When I get distracted

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I have an active mind.  I love to think.  Often my insights come at the most unexpected moments, in the most unlikely places.  Coming out of a nap in bed, for example. 

So when I do sitting meditation, or when I practice T'ai Chi, my mind is probably nothing like what experts or masters instruct us to do.  I have thoughts galore in my head. 

Over the years, however, I've learned not to follow everything that experts and masters say.  So if I am particularly full of thoughts, and rather distracted, going into meditation or T'ai Chi, I simply let myself be and leave all of that alone. 

I do my best everything to follow T'ai Chi principles.  Which means that when I meditate, I keep myself quiet and still.  My mind might be a pond with flowing or swirling waters, but by keeping quiet and still I gradually settle the pond and clear its waters. 

I relax, and root, and center, when I practice the form, and that settles my mind enough to have a truly fine workout. 

On the whole, I don't criticize or judge myself for having a distracted mind.  That is simply part-and-parcel of my nature.  To me, following the Tao is to acknowledge and respect, and work with, not against, my nature.