The Secret of Immortality

Yes, the title is relevant. Please bear with me and all will become clear. This blog is primarily aimed at people with more than a 6-second attention-span.

True, it’s about health, well-being and ways to extend our joyful and useful existance on this dear old beloved planet beneath our feet, while embracing more of the possibilites of a cosmos of which we are only dimly aware.

However, it doesn’t follow that I’m one of those crystal-clutching, stay-with-that-feeling, everything-is-cool types who make a grown man want to tear his own head off and stamp on it, so if the term “New Age” makes your hair stand on end, you can relax. Neither do I belong among the po-faced, feet-wide-apart and hands-over-crotch, martial-arty-farty brigade.

Please check the “recent posts” in the right-hand column for an updated list of entries. Among other things I’ll be writing about my experiences with Tai Chi (taiji), Chi Kung (qigong), Pa Kua (bagua), other Chinese Internal Martial Arts and therapeutic movement in general.

I hope to be linking to Mary Morrison’s upcoming blog and inspiring articles about ways to apply the Feldenkrais Method. She’s fully convinced me that Feldenkrais’ Structural Integration approach literally “re-wires your brain”.

I also want to share the details of my own triumph over asthma back in 1980, with the help of biofeedback, therapeutic movement, posture and breath re-training and nutrition, and I’ll be passing on information about products and practices which others have found useful in their quest for better health and quality of life.

Now I want to justify the title of this post by loosely retelling a story from one of my favourite Taoist texts, AC Graham’s translation of “The Book of Lieh-tzu” published in London by John Murray, 1960.

The Lord of Yen heard of a man who knew the secret of immortality. He sent a messenger to fetch the secret but the messenger dawdled on the way and the man died before he arrived. The Lord of Yen was furious and was about to execute the messenger. One of his ministers protested “That man died, so how could he possibly have passed on the secret of immortality to you?”

Philosopher Fu-Tzu was amused: “To be angry when a man with the secret of immortality dies without passing it on, this is confusion”.

Philosopher Hu-tzu disagreed, observing that “there are always men who possess a theory they cannot act upon”.

Over the years, I have ’seen the feet of clay’ of many teachers, especially ‘Masters’ and ‘direct lineage holders’ in the world of Chinese martial arts and qigong. Many times I’ve been disheartened, even felt like giving up the whole pursuit, only to be drawn back to my practice simply because it feels so good, it does me so much good and I feel so much the worse if I don’t do it. In a nutshell, the fact that the teachers and practitioners can be daft and worse at times, doesn’t invalidate the art itself.

As I get older, the importance of a regular body/mind practice routine becomes ever greater because I fully intend to retain my faculties for as long as possible, and to live a happy, prosperous and useful life well into my old age. I especially want to delay for as long as I can the prospect of being a burden to my family.

I’m writing this blog and the articles that may have brought you here in order to share the insights I’ve gained over nearly 30 years of (sometimes intermittent) tai chi (taiji) and chi kung (qigong) practice with anyone who’s interested. Yes, I’m definitely a less than perfectly diligent student and practitioner. I’m no “Master’, I have many failings, and for the length of time I’ve been involved in this field I should probably be a lot ‘better’ than I am.

So what qualifies me to write on these subjects? Precisely that.

I’m just like most other people who have to make a living, who want a balanced life with time to pursue a variety of interests, who sometimes prefer to spend time with family rather than spend hours every day training to develop a special skill.

Like the man who so irritated the Lord of Yen, I will probably go to my grave without having mastered some of the ’secrets’ I’ve learned. However, now that we have the world wide web, at least I can try to pass them on to someone else who may do a better job with them.

If you like what you’ve read so far, please feel free to drop by any time, and I’ll do my best to regularly pass on some snippet of wisdom that’s come my way and I’ve found to be of value in my own life.

If you’re just beginning your journey into this area or encountering a problem along the way, please tell me:

What question would you most like to ask of someone who’s been around for a while?

If I can’t give you a decent answer from my own experience, I’ll pass you on to someone else who can.

Your questions or comments however brief will be gratefully received, and I’ll always respond to the very best of my knowledge and experience.

Be well (as they say),

Richard

Health tip: The simple technique of keeping the tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth is a much underestimated practice with many health benefits. However, I’ve found that there are times when the best place for the tongue is ‘in the cheek’.

Looking for Feldenkrais Method and Qigong practitioners to interview

If you are are Feldenkrais, Qigong or other therapeutic movement practitioner I’d like to interview you for my new website …

Tai Chi and Driving: 7 ways to improve your driving using tai chi principles

Like tai chi chuan (taijiquan), driving is both an art and a science – and art in that there is infinite potential for individual development and a science in that improvements in driving skill are objectively measurable. Applying these principles will increase your safety on the road and significantly reduce your risk of accident.

Intrinsic Nourishing Qigong technique briefly described

Quintessentially brief notes on the Intrinsic Nourishing Qigong

This qigong practice is excellent for convalescence and for those easing themselves back into practice

Shock horror – mountain converts Coldman to crystal-clutching! Is nothing sacred?

My 5-year old son lost his precious crystal while picking raspberries in the mountains. He was very upset. It was a large area of dense raspberry bushes and time was short, but I knew I HAD to find the crystal. I got the idea to use an improvised pendulum to track it down. I’ve never done this before. When it worked immediately and with such clarity I nearly wept. I suddenly realized how limiting cultural stereotypes can be when it comes to the development of human potential.

These mountains in SW Poland are among the oldest in the European land-mass, and are rich with mineral deposits. Everywhere you walk, you are stepping on quartz crystals and slices of raw agate. As I embrace more of qigong theory and become more sensitive to my electromagnetic environment, I begin to consider that those people I have cynically referred to as “crystal clutchers” may know something I don’t, or perhaps I simply forgot.

Silk Reeling Energy Exercises of of Tai Chi or Taijiquan

I spent last weekend with Jarosław Jodzis, a disciple of Chen Xiaowang. We discussed silk reeling energy exercises and I became inspired to re-visit this work which throws light on the fundamental movement principles of the three best-known internal Chinese martial arts, tataijiquan, bagua zhang and xingyi quan.

I’ll be writing about my own experiences with chan su jin (silk reeling energy) at a later date, but for now I’m posting a few Youtube videos which I find relevant. They’re not all of equal quality in my opinion, but through looking at the various descriptions, you get a sense of the common thread.

This one is clearly a sales pitch, but I like the feeling that comes across, and the music is very pleasant.

The next one is more of a useable training video.

View the above in conjunction with this next video which shows some very familiar illustrations of internal connectedness in tai chi (taijiquan).

Silk reeling energy is the fundamental training method taught by Grand-Master Chen Xiaowang, outstanding world authority and representative of Chen styoe tai chi (taiji). I haven’t found a video of him teaching silk reeling, but here’s a good example of one of his forms:

To be continued …

Tai chi, EFT, whole brain activity and whole body power

” … I apply a <5-minute EFT self-treatment to each feeling or fixed thought which presents itself as an obstacle and then I simply observe the obstacle dissolving as I apply the tapping. My tai chi movement sequence follows on natrurally from that point."

Tai chi, EFT and the fear paradox

If I had to give a single reason why EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is an excellent complement to tai chi practice it would be the leverage it provides over this mortal enemy of all things good – fear: Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of growing a fat belly, fear of criticism, fear of creepie-crawlies, fear of muggers, fear of the consequences of past indiscretions, fear of death, fear of life

Tai Chi Mind-Intent Training for Health and All-round Success

What has Tai Chi to do with “Mind Over Matter” and how does Mind Intent affect health and well-being?

Three Simple Qigong Exercises taught by Cheyne Towers

I filmed my friend Cheyne Towers teaching these three simple qigong exercises to promote a course which will soon be available on the internet. Please leave a message in the comments section below with an email address or telephone number  (full country and area code) where we can contact you. Special bonus available for pe-enrolment enquiries.

more about “Broadcast Yourself.“, posted with vodpod

Seeing the Chi (Qi) – The Skeptic’s Approach

“That’s just mind over matter”

A filmmaking buddy of mine thinks he’s a skeptic. What’s more, he’s proud to be a skeptic, and just like any self-respecting fashion-victim, he wouldn’t be seen dead “wearing” the belief-system of an old hippy, new-ager, crank or other brand of foolish person.

I can well imagine what he thinks when he sees me practicing tai chi (taiji) or on occasions when I might comment on the ‘energy’ (I generally avoid using Chinese terms around non-practitioners) in a scene or piece of music.

Call it Chi, Qi or just Energy

For me, the concept of chi (qi) has evolved over three decades from something exotic, mysterious and unfathomable to something obvious, omnipresent and able to be observed in any and every situation. In a sense, it’s become mundane.

I remember an occasion many years ago when I was teaching tai chi (taiji). A new student, a young man with above-average talent for imitating and memorizing movements, asked me to check his performance of the latest sequence.

I watched his well-rounded, elegant movements with some admiration, remembering how clumsy I had been when I was at his stage. I was happy to be able to give him feedback at a higher level than “your stance is too narrow” or “relax your shoulders”. I told him that he needed to sink his chi, which was now in his upper chest, down to his belly. “How can you tell where my chi is?” he asked, mystified and visibly irritated.

I was on the spot. I didn’t have an answer for him, although I knew beyond doubt that what I observed was true. There was no fog of blue light hovering around his body, I couldn’t see the ingredients of his stomach and yet I knew that his chi was in his chest, and that he didn’t yet know how to “sink” it.

First feel it, then see it

If what I’m writing about here is a mystery for you, and one that you’re interested in understanding, here’s an exercise you can start doing whenever you feel like it. It’ll do you no harm, and actually it could bring miraculous results over time.

Begin to form a habit of checking how the inside of your body feels in different circumstances. In particular, pay attention to your “startle reflex”. Your shoulders suddenly rise, you may even feel something like a mild electric shock run through your arms and legs. Familiarize yourself with the feeling in your body when it’s flooded by a glandular response to some stimulus or other. Then pay attention to the sensations as your body naturally tries to re-instate equilibrium.

The more familiar you become with the movements of your own internal energy, the more easily and precisely you’ll be able to detect the same phenomena in other people and animals. “Practice makes better” is the maxim here. The study of energy has infinite subtlety.

The finger pointing away from the moon

My film-making friend would describe all of these sensations in “scientific” terms, and dismiss my “energetic” model as some kind of silly magical thinking. Actually what he’s doing is replacing direct physical experience with learned abstract thinking, which in turn is limited by the prevailing received ‘wisdom’ of the scientific community.

It’s simple. As long as we are alive, we have energy. When we no longer have energy we die. We only experience energy in the form of movement/change, no matter how tiny and imperceptible.

Classical skepticism

Montaigne, the great French Renaissance thinker wore a medallion on which were inscribed the words ‘Que sais-je?’ (‘What do I know?’). This is real, classical skepticism – not a bigoted, reductionist dismissal of anything outside of one’s own limited experience.

I “know” nothing about the vital energy which animates my mind and body beyond what I can experience directly. Any ideas I may hear or read are abstract expressions of that same energy, signposts pointing toward or away from the experience of energy itself.

Put aside language and thought, and “listen” to energy, any time any place.

Be well,

Richard