My day has seemed to have zoomed by today.
And now I am at my first Virtual Birthday Party of a regular Bedtime Chi Gong participant. I bought a Green Screen, for his Birthday, which arrived today. I’ve had a shower, put on my favourite aftershave and a shirt! Now soon to return to the party. There has been a pause, whilst Danny’s Household has dinner!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANNY
I have had a few comments, from yesterdays blog, thanks for these. But will need to think about them and include in tomorrow’s blog.
For today’s blog, I wanted to share a couple of things that have been hovering around in me for a while. They both touch a little on the daily Chi Gong I do. So first a little about Grounding and then about Body Awareness. The body awareness, includes the quote that I was going to include in yesterday’s blog.
Here is a handout on Grounding. I will explain it a little here. When we are wound up, stressed and in our heads lots, we are like a triangle (top picture) with the tip on the ground. The dot on the top picture shows where all our energy is (in our heads). Our base is unstable (just the point of the triangle) and we can easily topple over. If we are more grounded (bottom picture), we have a firm base, can’t topple over our energy and centre (dot) is much more closer to the ground (lower in the body/in our feet).
Here are the words below the pictures, to explain more:
Whenever you become aware of yourself getting ‘high”, tense, uptight, take a deep break, and as you breath out imagine the centre of gravity dropping further down in your body. With each out breath, imagine your head and upper body emptying down into your pelvis and your legs, until you become aware of the pressure on the soles of your feet as they receive the weight of your body and pass it on into the earth.
You can then imagine that you have some kind of invisible roots, or light beams, or energy lines – whatever works for you – that connect your weight right down to the centre of the earth. Keep emptying down with each out breath. It’s like connecting up the earth wire on an electrical appliance!
You can also just practice this while walking, being conscious of the contact of each foot with the ground.
If you enjoy dancing, put on some of the ethnic drumming music that’s available now and dance like an African tribesman! This is also a great release of frustration or anger.
If you are drawn to the martial arts, like aikido, tai chi or chi kung, they can be enormously helpful in grounding and balance of the energy.
We go through this in the daily Chi Gong, if any of you want to join? Details at the bottom of this blog.
The other thing I wanted to share was a quote from the book ‘A New Earth‘ by Eckhart Tolle.
If you are not familiar with “inner body” awareness, close your eyes for a moment and find out if there is life inside your hands. Don’t ask your mind. It will say, “I can’t feel anything.”. Probably it will also say, “Give me something more interesting to think about.”. So instead of asking your mind, go to the hands directly. By this I mean become aware of the subtle feeling of aliveness inside them. It is there. You just have to go there with your attention to notice it. You may get a slight tingling sensation at first, then a feeling of energy or aliveness. If you hold your attention in your hands for a while, the sense of aliveness will intensify. Some people won’t even have to close their eyes. They will be able to feel their “inner hands” at the same time as they read this. Then go to your feet, keep you attention there for a minute or so, and begin to feel you hands and feet at the same time. Then incorporate other parts of the body – legs, arms, abdomen, chest and so on – into that feeling until you are aware of the inner body as a global sense of aliveness.
When I call the “inner body” isn’t really the body anymore but life energy, the bridge between form and formlessness. Make it a habit to feel the inner body as often as you can. After a while, you won’t need to close your eyes anyone to feel it. For example, see if you can feel the inner body whenever you listen to someone. It almost seems like a paradox: When you are in touch with the inner body, you are not identified with you body anymore, nor are you identified with your mind. This is to say, you are no longer identified with form but moving away from form-identification toward formlessness, which we may also call Being. It is your essence identity. Body awareness not only anchors you in the present moment, it is a doorway out of the prison of the ego. It also strengthens the immune system and the body’s ability to heal itself.
So, today’s blog is a bit different today, than usual. But, hey – change is good!
Hope you’ve all had a good day.
Jim xx
Come and join me for Morning and Evening Chi Gong. If you haven’t done this before, that is fine. You will be guided through it as we go. The sessions are bespoke, fitting with those who come along.
Donations greatly received, but not essential:
PayPal – www.paypal.me/jimthemagician
Patroen (monthly subscription) https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32427537
DAILY MORNING ZOOM CHI GONG
Monday 6th April to Friday 10th April @ 09:10 (UK time)
(lasts 25-30 minutes)
(I will be in the Zoom Room from 08:45 for anyone who needs help with set up or want to just say hello).
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/362232526
Meeting ID: 362 232 526
DAILY BEDTIME ZOOM CHI GONG
Monday 6th April to Friday 10th April @ 22:10 (UK time)
(lasts 25-30 minutes)
(I will be in the Zoom Room from 21:45 for anyone who needs help with set up or want to just say hello).
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/780129625
Meeting ID: 780 129 625