Focus: Opening the Joints

Take a moment and explore the range of motion of all the joints in your body.  As you move through the joints explore a sensation of softness and openness.  I like to imagine that I am in a pool of water and the water is supporting all my joints.  As I move each joint I imagine it being supported by the water.  You can begin with your fingers, add your wrists, your elbows, shoulders, spine, waist, hips, knees, ankles all the way down to your toes. You may find it easier to be seated when you do you ankles and toes.   This is a great form of spontaneous Qigong - make it a beautiful and fun dance.

Then, you can transition into the rest of your practice feeling this wonderful openness of the joints.  As you move focusing on releasing any tension that you find in any of your joints. Imagine the energy in your body flowing through your joints.  You can continue this practice in your daily life.  Find time each day to just take a moment and explore the openness of your joints; maybe even smiling while you do it - giving gratitude for your flexibility.

Bruce Lee has a beautiful quote:

 “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” 

Focus: Talk Doesn't Cook the Rice

Hello to everyone from Mars Hill, NC. I am on the last day of my Qigong retreat. Our teacher Michael Winn has a great saying, 'Talking won't cook the rice.' The  Chinese character for Qi is a grain of rice in a pot and as it cooks, it emits steam or qi. So to create the qi, we need to practice. So this week I invite you to be playful in your practice. Beginning with the three Intentions (posture, breath, and focus), ask your body what it needs and then make that your practice,  remembering that you have a large basket of practices to choose from (self massage, breathwork, movement and meditation). As you flow through your practice,  listen inward to decide when your body needs something else. Going inward and letting your body guude your practice will cook the rice slowly, generating lots of steam or qi. 

Focus: Smile, Breath and Go Slowly

I recently attended a class taught by Roger Jahnke, author of the ‘Healer Within.’  Whenever I practice with Roger, I am always reminded of the beauty of going slowly and just focusing on the deep breath.  Allowing the breath to continue to slow down as the practice develops.  

As you practice this week, experiment with going slowly.  Let go of any focus on what the next movement is and allow the breath to deepen.  As your breath slows down and your focus goes inward you will find that your practice deepens. Here are some ideas of breath practices: 

•  Beginning with focusing on our posture.  The lengthening of the spine allows for more expansion of the lungs.
•   Xi, Xi, Hu breathing, this practice is a two part inhalation with a long one part exhalation. Try to make the exhalation as long as the two inhalations combined.
•  Adding a pause.  If it is comfortable for you, you can add a pause at the end of the inhalation and the end of the exhalation.  Always noticing what feels comfortable with your body and staying in the comfort zone.
•  Expanding breath.  As you inhale imagine the breath expanding the lungs as you exhale imagine releasing from that area ‘ letting go.’ Then, with each breath imagine that the breath expands past the lungs, eventually, the breath expanding out to every cell in the body and then releasing whatever you need to let go of.
•  Gratitude breath.  As you breath, focus on an organ within your body.  Beginning with appreciation for what that organ does, without us ever asking it to perform a function.  Let that feeling of appreciation grow into gratitude and a smile.  Imagine actually smiling at the organ with gratitude as you focus on your breath. 

Smile, breathe and go slowly. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Focus: Your Practice in Comfort

In the infinity of life where I am,
all is perfect, whole, and complete.
I recognize my body as a good friend.
Each cell in my body has divine intelligence.
I listen to what it tells me, and know that its advise is valid.
I am always safe and Divinely protected and guided.
I chose to be healthy and free.
All is well in my world.
             ~Louise L. Hay 'You Can Heal Your Life'

I love this quote: 'Each cell in my body has divine intelligence. I listen to what it tells me, and know that its advise is valid.'  This is the key to our practice. Listening to the body and finding the right range of motion for our practice each day.  It doesn't matter how large or small our movements are, how large or small our steps or stance are; what matters is listening and staying in a comfortable range of movement for our bodies today.

I often times see people holding stress and tension in their shoulders; sometimes from just stress, sometimes from an injury.  When we find tension or pain in a joint or part of our body, we need to focus our practice on releasing this tension.  I find the following guidelines useful in doing this:

• Mindfully move our body and notice sensations of discomfort
• Explore where can we move to to avoid discomfort and enjoy this freedom
• Focus on these areas - expanding the area on the inhalation and releasing on the exhalation
• Focus on releasing the areas above and below our point of  tension (for example if the shoulders are tense; think about releasing the neck and relaxing the elbows as you enjoy your practice)
• If we can't find comfort in a movements, modify it or skip it.

Then, throughout the day, use your breath to take your awareness to the areas of your body that you are working with and go through the same steps above as your enjoy a few moments of mindful movement and breathing.  Our body knows how to heal itself, we just need to listen and honor what we hear.

Focus: Releasing Stagnant Qi

In Roger Jahnke's book 'The Healing Promise of Qi,' he discusses the three states of Qi - deficient, stagnant, and harmonious.  It is believed that much pain and many illnesses are caused by stagnant Qi.   Some of the signs of stagnant Qi are:

• stress, tension
• pain - joints, back neck, head
• digestive and bowel problems
• sickness and disease
• lung disorders
• allergies
• frustration and violence
• sexual and menstrual difficulties

So how can we release stagnant Qi in our practice?

Let us begin with a great way to start our practice - Spontaneous Qigong, just listen into the body and move, shake, dance and then stop and listen.  What is tense, what needs to be released? Then repeat. When, we stop, let's notice the sensation of the Qi moving in our bodies.

Another practice to release stagnant Qi is ocean breathing.  As we inhale, feeling the breath expand into every cell of the body; as we exhale allowing stagnant qi to release from our entire body. We can let our arms open to the sides as we inhale and let them come back to our sides as we exhale.  Experiencing the sensation of expansion and contraction (or release) with each breath.  Then, we can carry this focus of expansion and release throughout our entire practice.

If we have areas of tension that we find in our practice, we can focus on expansion of that area and then relaxing that area with each breath.  Always staying within our comfortable range of motion with our movements, giving our body permission to release tension and stagnation when it is ready to.

Another Qigong movement that focuses on releasing is Gather and Release, part of the Seven Precious Gestures.  This spiritual  movement involves gathering from one side of our body (as we are inhaling); looking at what precious thing we have gathered as is comes in front of us and then as the hands move to the other side, releasing whatever we have gathered (as we are exhaling). 'Letting it go.' Gathering again and then bringing our hands to the other side to release. As our hands cross in front of use we can focus on gratitude, forgiveness, and appreciation, giving our heart the tools it needs to let it go as we release.   This is a wonderful practice for release stagnant thoughts that no longer serve us.

Our breath is another beautiful vehicle for releasing stagnant Qi.  We can also play with Xi, Xi, Hu walking or Warriors Breath.

So enjoying our practice this week, as we focus on finding and releasing stagnant qi; letting go of what no longer serves us.  Just explore and have fun!

'There is a backpack in the mind which over the years has become filled with rocks and stones.  You do not have to carry them anymore.  You can empty your pack and carry only compassion from one day to the next.'          ~  The Sage's Tao Te Ching by William Martin

Focus: Igniting the Healer Within

'Igniting the Healer Within' is a term used by my teacher Roger Jahnke and is the basis of his book ‘The Healer Within.’ So how do we ignite the natural healing capabilities of our body?  It is so simple; gentle movement while inviting deep breathing and alignment of our spine brings us into a meditative state; and then, self- massage.  The four highlighted words are the key components of a healing practice. Does this sound like our Qigong and Tai Chi practice? 

So this week, I invite you to begin exploring the natural ‘healer within,’ by allowing yourself to visit the four elements above in your practice.  But this week, beginning with a few meditative minutes of our three intentions (posture, breath and focus – present moment) focusing on our body and what it needs today.  Then, allowing yourself permission to keep that awareness inward and make your practice be what your body is asking for today – doing what feels right and just noticing what you feel.  Making your practice your own – what your body needs today.  Then, afterward, enjoying a self-massage giving gratitude to your wonderful natural healer within.

‘The cells of our body know their jobs.  We, as living human beings, set our ideals and work toward the manifestation of the fruits of our spirit and our cells know what to do.’ ~Gladys McGarey.

Focus: Connecting to the Earth

'The Earth has music for those who listen' ~ George Santayana

 

Take some time this week exploring your connection to the Earth. In our practice we begin with our three intentions. The first one being aligning and lenghtening our spine between heaven and earth. As we connect with earth, let's bring our awareness to the bottom of our feet, feeling how they caress the ground below us. Noticing how our weight shifts as we flow through our movements, feeling the sensation of the Earth below us.

 

Consider a meditative walk just feeling the Earth below your feet, maybe even barefoot. Let your feet roll with each step softly embracing the ground beneath you. Feeling the sensations of each step as we try to softly place each step with respect for the earth.  As you walk, looking around you and appreciating all the beautiful plants and trees being nourished by the Earth. Giving gratitue for the Earth and maybe even listening to it's music.