Blockages, tensions, strength, sinking and dissolving

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone:

I just purchased the energy arts training circle program which was released only last night. I am studying the first month material, and the third video of the standing qigong section talks about sinking vs dissolving.

In particular, Bruce says that we need to be able to identify strength, and tensions as blockages, which we then need to either sink downward or dissolve.

I have been doing standing qigong for two years now and I will admit now that I have absolutely no idea what I have been doing. One reason I say that is that I don’t sense any strength and tensions during my standing practices. Or put another way, I probably have sensed strength and tensions (and other manifestations of blockages), but I didn’t conceptually understand them as such.

My question is this. Can blockages be usually revealed by distracting thoughts that very often comes to me during my standing practices? In another word, if I can’t directly sense what blockages are during my standing, can I at least indirectly get an indications of where the existing blockages are by noticing the emotions and physical responses that I have when distracting thoughts surface to my conscious mind during my practice?

Does my question even make sense?

Please give me some insights.

Charlie

P.S: Many people, such as Mr Taokua, has generously answered many of my questions on this forum. I never responded with thanks because posting messages on here requires approval of the forum moderator, and I didn’t want to add works for them. So I just like to say a quick thanks to everyone who has contributed their insights to my inquiry, as well as to anyone who will do the same in the future.

[Anonymous]

Hi Charlie

Bruce talks about this in audio track 5 of the Tao of Letting Go bonus, around the three minute mark. When I heard him mention something in the track, I thought of this post. Maybe several seconds after the three minute mark.
Let me know if it helps.

Cody

[Anonymous]

Hello Charlie- cheers (thx for comment, as I wonder if what I write on here actually help many, as some posts just fade).. anyway.. as Cody mentioned, the Tao of Letting go audios (the lot of them) have some interesting angles that may help (and have many layers– they first being released a while back).
But I wonder from your post-wording if when you are feeling-sensing downwards, are you concretely (ie actually-distinctly) feeling your ‘flesh’ (and what is reacting within it, through it.. and then though associations “could be” related, but rather than as a chain-of-associations, feel a pt on your scalp, and what is happening there..)
at first “start at the top” will be difficult.. as harder to sense feel in scalp-headskin.. but as starting there, more practice (over time), but also think of warm-up in the practice session..

so that by the time you are down to shoulders… along arms, you’ve gotten ‘awake’ a bit.. .. but as a starting pt, if you feel your hand- (you can “look” at it, but that is a crutch just to focus, just feel it, a certain spot, not just hand in general.. even wiggle it a bit.. if you need help, feather-light tap it a bit.. not so much to feel it during that, but once you stop, the nerves are stimulated a bit… and not just feel-notfeel.. but what are flavors the movements going on there..?
(are there any clumps or parts that seem to have an edge in that?) -any sense of contraction or hard-tenseness (vs free and awake fully-alive.. if instead you don’t feel much clearly, but a fog.. that is fine- that is what they practice is for developing, to change that… -but you come able to feel a spot, and what is going on there, like you can feel what the fingers&palm of your hand are feeling and how they are moving… (starting to the top, and then downwards: each different in quality, but each as real and alive.. like finding out there are rooms in your house you didn’t know about- and then once you learn one or more, you see and think of your house in a different way, the floorplan now includes more… and then you get to know what is in each.. and that further enriches and enhances your feeling of the house as a whole- let alone having more room (places to do and store things.. more “space” to breathe and think)… -ie each of those rooms, being being-able-to-feel the spots

That will really change over time (even if it seems it will feel like xyz.. once exper that shift, it might be different)..
— if this sounds familiar, and you have a different question, I regret my misunderstanding… clarify what the confusion might be.. but if this clarifies the level of what “feeling what is going on” at the place/spot at (which is what the sensing, and then sinking from/through, and dissolving of, where that occurs; think of those 3 steps being dependent layering.. to do the 2nd, one is doing the 1st, and to do the 3rd, one is already and still doing the 1st and 2nd).

cheers -I hope this might help whoever reads this (anyone else also experiencing this question of “how can I feel”?)

[Anonymous]

My thoughts –
On your question, “can blockages be revealed by distracting thoughts” –
Well, yes, but they aren’t necessarily specific physical blockages as they are very likely blockages at your emotional and mental levels. These do have direct correspondences on your physical levels, so yes you might be able to get some indication about your phyical tensions from them. But whether that will be useful to you at first depends largely on your facility/experience with intentionally working with these levels. It’s not something that you can “think” about and get the right answer for. This is a much better topic for dealing with via proper meditation techniques – which you can do while standing.

Anyway – I suggest just keeping on keeping on. Give it considered attention and some time.
I spent about 8 years doing nothing but standing practices – at first I was aware of very little but energetic flow (well, and tiredness after a while). Over time, I became painfully aware that my not sensing my body consciously was actually numbness – even though there was noticeable flow happening, even though I had very fine control of my physical musculature. Nothing really happened for me until I got to that point (and I did have to do some fairly deep emotional work to move through this place). Keep at it, keep intending conscious relaxed awareness without forcing anything – at some point, which is different for each person, it all comes together and you do start to feel. You might start feeling your body at some level – usually large external parts grading to smaller internal parts over time. You might start to feel the tensions in your muscles, fascia, blood vessels, nerves, bones. The pathways need to clear before you can have awareness of this. You can become aware of each individual organ, and even start sensing things at a cellular level. And you will do this more easily in some parts of your body than in others – which will just make you more aware of the places you don’t feel. At first I wondered how my teacher – who had spent over 50 years standing every day – could manage to do that. But, it turns out that it’s an endless process, that just gets more worthwhile and interesting over time.

Enjoy
Peter

[Anonymous]

Hello Peter.. I just had to reply as part of what you wrote (copied below) I think is great.. well described and can open possibilities for people- cheers
—-
copied lines
“Over time, I became painfully aware that my not sensing my body consciously was actually numbness – even though there was noticeable flow happening, even though I had very fine control of my physical musculature. Nothing really happened for me until I got to that point (and I did have to do some fairly deep emotional work to move through this place). Keep at it, keep intending conscious relaxed awareness without forcing anything -“
(even if not the specifics, just the sort of what might i reinterpret over time…)

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