|
CLICK on the link to watch Tai Chi beginner form video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSwfkV3ucQc PRATYAHARA --- LOVING DETACHMENT FROM DISTURBANCES By Vince McCullough Just imagine that your true nature is like the sky. Open, vast and pervasive. Still, silent and peaceful. The sky is never disturbed, bothered, tarnished or strained. It is always pure and unruffled. Now, imagine everything else is just a cloud. Clouds are amorphous, moving changing energy. Clouds appear and disappear. Clouds come and go. A thought is just a cloud. So is a feeling, a sound, a touch. A cloud is anything that crosses your mind. Anything! If you think you are the cloud, then you become that. You get pulled here and there like a cloud. You react. You are at its mercy. You are overly attached. But if you remember your true nature - the sky, You simply watch the clouds come and go without the need to react. A cloud has no inherent power over the sky. Sometimes a dark thought or feeling moves through your sky. These dark thoughts are only amorphous clouds that will pass; They do not affect you, UNLESS you think you are the cloud. Sometimes a white cloud floats through your sky. If you want to feel it, just touch it, enjoy it and let go of it. Remember --- “You are the sky!” So, the question is, “how does one get there?” Try this! Put your attention on the breath and follow the out-breath. With each breath, go farther and farther out until you become the sky. Now - FROM THAT POSITION, dispassionately watch the coming and going of things. Do nothing else but watch, always remembering you are the sky and not the clouds. Sooner or later you will find the “larger view” called Pratyahara. This view will bring you more freedom, less pain and an expanded sense of well-being. 
SPIRAL ENERGY --- The Perfect Exercise Move like a Shaolin Monk. Ten (10) years ago I traveled to the Shaolin Temple area in China to study tai chi. While there, I witnessed a demonstration by Shaolin monks that completely captured my interest and admiration. I had never seen such dynamic and elegant physical actions. They moved as if a powerful snake was coiling and uncoiling in their bodies ; arms and legs ever moving in three dimensional circles. The monks called it spiral energy. I became completely captivated with this mode of movement. I decided then and there to learn the secret of THIS spiral energy. What is Spiral Energy? Spiral energy is moving the joints of the body in a three dimensional figure 8. This pattern revolves around a still central core; much like a cyclone moving around a still quiet center. Or put another way the core is the “ eye of the hurricane “. This fixed core or center in the body is an imaginary line through the center of the spinal column starting from the top of the head to the base of the spine. This center-line is called the zhong ding in Chinese. It is this quiet center of the body around which all action occurs in the practice of tai chi. Most forces in the cosmos, in nature and even in our bodies move in this fashion. For example, the galaxies, the oceans and even deep inside of our cells the DNA molecules all move in this dynamic three-dimensional spiral. This powerful action is natural in nature as it is natural in the body. Our task is to learn to release and to allow it to express itself. How do I learn Spiral Energy? Do the following exercise: 1. Stand with the left foot forward toes pointed straight ahead , legs shoulder width apart. The back foot angles out at a 45 degree angle with body weight evenly distributed ( like an archer shooting an arrow ). 2. Slowly turn the waist to the front shifting your weight forward to 70 % on your front foot and 30% on the back foot. Keeping the left knee fixed and still over the left ankle not allowing the knee to go beyond the toes, relax all your joints, maintaining alignment on both sides of the body ( the ankles, hips, shoulders ). 3. Now notice what happened; your left hip and shoulder joint came up and rotated in toward the center-line of the body. Anatomically this is called flexion, adduction and inward rotation. 4. Notice the right side of the body. Your right hip and shoulder joint (if you relaxed them enough) moved in the opposite direction, down and rotated away from the center-line of the body; each side of the body balancing the other side. Anatomically this move is called extension abduction and outward rotation. In other words you just performed a three dimensional figure 8 in the body ( Spiral Energy ). 5. Now, slowly turn your waist to the right and sit back with most of your weight on the back leg. Notice the shift of the spiral. The left hip and shoulder joints are now down and rotated out while the back right side is up and rotated in. You have just reversed the figure 8 spiral. Now, change position of the legs and feet ( right foot in front ) and do the same back and forth action as before. Perform Backward Bicycling in the joints in order to do a continuously and dynamically moving figure 8. 1. Stand with your left foot forward, as before with weight back on the back right foot. Push the inside of the right heel down into the ground as if you are pushing the pedal of a bike down, forward and out. Let the right hip and shoulder joints perform the same action of back, down, forward and out. Shift your weight 70% forward to the left foot. Keep the left knee over the left ankle and align the joints. Notice the left side came up, back and in order to balance the action of the right side. 2. Now, reverse the move. Push the inside of the left heel down forward and out, allowing the left hip and shoulder joints to follow and slowly sit back on the back foot. The left is now down, forward and out and the right side is up, back and in. 3. Continue shifting your weight forward and back as if you are on a bicycle and you are riding backwards. You are continuously pushing the pedals down, forward and out. YOU ARE NOW MOVING LIKE A SHAOLIN MONK. Change position of the feet and do backward bicycling on the other side. Why is this the Perfect Exercise? This figure 8 movement of the body is a perfect exercise because: 1. It is easy to perform. 2. It strengthens and stretches ligaments and muscles. 3. The smooth continuous circling movements relax the nervous system. 4. The number of muscles and tendons activated are way beyond that of most single action exercises (See following chart of muscle activation). THE ANATOMY OF SPIRAL ENERGY MUSCLES USED IN THE FEET, ANKLES AND LEGS Flexor digatorum Lateral vasti Hallus longus Biceps femoris Flexor digatorum longus Longus brevis Tibialis anterior and posterior Soleus Medial vasti Plantaris Peroneus brevis Semitendinosus Semitemeranous Gracilis Santorius Poplteus MUSCLES USED IN THE HIP AND PELVIS Gluteus Maximus and minimus Adductor brevis and longus Gluteal medius Adductor magnus Tensor fascia lata Pectinius Piriformus Iliopsoas Obdurator internus Inferior gamellus Superior gamellus Quadratus femoris Illiacus Rectus femoris Six deep rotators Satorius Obturator internus and externus Superior gamellus MUSCLES USED TORSO, SCAPULA AND SHOULDERS Abdominals: Deep Posterior Muscles Internal and external obliques Multifidus Rectus abdominus Rotatores Pyramidalis (lumbar) Interspinalis Erector spinae Versarius Semisplinals (upper back) Pectoralis minor Subclavius Rhomboids Trapezius Levator scapulae Pectoralis Major Terries major Latissimus dorsi Infraspintus Deltoid Subscapularis MUSCLES OF THE ELBOW, WRIST AND FINGERS Brachialis Palomaris longus Brachio radialis Pronator quadratus Pronator teres Extensor carpi Flexor carpi radia Supinator Extensor digatorum This is a brief description of the muscles involved in spiral energy movement. The tendons involved in this movement were not listed but rest assured extensive tendon strengthening occur when rotation in the joints are maximized. Also it must be mentioned spiral movement of the body must be done in a very relaxed manner. The key phrase is “ effortless- effort“. Do not push and do not struggle. Just let the spiral action express itself through the body. In Taoism this is called “ Wu Wei “. T'ai Chi Ch'uan Standard Competition 73 Movements Form: http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/sun73.htm 
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH ‘KEEP BREATHING’ Restorative Yoga: Asanas for Clearing and Balancing the Lower Chakras By Vince McCullough Musical accompaniment provided by Steven Halperin in 8 segments Tibetan bells follow for optional meditation Preface: With any stretch, go to your limit, your “edge,” but push no further. Do this by letting the outbreath take you gently more deeply into the stretch each time until you reach that edge. Breathe one long count at that edge, then slowly release. During all the exercises, keep thinking mula bandha, a term for the important alignment of pelvic bone with tailbone. As you get to the heart chakra, you want to focus on and “breathe into” the corresponding chakra below: for the heart, the solar plexus; for the throat, the sacral chakra,; for the brow, the root chakra. Preparation and relaxation: Lie on your back with your knees bent, your lower legs and feet up on the seat of a chair. Make sure your bottom is as close to the chair as possible. This is the most relaxing position. Breathe, release. Ujjayi breathing: With the mouth softly closed, tongue on the roof of the mouth, say “sa”softly to yourself on the inbreath, and “ha” on the outbreath. Feel that the back of your throat is slightly closed. Work with this until you can consistently control the breath and maintain steady, even breath sounds. Continue to use this breath with the practice of your asanas. During this preparation phase breathe in from the crown chakra at top of the head down to the heart chakra. Then breath from the heart chakra up and out the crown chakra. Base chakra: Do forward bend -- You can sit on the edge of the chair, chest out, back straight, reaching your arms out, slowly reaching for your feet. Fold at the groin; keep the back straight till you are at your edge, then drop head and let the back round a bit. You can also do this sitting on the floor. Keep thinking mula bandha. Sacral chakra: Do the cobra or arching pose.--Lie face down on floor with legs together. (Or you can sit in a chair and arch your back.) Begin with forehead on floor and with arms either straight down close by your side or palms on floor with bent elbows close to your body (no weight on hands). Tighten buttocks and leg muscles, pressing tops of feet on floor. Lift face, draw shoulders back, lift head and shoulders. Do breath and stretch pattern described in preface. Slowly unroll spine down, lengthening the front body forward. Relax. Solar plexus: Do the yoga mudra -- For sitting position in chair, first lightly massage abdomen back and forth, then around clockwise and counterclockwise. Then exhale and draw the spine up. Beginning from your lower back, pivot at your hips and bend forward over your legs, placing your hands in your gut as you do so. You can do this in a kneeling position, too, or in full lotus. Heart chakra: Do the sitting twists -- Can be done on floor or in chair (in which case, cross your feet). Keep back straight and lengthen the spine upward. Start twisting toward the left from the back in the area above the navel, then from the middle of the back, then from the shoulders; then turn the head with the body. First twist is to the left, then to the right. Go as far as you can to your edge, comfortably looking over the back shoulder. Breathe into the solar plexus. Throat chakra: Do inverted pose -- Place feet up on chair like #1 but place them as high as possible, even stretching your legs up along the armrests of the chair; you can also use a wall. Have your bottom as close to the chair or wall as possible. Breathe into the sacral plexus slowly, softly. If you’re using a wall for stability, continue with your own version of an inverted pose, e.g. half shoulderstand. Brow chakra: Continue inverted pose -- You may continue lying with feet up high on chair or against a wall. Breathe into the base of the spine, the root chakra, and do modified fish pose. Slightly move head back and “suggest” an arch in the small of the back; that will push the chest up. Breathe deeply. You may also do classic fish pose on the floor if flexible enough. Lie on your back with your knees bent and arms at your side. Arch back while raising it off the ground by pushing the floor with your elbows. At the same time, tilt your head backwards, aiming to rest the crown of your head on the floor. Use your forearm and elbows to support you. The chest will expand. Breathe deeply with the abdomen. Caution: If undue pressure occurs in the head, come out immediately. Crown chakra: Continue lying with feet up high on a chair or against a wall. Focus on the flow of energy up and down spine with your breathing. You can also place your legs on the floor in resting pose (“corpse pose”), legs straight or bent. YOGA ELEMENTS ( BHUTTA DHARANA ) ( By Vincent D. McCullough ) ELEMENT EARTH WATER FIRE AIR SPACE ______________________________________________________________________________ Contraction Fluidity Elevation Expansion Stillness --------------- ----------- ------------ ------------ --------- ENERGY Cohesion Cohesion Light/Heat Dispersion Voidness Transformation ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Rigidity Dammed-up Manic Heavy Groundless DISTORTED ----------- ---------- Cold Scattered ------------- ENERGY Instability Flooding Depressive Closed non-center Drowning All-Consuming Stormy Relaxing TRANSFORMATIVE Balance Flowing Radiance Opening Vastness YOGIC ENERGY Stability Releasing Passion Expression Very open ( Physical ) Ground Pulsing Celebration Balanced Streaming Ventilation ______________________________________________________________________________ TRANSFORMATIVE Equanimity Effortless/ Radiance Openness Skyness YOGIC ENERGY Quiet Earth Effort Compassion Freedom At-Center ( Mental ) Clarity Wise Heart --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom of Mirror-Like Wisdom of Self- All- WISDOMS Equality Wisdom Discrimination Fulfilling Pervasive Wisdom Wisdom ______________________________________________________________________________ |
