Standing alignment

[Anonymous]

Hi Paul. I am having some trouble with my alignment. It seems that if I turn my toes out ever so slightly outwards (even a half of an inch), then my hips will naturally stay tucked through their own accord. Otherwise it feels unnatural and creates overall tension. I have practiced zhan zhuang standing on and off for years but always in a posture that felt more natural to me and this included turning my feet slightly outward. Also, my parents said I was a bit pigeon-toed as a child. Is it ok to work in the comfortable position or should I work through this? As I said, it’s only a VERY slight deviance and may not actually be a deviance but instead could be me turning my toes too far inward when I am thinking that they are straight.

Thanks,
Craig

[Anonymous]

It appears that our instructor may not answer my question. This is not really a question that I should skip over while continuing with my practice. So I would be very interested to hear any of you guys advice on this matter also.

Thanks,
Vin Craig

[Anonymous]

Hi Craig,
I don’t want to presume to know, but Paul’s answer to a post in Week Two “Alignment with Flat Feet” might be applicable for you too…in that you very gradually begin to nudge your body towards the “correct” posture without forcing or pushing it too far each time to avoid tension.
May

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your help May Out of 40 people, you are the only one to respond. That makes you above the norm in my book!

[Anonymous]

Hi Craig, I don’t dip into these forums very often. One reason Paul may not have answered is that many of the senior instructors have been very busy helping Bruce run workshops and retreats, as well as their own teaching activities, and maybe having a holiday. Your question is a good one and I think May’s suggestion definitely helpful. I’m no expert but the tendency to orientate the feet away from parallel can be due alignment issues in a number of individual anatomical areas, or combinations of different areas. You mention your hips, how about your pelvis and lower spine, also knees and ankles, as well as the bones of your feet? Keeping comfortable and not forcing anything are key underpinning themes. Hopefully, Paul or another instructor will chip in,

[Anonymous]

Thanks Colin. The problem is that I already own over $200-$300 worth of energy arts products. Certainly enough to keep me busy. The main reason that I invested in this program is for instructor feedback. However, I see that I made a mistake in this regard and when I realized my error the 30-day money-back offer had already expired. So, I decided to go ahead and work this program. However, I do appreciate your efforts at explaining the matter to me:) Regarding the alignments, I think you may be right about the alignment in other areas. I seem to be having less difficulty now. This may be due to the fact that I had to make other minor adjustments(which may have been unconscious) in order to feel more comfortable. I think the primary consideration here is whether or not we should listen to our bodies and/or to what degree. Although it makes sense to listen to our own unique bodies, it is also possible that we may have developed mis-alignments over the courses of our lives.

Thanks,
Craig

[Anonymous]

Hi Craig, it might be worth asking the EnergyArts team to prompt Paul about your query.

[Anonymous]

Hello Craig, 

Colin is correct in that Paul is an extremely busy schedule, helping many students.  We recommend you contact Paul using the information on his instructor profiile:http://www.energyarts.com/instructors/taichi-qigong/london/paul-cavel.  You are also encouraged to reach out to any of the other Senior Instructors via their profile page to see if they are more avialable to help you out at this time: http://www.energyarts.com/instructors/taichi-qigong/certification/senior-instructors

We hope this helps.  We aim to create the most classroom-like experience possible with distance learning.

Kind Regards,

Energy Arts Team 

[Anonymous]

Ok. Great. Thanks for this information. It may prove helpful to me in the future.

Craig

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to say “thanks”…
No offense to Bruce; but that is the clearest, most effortless explanation of standing qigong. (for me, Bruce’s initial explanation was like someone trying to explain sight to a blind-man. Paul took that to the next step and it’s like I, the metaphorical blind-man, can almost “see”
Really smashed the glass-ceiling for me!

[Anonymous]

Hi Craig, This question comes under the heading of “not forcing your
body”. You don’t want to force your body to create so much tension that
you can’t possibly relax, but also you don’t want to do what is
“natural” because then you don’t release the bound tension in your
body and nothing changes. Therefore the idea is to find your comfortable
position and then encourage your toes to turn in ever-so slightly. Over time
the idea is to bring the feet parallel. If you do this correctly, you will
still be able to tuck your pelvis and release the tension you’ve engaged. If
you go too far, you’ll lock up your body and achieve nothing.

P.S. I monitor questions year-round on my blog and generally only monitor the forum after launches.

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