| Deepening your relaxation and sensing chi through balancing your posture |
| Written by Scott |
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The crotch is the point where your legs attach themselves to your body, this area should be kept open and if possible slightly rounded. This will enable you to move quickly and facilitate you shifting your weight easily from front to back and visa versa. Many teachers instruct their students to pull in the buttocks and coccyx during practice, it would be better to instruct beginners to leave the buttocks in their usual position as pulling them in causes tension and will stop the flow of chi. As the training progresses and the chi naturally wants to ascend to the top of the head the buttocks and coccyx will move in naturally and return to position when the chi has moved. Consequently the buttocks and coccyx will move in and out naturally when needed. The torso should be kept upright, when upright your energy can flow smoothly from your feet through your spine to your hands. One way of ensuring that your torso is maintained in an upright position is to coordinate the movement of your shoulders with your hips. When you begin to move your torso as a single unit you will find it easier to use your waist to channel the energy through your upper body and into your hands. Never move your arms by themselves Suspending your head from the top will help align the whole body and encourage it to move as a single unit. One way to assist this is to remember never tilt your head backwards or forwards, imagine that there is a piece of string supporting the top of your head and encouraging it to lift slightly. Relaxation and attention to maintaining a solid root, allowing your earth energy to enter the body flow through your body as a single unit and mix with the heavenly chi descending through the string supporting the roof of your head. Chi will arise through the whole body and mix with the descending chi that enters the top of the head. Imagine extending the upper most vertebra of your spine so that your torso lengthens. This will help keep your body upright and enable your buttocks and coccyx to pull in and send chi to the top of your head. As the chi reaches the top of your head it will descend down the front centre line of your torso, relaxing and sinking your chest will encourage this to happen. Your shoulders should be loose, relaxed and sunken, by sinking your shoulders you encourage your chi to sink and you will become very stable. If you lift your shoulders you can be easily uprooted and thrown off balance easily. Sinking the shoulders will assist you in moving your body as a single unit. Your elbows need be relaxed, lowered and sunk. If you imagine your elbows to be very heavy then this will encourage your shoulders to relax. The elbows should always be lower than the wrists. All of your joints should be loose and relaxed, this will encourage the flow of chi throughout the body. It is important to loosen, relax, stretch and flex all of the joints in your body, by opening up the joints and keeping them relaxed we encourage a natural movement within our bodies as our internal strength grows.
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As we practice our form we may notice changes in the sensations in our extremities, tingling in the hands and fingers, feet and toes. We may become aware of energies moving throughout the body and sensations of full and empty moving between our upper and lower body.