You keep mixing up left and right in tai chi videos. It is not you.

Halfway through the move, your arm is wrong

The teacher on the screen says "part the mane to the left." Her hand sweeps out. You follow it.

Then you notice. Her hand went out on your right side. Yours went out on your left. Or was it the other way?

You pause the video. You play it again. You try to work out whose left she means, hers or yours. By the time you decide, the calm feeling is gone.

You start to wonder if your memory is slipping. It is not. Nearly everyone has this trouble. Few people say it out loud.

Why trying harder to concentrate does not help

The usual advice is to slow the video down, or watch it a few more times. That helps a little. It does not fix the real problem.

The real problem is the angle. A teacher who faces you is a mirror you have to read backwards. Every move asks two jobs of you at once: learn the shape, and flip it.

And when the words say "left," you have to stop and ask: her left, or mine? You are guessing, every time.

That is a lot to ask while you are also trying to breathe slowly and turn from the waist. No wonder it feels clumsy.

Look at the move from behind, and name the side in words

Here is the idea the book is built on. Draw the person from behind.

When you see someone from behind, their left hand is on the left of the picture. So is yours. You never have to flip anything in your head. Then, under each frame, the words say "your left hand" or "your right hand." Every time. Not "the left," not "that hand."

The book adds two small tools that keep sides clear.

The clock face. Picture yourself sitting in the middle of a big clock on the floor, facing 12. A small turn to your left is 11. A small turn to your right is 1. Your chest never goes past 10 or 2. Now "turn left" has an exact place to land.

The hold the ball rule. Many moves start with your hands as if hugging a beach ball on one side. One hand on top at chest height, one below at waist height. The rule: the top hand always matches the side the ball is on. Ball on your right, right hand on top.

Try it now, sitting down. Hold the ball on your right. Which hand is on top? If you said right, you have it.

What mirror image and back view mean on a video

When you search for tai chi videos, you will see words like mirror image and back view in the titles. They tell you how to follow along.

Mirror image. The teacher faces you and moves as if she were your reflection. When she lifts her left hand, you lift your right. It works like copying a mirror, so you do not copy her side.

Mirror cueing. Some teachers who face you also say the side you should use, not the side they use. So she says "right hand" while her own left hand moves. That helps, as long as she does it every time.

Back view. The teacher has her back to you. You copy her exactly. Her left is your left. This is the same idea as the frames in the book.

If a video does not say which kind it is, watch the first move once without joining in. See which hand she names and which hand she moves. If the two do not match, it is a mirror video.

Learn it once, slowly, from the page

A page does not run ahead of you. The book suggests a simple way to learn each move. Read the steps once before you move. Then go slowly, looking at the frames as you go.

Learn one or two new moves a week, not all twelve. Keep practicing the ones you know.

And before you try any move, talk to your doctor and read the safety rules. For the first few weeks, move only about 70 percent as far as you could, a rule set out by the Tai Chi for Health Institute. Stop at once for pain, dizziness, chest pain or shortness of breath.

A book where your left is always your left

This is the problem Classic Chair Tai Chi for Seniors was written for. Nancy Whitaker's book was made so that your left is always your own left.

How to Use This Book explains the frames drawn from behind and how every move page is laid out, so you always know where to look.

Five Ideas, One Posture, One Breath teaches the clock face and the hold the ball shape in pictures, before any move asks you to use them.

The First Six Moves starts the tai chi set, from Commencing Form to Repulse Monkey, each with numbered frames and plain steps.

The moves come from the 24-form, and each page gives the Chinese name once, so you can match it with a class later. Read Safety First before you begin. If you are brand new, our page on chair tai chi for beginners shows where to start.