The bubbling spring and your gongfu

In the beginning, you want to develop sensitivity to the bottoms of your feet, or the “Bubbling Spring,” also called “Bubbling Well,” or in Chinese, Yongquan. As you practice over time and develop your gongfu, that feeling that you once had to concentrate so much in order to develop, now results from a more-mature practice.

Gongfu = Effort done over time that creates knowledge and ability.

A highly sensitized bubbling well liberates you from the initial task of focusing attention on that spot and sustaining concentration as you move from, or through, it mindfully.

Once that’s achieved, you can move on and focus on other aspects of practice, such as other parts of the body and the physical mechanics of movement, or the energetic configurations of your movement.

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ARTICLE: Efforts to teach tai chi to pre-schoolers

Interezting motivation for teaching tai chi to kids, but who knows. It could lead to great things.

According to [Deb] Hanney, WACOG [Western Arizona Council of Governments] applied for a grant to extend hours for its Head Start-affiliated childcare facilities, but the grant required a mandatory nap or rest time. A compromise was reached in the form of yoga and tai chi sessions for Western Arizona preschoolers this fall.

http://www.havasunews.com/news/plans-afoot-to-teach-tai-chi-to-mohave-county-preschoolers/article_35791488-07b5-11e7-b040-232b14e9b3ab.html

Walking is a great tai chi exercise

Yin and yang are always in dynamic play when you walk. Every movement has each in it. Becoming aware of them in motion is step #1 towards cultivating deeper understanding.

ARTICLES: More “Tai Chi ‘may’ Relieve Afflictions

These two news articles refer to new research results talking about tai chi improving the lives of peripheral neuropathy patients and reducing stroke risks. I continue to hold tai chi and qigong classes in Durango for learners with a variety of challenges, as does my teacher and friend Susan Matthews in Cortez (she’s the anatomy, stroke and Parkingson’s expert). So please tell your friends about this news and help them help themselves by suggesting they try tai chi classes.

UT Tyler improves lives of peripheral neuropathy patients through Tai Chi

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/273318/ut-tyler-improves-lives-of-peripheral-neuropathy-patients-through-tai-chi

Tai Chi may reduce stroke risk

Session P16 – Poster WP416

American Heart Association

https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/aha-tcm021517.php

 

A goal in tai chi

There is a progression to tai chi. First is to relax places where we’re tight (often painful, too). Often it can be described as “clenching.” For most of us that is true. The next step in the progression is to move. Move around and through the tight places with a mindful intention to dissolve the tension. The moves are designed to help you to relax. Moving changes the body.

We use different methods to get that change to happen: loosening, stretching, and single basic exercise. Repetitive, rhythmic, single moves, in which we employ awareness of and intention to the six directions, and then in shapes and patterns. The six directions are up down front back left right and the shapes are circles, figure 8s and spirals.

Begin with circles and visualize with your mind intending to circle inside your abdomen. This location is particularly important in the beginning, but you can move in circles anywhere in your body with the intention.

Moving the abdomen and the hips are key to relaxing and loosening the tightness in the lower back and spine.