When you set out to develop your internal energy using standing postures, there are two main ways you can go about it: by feel or by form. Now, there will be a lot of overlap in these two broad approaches, like aligning your body with gravity without collapsing internally and progressively releasing and relaxing as you stand, but when it comes to the role of the mind, form and feel can be very different.
We tend to think about our energy level like the money we have in the bank. You wake up in the morning, look in your energetic wallet and say, “I’ve got a lot of energy today” or “Man, I need 7 cups of coffee.” Or, to put it another way, thanks to this New Yorker cartoon:
In qigong, we think about “having energy” a little bit differently. Often, it’s not just how much or how little, but how well is your energy circulating?
I was talking to a friend last night about standing qigong and different meditation traditions that we had both tried. When we say “meditation” in this context, we were including all practices like breathing for relaxation, Tai Chi, qigong, and sitting practices too. Part of what I’d like to hear from you (see below) is how you define “meditation” in a way that’s practical and part of your everyday life.
We’re borrowing a technique from Dragon and Tiger qigong to try and get a better sense of the lower tantien. The lower tantien (“dan-tee-en”) is the energetic center of your physical body, located just below your navel, on the central axis of the body. If you dropped a line down from the crown of the head, through the body, and out the bottom of the pelvis, it would pass through the lower tantien.
This summer, Bruce Frantzis will be teaching a Marriage of Heaven and Earth Instructor training. Heaven and Earth was the first instructor training I attended in 2004 and I can still remember what a profound effect learning to “pulse” had on me. Within the Energy Arts system, Heaven and Earth is considered a bridge from the basic to more advanced practices. We discussed how Heaven and Earth works in an early episode of Qigong Radio, but I wanted to share this explanation from Energy Arts Senior Instructor Paul Cavel with you too:
In this episode of Qigong Radio, Energy Arts Senior Instructor Eric Peters describes what it’s like to work with the energy of the spine, using Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong. Bend the Bow is an advanced qigong set that requires precise alignment and refined sensitivity, but it gives you access to a much deeper level of internal connection and coordination than standard ways of moving your body through space. Eric performing Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong:
I remember the first time I really got a sense for “opening and closing” my joints. We were on a qigong retreat and the person who was helping me probably spent 20 minutes “pulsing” my wrist, so that the fluids in the joint were moving in a smooth, even way, alternately creating more and less space between the bones. When you pulse, you’re manipulating the fluid flows inside your body so that the spaces inside your body compress and expand.
We live in a culture where doing more, having more, and working harder are valued above pretty much everything else. This is a dangerous attitude, a linear approach to life that denies the need for rest and renewal. Of course, if you constantly push yourself, you know it will lead to burnout. If you operate as if you have an infinite capacity to do and never rest, sooner or later you will get the message in some form that it is time to slow down.
