Relax! Now!
Occasionally I get friends asking me to teach them some tai chi to help a problem they have. When the question is asked with a certain amount of agitation, I get some idea of where this is going to go. At first, I tried to figure out an exercise that would get them quick results, but I’ve found that to be impossible. They’re very nice people, but they’re just going too fast. In my opinion, any exercise that involves relaxation needs to be done slowly enough to feel the tiny incremental gains offered by the exercise, and tai chi is certainly no exception.
So here’s the first action necessary to get benefits from a Tai Chi (or Alexander) exercise: stop.
Then go slow. Do the exercise. Listen to your body. Go slow. Listen to your body. Refine and Repeat.
If you find you want to speed up, stop … then repeat the above.
I like moving quickly and efficiently through my day. Occasionally stopping and slowing down allows me to continue doing that, smoothly, with less stress and agitation. I stop pretty often to just check in, relax, sink, root, whatever … then I move on.