra minutes due to our call’s being cut short because of Murphy’s Law, karma and a local phone repair team.

From this point on, the Corporate Tai Chi brand will add an ASTERISK.

As any martial artist can tell you, the training is of the mind which drives the body which inspires, motivates and enhances the spirit. The physical work is the tool. Corporate tai chi is one of those tools which relaxes, centers, increases productivity, brings stress relief and enables health.

As is typical in this world of “get it now”, many of us think that working our bodies for an hour in an eight-week class and then sitting dormant for a year is helpful. As any athlete, scholar, philosopher will tell you; the work must be continual so that the foundation of knowledge we build becomes usefully available as we train our subject. Not possible with the one-shot workout or the eight-week session. The actual one-shot thinking, IMHO, is part of a downtrodden mind.

Picture only using our right leg 50% of the time. Our lives would be vastly different. Or, how about taking up a new language, studying for eight weeks, an hour a week, with one hour of study a week, and then stopping for three years. What did we accomplish?

Many CEOs used to balk at the idea of approving physical fitness training at work, either giving money or facility to employees. Now, since it is common knowledge that $1 invested in the employee brings back between $2 and $6, we outlay money for “the gym” with little sales pitch necessary.

So, what about outlaying money for Corporate Tai Chi which will double corporate money? Corporate studies show how financially beneficial it is to have a daily stress relief component. Corporate Tai Chi, five minutes of daily training, same time every day is such a technology.

My Corporate Tai Chi/Stress/ADHD Relief Pepsi grant (resubmission), votable on April 4, is a project that will gather financial data to show how productive and how happy people feel with the program compared to without.

The answer to how to get this program standardized at work and school seems simple enough. It’s a combination of the Carnegie Hall and real estate cliches: implement, implement, implement. Or then there’s the edited Jerry McGuire quote, “Show me the numbers.”

Do we want to be happy and make happy people at work and school? Yes.

Do we want to be more productive and facilitate more productive workers and students? Of course.

If we have a guarantee that we won’t lose money, should we add Corporate Tai Chi? Definitely.

Time in gets us those guarantees. Since it is so difficult to devise a study that measures the money generated by increased production and good attitude through corporate tai chi which falls under corporate wellness and work-life balance, we need to install the program and watch what happens. it’s not a Kierkegaardian “leap of faith,” since we already have the stats from corporate wellness studies. It does take a visionary to install it. The more visionaries we get onboard, the more programs will become proof. The more proof we have, the more standardized the program will become. The more standardization, the less stress.

Look at Facebook, whose offices border a beautiful, green outdoors, visible from employee’s seats and available for a quick stress relief walk.(That would be if the ping pong table were broken at lunchtime or they decided to install cubicles). Notice the Barack Obama Green Charter School in NJ where the day begins with meditation.

Most universities and some corporate entities offer fitness centers. All should offer Corporate Tai Chi in some form where people get it first thing before task or can access it at their leisure for their leisure. As we human beings value our lives more, that is, we are becoming more diligent, we take time to enhance what we do on a daily basis. With Corporate Tai Chi in the equation, the quality of life is surely improved. There is no rush for something good to take hold. It is the nature of what makes it good.

In conclusion, the standard means keeping up with the times. Therefore, making Corporate Tai Chi available through mobile and online technology is currently in progress. That is the way of the now, until it, too, changes.

Stress/ADHD Relief Project grant vote is over. Download this thank you audio for your participation in the vote at Pepsi’s Refresh Everything.
giftsofthestorm

This was an exciting month

with new people hearing about the concept of taking five minutes a day and decompressing, rejuvenating, removing stress, regenerating time, confidence and energy through simple focus of the body and attention using tai chi/chi kung/flowing movement.
Here are 5 accomplishments of this grant entry.

1. THE POWER OF ONE. The Stress/ADHD Relief Project vote showed how one idea can germinate across continents, not cities, continents, to create positive world action against stress and other universal issues.

2. UNITY. The Stress/ADHD Relief Project vote demonstrated how people who are as productive and busy as you are could take a moment to read about a possible world solution and, ultimately, vote for an idea that could make a huge impact on stress and health.

3. AWARENESS. This project has raised awareness for the need for stress/ADHD relief programs in schools, at work, at home. It is my mission to continue spreading it.


4. CROSS-COMMUNICATION. This project has begun a cross-communication with other project leaders including Michelle Obama and the childhood obesity project, psychologists working to diminish stress, school professionals working on methods that make sense within the school structure that will enhance academics rather than take time away.

5. MOTIVATION The final step to the equation of pulling together and making headway in a global direction is motivation. The Stress/ADHD Relief Project Grant Vote has created motivated people to continue working on the project for the sake of humanity. The precepts of this program are based on simple concepts: that we need to take time out for ourselves, that we need to refuel, that taking a small amount of time away from “standard” daily routine will positively impact us so that being part of this type of solution will become the “new standard” of the future.

Again, I am grateful for those of you who took the time to read the project information, to vote for the project and to take the time to comment.

If you are interested in more info about the next round of project grants on April 4, 2011, please make a comment or follow this discussion through RSS.

The Stress/ADHD Relief Project thanks you.

7JER6C64VZDR We have submitted a grant proposal to the Refresh Everything project at Pepsi, a program lending support to programs that enhance humanity. It will take a month for them to decide whether to accept the Stress/ADHD Relief Project and put it up for public viewing and vote. On January 1, 2011, we will know.

See you at the finish line.

Corporate Tai Chi has applied for a grant.The grant will study whether the benefit outweighs the cost. 50 pro trainers will teach the 5-min. Corporate Tai Chi program in 50 corporations, schools, government offices and organizations for 3 months. We will measure whether Corporate Tai Chi, the 5-minute program, costs money after factoring out the stress that is gone from the individuals and computing in the productivity and quality of life results.

Review more here: overview.

On January 1 through January 31, 2011, you can review the grant directly at corporatetaichi.

People who believe the grant is a good idea can vote 1X a day for all 30 days here. The grant with the most votes wins. If you like the idea, please tell a friend. It will help corporations, schools, organizations have proper work-life balance. It will give people stress relief and happiness throughout the “working” part of their day.

Here’s what Corporate Tai Chi can do:

For further information, you can go to grant info. This grant needs your support. For personal, corporate, academic, organizational balance. Thank you you in advance for reviewing it.

You can visit the voting website now, but you will not see the corporate tai chi grant info until Jan. 1, 2011.

Go Corporate Tai Chi!

If you leave a comment below, we can share more with you.

Corporate Tai Chi, five-minutes of impact training at the work station, is an economy changing technology whose time has come. If our organizations, institutions and schools have more focused, less stressed, more inspired children and adults in them; the work they produce will be worth more to the organization, build confidence and gratitude in the individual and add to a positive influence on humanity, as a whole.

Because this special training is not part of the “old guard,” established infrastructure; decision makers such as CEOs, government officials, superintendents and provosts want to see the report that says, “For every dollar spent on corporate tai chi, you can expect to receive a return three times our investment,” as has been found with other mind-body installations and corporate wellness programs.

We don’t have that yet. BUT, we applied for a grant from Pepsi, (more…)