There is a tribe in Namibia where each person is born with a kind of self-space around the body. This self-space is like a bubble that extends beyond the body and, being attached to the body, moves as the person moves. And because this bubble of self-space onstantly intermingles with other people's self-space, the individuals in the tribe are never alone. They wonder how people in the West can bear seeing themselves as isolated points in space.
In learning T'ai Chi we have to retrain our bodies and our relationship with our personal space. We are constantly reminded to find our balance inside an egg shaped bubble with " no hollows and no protrusions ",.