Mind meets Matter

Reconnecting the mind and the body is a key step in the practice of Qigong. We want to relax the body and focus the mind to allow the Qi to move smoothly throughout the body.
The link between the mind and the body is a familiar one. We know it through the phrase 'Mind over matter'. We try to make use of it by willing our bodies to meet our mind's requests. But is this sometimes the best use of this connection? Can we expect to talk ourselves into stopping too much internal dialogue? Can we expect to quell an moment of anxiety by mentally agitating for quietude?
Perhaps we need to sometimes let the body take the lead. The connection between the mind and the body should be more like a dialogue than a one-way street. There is a stillness in the body that we can use to settle the mind. There is a centredness in the body that the mind can rest into. Reconnection should be a participation of equals not a battle of wills.

Keep calm

Today's Qigong class included the sitting Three Line Qigong meditation. The main intent of this meditation is to relax the mind and body to allow the Qi to flow smoothly. I usually incorporate the metaphor of a pool a water into this meditation since this is often used to describe a calm state of mind.

"When the surface of the heart is calm, it can clearly reflect perceptions from the outside world. When the surface is stirred by the wind-like movements of the seven emotions, then the reflection becomes muddled and a person has difficulty perceiving the real nature of a situation."
(Applied Channel Theory. Wang Ju-Yi. Eastland Press, Seattle: 2008 pg. 117)

So why is it that we find it is so easy to stir the emotions and distort the reflections? Why do we sometimes prefer the distortion and turmoil? I think that is it because the clear reflection begins with and includes ourselves. And before we can feel comfortable with perceiving the real nature of a situation, we have to feel comfortable with ourselves.

So part of the process of practicing Qigong is to accept ourselves as we truly are, reflected in the calm pool. And only once we start with acceptance can we move forward to encourage ourselves to change and grow.

Going further

In Qigong it's common to continue to practice the same movements over and over. Week to week, month to month, year to year.
How can you get anywhere if all you do is the same thing?
By recognizing that the 'doing' is not what is essential to getting more out of your Qigong practice. That said, the alignment and the movement need to be properly learnt. They are the first stages of learning Qigong. But after that, what is done merely sets the stage for what can be felt or experienced.

The Tao De Jing say in Chapter 48:
"Pursue knowledge, gain daily
Pursue Tao, lose daily.
Lose and again lose, arrive at non-doing"

The overlooked challenges

Taiji and Qigong challenges us in ways we are not used to. It's hard because it seems too easy. Qigong especially lacks the things found in other forms of exercise. It's slow, often repetitive and physically only moderately demanding. Standing practice, which is integral to Qigong and internal styles of martial arts, really is the anti-exercise exercise when compared against tennis, rock climbing, running or almost any other activity.
But sometimes challenges are overlooked. Outside of internal arts, slowing down is rarely encouraged. Stilling the body is hard to do. Stilling the mind is even harder. Repetition asks the mind to stay focussed without distraction. The simple movements demand that we find the natural alignment of our body. The trick is to recognise these challenges.
A lifestyle that bounces between hyper-stimulation and unconciousness has a hard time seeing something that falls outside of its own extremes. But internal arts like Qigong and Taiji can provide an opportunity for people to find a different approach and a different set of challenges to meet. And that can open up new opportunities.

The Jade Pendant Inscription on Qigong

This is a treatise on Qi Gong that dates from the early Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770 B.C. - 221 B.C.). It has been said to describe the micro-cosmic orbit practice, but I think that it can be more broadly applicable:

"In conducting Qi, depth leads to storage, storage leads to extending outwards, extending leads to settling downward, settling leads to stability, stability leads to solidity, solidity leads to germination, germination leads to growth, growth leads to withdrawal, withdrawal leads to heaven.
Celestial Qi comes from above, Earthly Qi comes from below. Following this leads to life, countering this leads to death."