Openings and Closings Month 1 – Meditation

[Anonymous]

Hi

I just went through the new Openings and Closings for Taoist Meditation video (month 1) and I have a few questions because I want to make sure I practice this correctly the following month.

1. Breathing – I noticed I have a tendency to sync up my breathing with the act of opening and closing. Specifically I close when I breathe out and open when breathing in. This also extends to my non-meditation openings and closings practice (including the intermediate practice of Xing Yi).
Is this ok?
Because at first it was fine but when Bruce asked us to close more than to open and attempt to get to the core through closing more and more it really started to mess with my breathing – I mean if you breathe out more than you breathe in there comes a point where you simply don’t have air to breathe out, not to mention I’m out of oxygen.
So do I keep the openings and closings separate from my breathing? If so, do you have any tips, because it seems pretty hard to do.

2. Breathing again – Second question on breathing that I have is that I noticed when I breathe out there comes a point (in the second half of breathing out) where some parts of my body twitches, like tiny little spams, maybe in the ear, or the eyebrows, or in other parts of the body. It’s not painful or anything, but it does causes some discomfort and interrupts my meditation or rather my focus.
I feel like a solution would be not to breathe out as much – referring to Bruce’s advice from his Taoist Breathing program to breathe only about 70% of the full capacity – maybe I’m going over so weird things are happening? But if I try to do that then at some point I feel like I have too much old air in my lungs and I’m not getting as much of new air, in other words I’m not getting as much oxygen.
This is a long term issue I’ve been experiencing with any kind of deep breathing or meditation.

3. Final question is about the difference between Tao of Letting Go meditation and this Openings and Closings meditation. The Water method – if I understand correctly – seems to be about finding “stuck” points or blockages and then staying with them and going deeper and deeper into them, sort of following the energy of it all the way to the center and allow it to dissolve. While O&C meditation seems to stay on the surface level (at least this first month) and kind of pulsating.
My question is, how does the O&C approach fit into the original Water method? Will we integrate those as we go through the program or am I missing something?

Hate to be a bother but I just want to practice correctly.
Thanks a lot!

All the best
Peter

[Anonymous]

hello Peter, I hope your practicing is going well (just figured I’d respond here, as decided to post on this forum elsewhere.. as I’ve decided to post much-less than I did in the past, but even after holding back on your questions- I still feel a need-drive to present one view):
first, the last, question you raise- Kai-He (opening&closing) vs sung (let-go vs outer-dissolving, vs inner-dissolving.. not even including “sinking&lengthening.. each of these are all different.. and extend and enhance the others)..

I’d briefly state that my experience is that both Opening-Closing and water-method let-go and not quite what you might think they are (both are much more than that.. and it isn’t a right-wrong, want to be sure i got it, assumes that a single understanding will get it “correct”- and then do it that way (as what they become, quite quickly, let alone over time, involves aspects that most-people haven’t experienced nor can sense.. in the beginning.. it is a discovery and expansion: finer-distinctions, and smaller-diffs).

(so one key, might-be- just one view- not to think it is, or isn’t X-way.. nor to think its vague.. the instructions step you through …

(someone that finishes the 12 months will have a different view from a person that is new to this.. and someone that has been doing pulsing for many-years will have a different view ‘the first month’ even than someone that finishes the course…

(any agree or disagree?)

-the sense of the egate activating, I found, (and continue to find/revised) is not what you think it might be, and the sense of flow is like, oh… is that what it could be..? (and then a bit later… again…)

---

Then in reference to breathing… I’d state that confusing breathing with pulsing is a big glass ceiling (references in the TaiChi Classics- mind on the breath.. let alone mind “on” the chi… result in congestion, etc.) or in other words, if you can’t “hold your breath” or do the pulsation out of synch with the breathing.. then you can’t be sure you are only feeling the movement of the body (in abs as if in a wave through the limbs, or even transferring that feeling (try it- focus on the feeling of breath in&out, and focusing/feeling that also pay attention to some joint-area..
your mind will sort of combine those two sensations… and it will seem there is motion there?

-and ref. the first pt above, its not so much a push-pull of the bones that is pulsing, but pulsing can result in that push-pull movement of bones.. but it isn’t it its-self… but Follow Bruce’s progression to step-you there… -I only mention this now, in case the separation and distinction can help some blurring together for some reading, there is this modern-pop-culture tendency to say, “so basically it is really all only ___ xyz.” and then limit one’s exper down to that.. vs experience and discover.. and then again..

---

plus if you do taoist breathing.. and your breath is the same as a pulsing.. one can do pulsing quicker 4-5 seconds open-close (is one breathing that quickly?) or longer pulsing 30-40 secs.. (which is where breath can develop, espec if you have worked via Tao of Letting-go or the breathing course).. but again, pulsing is a sort of presence (not just teh push-pull which is usually manipulating the small-muscles around the joint, or flexing say the palm one-way then the other.. vs changing what is going on in that ‘pocket’/cavity/capsule (start with what is simple, and then move one- slowly- to what is harder.. and what you practice, ___).

luck

[Anonymous]

Hi Peter

My answer to your questions are;

Q1. You try to energize the movement by linking to conscious breathing but when the movement gets complicate you realize that it is not natural and, as you said, you have mess up the practice. Generally qigong is done without paying attention to the breathing unless the teacher added it in for better effect.
I think the open close practice is done without paying attention to breathing and there is no necessity to do so.
We get confused or distracted in breathing, whereas the only purpose of this first lesson is to know how to open and close in a very clear manner.
Q2. Breathing out more is more relaxing and breathing in longer or more is more energizing or more yang.
We normally breathe evenly on the in and out breathe. Do not pause or control breathe and the breathing should be as natural without trying to force it.This is the way to breath in qigong or in meditation. Other ways of breathing is for a specific purpose and should not be use anyhow. In other words don’t try them unless you have a reason to try them.
Bruce taught the Taoist breathing and the goal to slowly bring the breathe to be slow and long. Not exactly deep breathing as to keep charging the body with oxygen because we will then be hyperventilated. He did stress the need to increase slowly without feeling any force at all.
Slow breathing is the goal for Taoist breathing because slow breathing correspond to a clear and calm mind.
The breathe is connected to qi and mind and there are many meditation styles which talks about difference ways of breathing as it has a very dramatic effect on the mind. The best form is to let the breathe be natural and just concentrated on stilling the mind which is more or less the water method. A fire method might want to try and stop breathing to quickly bring the mind to a stand still but then sometimes a person can have a false sense of stillness or even worse as to develop psychic problem.
Breathing is a very natural thing and we should leave breathing alone while doing qigong and meditation.
Bruce taught the Taoist breathing as an art in itself because the benefit is great and the method is easy to follow and safe.
Q3. It is the first month and I am still exploring the lessons so my thinking might not be accurate. I guess the O/C meditate is the same as the Tao of letting go which is also about inner dissolving.Everything about inner dissolving can be taught in a few paragraph but we are not so healthy mentally as to be able to understand or to put the teaching into practice easily. The book and CD for Tao of letting go is not enough for us and I believe Bruce have a more effective ways of teaching through this training circle. Letting go and inner dissolving is a very profound topic which is most beneficial for the mind and body.
Taoist water method is a way of doing things especially in meditation characterize by being gentle, not forcing issue, and being more yin and is consider more effective by the practitioner.The fire school preferred things done quickly, force the way through any problem etc.We want to know the Water method mainly to distinguish from the other Taoist school which is the fire method.
Everything Bruce taught is the water method and there is not much need for us to try to ascertain whether we are following the water tradition, unless someone is questioning the authenticity of our method.
I hope my quick answer is relevant and we can share ideas.

[Anonymous]

Hi Peter and Taokua and Daniel,

Q1: IMO breathing is all-important;
it is life itself.

Q2: How to breathe is all-important;
it is your basic personal practice.

Q3: I know nothing about Taoist breathing practices.

We start life by inhaling.
We end life by exhaling.

Bruce courageously deals with breathing;
most teachers defer.
(William C C Chen is one of the few Tai Chi teachers who deals with breathing patterns during movements.
His method can be associated with inhaling when opening—go figure.)

I address breathing even with beginners.
Sure it’s confusing;
life is confusing.
There are so many inconsistencies.
Ocassionally people catch Bruce in an inconsistency;
the Energy Arts Team can only shrug them off.

(Inhaling physiologically constricts blood vessels, is associated with the Sympathetic Nervous System and usually accompanies closing,
but sometimes oxygen and carbon dioxide and alpha receptors and adrenaline cause opposite effects—go figure.)

I pay attention to breathing while doing meditation (Zen Buddhist Zazen), while doing Qigong (especially D&T), during Tai Chi (with each of the 108 plus Movements of the Yang Style Long Form), and during Bagua.

Hopelessly confusing?
Have patience; listen to your feelings;
Trial and error.
Don’t want to reinvent the wheel?
But you yourself are an unique invention;
try to figure yourself out yourself.

Don’t listen to me.

cheers

[Anonymous]

Hi Robert,
You have offer a perspective that I think is well considered and you can say I agree with everything you said,or I understand what you said.
It is definitely confusing because we get a mixture of knowledge and tradition from different school who don;t do the same thing in similar ways and on top of that they are all secretive and don;t like to expose too much of themselves, things becomes illogical to outsider.
We are and can not help but being aware of breathing in qigong and meditation and the understanding for us not to use breathing as centre of attentioin and to be distracted by the breathing function. Breathing might not be taught in many situation but we are expected to be able to breathe naturally and correctly in those situations.
I believe Bruce will not be inconsistence at all. He is an expert and the art is probably second nature to him already. What we see may be what we don’t understand or something that he cannot show us in a limited time or situation
Thanks for more ideas to chew on.

[Anonymous]

Hi Robert,
You have offer a perspective that I think is well considered and you can say I agree with everything you said,or I understand what you said.
It is definitely confusing because we get a mixture of knowledge and tradition from different school who don;t do the same thing in similar ways and on top of that they are all secretive and don;t like to expose too much of themselves, things becomes illogical to outsider.
We are and can not help but being aware of breathing in qigong and meditation and the understanding for us not to use breathing as centre of attentioin and to be distracted by the breathing function. Breathing might not be taught in many situation but we are expected to be able to breathe naturally and correctly in those situations.
I believe Bruce will not be inconsistence at all. He is an expert and the art is probably second nature to him already. What we see may be what we don’t understand or something that he cannot show us in a limited time or situation
Thanks for more ideas to chew on.

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

thanks a lot for the tips.
I’ll see how I can incorporate this into my practice and figure out what brings in the best results and take it from there.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my questions!
Happy practice
Peter

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