Grounding

[Anonymous]

Hello All,
First of all thanks for taking time to read my post.
I am at month 4 for meditation circle, I have tried to do the exercise routinely. I do 8hours job mostly standing and some walking, and when i come home try to do meditation while standing, I find i am drained of energy so i do sitting meditation. My question is that is it possible to do grounding practice while standing at work with steel toe shoes on. And is there a method to have your blood circulate from toes to heart.

Thanks in advance for any thoughtful input

[Anonymous]

Hi, jay. There are a number of standing practices that might help. I think the issue will be how to remain mindful of your work while doing a standing practice. I can’t help with that, though perhaps a senior instructor could. The I-chuan standing practices are very powerful and you might want to check those out. About the blood circulation, I’ve heard Bruce speak about this a number of times, but I’m not adept enough at this to communicate the practice to you. Again, it’s something a senior instructor might help with. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jay,

In addition really enjoying nei gung practices, I also own a power washing company. This means that like you, I find myself doing a lot of standing, walking, and overhead work. I used to wear steel toes, but have traded them in for lighter footwear (unless I’m doing something where I need the extra protection).

I’m not sure what you may have in your personal nei gung “toolbox” (what other practices you may be familiar with besides meditation), but here are some ways you can integrate some “micro practice” into your work day. If you’re familiar with the side to side shifting exercises from Energy Gates, you can do them very small when you’re standing in one place. Get 100% percent onto one leg, then shift 100% to the other. Keep your hips relaxed and level (don’t cock the hip up when shifting left or right), and let your legs have the sensation of being long and falling out of the socket, particularly the un-weighted leg. Be sure the back of your knees are open and that your ankles have some space. Really let your foot relax and squish when you shift your weight. Basically, you’re trying to get a sense of “pumping” the blood up and down your legs.

Of course if you’re at work, your legs are probably only about hip width when you’re doing the shifting, and it will be more or less unnoticeable to others, which allows you to stay inconspicuous. Another thing you can try that may be even less noticeable while standing, is to rock your weight very gently from the balls of your feet to the heels in a very fluid circular fashion. When you stimulate the ball of your foot, it causes energy to rise in the body. When you stimulate the heel it causes energy to fall in the body. Doing this rocking can help break up the stagnation of having to stand for a long period of time. If you wanted to expand on this, a few repetitions of the walking in place technique from Dragon and Tiger Qigong – Movement #1 can help get the blood pumping.

When moving around, just generally try to let your feet and ankles “squish” and then open when you’re walking around. It’s kinda like walking around in a couple inches of mud, the sensation of squishing and suction, only you feel it inside of your ankle and foot instead of your shoe. It also may seem like a no brainer, but be sure your shoes aren’t too small or laced too tight.

However you manage to get it open and moving, one area you want to be particularly aware of when moving or standing is the space on either side of your Achilles tendon on both feet. If you pinch your thumb and index finger just above your heel, and wrap around your Achilles tendon into the little hollow just behind the two bones of your ankle, you’ll be in the right spot. There’s a big mother of a vein that runs up the back of your leg from here, and getting this area pumping with help get blood moving through your foot and back up your legs to your heart.

There’s plenty of other stuff too, but those are a few things specifically for the feet.

Have Fun!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Matthew Nicholl and Paul Pallante for taking time out to reply to my request. Information is very helpful i will do these exercises now. I have read Bruce’s Opening the energy gates book, I will follow the instructions more routinely.

One more question that bothers me, for meditation circle exercises,ie scanning the body parts, is it safe to do it while lying down.
Thanks again for your time .

[Anonymous]

Hi Jay, I think the issue with practicing meditation while lying down is not whether or not it’s “safe” – it’s more about whether or not it’s useful. Bruce mentions in the Taoist meditation books that out of the five modes of meditation practice (standing, sitting, moving, sexual/partner practices, lying down), lying down is the most difficult particularly because of the tendency to fall asleep – this contradicts one of the main purposes of meditation which is to continually develop awareness. Also, it’s generally more difficult to maintain proper body alignments while lying down. I would recommend sometimes practicing Longevity Breathing while lying down – sometimes an area that isn’t working well while sitting or standing will come online while the effect of gravity is less.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Donald Myers for your time and input.

I will focus on doing meditation while sitting down. I usually do abdominal breathing while lying down.

Thanks everyone for your time.

[Author]

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