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Eventually, to achieve maximum potential, you must have really accurate alignments. Generally, if you lose your relaxation, it shows that you are engaging deeper tensions in the body.
That said there are two possibilities:
1. If you can achieve the correct alignment without forcing your body, without pain or any problems whatsoever, then it’s okay to continue and slowly release the tension out of the body, and regain your relaxation and energy flows.
2. If, however, gaining the correct alignment requires excessive force or shuts down the body in some way, then it is better to slowly work into the correct alignment over time and with copious practice. So, initially, your alignments may not be completely accurate, but you keep working toward it (within your 70%, or less if you have some sort of injury).
Some days you may feel that obtaining the correct alignments causes too much tension, so you would use option #2 regardless of yesterday’s practice results. Other days, it may take less effort to maintain the correct alignments, so option #1 is okay. Always feel your body before engaging in your practice, so you are aware of what the correct method will be for that particular session.
Hope this is helpful!
Paul Cavel
(Senior Instructor)
Hi Paul, a coincidence, i literally just finished watching videos on your youtube channel. I am glad that i listened to some people and did try to edge myself a little more out of the comfort zone because a week ago i was completely on option 2, but in the last couple of days things are getting a little easier and more comfortable each time. So hopefully i’ll be at option 1 before too long. I really appreciate your time in giving advice. That goes for everyone.
Patrick
Yes, in my experience the alignments were a bit unnatural at first. But basically I’d try to get into the posture, then relax into it.
But then I noticed that the reverse started to happen- as I relaxed my body, relaxed my muscles, let my joints expand, I would naturally start to get into the alignment position. As I relaxed my legs and lower back, my tailbone would naturally tuck in a bit. It was really quite something.
So I’d say just basically try to relax, and move into the position as approximately as you can. But rather than move yourself into it, then relax, relax and ALLOW yourself to move into the position.
As always, enjoy practice!
Roland, you were absolutely right. It creates itself once i let go and open all the joints at the same time slowly. You know i used this very same technique when i had been doing wu chi for a couple of months and that’s when the magic started happening. Im glad you reminded me of that, i don’t know why i didn’t trust myself enough to do that the first time. Much appreciation.
Patrick
hey
ive been working with the EA stuff for about 8 years now, here’s what i’v’e noticed regarding alignments
1. I have really bad alignments, borderline scoliosis. Compounding this was several accidents and general overuse and forcing. although I could make a posture look reasonably ok, alignments were a long term goal for me, not a first step.
2. today, id say my alignment is about 70% better, and deeper and deeper realignments are happening. im really pleased with my progress. But if I am honest in my posture today, it’s still not going to look correct, and it’s not. I had to get comfortable with the idea it wasn’t just going to get “fixed” anytime soon.
3. I mainly approached it from a; feel what MY best alignments are, and go from there. There is a Goldilocks point kinda thing going on here, and you can feel it. or you could say, focus on process. Not how do you do alignments right, but better?
4. I relate it to truing a bicycle wheel. if it’s close, the truing is fairly straightforward. but if it’s really out, you have to do a lot of fundamental balancing, where the wheel doesn’t really get straighter for a while, but if you don’t do it, you will NEVER get it really right.
5. in the big picture, you are trying to develop relaxation and awareness. If you don’t get that, the best alignments won’t do much for you, and if you do, you will be able to make good progress in alignments, and all other aspects of this work.
6. I find standing practice is much more productive after im really warmed up and my energy is moving well. I noticed that I wouldn’t get much done when I was feeling stagnant or stuck. . For me, lots of moving between standing sessions makes a lot of difference.
7. I also found that I got a lot more out of my practice when I took it back to my daily life. A lot of daily life wrecks our relaxation and balance, so by taking time in the workday, or even multi-task a little, seek some balance while your doing something else, really helped me progress, and I also got more relaxed and balanced in the tasks I am doing. man, am I ever balanced when I brush my teeth!
anyway, just my experience, hope it can help.
Richard, that was a great post, thank you. I too bring it in to my daiily life. In fact, 4 out of 7 days of the week im doing the standing practice in my cubicle! Just like tonight for instance. I can appreciate your experience, and thank you for bringing up a point i should have been more clear about. When i use the terms “correct” or “right” in regards to my practice and alignments they by no means meant to be the absolute right or correct. I understand that this is a life long process. So when i say correct i mean as close as i am able, or at my fullest potential. On another note, i just wanted to mention that last night’s session was awesome, and tonight’s was awful. I understand that this comes with the territory. DIfferent sensations came about pretty strongly that i wasn’t very comfortable with. At first it was frustrating but after a little while i decided to see it as progress, maybe something new is developing or opening up.
Patrick
Hi All,
Just a question of terminology. You mention the “WuChi” position. Am I correct in infering that this is the basic standing position that Bruce describes for standing dissolving in “Opening the Energy Gates of the Body” ?
In my experience of working on standing alignments on my own for several years (ie, learning them from a certified instructor but without feedback ater that), here are some different types of sensations I can get when standing :
1) feelings of conscious tension : Getting into position for standing, I can identify many places that are tense. Getting into the alignments helps release and relax those tensions.
2) feelings of energy not flowing, like a deadness or a numbness , or of either dryness or muddiness (actually it’s quite hard to convey verbally, but I guess you all will eel waht I mean…) Generally such feelings are ascociated with some alignment that I haven’t corrected yet. Those feelings usually act as reminders for alignments that I have forgotten, or are a sign that I’m on the verge of finding some new better way to align or loosen some part of my body I hadn’t been conscious of before. I tend to think of those feelings as signs of tensions not yet consciously identified.
3) feelings of “weird” : Those are the eelings that I often get when getting into a new alignment that’s quite different from my habitual body position. It’s neither tension nor pain. It’s the sense that things are in an unusual position. Getting that “weird” feeling while at the same time feeling relaxed and comfortable and flowing, is ususally a good sign for me.
4) feelings of going too far : ie trying too rigidly to get into proper alignments without doing the necessary previous work o relaxation. That’s when I go beyond the 70 % rule. Identifying this specific feeling by mysel took me years of solo practice. My practice of Energy Gates Chi Gung has radically improved since becoming aware o that specific type of body sensation.
There may be more different types of sensations, but I haven’t become conscious of them yet…
So for me it’s not just a matter of going for alignments OR going for relaxation. The internal ecology in there seems much richer than that. Then again, I’m just a solo practitioner without a qualified instructor readily at hand to correct me…
What is you guys’ take on this subject of internal sensations ?
Erwan, yes that is the position that i refer to as Wuchi. And i can relate to some of the sensations you mention.
A quick (another) question for those who know…
When i open the body and the appendages i fill up, and this makes standing a very enjoyable experience. At the same time, the alignments begin to manifest a bit closer to what they should be. However i notice that the filling sensation wants to stay mostly (the most concentrated) in the torso. If i get the alignments closest to correct, that sensation stays lower in the legs but it’s not as deep and more of a surface thing. WIll that energy eventually go down on its own after the alignments come through, or is it a matter of harnessing the intention?
Patrick
I hate to keep drilling this topic but i just had a wondeful thing happen. I erased my mind a little and just opened the body without giving any thought to alignment at all. Once i got filled i decided to try a little cloud hands just to do something different than wuchi. As i was attempting to shift the energy from side to side and down through each kua and leg to root i noticed that there were a few opints along the way that were gapped and i wasn’t getting a root. Then i dropped the sacrum through the hip and kua straight down through the leg and into the foot, and a split second afterward my spine straightened which lead to my crown lifting and i was immediately rooted. THe alignment felt great, and i hate to state the obvious but these instructions and points are made for a reason, this really was the best way to become rooted and united. I know it’s one of those “duh” statements but it’s just exciting when something happens like that.
PatrickPS. SOrry, i’ll drop it now.
Mistaken posting, clicked wrong buttons, sorry.
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