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direct the energy down at the end of
practice |
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When practicing internal energy
techniques you must begin each session by
discharging the toxic or poisonous ch'i that likely has accumulated in your
system. When the ch'i and shen fields are opened by cultivation
practice the toxic ch'i may be absorbed deeper into the system
where it can cause emotional imbalance, discomfort, numbness,
and disease. The practice of
discharging toxic ch'i is
not only relaxing the body and calming the mind though certainly these are
important aspects. In general the internal practices involve
initially the vitalization of latent patterns of energy in the
spirit/mind/body complex using a method of imagining the
potential systems into activity called "fire chasing fire". There
are specific exercises that re-adjust the energy field to this end and
we can recommend these books by Jerry Alan Johnson, PhD., DTCM, DMQ
(China):
Chinese Medical
Qigong Therapy: A Comprehensive Clinical Text and
The Essence of Internal Martial
Arts, Volume I and II which are available from The International
Institute of Medical Qigong. In addition to clearing the ch'i at the
opening of practice it is a critical point to direct the energy downwards at the
conclusion of practice to prevent the circulation from sticking
in the head and causing headaches, insanity, and similar things.
The discharge of grounding is required as ch'i moves with the
attention and the non-cultivation practice attention is quite
often held in the head and not equally distributed through out
the entirety of one's being as it might be. This may be grasp
then, as one of first goals in beginning cultivation practice is
discovering how to move the attention to the lower dantien. |
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the gag
reflex and tying shoes |
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| Back when
light bulbs had tungsten filaments there was a man who
came from South Korea to Indiana to teach Hapkido. He
was an encyclopedia of useful things to know but there
were two things which he told all of his student that
they should remember even if they did not continue the
practices they had learned on the dojo mat. One was,
when brushing one's teeth, to always brush the tongue
as far back as possible in order to discharge the gag
reflex on a regular basis. The other thing was to
always stand on one foot while putting one's shoes on
or taking them off and while tying or untying them.
The usefulness of these two pieces of advice becomes
apparent as they are put into practice. It would
require an examination of the clinical work of Dr.
Wilhelm Reich to describe the mechanism; but the gag
reflex tends to accumulate if left undisturbed,
somewhat like a capacitor on a trickle charge. One may
recollect a time nearly before the electric light bulb
when a visit to a doctor for any reason included a
session of torture with a broad wooden object called a
tongue depressor. While one was saying "aaah" this
device was laid flat on the extreme back of the tongue
where the rough dry wood stuck to the tongue as it
triggered an extended gag response which allowed easy
inspection of the tonsils and the condition of the
throat in general. Whether accidental or intentional
in the practice of medicine the release of this reflex
allows the discharge of static tension throughout the
neck and shoulders and a consequent freeing of the
streaming of vital energy. The practice of standing on
one foot when shoeing or un-shoeing oneself is a more
obvious and an exercise of balance and flexibility. |
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next
section of recovering earth |
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