Exercising the Soul: How T'ai Chi Connects You to Your Authentic Self

by David-Dorian Ross

David-Dorian’s best-selling book on “the living philosophy” of T’ai Chi. Learn how the movements of this art teach us to connect to our authentic self through the pathway of finding, maintaining or restoring the experience of Harmony. The path of taiji (or T'ai Chi) is an exploration of balance through the mastery of three specific disciplines: the flowing dance-like routines, the powerful standing meditations and the fear-dispelling game of taiji for two. When we find ourselves able to create harmony in the midst of life's constant chaos, then we unlock the doorway to our inner authentic self - our Soul.

169 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Christopher Leitzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting/Informative

There’s a good chunk of story telling and information about connecting the big scheme of everything. It would be 5 stars for me, but it got very repetitive and seemed like filler at times.

[Tess DeGroot · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's more to being healthy than eating and exercising, you need to feed your soul too.

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It had a little bit about Tai Chi history and why it is so important. But it was the last chapter that just did not make a whole ton of sense. It went from DDR setting up how he lost Tai Chi and the last sentance for that section is "That's when everything went wrong" to the section called Finding Tai Chi and how his new goal is to spread the word about tai chi across america. It was just jarring. He never discusses how exactly it went wrong and how he bounced back from it. I know the rest of the story because of the morning flow show but I would have been even more annoyed by the jump.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in Tai Chi.

[Curry Mcknight · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good view on the principles of Tai Chi. It helps give understanding to the "why" of the practice as opposed to the "how". Though there is some visualization technique presented, this book is probably best when combined with Tai Chi classes, or for someone who is unsure if they should begin to practice Tai Chi and would like to know more about the positive effects. Also very interesting history of this martial art's origins.

[Marc Hutchison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction

This is a good introduction to tai chi. Mr. Ross knows his subject and his enthusiasm for it is infectious. If you are curious about tai chi, this is a good place to start.