Stories and articles of interest from taichidevon.
Can it be true, that we’ve more power when we relax?
(I believe you will gain most from this article if you take your time with it … as much time as you need ….
Pause at places of interest … then continue when ready … all in your own good time.)
By more 'powerful' I mean, better recall, greater physical ability, co-ordination, balance and resistance to external pressure, better immune system, more discipline, better tempered, less pain, both physical and emotional.
In Tai Chi the Chinese call it ‘song’, to relax; and the Tai Chi Masters will repeat it to you over and over; therefore we must presume it has great significance. The Tai Chi version of ‘relax’ may well be different from your own understanding of the word, and we’ll look at that later in more detail.
Many, if not all, ‘therapists’, including traditional western practitioners, want you to be relaxed, and to this end provide you with a comfortable chair, couch, surroundings and sounds, and sometimes smells, to assist? Often you will be left ‘to relax’ before and after … “please get up slowly, take it easy for the next … 5 minutes … 24 hours …. 30 years!”.
Why; probably because it is part of a greater, natural, healing process? After all, when injured or sick the body’s first plan is to lie down …. and relax.
I am content to believe what I have read about the benefits of the meditative state, which can include yoga, Tai Chi and some gentle exercises, which activates parts of the brain where endorphins are released and where the dopamine pathways operate. When in the positive state the nerve chemicals and hormones released have a positive effect on your immune system. (Practicing Chi Kung has been shown to improve the T cell, - white blood -, count by up to 40%). Compare this with the effects of a stressed body which produces Cortisol which is an anti-inflammatory and lowers the immune system’s ability to fight infection, heal wounds etc
Limiting the stress response is important to our health, e.g. in controlling arthritis. Tai Chi and similar arts also aid control of breathing and encourage slower more effective heart beats.
What do we understand by the word itself? Perhaps synonymous with relax are … soothing, calm, peace, power.
Why power? To relax gives you power to live in the rat race, but remain unaffected, surely that is real power. Ever lost something, gone into a panic, stressed yourself and cannot, whatever you do, find it? Then perhaps even weeks later, in a period of true relaxation, that ‘eureka moment’ strikes and you know exactly where to find it. Wouldn’t that been of more use earlier on?
Stress is an unwelcome and frequent visitor that will turn up without you asking; not so? Just feel the tension in your neck and shoulders as you read this, and it sneaked in on you uninvited. Relaxation is one of those rare visitors that must receive a proper invitation before it will arrive. We cannot normally ‘hurry up’ to be relaxed, can we? “Come on, come on you, …. relax. ….Come on hurry up, I’ve got a …. Bus to catch, … dinner to cook … garden to dig …. Oh, blow this; I can’t wait all day for you to relax …”
Mmm, that doesn’t seem to be the sort of power that interested us earlier, does it? Instead, some rat race stress has been allowed to have power over you and how you feel and live your life. Nor is it the amount of willpower you can bring to bear, but the quality of mindfulness, and even belief, that counts. Your beliefs are the reality in which you live. You are, indeed, your own destiny. You chose to pick up this book; you chose to read thus far; you alone will choose what you do next.
There are lots of good exercises that may help us relax, physically, mentally and emotionally too. I suggest you explore a few so that you can discover the ‘power’ connection for yourself.
I’ll offer you a simple exercise to try if you wish, then I would like to tell you about the ‘song’ (relax) of Tai Chi.
Please give this a try, you have little to lose; make a stern, even cross, face… you can do it now … unless you need to leave it till later when not in the public gaze! OK, so what did your body feel like? If you are body aware you will have felt the tension in your chest, back etc. Now change it for a smile …. Feel how the whole body joins in and relaxes? Smiles are contagious aren’t they? OK, another stage. Be grim faced again and then smile … but this time not so quickly. Please go so very slowly from grimace to smile that you may observe the little moment of relaxation which you must pass through to get to your full smile. Go slowly, look carefully for that tiny bit in the middle, in that space the power resides. Now try again, but no need to go all the way through to the smile just find and hang on to the relaxation before the smile itself … now feel that relaxation and calm trickle down throughout the whole body. Lovely, and in doing so you have taken the first steps to power and better immune system etc.
While we are on smiling, this too is a lovely exercise, costs absolutely nothing and won’t get you locked up unless you do it too often in public!
Make a smile, it doesn't even have to be real, now, with mouth lightly closed, ease the tongue back so as to gently restrict your breathing a little, and both physically and mentally very slowly breathe that smile down, deep into your body. Relaxing?
You may be confident that you are able to relax at will. Give it a try now and if you feel that you are fully relaxed, test it out either by relaxing the hairs on your head, or relaxing the throat. Did you feel that this took your relaxation a little way further? Experiment with the ideas, and guess what, more relaxation will come your way and all the benefits that go with it.
Now to 'song', the Chinese word for relax. Note that this version of relax does not mean 'collapse'; it is of a place in the middle where space exists, a space where power resides, it is empty of tension and full of energy. The Chinese believe that the Chi, (loosely we can call it energy), flows between muscle and bone; in order to maximise chi flow the muscles must be relaxed to a point where, should they relax any more, gravity would cause that part of the body to fall. Muscles relaxed, yet filled with life force, joints open, the ‘empty’ space between filled with energy, and mindfully directing the chi maximises the flow. The flow of Chi can be experienced by seeing the hands darken with increased blood flow and sometimes a warming or tingling feeling.
We are all subject to energy, wherever we are, we have no choice, it's just we may not be aware of it. Try and make connection with this energy, utilise it, take charge. By this connection we travel towards better health and longevity.
An analogy; an electric socket with all its power is of no use unless you can connect to it. Behave in certain ways and you improve the connection, soften the body, and calm the mind (spirit). Remember, nothing can be forced, 'calm' is the plug for the socket. So, come on, relax and feel your own innate power.
The above represents my current beliefs based on what I have seen, heard and felt and based on the teachings of others to whom I remain grateful.
(I believe you will gain most from this article if you take your time with it … as much time as you need ….
Pause at places of interest … then continue when ready … all in your own good time.)
By more 'powerful' I mean, better recall, greater physical ability, co-ordination, balance and resistance to external pressure, better immune system, more discipline, better tempered, less pain, both physical and emotional.
In Tai Chi the Chinese call it ‘song’, to relax; and the Tai Chi Masters will repeat it to you over and over; therefore we must presume it has great significance. The Tai Chi version of ‘relax’ may well be different from your own understanding of the word, and we’ll look at that later in more detail.
Many, if not all, ‘therapists’, including traditional western practitioners, want you to be relaxed, and to this end provide you with a comfortable chair, couch, surroundings and sounds, and sometimes smells, to assist? Often you will be left ‘to relax’ before and after … “please get up slowly, take it easy for the next … 5 minutes … 24 hours …. 30 years!”.
Why; probably because it is part of a greater, natural, healing process? After all, when injured or sick the body’s first plan is to lie down …. and relax.
I am content to believe what I have read about the benefits of the meditative state, which can include yoga, Tai Chi and some gentle exercises, which activates parts of the brain where endorphins are released and where the dopamine pathways operate. When in the positive state the nerve chemicals and hormones released have a positive effect on your immune system. (Practicing Chi Kung has been shown to improve the T cell, - white blood -, count by up to 40%). Compare this with the effects of a stressed body which produces Cortisol which is an anti-inflammatory and lowers the immune system’s ability to fight infection, heal wounds etc
Limiting the stress response is important to our health, e.g. in controlling arthritis. Tai Chi and similar arts also aid control of breathing and encourage slower more effective heart beats.
What do we understand by the word itself? Perhaps synonymous with relax are … soothing, calm, peace, power.
Why power? To relax gives you power to live in the rat race, but remain unaffected, surely that is real power. Ever lost something, gone into a panic, stressed yourself and cannot, whatever you do, find it? Then perhaps even weeks later, in a period of true relaxation, that ‘eureka moment’ strikes and you know exactly where to find it. Wouldn’t that been of more use earlier on?
Stress is an unwelcome and frequent visitor that will turn up without you asking; not so? Just feel the tension in your neck and shoulders as you read this, and it sneaked in on you uninvited. Relaxation is one of those rare visitors that must receive a proper invitation before it will arrive. We cannot normally ‘hurry up’ to be relaxed, can we? “Come on, come on you, …. relax. ….Come on hurry up, I’ve got a …. Bus to catch, … dinner to cook … garden to dig …. Oh, blow this; I can’t wait all day for you to relax …”
Mmm, that doesn’t seem to be the sort of power that interested us earlier, does it? Instead, some rat race stress has been allowed to have power over you and how you feel and live your life. Nor is it the amount of willpower you can bring to bear, but the quality of mindfulness, and even belief, that counts. Your beliefs are the reality in which you live. You are, indeed, your own destiny. You chose to pick up this book; you chose to read thus far; you alone will choose what you do next.
There are lots of good exercises that may help us relax, physically, mentally and emotionally too. I suggest you explore a few so that you can discover the ‘power’ connection for yourself.
I’ll offer you a simple exercise to try if you wish, then I would like to tell you about the ‘song’ (relax) of Tai Chi.
Please give this a try, you have little to lose; make a stern, even cross, face… you can do it now … unless you need to leave it till later when not in the public gaze! OK, so what did your body feel like? If you are body aware you will have felt the tension in your chest, back etc. Now change it for a smile …. Feel how the whole body joins in and relaxes? Smiles are contagious aren’t they? OK, another stage. Be grim faced again and then smile … but this time not so quickly. Please go so very slowly from grimace to smile that you may observe the little moment of relaxation which you must pass through to get to your full smile. Go slowly, look carefully for that tiny bit in the middle, in that space the power resides. Now try again, but no need to go all the way through to the smile just find and hang on to the relaxation before the smile itself … now feel that relaxation and calm trickle down throughout the whole body. Lovely, and in doing so you have taken the first steps to power and better immune system etc.
While we are on smiling, this too is a lovely exercise, costs absolutely nothing and won’t get you locked up unless you do it too often in public!
Make a smile, it doesn't even have to be real, now, with mouth lightly closed, ease the tongue back so as to gently restrict your breathing a little, and both physically and mentally very slowly breathe that smile down, deep into your body. Relaxing?
You may be confident that you are able to relax at will. Give it a try now and if you feel that you are fully relaxed, test it out either by relaxing the hairs on your head, or relaxing the throat. Did you feel that this took your relaxation a little way further? Experiment with the ideas, and guess what, more relaxation will come your way and all the benefits that go with it.
Now to 'song', the Chinese word for relax. Note that this version of relax does not mean 'collapse'; it is of a place in the middle where space exists, a space where power resides, it is empty of tension and full of energy. The Chinese believe that the Chi, (loosely we can call it energy), flows between muscle and bone; in order to maximise chi flow the muscles must be relaxed to a point where, should they relax any more, gravity would cause that part of the body to fall. Muscles relaxed, yet filled with life force, joints open, the ‘empty’ space between filled with energy, and mindfully directing the chi maximises the flow. The flow of Chi can be experienced by seeing the hands darken with increased blood flow and sometimes a warming or tingling feeling.
We are all subject to energy, wherever we are, we have no choice, it's just we may not be aware of it. Try and make connection with this energy, utilise it, take charge. By this connection we travel towards better health and longevity.
An analogy; an electric socket with all its power is of no use unless you can connect to it. Behave in certain ways and you improve the connection, soften the body, and calm the mind (spirit). Remember, nothing can be forced, 'calm' is the plug for the socket. So, come on, relax and feel your own innate power.
The above represents my current beliefs based on what I have seen, heard and felt and based on the teachings of others to whom I remain grateful.
The Tiger and the Goat: -
all about a change of feelings and about being body aware.
This is a tale for your imagination and hopefully an experiential journey through the mind and body of both Goat and Tiger.
I recently met and trained with a German therapist who effectively used animal Chi Kung as a method to ‘cure’ people of psychological trauma. This short article is not aimed at doing that but you may just be surprised what benefits you could discover for yourself. The more essentially body aware you are, the more you will experience and any changes are easier to make.
First, on body awareness; a little experiment; Look at the palm of one hand, think deeply about that hand and nothing else, stay relaxed and focused. It’s almost like you are asking your hand what it is like to be a hand … then listening attentively to its answer. You may feel tingling in the hand or warmth, heaviness or perhaps even a presence that you had never noticed before. If you are aware of such sensations, no matter how subtle, you should be able to easily explore the rest of this article.
Let us suppose we are the Tiger, we have been chased and frightened by hunters deep into a wilderness. Our short lived, adrenalin fuelled panic is over, the hunters are now far away and our tormented, mindless, crashing through dense woodland is a thing of the seemingly distant past.
We are completely safe at rest in the shade of a great tree from which we have an easy and commanding view over a sunshine filled forest valley and a winding animal track that runs through it. We are at peace in our mind and our body is totally relaxed. There is no tension, complete peace, only the comfortable presence of soft and calm breathing is our companion; not even the leaves are stirring in the warm still air.
All during that day our friend, the goat, has also had this same sense of peace, wandering through the small valley stopping in patches of sunshine, feeling the warmth, eating at will. Whatever the goat fancied eating, it did. The goat’s sense of peace is at one with that of the Tiger’s. Life was good, calm, happy, a joy to be at one with his own body and mind. Oblivious to anything bad in his happy world the goat walks the path, the path of his ever diminishing lifetime, towards the great tree. He has no mind of the Tiger, he has no mind for aught else but peace in his whole being. He knows no fear for he hasn't read the book! Only you suspect the tiger, the goat doesn't, nor does he suspect his life is only as long as the path he’s taking.
Let us return to our Tiger; if you can, try and put your mind into how the Tiger might feel. Relaxed, breathing naturally, mindless yet awake. Feel that relaxed state in yourself as though you are one with the Tiger. You may well think you are relaxed but often there is still further to go . . . relax your jaw muscles and relax your throat, feel that extra relaxation spread throughout your body. Relaxed muscles allow maximum energy and unrestricted blood flow. The Tiger (you) is at peace, as one with the universe.
Now the Goat comes into view along the path. If you really were the Tiger try and imagine the changes in feeling and focus within your body. The Tiger does not jump up nor become tense, instead the Tiger will gently connect all its muscles and its spirit as one, there is a soft but definite connection throughout the whole body, there are no gaps in connection, the act of moving requires no slack to be taken up anywhere. The connections in the body are created by the mind . . . your mind. . . and not by tensing the muscle groups to form a structure. Any structure is counter productive and will slow response; instead, the relaxed connectivity provides an instant and speedy response to the Tiger’s will. You might experience a similar feeling by taking a gentle breath in and as you do so imagine your whole body gently expanding ... like a balloon does. Though expanding, still relaxed.
There is an awareness of the presence of consciousness in the whole body; mind and body have become one. (As they always were from the beginning of life). The Tiger's eyes connect its soul and sinews in ownership of the goat. The eyes do not only look but they possess what they see. Just like you can see and 'own' a word at the end of this sentence, look at it as though the word belongs to you and you alone, there needs to be sincerity in your action and that you are infinitely connected with it, connected in spirit with the Tiger and the Goat. (Own that word with your eyes and spirit, feel what that means.)
With luck and a bit of effort you will have experienced what it is like to be the Tiger as it spots its prey. This is all I hoped to share this time but there is always more. The Tiger will not move until its hunting distance is optimised, the goat will not notice until the Tiger moves. What of the sensations felt by the goat? Tension, fear, panic and escape if possible, they are the opposite sensations to those of the hunting tiger who had also endured such feelings earlier in the day. Perhaps were the Goat not to run and trigger the prey instinct but to stand its ground, not in defiance but with a sense of universal love, then perhaps the Tiger would not see prey any more and perhaps once more the Tiger's feelings will change.
Life isn't always like that but there are occasions when it can be. I hope you found something of interest in this experiment. It is what you experienced, what you felt, that counts.
all about a change of feelings and about being body aware.
This is a tale for your imagination and hopefully an experiential journey through the mind and body of both Goat and Tiger.
I recently met and trained with a German therapist who effectively used animal Chi Kung as a method to ‘cure’ people of psychological trauma. This short article is not aimed at doing that but you may just be surprised what benefits you could discover for yourself. The more essentially body aware you are, the more you will experience and any changes are easier to make.
First, on body awareness; a little experiment; Look at the palm of one hand, think deeply about that hand and nothing else, stay relaxed and focused. It’s almost like you are asking your hand what it is like to be a hand … then listening attentively to its answer. You may feel tingling in the hand or warmth, heaviness or perhaps even a presence that you had never noticed before. If you are aware of such sensations, no matter how subtle, you should be able to easily explore the rest of this article.
Let us suppose we are the Tiger, we have been chased and frightened by hunters deep into a wilderness. Our short lived, adrenalin fuelled panic is over, the hunters are now far away and our tormented, mindless, crashing through dense woodland is a thing of the seemingly distant past.
We are completely safe at rest in the shade of a great tree from which we have an easy and commanding view over a sunshine filled forest valley and a winding animal track that runs through it. We are at peace in our mind and our body is totally relaxed. There is no tension, complete peace, only the comfortable presence of soft and calm breathing is our companion; not even the leaves are stirring in the warm still air.
All during that day our friend, the goat, has also had this same sense of peace, wandering through the small valley stopping in patches of sunshine, feeling the warmth, eating at will. Whatever the goat fancied eating, it did. The goat’s sense of peace is at one with that of the Tiger’s. Life was good, calm, happy, a joy to be at one with his own body and mind. Oblivious to anything bad in his happy world the goat walks the path, the path of his ever diminishing lifetime, towards the great tree. He has no mind of the Tiger, he has no mind for aught else but peace in his whole being. He knows no fear for he hasn't read the book! Only you suspect the tiger, the goat doesn't, nor does he suspect his life is only as long as the path he’s taking.
Let us return to our Tiger; if you can, try and put your mind into how the Tiger might feel. Relaxed, breathing naturally, mindless yet awake. Feel that relaxed state in yourself as though you are one with the Tiger. You may well think you are relaxed but often there is still further to go . . . relax your jaw muscles and relax your throat, feel that extra relaxation spread throughout your body. Relaxed muscles allow maximum energy and unrestricted blood flow. The Tiger (you) is at peace, as one with the universe.
Now the Goat comes into view along the path. If you really were the Tiger try and imagine the changes in feeling and focus within your body. The Tiger does not jump up nor become tense, instead the Tiger will gently connect all its muscles and its spirit as one, there is a soft but definite connection throughout the whole body, there are no gaps in connection, the act of moving requires no slack to be taken up anywhere. The connections in the body are created by the mind . . . your mind. . . and not by tensing the muscle groups to form a structure. Any structure is counter productive and will slow response; instead, the relaxed connectivity provides an instant and speedy response to the Tiger’s will. You might experience a similar feeling by taking a gentle breath in and as you do so imagine your whole body gently expanding ... like a balloon does. Though expanding, still relaxed.
There is an awareness of the presence of consciousness in the whole body; mind and body have become one. (As they always were from the beginning of life). The Tiger's eyes connect its soul and sinews in ownership of the goat. The eyes do not only look but they possess what they see. Just like you can see and 'own' a word at the end of this sentence, look at it as though the word belongs to you and you alone, there needs to be sincerity in your action and that you are infinitely connected with it, connected in spirit with the Tiger and the Goat. (Own that word with your eyes and spirit, feel what that means.)
With luck and a bit of effort you will have experienced what it is like to be the Tiger as it spots its prey. This is all I hoped to share this time but there is always more. The Tiger will not move until its hunting distance is optimised, the goat will not notice until the Tiger moves. What of the sensations felt by the goat? Tension, fear, panic and escape if possible, they are the opposite sensations to those of the hunting tiger who had also endured such feelings earlier in the day. Perhaps were the Goat not to run and trigger the prey instinct but to stand its ground, not in defiance but with a sense of universal love, then perhaps the Tiger would not see prey any more and perhaps once more the Tiger's feelings will change.
Life isn't always like that but there are occasions when it can be. I hope you found something of interest in this experiment. It is what you experienced, what you felt, that counts.
The Chair, the Flower and the Rabbit.
Treasures from the Tai Chi road.
If I could but write this well you might understand it, but even if you understood it, it will remain a flawed gem until you can ‘feel’ it; however I am driven to try. I hope you too will be driven to find this same treasure. These are the treasures in life that no other can steal, so you need not hide them behind barred doors; in fact your own treasure is the greater if you give it away.
As we small group of students sat in the old farmhouse enjoying an after class glass of wine with our teacher, I tried to remember those little gems I had picked up in the class. No doubt you have been there too …. ‘wow, what a brilliant idea that is, I must remember it for later’, then, when later arrives, all you can remember is that there was once, not so long ago, something that you knew that was great and that you had intended to remember. I sat, sipping the wine and delving deep into a memory only an hour old, at last two words came to mind, rabbit and chair, but I knew there was a third, then it came to me, ‘aha, of course, flower’. I struggled to hang on to the words while more interesting conversations continued around me: These words were needed to trigger a chain of thought that creates feeling; the feelings we hope that will remain when the words are long gone.
The Chinese internal arts are littered with vague aphorisms, almost un-interpretable inferences, and poetical imagery that are supposed to enlighten you; and they will, if you only knew what they meant.
An example in story form. “Our teacher says we should use the magpie bridge”. ”Oh, and where's that then, in town?” “No, it's a place in your mouth that you make with your tongue.” “Are you sure he's not having you on? Perhaps it's a word of which meaning has been lost in translation”. “No, for sure that's what he said; it's supposed to create an energy loop in the body.” “Oh .... and what's it feel like then, this maggie bridge?” “I don't rightly know, I don't believe in that sort of thing; but he said that, if we did it, it would change how we felt, and that it was more than technical it bordered on the spiritual.... I'm not so sure though.” “Oh?!”
If they had felt the 'magic' of the Magpie Bridge they would no longer doubt – but how to feel it ...... that is the question.
Ok; back to the chair, the flower and the rabbit. Amazingly – or perhaps not so – you must find out for yourself. You cannot be told or shown by another, no different if you wished to play a musical instrument ... does it not require practice? Yes, you need a teacher to put you on the road, but it is you that must walk it – the easy going and the rough. If you don't walk the road you don't go any where, and as you no doubt realise some of the most beautiful scenery is only accessed by walking. (No cars to mountain tops or crystal caves or jungle temples, only feet to take you there ... your own!)
'Mental awareness health warning'.
From here on, if you don't plan to try and 'feel' the advice and to 'feel' the stones of the road under your feet then do not read on. Stop here, for it's not your journey; you may have bought the map but it'll stay on your shelf.
For the Tai Chi student this opening move will be familiar; feet shoulder width and softening the kua, bend the knees. Feel how that is and then relax and come out of the posture while reading on. Imagine you are about to sit in a chair, just before you actually release your body to the chair there occurs a little relaxation of your own body. It is this feeling of relaxation you must seek to feel the next time you open the first Tai Chi posture.
Give it a try – or two – or three – the road is long.
Should you discover one of your joints is tight and uncomfortable there may be many things you could try – this one's not bad. Feel the joint in question with your mind, see it as a flower bud – with your mind, feel the flower gently opening, steadily, smoothly, inexorably expanding, unstoppable – feel it happen, feel the tension go.
Still with us? Ready for the rabbit? Well not so much the whole rabbit, just its ears. You can take a Tai Chi or Chi Kung posture if you wish or even sit comfortably for this one. Try and quiet your mind, then when you feel ready, (that's feel not think), imagine you have rabbit's ears, lovely long soft rabbit's ears sticking up above your own. Got that? Imagining them? Right, in your mind feel the tips of those lovely ears, sense what it is like at those tufty little ends. If you are not laughing by now, and that's good for you too, you should feel a change that trickles down through your body and at the same time feel that you have extension beyond body.
Even in the Appledore pub as I write this I can feel the rabbit's ears – I just hope that no one else here can see them!
Go on; ask the rabbit, it may know more than you think.
Two warnings here;
One, the rabbit's answer will only lead to more questions,
Two, don't talk out loud to the rabbit, especially in the pub.
May your road be easy and full of flowers and rabbits ... with an occasional bench on which to sit.
Treasures from the Tai Chi road.
If I could but write this well you might understand it, but even if you understood it, it will remain a flawed gem until you can ‘feel’ it; however I am driven to try. I hope you too will be driven to find this same treasure. These are the treasures in life that no other can steal, so you need not hide them behind barred doors; in fact your own treasure is the greater if you give it away.
As we small group of students sat in the old farmhouse enjoying an after class glass of wine with our teacher, I tried to remember those little gems I had picked up in the class. No doubt you have been there too …. ‘wow, what a brilliant idea that is, I must remember it for later’, then, when later arrives, all you can remember is that there was once, not so long ago, something that you knew that was great and that you had intended to remember. I sat, sipping the wine and delving deep into a memory only an hour old, at last two words came to mind, rabbit and chair, but I knew there was a third, then it came to me, ‘aha, of course, flower’. I struggled to hang on to the words while more interesting conversations continued around me: These words were needed to trigger a chain of thought that creates feeling; the feelings we hope that will remain when the words are long gone.
The Chinese internal arts are littered with vague aphorisms, almost un-interpretable inferences, and poetical imagery that are supposed to enlighten you; and they will, if you only knew what they meant.
An example in story form. “Our teacher says we should use the magpie bridge”. ”Oh, and where's that then, in town?” “No, it's a place in your mouth that you make with your tongue.” “Are you sure he's not having you on? Perhaps it's a word of which meaning has been lost in translation”. “No, for sure that's what he said; it's supposed to create an energy loop in the body.” “Oh .... and what's it feel like then, this maggie bridge?” “I don't rightly know, I don't believe in that sort of thing; but he said that, if we did it, it would change how we felt, and that it was more than technical it bordered on the spiritual.... I'm not so sure though.” “Oh?!”
If they had felt the 'magic' of the Magpie Bridge they would no longer doubt – but how to feel it ...... that is the question.
Ok; back to the chair, the flower and the rabbit. Amazingly – or perhaps not so – you must find out for yourself. You cannot be told or shown by another, no different if you wished to play a musical instrument ... does it not require practice? Yes, you need a teacher to put you on the road, but it is you that must walk it – the easy going and the rough. If you don't walk the road you don't go any where, and as you no doubt realise some of the most beautiful scenery is only accessed by walking. (No cars to mountain tops or crystal caves or jungle temples, only feet to take you there ... your own!)
'Mental awareness health warning'.
From here on, if you don't plan to try and 'feel' the advice and to 'feel' the stones of the road under your feet then do not read on. Stop here, for it's not your journey; you may have bought the map but it'll stay on your shelf.
For the Tai Chi student this opening move will be familiar; feet shoulder width and softening the kua, bend the knees. Feel how that is and then relax and come out of the posture while reading on. Imagine you are about to sit in a chair, just before you actually release your body to the chair there occurs a little relaxation of your own body. It is this feeling of relaxation you must seek to feel the next time you open the first Tai Chi posture.
Give it a try – or two – or three – the road is long.
Should you discover one of your joints is tight and uncomfortable there may be many things you could try – this one's not bad. Feel the joint in question with your mind, see it as a flower bud – with your mind, feel the flower gently opening, steadily, smoothly, inexorably expanding, unstoppable – feel it happen, feel the tension go.
Still with us? Ready for the rabbit? Well not so much the whole rabbit, just its ears. You can take a Tai Chi or Chi Kung posture if you wish or even sit comfortably for this one. Try and quiet your mind, then when you feel ready, (that's feel not think), imagine you have rabbit's ears, lovely long soft rabbit's ears sticking up above your own. Got that? Imagining them? Right, in your mind feel the tips of those lovely ears, sense what it is like at those tufty little ends. If you are not laughing by now, and that's good for you too, you should feel a change that trickles down through your body and at the same time feel that you have extension beyond body.
Even in the Appledore pub as I write this I can feel the rabbit's ears – I just hope that no one else here can see them!
Go on; ask the rabbit, it may know more than you think.
Two warnings here;
One, the rabbit's answer will only lead to more questions,
Two, don't talk out loud to the rabbit, especially in the pub.
May your road be easy and full of flowers and rabbits ... with an occasional bench on which to sit.