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Just wondering about the topic of how to relax your body, and how it is done in Bruce’s water method.
Is the process of outer dissolving / expansion all that is required to fully relax the physical body or is there more to it?
Huge topic, Cameron. But in a sense, yes, all you have to do is relax.
Outer dissolving is a piece of it, but Bruce explains in more detail in the new edition of Energy Gates how sinking your chi is the key to physical relaxation (and then strength over time). It’s worth noting that this is a practice unto itself, not just a stop along the way to dissolving.
What did you mean by “expansion” in your post?
Does outer dissolving allow your chi to sink or is it merely a pre-requisite?
What I meant by expansion is more of an overall expansion or an expansion of a certain area. From my own training I feel a lot more relaxed if I just think of everything expanding out. In particular I have quite bad tension in my shoulders and it helps to expand them outwards.
I’ve been doing internal stuff for a bit over a year and a half now and although I’m progressing I still feel like I’m missing something quite fundamental with the relaxation.
Perhaps you could post a bit of a checklist of points to go over that would be suitable for someone at my level? I pretty much just get my alignments, raise my spine, then expand or create space outwards in the hope that my energy will drop and I’ll relax.
Hey Cameron,
You can practice sinking and dissolving separately, but being able to sink is kind of a prerequisite to be able to dissolve well. Not the other way around.
What you’ve described as expansion is a good start. To give it the real sinking feel, as you expand, see if you can feel into your tissues, letting your awareness, and then the actual fluids in the body, soak into the expanded space.
Again, the Energy Gates book has some great and clear explanations of how to do this. I would argue that it’s the most important qigong book you can read, especially with respect to the questions you’re curious about at this stage: http://dankleiman.com/2011/10/31/opening-the-energy-gates-by-bruce-frantzis-is-the-most-important-qigong-book-to-have-in-your-library/
Every time I return to Energy Gates, in my own practice or in classes I’m teaching, I go back to the template in the book. Think of the process of working through each section of your body (the book has a good six-month practice plan) as a form just like any other Tai Chi or Qigong form. You can always go deeper into it each time you repeat it.
Hope that helps,
D
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