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Hi,
I am a newcomer to qigong and took the 5-keys course, an excellent course. Being long in the tooth, I have behind me a life time of walking with outward pointing toes. When I stand with the feet parallel, my knees feel slightly twisted, and when I put my feet into a “V” that feeling lessens/goes away. Should I go with the alignment that probably resulted from decades of walking in that way, or do you advise to diminish/abolish (gradually) the “V” with the thought that the skeleton would, over time, revert? What is the functional implication of standing with the toes pointing outward?Thanks much, Chris H.
hi chris
actually taught a class today on this.
when the toes point outward, there is a tendency for the chi of the body to rise, one of the functions of the toes forward position is it allows the hips and legs to be in a posture that encourages your energy to sink.that said, you want your practice to be comfortable and safe, so you don’t want to force your feet into a place where they hurt. this stuff is supposed to help you tb be more comfortable and relaxed.
so a suggestion would be to try and bring your toes forward a bit, but a comfortable bit, and as you practice over time, let it gradually get closer and closer to the optimal.
a lot of the toes out position is actually coming from the kua and hip area, so doing the cloud hands movement is great for loosening up that area, which will help you with your toe position as well.
hope this helps
richard
Hello Chris, to follow upon the advice from Richard… I’ve seen this, and in some (not all, in some it is habit-posture) but in some this is facial-banding (especially the later just under the skin, but also throughout the musbles), like having saranwrap/”clingfilm” plastic shrink-wrap not only binding your body (from just below diaphram- around lower back and then wrapping around the outsides of legs back to front..) not just binding, but pulling on it. [like having multiple layers of clothing. and a thin shirt between some sweaters that is “twisted” how that feels all stuck, until you kind of shift it till the clothing-layers are all “lined up”. so gradual release..
In short, I’ve felt individuals that have a stance like what you wrote, where it felt like there was a layer of stretch rubber from their foot up the ouside-side of their leg, wrapped to the lower-back/coccyx, that was tight and pulled.. thus tugged the feet to turn out- V.. if just “point toes straight- feel that stretch (and destabilized the lower back/pelvis-rear and spine, thus affected breathing. etc…)
So how deal, as Richard mentions 70%, and the general ChiGung (of Bruce’s system- as other ChiGung and other PhyEd, says you want/need “the stretch- pain for gain, etc.”.. but EnergyArts implies that as you train, you become.. train a soothing, release of the nerves.. and get that feel… train to let go and stretch “While staying Tense”.. you will stretch over time, but you’l l be practiced at keeping that rev…) but the general aspect of this Neigung is making the Body Conscious and more alive and free.. so it, by itself adjusts over time…Your question could be, what is the highest leverage practice in your current sit- which would be tricky without a long-term practitioner sensing your condition… but the biggest key could be your comment :
>>> the alignment that probably resulted from decades of walking in that way<<<
recognize that doing Neigung practice that changes this, is going to affect “the way you walk” (which is a deep, autonomic pattern).. and the key is when you startto walk differently, that this will have more affect.. [but the trick is imagining what a released system will feel like, won’t make sense- its not a different kind of tight- not standing feet on “traintracks” with that feeling of tightness changed, nor it is losing that stability and being loose. Is it becoming integrated in a different phy way.] I hope the above may add something. luck
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