Do you include a "settling-in" phase each time you practice?

If not, you're wasting time and energy resolving issues from your day when you could be going deeper into your practice.

A settling-in phase acts as a buffer between your busy day and the place you'd like your practice to take you.

Standing qigong is one of the best buffers between "real life" and "practice time". You could jump right into your tai chi form, but you'd need to do 10 or 15 minutes of "cold" tai chi, with no warm-up, to arrive at the same place, ready to practice, after 5 minutes of standing and settling in.

Check out this guided practice session (download the mp3 below). In this 5-minute scan, you'll align your body, release the first layer of accumulated tension from your day, and slow your mind down to a speed where your subsequent movement practice will be much more refreshing and restorative.

Settling In 5-Minute Practice Mp3 (right click to save)

I recommend that you start your practice off with a 5-minute settle every day for the next week. You'll also discover a little trick: on those days you don't feel like practicing, 5 minutes of guided scanning like this can prime your nervous system and get you over that "no practice" internal resistance. Try it!

Up next in this series: a 10-minute practice where I'll show you how to "wake up your feeling awareness". After that, we'll look at a powerful way to refresh yourself in a 20-minute recording on "sinking your chi". I'll be posting these as weekly updates, so be sure you're on the email list below or check back with this bookmark to see the entire series.