Two old vocabularies, pointing at the same quiet center.
There is a word in classical Chinese that the internal arts teachers use constantly, and it does not translate well. The word is song 松.
The word anavah is usually translated as humility. True anavah is accurate self-appraisal.
Stand without defending. Receive without collapsing. This is the practice.
There’s a moment in zhan zhuang — standing meditation — where the legs begin to tremble. The mind screams quit. But something deeper holds. That something is what the Torah calls emunah.
For years I thought rest meant stopping. Then I started practicing tai chi on Shabbat morning — not the martial forms, but the standing. And I understood: Shabbat isn’t absence of movement.