Something I've found is that  my health, vitality and general well being is determined, for better or worse by my own actions. The things I do on a day to day basis; how well I sleep, breathe, eat and interact with people, and of course my personal Qi practice, regulate my performance level.

Obviously accidents and traumas can, and do occur in life, and a trip to the Doctor or help from someone else may be  necessary, but what I am describing is an attitude, one of regular positive actions to improve my well being, instead of having the expectation that someone or something will sort out any problems on my behalf, or having the assumption that good health and stable emotions will just continue onwards with no intervention or help from myself.

I take actions that raise energy, not deplete it, reduce, not increase stress and improve my physical, emotional and mental performance. 

• Something to consider is that a person's happiness is, to a large degree, linked to the physical state of their body.
  
• What sort of a day do you have when you have pain in your body?
  
• How are your emotions affected by lack of sleep, or by physical limitations?
  

Do you really want to leave these things to chance?

I've had some good Qigong practise this week and the level of 'background noise' from my body and mind seems to have dropped a notch.

Recently, for the 2-3 hours following my Qigong sessions this week I've become aware of 'spikes'in my emotional energy.

These literally take the form of a mini anxiety attack, a clenching of the nervous system, often lasting just a second or two, although there is no cause apparent to me and up until the last week or so I had no idea that it was even happening.

Still it is obvious to me now, and the good news is that being aware of this gives my the chance to smooth my emotions before my nervous system gets away from me, and eventually in time, to get to the root of the issue.

And that is the point. You need to have some level of personal awareness of what's going on with your body and energy before you can make improvements. If for instance,someone tells me that I'm holding tension in part of myself, leaning this way or that or perhaps my breath is interrupted, and I hadn't the faintest idea that this was even happening, before fixing the problem I have got to feel what is going on in myself for myself.

As my perceptions improve, a few weeks later I'll be asking myself, 'How did I ever miss that', as what was once a subtle or imperceptible sensation becomes gross and obvious.

So, on to the next thing...

For those who don't know, standing Qigong is a training method of holding a specific posture for a length of time. Well known postures in Chinese Martial arts include San Ti and the I Chuan postures in Hsing I, and various postures in any Tai chi form (single whip is a common posture to practise). Each posture improves  physical alignments within the body, and improves energy flows and connections throughout the body.

The main reasons that I invest much of my practice time on standing Qigong are as follows:

Standing gives you awareness of your body and Qi. 
Being able be feel exactly what is going on in and around your body is a prerequisite for making improvements. A teacher can show you something, but until you can feel it happening in your own body then its just interesting information (having the plans to build a house does not mean that you are capable of building it).  

Standing Qigong gets fast results
When you're standing still there is nothing to distract you from what you need to work on. Your weaknesses are laid out on the table in front of you and you've just got to deal with them. This allows you to build a strong foundation from which to progress into moving forms (Tai Chi etc.). If you just focus on physical movements, it generally takes alot more time to build strong connections within your body, it is actually more time efficient to do this standing than moving.

You can practise Standing Qigong anywhere
I prefer to practise outside whenever possible. However, for several months of the year there is little or no daylight outside of my work hours. Being able to still do my practise inside when its dark, cold or raining helps me to keep up a regular practice.

The Qualities you gain whilst Standing are transferable
Whether you train one standing posture or another, the skills you gain can be used anywhere in your life; any Martial Art, internal or external will be improved, sports you practise, your health and strength will improve, and your concentration. 
Your Breath can also be trained while doing Standing Qigong, and there is nothing you can do whilst alive that will not benefit from better breathing, including all forms of movement arts, sports, studying and mental work, Meditation, Sex and of course sleeping.

If there's one thing I've found is key to improving your Tai Chi, Martial arts, Meditation etc.,  it's the cumulative affect of consistent, regular practice.

However, I have personally encountered several obstacles in achieving this myself so I'd like to share some thoughts on how you can do this. This is not meant as an exhaustive list or definitive approach, I hope that you may save some time and effort by considering this area earlier, rather than later in your own development.

Firstly, have a think about what you want to achieve from your Art. Is it a social hobby for you? Do you wish to be healthy into old age, be able to defend yourself in any and all circumstances, release some daily stress, maintain complete peace of mind?

Now, how important are these things to you? How much time do you actually have in your life to put towards this challenge? What time in your life is flexible, and what is not?

Does this balance? If you are set on attaining complete physical, energetic, mental and emotional balance, but you have 20 mins a day free, then think again. Find a short term goal that's more realistic, and as you improve and your priorities change, you may find that by making some adjustments you can set your sights higher.

Here are some of the 'tricks' I use to keep myself practising regularly and well.
1. Get a good night's sleep. If you are well rested, quality goes up and its easier to motivate yourself.

2. Keep a training diary. This has to do with being honest with yourself. How consistent are you? really! A quick flick through the last week or two may help you spot trends and find ways to improve on things.

3. Something is better than nothing.  You might think 5 mins practice has no value, but even that much helps keep you in the habit.

4. Watch out for binge training. If you overdo it in a session, it may take a while to recover. This is especially important if you engage in Internal martial arts / meditation type training.

5. I aim for 2 sessions a day. I'll tell you now that it doesn't always happen. My reasoning is that if one of my young children is up at 3am the morning session just isn't going to happen that day, or if they won't go to sleep in the evening, same applies, but I allow myself room for adjustment .

6. Plan to be flexible. Everyone has commitments in their life (in my case, my family), work etc. Have a selection of things you could work on in any given session that are appropriate for the amount of time available. For example: If I only have 20 mins free before getting ready for work, I'll work on a single I Chuan standing posture, if I have a hour I'll go for some Tai Chi, followed by 15 - 20 mins SAN TI on each leg. 2-3 minutes tea break at work, Cloud Hands and some swings, or maybe Pi Chuan (hsing I). The point is I have several session plans for varying time slots that are not just random practice, but contribute to my goals. 

7. Look out for opportunities. Waiting for a bus? Focus on some discreet breathing exercises. The kids are out? Time for some weapons training without worrying about giving them a short haircut. Consider what you can do in breaks at work too.

8. Become aware of distraction. Try to spot what distracts you from your exercise and how it happens. Keeping a diary can be useful for this. Do you start reading a book, surfing the net, talking to someone and before you know it the window of opportunity for training has gone? 
In my case I noticed that I rarely get distracted if I am not tired, but when fatigued I 'avoid' a session without realising, getting engaged in other trivial distractions. Now I'm aware of this process, my strategy is to notice, then do a short 20 min practice and get a good night's sleep, the focus being on addressing the issue of tiredness and maintain quality of practice above quantity.

9. Set sensible goals for your training, over a range of time frames. For example, one of my general goals is releasing tension (physical, energetic, nervous, emotional) from my body, in a given session after a period of settling into my practice I may focus on a particular connection or blockage within my body as a short term goal.

10. Enjoy, and don't force it. As positive habits form, it does get easier!

Just some ideas, these are not intended as commandments or as the only approach. If something works for you, let me know. I'll say more about my personal practice in later posts.
Chris.


 

It all happened pretty quickly. I had no knowledge of martial arts other than a dated book that I once read from the local library. Around my 20th Birthday I competed in a Canoe marathon, it went badly and I retired from the race. On returning home, feeling pretty pissed off, I encountered a friend who also did canoeing. 

I had a vague idea that he did Karate or something like that, so I just asked, 'did he do Karate?' He said yes, and that he was going to class in ten minutes. And that was that. I dropped my Canoeing gear, jumped in his car and did my first session of Shotokai Karate, which I trained for the next four years.

It was a little bit surreal, as before that instant I had no intention of taking up a martial art, plus this was way out of character for me... diving into something new on the spur of the moment was just not something I did. It just seemed like the right thing to do at that moment. 

Looking back 18 years later I'd say it was the right decision, a real now or never, path changing moment. Another few minutes and I'd have got over my crappy day and put my focus elsewhere.