By David Cowan
1. Feet Touch the Earth…
How to: Begin by distributing your weight to the front at 70/30 with 70% of your weight on the balls of both feet and 30% on the heels. Slightly flatten down the arches of both feet and press (K1) Bubbling Well points firmly against the ground. Now relax your knees and sink your weight into both heels while maintaining pressure on your big toes. Continue to adjust your posture on the centerline—left/right and front/back—until your weight is 50/50. Push the earth down and feel as if your feet are deeply rooted in the ground. Relax. Do not lean back. Imagine that Earth Qi flows unimpeded upward through both legs and flows into the Lower Dan Tian.
2. Head as if Suspended from Above…
How to: Imagine being gently “pulled up” by an imaginary string that is attached to the crown of your head. Feel yourself “hang down” from your head and allow your spine to lengthen upward one vertebra at a time. Consciously breathe-out while releasing any pressure or tension that limits circulation to your spine. Feel yourself relax each vertebral disc. Adjust your posture until it balanced along your anatomical center-line. Feel for a soft inner-sensation of floating as if your head was literally suspended from above and your while your body was effortlessly hanging down from the skull.
3. Relax Low Back…
How to: With feet now grounded and head on top, allow the lumbar spine at the level of L2 / L3 to move backwards approximately 1-3 inches. Release all tension in the muscles of the low back.
4. Knees are Bent…
How to: Soften and relax the knees without squatting down. Unlock but do not bend the knees. The knee caps should move approximately 1-2 inches forward and soften the back of the knee. Imagine your knees are buoyant springs.
5. Tailbone Points to the Ground…
How to: Slightly rock the pelvis back approximately 10 degrees until the tailbone points towards the ground. Imagine your tailbone is very long and can reach the ground. Let this imaginary tailbone form serve as the third leg of a tripod. Slightly raise the Hui Yin point by gently contracting the muscles of the pubocoxigeal region (a Kegel-exercise).
6. Fold the Kwa…
How to: The “Kwa” refers to the Bilateral Inguinal Creases of the groin region. To fold the Kwa, engage the abdominal muscles and slightly tip the pelvis up at the point of the Pubic Symphysis in order to properly balance the pelvis and lumbar spine. Have a feeling of rolling the thighs slightly inward at the same time and allow yourself to rest more deeply on the imaginary tripod formed by the feet and tailbone (Kangaroo Tail).
7. Sitting but Not Sitting…
How to: While relaxing all the muscles of the feet, legs, pelvis, low back, spine, torso and abdomen, and with tailbone pointing towards the ground, fold the Kwa and change the angle of the pelvis as if in the act of sitting down. Rest in this poised state as if sitting comfortably on your “kangaroo tail.” Flatten the natural lumbar curve by slightly moving the Mingmen area slightly backwards 1-2 inches. Relax and balance the spine, neck, and shoulders. Release all muscle tension in the legs and back as if “sitting but not sitting.”
8. Tongue Touches Upper Palate…
How to: Place the tip of your tongue lightly but firmly against the roof of your mouth at the meeting point of the hard and soft palate.
9. Drop Shoulders…
How to: Using the muscles of the ribcage and torso gently pull down the shoulders and relax all tension in the neck.
10. Go Out In Six Directions…
How to: Imagine your body expanding towards the horizon in all directions: Up, Down, Front, Back, Left, and Right. Feel the expansion of your personal energy moving in all directions to connect with the Blue Sky. Continue moving outwards until the earth feels like a small ball resting in the center of your body (Lower Dan Tian).
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