Movement as Meditation

Using your Exercise Program to Find Inner Quiet

 

By Justin Casteel

 

               Movement can be as good for us psychologically and emotionally as it is for us physically.  Movement can, if practiced the right way, can be an exercise in mindfulness.  Have you heard about mindfulness?  No?  Well let’s look at it together, to see what it is and why it can be so good.

               So have you ever had those nights where you can’t sleep because your mind keeps running over and over problems, to-do lists, worries?  Well, a mindfulness practitioner would tell you that it’s because your mind is trapped in the future or the past, and not right here and now.  Think about it- having those sort of distractions is either fretting about something that happened, yesterday or 10 years ago, or worrying about what will happen tomorrow or sometime in the future.  It’s good to plan ahead, and it’s good to learn your lessons from mistakes, but I think you might agree that it’s not good to be trapped by them, or to let those thoughts run rampant and interrupt something as important as sleep.

               Now, I am not a therapist but I do believe in the power of mindfulness, of being able to recognize the results of that sort of stress and to have a toolkit to help mitigate its ill effects.  There is a direct physiological reaction to emotional states, and vice versa.  We feel and store stress physically as tension, stuck breathing, or clenched teeth.  If you clench your teeth, hold your breath and hold your fists tightly, chances are you won’t feel very good.  If, on the other hand, you pause and close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and consciously relax the muscles of your face, you will probably feel better almost immediately.  This is where movement and mindfulness meet.

               Mindfulness in this context means paying attention, without judgement, to what you are feeling.  Focus on the movements that you are doing and ask yourself: “does this feel right? What is my breath doing?  What movement am I going to do next?”  Even these simple questions, simply paying attention and observing what you feel and how it feels really brings you in to the present moment.  Movement has become meditation.  You are focused on here and now, not on what will happen tomorrow, not on what happened yesterday.  And that can feel pretty good.  Try it some time!  It’s very simple, but profound in its simplicity.

Meditations on Movement

Looking at Moving with New Eyes

 

By Justin Casteel

 

According to Dictionary.com, meditation is defined as “continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation”.  So, let us have a meditation now, an extended thought, a careful contemplation, on movement.  First of all, I’d like to ask: do you take movement for granted?  Movement is a miracle!  The process of life, from gestation to birth, is a process of growth.  In the embryo, cells are added, tissues divide, specialize, fold in on themselves, and re-arrange.  But there is movement there.  Testing its environment, the baby moves its arms and legs.  After birth, the process of exploration continues- eyes moving, discovering hands and feet, testing the senses and the powers of perception.  A lot of the learning in this early stage is through the kinesthetic sense- through movement!

Why do we stop appreciating the miracle of motion?  We all know we need exercise, sure, but doesn’t it feel good just to move around?  To go on a walk, long or short, not for “exercise” per say, but just to enjoy the outside and get fresh air.  Movement feels good.  Movement is the process of exploration, the process of change, the process of growth.  I believe the saying “If you rest, you rust.”  Change is the order of the world- the change of seasons, the changing of the tides, and the change within us.  The body naturally has a process whereby it wants to stay the same, homeostasis, so in order to change it needs to be challenged.

Sometimes what happens is we stop testing our boundaries or we forget that there are boundaries that we impose on our movements.  If, for instance, it becomes hard to lift an object overhead, we get a stool so we don’t have to stretch the arms so far.  The boundary becomes smaller.  The box we impose on ourselves gets smaller.  Testing our boundaries is good for us, though!  It’s really what exercise is, in a sense.  Cardio pushes us against the boundaries of our endurance, stretching pushes the boundaries of where we are inflexible, and resistance training pushes us against the boundaries of our strength.  But I feel this can be emotional, psychological, as well as physical!  Movement can bring confidence, resolve, determination, and poise.  If you’re not confident if your balance, say, it can lead to depression because you feel like you’re stuck at home.  But if, through movement you improve your balance, a sense of confidence and self-assurance is restored.

So get out there and enjoy movements!  Apart from technical descriptions or analysis, just breathe deep, move freely, and start to explore again.  Your body is a laboratory- it can teach you, and that itself is a miracle.  Don’t take it for granted.  Find the joy of movement again every day.

Breathing for Maximum Health

The Exercises

By Justin Casteel, ACTION-CPT, RYT-200

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Or the 3-D Breath

               Diaphragmatic breathing is the foundation of all breathing exercises.  This three-dimensional approach to breathing will help expand lung capacity, increase oxygen sensitivity, and help bring greater range of motion to the diaphragm (the main muscle that drives the breath).  Learning to use the belly, the ribs, and even the lower back to breathe can also help reduce the compensation of using the neck to breathe, helping to relieve stiff necks and backs.

HOW TO:  

·         The first stage is to learn to use the belly to breathe.  Sit with your back against a chair and feet flat on the floor.  Feel as if you’re using the feet to push your lower back into the chair.  Place one hand on your belly and the other on the sternum (center of your chest). 

·        Inhale so that the lower belly moves outward (without strain).  The upper hand should not move. 

·        As you exhale, the lower belly moves in towards the spine (pulls in slightly).

·        See if you can feel the rib cage participating in the breath against the back of the chair. 

Bruce Frantzis, Tai Chi Master and author, has 6 steps for this and calls it “Longevity Breathing.^tm” These 6 steps take a while to fully integrate, but they really illustrate the 3-Dimensional quality of breathing.  We are trying to bring movement to all parts of the trunk, equally and fully.⁴

1)      Move the belly forward (as above)

2)      Bring movement to all parts of your belly

a.      After you can move the belly forward, as above, see if you can expand laterally, too.

3)      Move the sides of the belly

a.      Let the rib cage expand as well as the belly.  Check for lateral expansion of the ribs as you inhale. (hands on the sides)

4)      Breathe into the lower back

a.      The lower ribs move, too!  Let’s see if we can get the lower back to participate.

5)      Move your belly and lower back simultaneously in all directions

a.      Combining steps 2, 3, and 4.

6)      Bring the breath into the upper back also

a.      Movement should continue up into the area of the shoulder blades.  Let’s see if we can get the shoulder blades to expand as we inhale.

Play with the breath and enjoy the journey!  Remember: this should be easy.  No strain, no force.

 

The Elastic Breath

Using the Whole Core

             

¹

               This is a fun exercise!  It might be a little challenging at first, but with a little practice, it is very easy and feels really good!  This exercise is designed to really engage all of the muscles that support and stabilize the spine, including the diaphragm, the muscles of the rib cage (intercostal muscles), and the pelvic floor.  So this exercise can promote stability, core strength, and the health of your pelvic floor, which can have positive effects from improved urinary tract health to improved digestion.

·        Breathe through the nose, inhale and feel the expansion of the torso.  Follow it to a comfortable stretch.

·        Let the exhale go (like a sigh) and rest at the end of the exhale.

·        Then explore the “extra exhale”, squeezing the whole torso

·        Let go of the squeeze and feel the rush of breath back into the lungs

·        Continue to explore the “extra inhale” to a point of comfortable fullness

·        Repeat several times, exploring the elastic breath.  Note the “stretch” and the “squeeze”¹

You might not notice it at first, but the “squeeze” at the end of the exhale causes the pelvic floor to contract.  This will help strengthen (or increase tone) in those muscles.  If you think about the trunk like a house, you want all four walls strong, a strong roof (diaphragm), but you also need a solid foundation!  Your foundation is your pelvic floor, and keeping it strong will make a difference as you go through life.

 

4-7-8 Breath
Nervous System Tranquilizer

               “This exercise is a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. Unlike tranquilizing drugs, which are often effective when you first take them but then lose their power over time, this exercise is subtle when you first try it but gains in power with repetition and practice. Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently. Do not do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice. Later, if you wish, you can extend it to eight breaths. If you feel a little lightheaded when you first breathe this way, do not be concerned; it will pass.”² ~Dr. Andrew Weil

• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
• Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
• Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
• This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
• Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
• Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
• This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

·        Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.

·        Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.

·        Hold your breath for a count of seven.

·        Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.

·        This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

The precise count is not as important as the ratio.  Just keep it up, and see if you can feel the results yourself!  Before you practice, notice how you feel.  When you are done, take a few moments to see if you notice any difference.  Breathing exercises take time, but when properly utilized, the results can be impressive!

 

Watching the Breath

Silent, Alert Observation

 

               According to Jonn Leiff, M.D., curator of the website “Searching for the Mind”, Mindfulness Meditation was shown to increase the ability to multitask, improve focus for longer periods of time, increase concentration, decrease stress, increase memory faculties, and improve productivity.³  Essentially, mental clarity and focus with greater levels of energy!  Mindfulness meditation is a deceptively simple technique, relying on observation rather than participation.  This breathing exercise is in “watching” or “feeling” the breath rather than controlling or modifying the breath.  Set a timer for 5 minutes and give this technique a try.

·        Sit in a comfortable, upright position with the feet flat on the floor and hands, palm up, resting on the thighs for support.  Totally relaxed, but not slumped, is helpful.

·        Take a few deep breaths to fully experience the feel of the breath and how the body moves and settles as you breathe. Allow yourself to let go as you exhale.

·        Stop controlling the breath and begin to just watch the movement of air in and out of the body.  See if you can watch carefully and find the point where the inhale “turns around” and becomes the exhale.  Notice, too, for the place where the exhale comes to a brief pause and flows back into the inhale.

·        At the halfway point during an inhale, mentally say to yourself “one”

·        At the halfway point of your exhale, mentally say to yourself “two”

·        Continue until you reach “ten”

·        Start over again at “one”

This technique seems very simple, but it requires you to be very honest about a few things.  Make sure you do not start breathing to the rhythm of your counting!  This is about focusing on the breath as completely as possible.  You will know your attention has wandered if you find yourself at “twelve” or if you can’t make it to “ten” without getting distracted.  At first this might be frustrating, but just start over at “one” and begin again.  The point is to cultivate the mindfulness, or awareness, of when you get distracted.  Over time you will develop the ability to concentrate and relax at will.  It seems very simple, but stick with it and you will notice results!  According to the article by Dr. Leiff, Navy SEALs showed better muscular and neurological reactions to stress after 10 days, and after 8 weeks, the results were improved.³

References:

APA formatting

1)         Aivson, J.S. (2015). Yoga: Fascia Anatomy and Movement. Edinburgh: Handspring Publishing

2)       http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00521/three-breathing-exercises.html (2015). Retrieved 2015.

3)       Http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/meditation-and-the-brain-2013. (2013). Retrieved 2015.

4)       Frantzis. B. (2006) Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books

 COPYRIGHT NOTE:  I do not own any of these images.  Credit to the Elastic Breath Cycle belongs to The Art of Contemporary Yoga and is reproduced without permission.

The Tidal Power of Breath

  

 Breathing is one of the most innately human things we do.  Besides blinking (and unconscious fidgeting, if we're honest), there are few of these reflexive movements that really prove we're alive.  The heartbeat can be felt, but not seen from the outside.  The same thing goes with peristalsis and the filtration processes in the kidneys- all that is internal and pretty secretive most of the time.
    But breathing is inextricably linked to being alive.  Oxygen is vital in many of our metabolic processes, like releasing the high-energy bonds of ATP to allow our muscles to function.  The tides of breathing are directly related to the function of the nervous system- sympathetic and parasympathetic.  And breathing is even intimately linked with how we are able to stabilize ourselves in an upright position and walk!
    Well, to be more precise, the act of breathing is primarily driven by the diaphragm muscle.  This muscle serves as the "roof" of the abdominal cavity and the "floor" of the thoracic cavity.  The diaphragm assists the act of breathing by providing a pressure change to help air enter and exit the lungs.  As we inhale, the diaphragm descends, flattening out.  The intercostal muscles help the ribs expand, and the scalene muscles pull the rib cage from the top.  Breathing is a 3-dimensional shape change!  When the rib cage expands, it creates a lower-pressure environment and air flows from outside (higher pressure) to inside (lower pressure).  On the exhale, the diaphragm ascends, the rib cage shrinks 3-dimensionally back toward the center, a higher-pressure environment is created and the air flows out again.
    The diaphragm is also fascially connected to the psoas major muscle, following the "Deep Front Line"- down the adductor muscles to the arches of the feet, and upward into the muscles of the masseter and temporalis muscles (the jaw and the temples).  Sue Hitzmann refers to this structure as the "Neuro Core" and claims that this structure is the deep stabilizing structure of the body.  Using the proprioceptive function of the fascia, these muscles are (or should be) the body's first line of reflex stabilization.  If this structure is compensated or compromised, it shifts this stability role outward to more superficial structures.  Basically, the muscles that move us around then take over the role from the muscles that hold us up.  Essentially, this is not bad news, but it does lead to a lack of stability and a decrease in the efficiency of movement.
    Joanne Avison, author of Yoga: Fascia, Anatomy, and Movement says that graceful movement is efficient movement.  Movement that is fluid is movement that is well-supported structurally from the inside out.  Movement that is characterized by "clunkiness", "heaviness", or is "uncoordinated" can be thought to lack some underlying inner stability.  The inner stability of the reflexive core, the muscles that give shape to our volume, have failed somehow and more superficial muscles must give up their pliability and mobility to play a supportive role.
    A common compensation, hinted at by Tom Myers author of Anatomy trains, as well as Shultz and Feitis, authors of The Endless Web, begins with a restricted breathing pattern.  Breathing assessments can be seen as assessments of the structure and function of the deep stabilizers, starting with the diaphragm.  A natural, smooth, easy breath characterized by good movement of the lower back, lower abdomen, and floating ribs is a good place to start.  These are the initial stages of what Tai Chi Master Bruce Frantzis calls "Longevity Breathing".  The name "Longevity Breathing" is right on the mark.  Breathing that displays good movement patterns on top of efficiently supported structure probably will help you live longer.  The diaphragm is also fascially connected to the pericardium (the tissue around the heart), and there is evidence that efficient breathing patterns are beneficial to heart health.  On top of that, relaxed easy breathing also reduces stress on the nervous system, helping to mitigate the effects of unconscious or stuck stress patterns (clenching the jaw, tense fingers and toes, etc.)
    But the Tide of the breath goes beyond just a litany of health benefits and muscle names.  The fact is that everything in the body is interconnected, interrelated, intertwined.  Playing with and understanding the tides of the breath helps us appreciate the interrelatedness of our moods and our postures, our movement and our stillness, and our enjoyment of just being alive.  Taking a deep breath feels good, no matter what!  The joy of breathing and moving is a simple joy.  You don't need to think or analyze- just go out and do it and feel it.  Go out on a walk, and pay attention to the quality of your breath the whole time.  Walk in such a way that you can keep breathing slowly and deeply.  This way you can smile as you exercise and your breath can help carry you.  Go do a yoga class (or even a free class online)- keep the stretches within a range of motion where the breath still moves freely and easily and feels good.  Going too deep in a stretch or pushing too hard in an exercise will cause the breath to be "clunky" or strained and hence inefficient.  Do Tai Chi and learn to coordinate the breath with opening and closing, rising and falling.  Go lift weights and learn to use the diaphragm and deep stabilizer muscles to help balance you against the effort.  Take tennis or karate and use the breath to generate force.  Play with it, and learn to be sensitive to it, learn to "Ride the Breathing Body."
    The breath can take your actions back to the center- the breath can help you find a balance of effort and ease.  Pay close attention to it, for what you pay attention to you care about, and breath is life.  Caring for your breath is an act of care, of concern, of love, for life itself.

Restoring the Fascia Matrix with Tai Chi

Or, What I Learned from Swinging my Arms

By Justin Casteel

There is a concept in modern fitness concerned with the architecture of the connective tissue system. This is, unsurprisingly, termed “Fascial Fitness”. Fascia is a broad term encompassing tendons (muscle attachment to bone), ligaments (bone attaching to bone), and aponeurosis (broad tendonous sheets that cover large areas of anatomy). There are many types of connective tissue; even blood is considered to be a form of connective tissue. Normally when people in the industry refer to connective tissue, it means specifically the tissue that connects various areas of the body in continuous tensional lines. For example, there is a specific tensional and functional connectivity from the arches of the feet to the hamstrings, on to the sacrotuberous ligament, the spinal erector muscle group, the suboccipitals at the base of the skull, and the epicranial fascia that runs all the way over the top of the head to the brow ridge. Anatomist and bodyworker Tom Myers calls this structure the “Superficial back line”. This “line”, analogous to a railway track, is part of a larger image of anatomy and movement that he calls the “Anatomy Trains.” When I first heard this concept, I thought, “oh, this Anatomy Trains must be how to Train the Anatomy, like exercise and stuff”. What Myers actually was referring to was an analogy of how force was transmitted through anatomical structures like a steam engine follows its tracks. This is a fascinating concept and brings new light to movement, bodywork, and even habitual body positions like sitting and standing. The Anatomy Trains are mapped like a series of grids in what are called “myofascial meridians”.

Myofascial Meridians can be conceived of in this way: developmentally we all follow a more or less typical development pattern. First, the eyes follow mom around the room, leading eventually to rolling. From rolling front to back, we learn to sit up, crawl, walk, and eventually stand unassisted. This leads to predictable patterns in our soft tissues, and indeed forms much of our permanent fundamental structural integrity (like the arches of the feet and the strength of the neck muscles to hold up the head). Once we begin to develop personality and habits, these basic balanced patterns change. The integrity of each part of this pattern can be mapped through visible shortenings and lengthenings from various anatomical markers and represented as “lines” or “meridians of tension” in the system. Recognizing these lines and patterns gives us a map of the relative balance and ease of the soft tissue system.

The fascia is more important than we have, in the past, realized. Modern research shows that most injuries in the body are soft tissue injuries, and problems like the recognizable “forward head” associated with old age can be linked directly to the tenseness, laxity, and imbalance in the connective tissue network. For instance, stiffness in the neck has been linked to a weak or under-active “core”. Meridians aside, the quality of the fascia can be directly related to stiffness, injury, and even chronic conditions like bone spurs. By ensuring that there is balance in the system, and that the connective tissue stays pliable and flexible, we can maintain good quality of movement and reduced risk for injury into our later years.

All of this modern research into connective tissue is an echo of what the movement masters of the past, the Yogis and Tai Chi Sifus, have been telling us all along! Traditional Tai Chi and Qigong training (often presented as one curriculum), bears out all of the tenants of the most modern research and development into how to keep the fascial system healthy, with the added bonus of a holistic look at the mind/body interactions and emotional balance. Robert Schleip, eminent researcher and the most quoted fascial expert I’ve encountered, has four principles of Fascial Fitness that each have a resonance with traditional Tai Chi an Qigong training. I learned most of this without ever knowing what fascia was, but that theoretical foundation has improved my understanding and practice of the Chinese movement arts. Let’s break them down and see how they are implemented in Tai Chi and Qigong.

1. Preparatory Counter Movements

Think about a golf swing. Unlike a body builder lifting a weight, the golfer winds up, and the preparatory “winding” of the tissues is what develops the power of his swing. A tight midsection or shoulders would soak up some of that coiled strength, or over-rotated ankles could “leak” some of the efficiency of the movement. In Tai Chi, each movement has a “pre-load” or small counter-rotation in the opposite direction of the intended form to store up kinetic energy so that muscular strength can be minimized. This idea of muscular efficiency comes from Tai Chi’s origins as a martial art. If you could save energy, you could outlast your opponent. So the preparatory counter-movement is a huge part of all Tai Chi forms.

2. The Ninja Principle

Fascia really likes to act as a shock absorber. As much as it can store, then release energy, fascia also is really good at absorbing energy. When landings are “soft” and not “jarring” the bones and joints are spared trauma. If you jump off a curb and you “clack” your teeth or “thud” into the ground on your heels, the bones and he joints are directly absorbing the force. Think about the running craze of the 80’s and 90’s. Many well-meaning people took up running, only to develop knee problems later on (or, tragically, fairly quickly!). Does this mean running is bad? No, of course not! It’s the technique or soft-tissue imbalance that contributed to inefficient force distribution, and the joints suffered. In Tai Chi, there is a common warm-up called “shake the tree”. In this exercise, the whole body is rhythmically shaken and “bounced” on the balls of the feet (“bubbling spring” acupuncture points). The exercise focuses on keeping the body “light” and fluid and soft…. Like a ninja who can land without a sound. Exercises like shake the tree can teach to keep movements efficient and controlled, and are really good at building elasticity into the tendons.

3. Dynamic Stretching

Static stretching has long been thought to reduce tension in the tissue and promote mobility. Recent studies have found that active, more dynamic stretching might be even better. When you lift one leg and stretch the toes out to the horizon, the hamstring needs to lengthen, but is opposed by the need of the quadriceps muscle to tighten, and the hip flexor muscle group engages to lift the thigh bone. Additionally, the pelvis needs to rotate into place so the leg can be held aloft. This is essentially a “kick” move in Tai Chi! Contrast this with a typical seated hamstring stretch on a bench: body supported by the seat, gravity rather than opposing muscle action creating a stretch, and no challenge to the nervous system to stay balanced. In qigong, also, there is opposing muscular action. In the “Eight Pieces of Brocade” set of Qigong, all of the exercises require “pushing” in opposite directions. In the first movement, for example, the hands are stretched toward the ceiling as the heels are pressed into the floor. But the fascial system responds best to novel challenges. Normally in Tai Chi and qigong, the sets are fixed with no real variation. This seems to be a drawback, but variation in the art comes from the internal monitoring and constant corrections of force, range of motion, and large variety of exercises in the curriculum. No movement should be done the same way twice! We “play” Tai Chi to refine our understanding of movement, not just to copy a dead, static set of exercises.

4. Proprioceptive Refinement

Proprioception is our ability to “feel” the body in space. This is the meat and bones of Tai Chi and Qigong. If you stretch your hand out, can you feel how the hip and feet respond? Think about weight lifting vs. putting your luggage into an overhead bin in an airplane. In a weight lifting exercise, the body is stationary, braced, and in a position of maximal efficiency to target one specific muscle or function. When you have to put your luggage in an overhead bin, you have to lean, stretch, twist, and reach to finish the task, but relatively little-to-no thought is placed on posture or efficiency of movement. In Tai Chi, each time you perform a posture, you must be aware of a set of principles with names like “sink the shoulders and elbows”, “open the hips”, “being empty on one side and full on the other”, and above all to keep continually moving “like a river rolling on unceasingly”. There are checks and balances that penetrate to the way we relate to movement. Eventually in Tai Chi practice we can become like Chen Man Ching, a famous tai chi maser, and “practice Tai Chi in every movement.”

So, in sitting, standing, laying down, or walking, we can be aware of how the scope and breadth of our movement practices can condition our fascial system as a whole. Tai Chi is preeminently designed to fill this function, and to do it safely and effectively. If you are interested in learning Tai Chi or finding out more about fascial fitness and injury prevention, make sure you talk to a trained, qualified professional! The journey to a balanced system cannot be accomplished overnight. Take your time, enjoy the journey, and remember to get a variety of types and qualities of movement. Our bodies have a vocabulary of movement and we want them to be well rounded and robust! So, play with your body, care for it, and watch the exciting unfoldment in each day!

Foundation of Meditation

Starting a Meditation Practice with Zen

By Justin Casteel

    Everyone knows someone who they would describe as “Zen”. It’s a word that has entered our social consciousness, and people throw it around quite a bit. But, what is Zen anyway? Most people’s concept of Zen is a state of being “chilled out” or relaxed. Real Zen is a little bit deeper, and I hope to be able to shed some light on Zen and how it can be used to begin a meditation practice.

    Zen literally means “meditation”. The word comes from the Hindu concept of “Dhyana” which has the same translation. Zen Buddhists are called the meditating Buddhists. The whole concept of Zen meditation is the understanding of the original mind, sometimes called the ground of being. This might sound like an esoteric concept, but in Zen they think of it in quite ordinary terms. The Zen practitioner seeks to understand the mind before thoughts arise. He seeks to understand who he is originally- without labels, judgements, philosophy, or emotional baggage. In Zen, the goal is to achieve a level of watchfulness that can burn up thought patterns and habits that cause us to fool ourselves, or otherwise create pain and problems.

    Zen is deeply related to the concept of “mindfulness”. Mindfulness is the practice of using our innate faculty of awareness to be fully engaged in each moment to enhance both our ability to perform well and enjoy our activities, but also to prevent the mind from getting distracted and causing unnecessary problems. Think of this in terms of writing an email. When someone sits down to write an email, the mind comes in and says, “Hey, don’t forget to wash the dishes. Have I checked my Facebook recently? Maybe someone “liked” one of my posts. Oh, and I forgot to watch that new episode of my favorite show so I can talk to people at work about it tomorrow. Did I pay that electric bill? What am I having for dinner tonight?” Even if these distractions don’t prevent the email from being written, it can make the whole process take longer or become stressful. In Zen meditation, we learn to quiet the mind and focus on one thing at a time. A Zen master would say that we are learning to live fully in each moment of time. This makes Zen quite unique, as there are no rules to follow, no philosophy to memorize, and no complex rituals. Instead, writing an email becomes a ritual and washing the dishes becomes an important spiritual experience.

    Zen meditation is also quite ordinary. The highest technique in Soto Zen is called “shikantaza” which translates to “just sitting.” Just sitting sounds quite simple, but try it some time! At first it might seem very relaxing, but you will notice the mind starts getting distracted right away. You might feel uncomfortable, or get frustrated that you’re not seeming to accomplish anything. The brain often demands to be constantly entertained! Learning to let the brain be quiet while still being watchful is actually a very practical skill that can be developed through the practice of meditation. The value of being quiet and watchful is inestimable and can be life changing if practiced regularly. But beyond obvious benefits like enhancing concentration and being more disciplined, the Zen master would remind you not to focus on the goals, but to focus on the process. It’s like a flower unfolding- there is no specific point at which a flower becomes a flower, but instead it is the process of budding, blooming, and eventually falling away that makes a flower truly beautiful. So, if you are interested in meditation, just sit, be awake in your sitting, and try to be like the flower- beautiful where you are in your process of unfolding!

What is “Qi” Anyway?

Making Sense of Energy as Applied to Eastern Movement Practices

By Justin Casteel

            There is a lot of confusion when beginners are approaching systems like Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong.  A lot of terminology is thrown around, and eventually it becomes part of the language used to describe these arts.  Words like “prana”, “Chakras”, “qi”, “Dan Tien”, “third eye”, and “meditative” are all now commonplace when talking about the Eastern Movement practices, but much of the time there is no practical, working explanation of what these are, why they are important, or how to interact with these concepts meaningfully in everyday life. Let’s explore together some of the foundational concepts of energy and see if we can make it practical to life and gain an insight on how to use them to enhance the healing effects of movement.

            Energy is vital.  Everyone pretty much would agree.  When you wake up in the morning, you want to get up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the day.  People supplement their energy levels with coffee, vitamins, trying to exercise, and maybe even self-help programs.  We all want to feel good.  More than that, we all want to have the boundless energy of a child, and a clear, calm mind with which to approach our work and hobbies.  But oftentimes things get in the way.  Stress, fatigue, mental cloudiness, and discomfort or disease block our enjoyment of life.  Sometimes, we are just in a “bad mood” or simply can’t find any enthusiasm to even go out and do something we normally enjoy.  Think about going for a walk in the park- sometimes it’s just too much effort to get in the car and drive there, even when you can imagine how good it would feel!  This is where the so-called “energy arts” come in to play.

            The Chinese concept of energy is called “qi”.  Qi in Chinese theory is one of “Three Treasures” that every person on this planet is born with; these Treasures are called “Qi”, “Shen”, and “Jing”.  Here, we are going to explore the concept of “Qi”.  In Chinese medicine, this life energy is distributed through channels called meridians.  The meridians are like channels or vessels where qi flows to distribute life force to organs, bones, muscles, brain tissue, so that everything is linked together in what can be thought of as a web of life.  The meridians also act like rivers, sometimes getting choked by debris so they flow slowly, and sometimes they overflow their banks and flood the surrounding areas.  Too much or too little qi is thought of as harmful, so the idea in Chinese theory is to maintain harmony in the system.  The Indian framework for this concept is called “prana” and the channels are called “nadis”.  There is a great deal of correspondence between the two systems in this regard.

            Many people are also familiar with the concept of the “chakras” from yoga.  Thought of as energetic “wheels” or plexus found along the spine, the chakras are theorized as embodying emotional and physical processes.  Again, bringing the positive sides and negative sides of emotional and physical states into harmony and balance is said to ensure that the chakras have the correct “spin” to ensure good transition of energy through the system.  The Chinese Taoists called these centers “cauldrons” and said that the most important center was the “Dan Tien” located midway inside the body, three fingers breadths below the navel. The Dan Tien is thought to be the “storage battery” for the Qi or life-force.

            This basic description is a general consensus of what I have read and found to be true in my practice, but it leaves very little in the way of practical application.  To make this information useful, it must be put into a framework that can be applied in daily life.  For this end, let’s explore some of the practical side of energy.

Qigong means “energy work”, but it also can mean “relating”.  Energy is interpreted by your system as sensation.  Try this experiment: touch your arm.  What happened?  Well, the kinetic energy of your finger was measured by touch receptors in your skin, so you felt the pressure of your finger.  Pretty cool, huh?  In qigong, we learn to relate to the different sensations of the body and learn how to bring them into balance.  In the first stages, we learn to deal with physical sensations like the postural stresses of standing and moving.  In deeper stages, the subtle energies of the body can be felt directly and by learning to relate to the sensation and degree of experience, can make adjustments so the energy can flow more freely through the channels.

The interaction of the mind with the body requires the mind to be calm and well-ordered.  Meditation, breathing exercises, and gentle movements allow the mind to become more focused and more subtle.  In fact, attaining a calm mind is considered pivotal in order to have any success in cultivating greater energy!  Spending time doing breathing exercise is more than just cultivating lung capacity- it’s an important tool for relaxation and mental focus.  So, the foundational stage of learning to work with energy is learning to slow down and pay attention. This is the first lesson to learn, and every lesson that comes after will reinforce the principle!

In summary, energy is an important part of your life that is often augmented through outsides sources like caffeine or supplements, but by slowing down and paying attention to what you feel, you open up space to affect your energy directly.  By learning to breathe, and learning to move in ways that open your channels, energy can be directly improved from within.  So take some time today to stand or sit for a little in silence- listening to your body, listening to your breath, closing your eyes, and allow your mind to be relaxed but focused.  If you can do that, even that simple practice can leave you feeling refreshed and energized.  Good Qi everybody!