The barrier
The next step is to get some
vibration into the legs. This is intended to reduce their rigidity.
Vibration is nature's way of releasing muscular tension. When a person let's
go, his body will vibrate like a spring released from tension. Our legs are
like springs, and when we keep them tense too long, they stiffen and harden,
losing their resiliency.
(Alexander Lowen)
Blockages
Progress in tai chi is always hampered by physical, emotional and
psychological tension.
This barrier must be dissolved from within.
Surrender. Give-in. Stop
fighting.
There is so much more to tai chi than simply being relaxed and moving in a
choreographed manner.
A person may train for decades and never truly let-go.
Tension is such an ingrained habit that a person seldom appreciates
how brittle they really are.
The mind and the body develop 'holding patterns' of fixity intended to create a
sense of security and stability.
Unfortunately, in reality they disconnect you from the ground and make you
insensitive.
You must open-up, yield and become receptive.
Involuntary shaking during
qigong practice is the first sign that you are
letting-go and allowing your body work with gravity.
Shaking
In order to release tension your body must tremble and shake.
This process cannot be forced, you must simply relax and allow it to happen.
When you have learned to let-go, the shaking will commence almost immediately.
Liz Koch, author of
The Psoas Book wrote:
Safety is the first step when
releasing trauma. Once instinctually safe, the body naturally begins to shake
and discharge stored energy. With deeper levels of safety, the body
spontaneously releases deeper levels of holding.
It’s vital for
you to stay in the present. Staying present and matching the feelings with
incoming impressions begins to shift the sympathetic (fight/flight) to the
parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. Releasing the energy held
within a constricted psoas is both exhilarating and frightening.
The shaking is not unpleasant or painful in any way.
Another book that is concerning with shaking is Alexander Lowen's informative
Bioenergetics.
Beginning tai chi
Shaking is your path through the tension barrier.
No matter how hard you train or for how long, your tai chi will be lacking until
you let-go and shake.
Three approaches can assist with this process:
Psychological receptivity
Emotional comfort
Physical stability without tension
Psychological receptivity
The mind can easily
become rigid and inflexible so it is important to make it supple again.
Reading texts such as Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu or studying
Krishnamurti will help to release your mind from old ways of thinking.
Such material cannot be apprehended without considerable change within.
Meditation is the second aspect of this change.
This does not mean chanting, special breathing anything transcendental.
Simply be present.
Emotional comfort
When you feel at
ease with yourself, it is easy to let-go. For many people, this is very
difficult.
Often, the first stage is to feel comfortable around other people.
Tai chi classes involve a lot of partner work that involves
close physical contact.
This type of work encourages people to relax and soften inwardly.
They feel safe.
Postural tension
Even though the mind may be calm and the emotions balanced, postural tension is
another matter entirely.
Everyday body usage involves a range of bad habits.
Confrontational sports or activities that involve shouting or physical contact
cause the body to store tension in the neck and spine.
The body needs to relax properly.
Often the tension resides in the
legs.
When a person becomes charged up, a fine involuntary tremor or vibration may occur in the legs. This is interpreted as a sign that there is some flow of excitation in the body, specifically in the lower part. The voice may become more resonant since there is more air flowing through the larynx, and the face may brighten.
(Alexander Lowen)
Physical stability without tension
You begin by learning to hold standing
qigong for 15 minutes.
The duration starts with 5 minutes and slowly builds over some weeks.
Then you explore a variety of other qigong...
Ba duan jin, reeling silk exercises and full circle qigong are used to develop
stamina, endurance and a sense of physical stability.
If you are still failing to let-go after a few months, one-off full circle
qigong sessions are used to promote a deeper balancing within the body.
The duration of this exercise means that only the most ardently tense person can
sustain contraction for a prolonged period.
Ultimately, the body gives-in and the muscles begin to soften, the joints and
vertebra open.
Shaking commences and the barrier is gone.
Once this has happened, any standing qigong exercise produces the same effect
without effort.
Finally, some degree of shaking may occur during
form
practice.
Page created 3 May 2000