Prayer and Tai chi combined... my New Year's Resolution

New Year's Day slipped by almost two weeks ago without any sort of acknowledgement here on Simple Moodlings. I've missed at least the last three New Year's days that way, as my moodling habits have decreased quite a bit since 2019. I'll blame covid for that, ha! It changed so many things in our lives, didn't it? I know I've become less of a social butterfly and more a homebody, and really, that's okay. We all do what works best for us, and if we're lucky enough to have extra energy, for others in our circle of care, in our community.

Anyway, I usually pick a Word of the Year and skip the New Year's Resolutions, but this year, I'm doing both. I'll let you know my Word of the Year soon, I promise, but today I'm sharing my New Year's Resolution, part of which I did all through Advent, and the other part of which my achy body told me to start on January 1st.

I've been doing a fair bit of spiritual exercise with an online morning meditation group, and my quiet mornings with them and a candle in the winter darkness also inspired me to return to Pray As You Go, an online podcast created by the Jesuits in the UK, most episodes usually around a dozen minutes long. Their Advent reflections were the perfect thing for me in December

I first learned the Taoist form of Tai chi back in 2008, and have been doing it on and off ever since, enough that the 108 moves are part of my body's muscle memory. Which means that I can almost do it on autopilot. But last year, my first as pastoral associate for Sanctuary of Peace and having Remi-pup join our family, I kind of forgot about any kind of exercise other than walking and gardening. Tai chi happened only sporadically.

So after a very cold Christmas season with less exercise than usual, I realized that it might be a good plan to combine my daily Pray As You Go session with some Tai chi. Some years ago there was some sort of kerfuffel about "Christian Yoga" in fundamentalist church groups who felt that any kind of Eastern influence creeping into personal spiritual practice was a problem. But for me, the combination of gentle movement and gentle spiritual/Ignatian meditation are a perfect way to keep both body and soul in shape. They almost match in terms of how many minutes they take, and if I get mixed up in my movements, oh well, I can always back up and try again. 

So far this year, I've managed to do "my combo" every day except Sundays, when I have to be downtown early for Sanctuary of Peace service, and it's been a good thing for combatting the stiffness and achiness that seems to be my morning companion most days lately. 

Do you have a combined physical/spiritual practice in your life? How do you keep body and soul moving together in these deep winter days? I hope that you are well, and finding your own best practices to keep up your spirits in these early days of 2026. I'd love to hear about them if you're inclined to leave a comment or send an email to simplemoodler @gmail.com.