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November 28, 2005
The High Cost of Holding On: Duck Fights, Human Bickering and The Qigong Skill of Letting Go
I just picked up Eckhart Tolle's new book A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. When I browsed it in Barnes and Noble, the book opened at a page I needed to see, titled The Duck With A Human Mind. I was immediately reminded why Tolle has done as much as anybody for me in the arena of practical spirituality and in deepening my understanding of the spiritual dimensions of qigong.
Here’s the passage that jumped out at me:
“…after two ducks get into a fight, which never lasts long, they will separate and float off in opposite directions. Then each duck will flap its wings vigorously a few times, thus releasing the surplus energy that built up during the fight. After they flap their wings, they float on peacefully, as if nothing had ever happened.
“If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story-making. This would probably be the duck’s story:
‘I don’t believe what he just did. He came to within five inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I’ll never trust him again. Next time he’ll try something else just to annoy me. I am sure he’s plotting something already. But I’m not going to stand for this. I’ll teach him a lesson he won’t forget.’
“And on and on the mind spins its tales, still thinking and talking about it days, months, or even years later. As far as the body is concerned, the fight is still continuing, and the energy it generates in response to all those thoughts is emotion, which in turn generates more thinking.”
Yes, our bodies are scarred with our mind’s own self-abuse. We constantly lacerate ourselves into unnecessary tension, that settles into our bodies like scar tissue, clogging us up, slowing us down, sapping our energy and distracting our attention.
We lose our natural power…
Our bodies are just a reflection of our minds. Release the obsessive, clingy thinking patterns to release the body. And practice the skill continuously of releasing the body, to help keep the mind released.
Qigong includes many methods for “shaking off” the tensions we create from the constant cascade of stress-response chemicals we endure in our average lives. These methods vary from literal shaking practices, to subtle spiraling of the joints and limbs, to deeply internal vibratory and releasing practices.
My part of the upcoming workshop I am doing with Pavel and Steve Maxwell, Unlock!, will be focusing particularly on many of the qigong methods I have found most effective for releasing the body.
If you live in the Twin Cities, Minnesota visit www.qigongclasses.com and join me at my local qigong classes where I can help you in person to release the tension out of your body.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 6:22 AM | Comments (89)
November 21, 2005
Knee Injuries, Knee Pain: How Qigong and Tai Chi Principles Can Help
There is no joint in the human body we have more problems with than the knees. There are many good principles from qigong and tai chi which could help you either avoid knee problems in the future or rehabilitate your current injuries.
I have just read a spiral bound book from Ting Kuo-Piao called Answers to Common Tai Chi Questions (go to www.silvertigertaichi.com for more information) which includes some excellent advice on knee health. Here is a brief quote from Master Ting’s book, which I encourage you to get:
“It is very important to keep both knees always slightly bent, never full straighten or lock your knees. If even one knee is too straight you will lose flexibility, not only in the knee, but also in the hips and back. Injuries are much more likely wherever there is rigidity. Also when knees are too straight the lower back closes blocking the connection between upper and lower body and preventing the posture from sinking and rooting into the ground.
Connect the knees with the toes, in this way the weight will pass through the knee into the ground. Otherwise, if the knee exceeds the toe or is allowed to lean or turn inward, the knee will take on all of the body’s weight.”
As someone who has had to personally deal with a right knee injury in the past, I can testify that advice of this kind that has helped me greatly.
Have a look at the upcoming workshop I am doing with Pavel and Steve Maxwell, called Unlock! All three of us will be teaching numerous principles from our very different disciplines that may prove to be life savers for your knees.
If you live in the Twin Cities, Minnesota visit www.qigongclasses.com and join me at my local qigong classes where I can help you in person with your knees.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 7:30 AM | Comments (117)
November 14, 2005
Can You Mix Pavel's Stretching Techniques with Your Qigong Practice?
A gentleman recently posted this question on our forum:
"I have been implementing Pavel's Relax into Stretch and Super Joints into my morning/afternoon repertoire and just recently have gotten into qigong. Can I mix a qigong workout with a Relax into Stretch workout or Super Joints (I believe you are in the know with both of these techniques)? I haven't been using your style of qigong as of yet but I probably will be soon, as for now I am combining some of the exercises in this book titled, chi kung: way of power, and a book titled: qi gong for health and vitality and it has been going fairly well with this combo.
I wanted to know whether it even makes sense to mix in these with RIS and SJ because I know certain qigong promotes flexibility (don't believe the ones I'm using are). Also is it possible that RIS and SJ will hinder the health results that qigong manifests given the holding of breath and such things? Any advice will help.”
My answer:
You can absolutely mix Super Joints and Qigong. In fact my Qigong Recharge program is exactly that: a mix of the two.
RIS is quite different from qigong in its approach, however its final intention is to enhance your ability to relax your muscles. So you could see RIS and qigong as complementary practices.
While there are some iron shirt techniques where you hold your breath, overall the great value of qigong is that it trains you to be very regular, deep and natural in your breathing. In other words qigong can help counterbalance practices where you are required to hold your breath on a regular basis.
Many, many IMA and qigong practitioners have purchased RIS and have been very happy with their results.
Have a look at the upcoming workshop I am doing with Pavel and Steve Maxwell, called Unlock! This will exactly be a combination of Super Joints, RIS and qigong.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 6:28 AM | Comments (0)
November 7, 2005
Are You Over-Manipulating Your Breath In Your Qigong Practice?
The biggest open secret to qigong breathing for superior health is simply to breathe "naturally" from the abdomen, like we did as babies. There are many powerful manipulative breathing techniques which you can use to achieve short-range results. Special snorting and compressed breath/holding techniques can work for directing healing energy to a particular area to build strength, as we practice in iron shirt qigong.
However the chronic use of manipulative breathing techniques may have serious health consequences and I recommend you treat them with caution.
In this qigong blog I want to point you to a breathing-skill resource I have mentioned before: Dennis Lewis and his site Authentic-Breathing.com Dennis has devoted his life for many years to deep research into every aspect of breathing for health and spiritual well being.
Here is a brief extract from his recent newsletter on the potential dangers of manipulative breathing techniques:
“I just returned on Sunday night (Sept. 11) from presenting at The
Future of Breathing symposium at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
in MA. Other presenters included Leslie Kaminoff, Robert Fried, David
Hykes, Lynn Martin, and Kelly McGonigal. It was a truly amazing event,
with a number of different approaches to breathing being
explored--from the biochemical to the emotional to the spiritual. What
became clear to all the participants--which included yoga teachers and
students, MDs, alternative healers, and many others interested in the
breath, was that the breath is both a miracle and a mystery. What also
became clear is that our breath is intimately involved in every aspect
of our lives--physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Poor
breathing not only contributes to hundreds of health problems but it
also conditions us to living at a very low level of our real potential.
The conference explored a number of the myths surrounding breathing,
myths that one often hears propagated not only in yoga classes but
also in breathing books. One of the biggest myths, of course, is that
"deep breathing" is always good for us. Even assuming that most people
understand how to take a deep breath, which they don't, this makes
absolutely no sense at all from the standpoint of the biochemistry of
the breath. For our breathing helps to regulate the oxygen/carbon
dioxide and acid/alkaline balances of our body, upon which our health
depends. Any attempt to manipulate our breathing without knowing the
outcome on these subtle balances can and often does cause serious
problems.
The physiology and chemistry of breathing are so tightly bound up with
the overall functioning of the brain and body that the biggest
challenge of all is to begin to respect the wisdom of the body in
its attempt to keep us functioning in an optimal way given all the
variations and conditions of our lives.”
Thanks Dennis!
I love that old Zen phrase: “Selling Water by the River” – referring to the teaching of meditation techniques for enlightenment. In other words, human beings are already enlightened, they just have to wake up to the fact.
The issue of breathing is linked to that dilemma. Most of us have lost the skill of natural breathing and have to regain an art that we had already mastered at the age of one.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)