Mir Ali offers bagua classes in Bedfordshire

I always find watching students of the internal arts develop, grow and eventually graduate to becoming instructors as a source of encouragement in my own practice. It’s particularly rewarding when those new instructors are your students albeit humbling since however much you may give of yourself as a teacher, ultimately a student’s accomplishments are a product of their own efforts—hundreds of practice hours and effectively using the tried and true methods of the neigong system.

My friend and long-term student, Mir Ali of Bedfordshire, has recently started offering bagua classes for beginners. He has trained the Energy Arts System since 2001 and became certified as a bagua instructor of our teacher, Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis, in 2009. Mir discusses his personal odyssey through neigong training and why he finds bagua to be a special art worthy of sharing in his article that follows. —Paul

Odyssey into Bagua Training

By Bagua Zhang Instructor Mir Ali

My journey towards Bagua started in 2001 when I reached a major crossroads in my life and my martial arts training in Shaolin Kung Fu, which I had been training intensively for 10 years. At my acupuncturist graduation ceremony, somebody mentioned a master I had never heard of before, Bruce Frantzis, who was holding a seminar on the topic of “Pulsing”. I booked on and was amazed at how many people turned up. As the day unfolded, I came to realise the depth and breadth of what was being presented—it was exactly what I was searching for. I wanted to find out more, a lot more.

Eventually, I came to train with Paul Cavel, knowing him only as a senior instructor of Bruce’s. As before, the weekend seminar went well, even better than I could have hoped. He was able to ‘separate and combine’ better than anyone I had trained with before and it was obvious he knew his topic well. What Paul considered a starting point, some schools consider their advanced practices. I found it astonishing that he was so clearly able to teach subjects that I had considered beyond reach—whether it was biomechanics or qi energetics, he would openly share and teach these with ease.

After the weekend, I realised that the Energy Arts School was where I needed to be if I was going to make any reasonable progress in my own practice. Training with Master Bruce was special, however having access to someone of Paul’s level, who was willing to spend time with you on a one-to-one basis in class, really insured that we were not only introduced to the work in a seminar setting, but receiving corrections, upgrades and given new material to learn.

When the first opportunity to book onto a weekend of Bagua with Paul came, I made sure I didn’t miss it and as expected it blew me away! I found Bagua had a unique and challenging way of working into the body, which I had not experienced in 10 years of previous martial arts training. I was particularly amazed by the techniques for twisting and lengthening the soft tissues, and Bagua’s ability to work through the lower back, pelvis, spine and upper body. Incredibly, just stepping one foot forward can work deep through the organs of the abdomen and through the spine to even affect the skull. Arm postures and movements twist and loosen the shoulder cuffs, into the neck and through the upper torso. However challenging though, bagua is also great fun!

Bagua training has taught me how much power is stored in the ligaments and tendons of the body, and how fusing correct alignments with the twisting of the tendons and lengthening of the ligaments can generate enormous power releases through the structure of the body. This power is present at every moment in every movement of Bagua. In Kung Fu training, I had become used to the concept of becoming relaxed before generating power (for martial purposes); however, in Bagua the movements are very different. The power remains constant through all motion while the practitioner remains relaxed at the same time. This allows the practitioner to work several layers into the body, relaxing the mind, deepening the breath and opening the body simultaneously.

Although the practice of Bagua is a powerful art form in itself, I have also found that it has upgraded everything I previously practised, and given me a new view into the world of being healthy in mind, body and spirit. For example, a simple Bagua stretch can open my physical body while broadening my spiritual growth, as well as my intellectual understanding of modern science and ancient metaphysics.

In my classes, I aim to offer a solid grounding and appreciation of the art of Bagua by passing on to beginners the intricacies of correct alignments, static postures and motion through walking practices. We will particularly focus on how to walk in straight lines, Walk the Circle, turn and hold arm postures. When people are ready, I hope to eventually teach the Single Palm Change—the ultimate vehicle for mind-body development.

Bagua Instructor Mir Ali

Mir Ali became a Certified Bagua Instructor of Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis in 2009, and has learned all Eight Mother Palms from Master Frantzis’ Senior Bagua Student Paul Cavel. Mir is also a practising acupuncturist and member of The British Acupuncture Council. He teaches bagua on the first Tuesday evening of the month. To learn more about Mir and his classes, visit www.orientaltreatment.com.

Paul's New Membership Programme Launches 15 May 2012

Human beings, with all our complexity and potential, have diversified, populated and thrived around the globe. Since the breakthroughs of the Industrial Revolution, we have spent 200 years becoming specialists in manipulating our environment and making radical changes to the way in which we experience the material world. The wonders that have resulted from man’s triumph over nature will only be surpassed by those of the Information Age, capable of producing yet more dramatic and astounding changes than witnessed in its infantile 30 years, such as the ability to decode the human genome and influence the genetics of various life forms—science that seeks to uncover the mysteries of our very existence.

Yet amongst our awe-inspiring discoveries and extraordinary accomplishments, we find ourselves driven by mass consumption—greed and fear cycles so powerful that they are ingrained into our subconscious with little awareness. Our focus is bordering on becoming totally external, which is illustrated by people taking better care of their material possessions than their body, energy or emotional well-being. Quantity has become more important than quality, keeping many on a treadmill chasing after more, more, more without pause to relish in even a moment of satisfaction from that which they have already acquired.

Somewhere along the path, we have lost our way from the initial drive towards survival and development, and entered the realm of too much is not enough. Many people are disconnected: disconnected from their body and inner wisdom; disconnected from their food source; disconnected from the planet; and disconnected from their fellow human beings. Some are content to maintain the status quo while even those with the best of intentions must endure tidal waves of misinformation and the challenges of sailing against the wind. We need a reality check, a way to pass through the dark of night into the light of day.

Throughout the ages, the internal arts have served as a means by which anyone can become a creator of positive change and reconnect: reconnect with nature; reconnect with their body and that which sustains it; reconnect with their essence; and reconnect with one another. At the heart of practising the internal arts is awareness training, to understand and learn from experience in body, mind and chi. As each aspect of the internal arts is developed over time, it reinforces and magnifies the effects of all others, creating a positive feedback loop—not only during practice, but in all facets of living. This is possible because, as consciousness is heightened, people begin to make healthier choices, whether applied to their well-being, business, sport or any worthy pursuit in life.

The Supporting Roles of Nature, Nutrition + Community

The internal arts—neigong training—has always included a wholly integrated system. That is the qigong, tai chi or bagua practitioner does not only seek to become an adept in his/her art form, but to apply their knowledge and skill set to every aspect of life. Ultimately, neigong practices become a means by which a person can pursue the questions of spirituality.

However, working towards such a lofty goal as enlightenment—or even ordinary goals such as stress reduction, better health, healing and well-being—are not easily achieved by the most dedicated internal arts practice alone. There are other essential and supporting threads that intertwine with neigong training to make the practitioner’s goals possible or more readily available. Three of the most fundamental aspects are the roles of nature, nutrition and community. Without development in any one of these areas, it becomes dramatically more difficult to create balance in your body, mind and chi, and yet more challenging to live in harmony with all and everything that encompasses your surroundings.

Nature: Renewing + Invigorating

Immersing yourself in the natural energies of the environment make practising in nature a totally different experience to practising indoors. In the beginning, the natural energies stimulate your chi, and thereby allow you to feel and contact your chi. Later, through dedicated and sustained practice, you can use your chi to contact and manipulate environmental energies, dramatically amplifying your skill and overall vitality. The process isn’t metaphorical, but rather progressive and systematic, capable of producing visceral, real and clear transformations in how you experience your body and the environment.

Each year, I offer at least one nature retreat for the very purpose of helping people reconnect with the energies of the environment and the planet, as the neigong system has been taught throughout the ages. Comparatively, the results people get from this level of training is beyond what I’ve ever witnessed in more than two decades of internal arts training in the city. Natural resources come to your aid and make it easier to tune into and feel subtle energies.

Nutrition: Essential Ingredients for Life

When we practise and reconnect with our body, we begin to feel more deeply, perhaps even more profoundly. It then becomes easier to tune into how the body responds to external stimuli, whether functions are upgraded or downgraded. One of the most important factors is what we eat and the nutritional value of any food source.

Jing, which translates as “body essence” in Chinese, is absorbed through digestion of food, providing the material and energetic basis of the body. Although jing is the lowest vibration of energy in the makeup of your being, it supplies raw energy that can be cultivated and transformed into chi through internal arts practice. A nutrient-rich diet is therefore required to maintain not only regular practice, but also the essential building blocks that feed, renew and develop the cells of your body. During the Cultural Revolution in China, many lineages died out because people were starved of sufficient food to sustain regular training, exemplifying the importance of the nourishment-training feedback loop.

There are many dietary programmes available to you in the West. My interest is not to create yet another protocol, but rather to provide a context for making educated decisions. Nutrition is quite individual and each of us must be in touch with our own body to know what is best. That said there are simple things you can do—whatever dietary programme you choose—to ensure you consume foods that provide you with sufficient jing, so you can efficiently and effectively apply your training to everything from healing your body to achieving high-performance results in your work, hobby, sport or life in general.

Community: Support for Your Endeavours

Community is about the magnification of the human experience. We are social animals who grew up for millions of years in tribal groups or clans. This not only ensured the survival of our species, but made chores easier, life more enjoyable and perhaps added meaning to what could otherwise be seen as a treacherous existence.

In terms of the internal arts, fundamental to the training sequence is the oscillation between attending a class to learn methodology and practising at home to hone your techniques. In ancient times, the teacher would start class just after dawn and leave students to train together for much of the day. This worked for thousands of years as a daily regime not only because it gave students plenty of time to develop while under the guidance of a knowledgeable teacher, but also because students supported one another’s growth and thereby learned more in the process. Again, it’s a circular self-reinforcing training progression. The best teachers are those who remain students themselves.

In our system, partner exercises are critical to training because they teach you what to look for in both yourself and your partner; you can encourage your training partner (and vice versa) to move beyond obstacles and find ways of helping each other to embody the material. Also, when you guide others, you often solidify your knowledge and discover new perspectives that may not have been immediately apparent, thereby propelling you towards a deeper understanding.

Finally, training in a group can make it easier to feel what is happening and pick up on subtle energies. The group energy is far stronger than what any one person could generate in their solo practice. I’ve seen those who put in the extra effort to team up and train together advance much quicker over the years. The internal arts are social arts, inextricably linked and woven into the very fabric of training benefits.

Membership Programme:
Integrated Mind-Body Solutions for Internal Arts Training

Incorporating the roles of nature, nutrition and community into your internal arts practice has the power to dramatically boost the results you get from your training. To offer students support on these levels and help dedicated internal arts practitioners in more ways than my courses alone could ever achieve, I’ve created a Membership programme, which launches on
15 May 2012 with the release of my first newsletter, Inner Quest (IQ).

Taoists talk about building on small successes—starting with that which is easy and allowing each accomplishment to lead to the next. In the process, you become more stable and open to looking inside to your inner wisdom, and reaching out to your fellow human beings. With a little ongoing, individual effort, we can tune into, support and join the many positive forces trending towards a more relaxed and sustainable way of living that is in harmony with the well-being of our planet and the other beings that inhabit it. In this way, we do our part to slow down the disintegration of society and drive towards materialism, greed, fear and anxiety. Ultimately, we become the creators of positive change in our realities.

To learn more about how you can become a Member of the Integrated Mind-Body Solutions Programme and receive a free seminar, visit www.relaxationmeditation.co.uk/membership.

© 2012 Paul Cavel—All rights reserved. Links are appreciated, but please check with me before distributing any portion of this article.

Paul Cavel Teaches Breathing Exercises for Relaxation in Body, Mind + Chi

If you’ve been following and practising my training progressions on creating and using space from my last three posts (review Lesson 1, Lesson 2 or Lesson 3), then this work will deepen the benefits. However, if you haven’t solidified your foundation in the previous practices, you may experience the opposite results in which case you would simply want to revisit that work before continuing forward.

Cyclical Breathing Exercise

The instructions that follow will take place over a four-beat cycle: activity-rest, activity-rest. This cycle can be applied to various neigong techniques, such as bend and stretch, open and close and, in this case, in coordination with the breath.

First, get comfortable and relax. From this quiet space, bring your attention to the inhale-exhale cycle of your breathing. After a few moments, take a deep in-breath and towards the end just relax. This will naturally cause the changeover to the out-breath. You have just completed the first half of one activity-rest cycle.

Practice just this aspect for several breaths to get the hang of it.

Then, on your next out-breath, continue breathing out a bit more, going a bit further that you would normally. Don’t strain or push the air out of your lungs, but breath out as slowly as is comfortable. At the end of the out-breath, again relax and you will naturally start to breathe in again. You have just completed the second half of one activity-rest cycle.

Practice just this aspect for several breaths to get the hang of it.

Now put both halves together to create one continuous cycle—breathe in, relax, breathe out and relax more. If you do this correctly, your nerves will begin to let go and your breathing will stabilise. However, if you use too much effort, your breathing will become uneven, possibly erratic, and your body will harden.

Feel your eyes and nerves without losing focus on your inhale-to-exhale, exhale-to-inhale changeovers. Dial and tune the four-part cycle through your breath until you gain maximum relaxation.

Next, take as full a breath as is possible without a sudden inhale or exhale, or evoking any sense of strain in body, mind or chi. The changeovers should become effortless, smooth and slow. The better you practice, the more your system will let go. In 10-20 minutes, you will likely find that you become very quiet inside and relaxed.

Add Qigong Exercise

Once you’ve trained this simple breathing exercise enough to gain a sense of peace and easiness inside, then stand up and slowly transition into doing the most gentle and simple qigong movement you know. Circling Hands Qigong is an ideal exercise.

Then, follow this training progression:

1. Let the breath govern your physical motion, i.e. the movement only lasts for the duration of one comfortable in-out breath (and not the other way around). If you try to tune your breath to your movement, you can strain the breath, which in turn causes the nerves to contract and the body to close down.

2. Start by practising the instructions on the fifth section of the third article while completely relaxing and letting go of any control of the breath. When you are comfortable and ready, introduce the four-part breathing cycle. Let it fit together with the physical movement however it makes sense to you—whether you breathe in or out on the open. It doesn’t matter how anybody else does it. What matters is that it feels comfortable and easy for your body.

3. Closely watch and feel your eyes, nerves and breath. Dial and tune your movement to your breath (and not the other way around). If your breath becomes strained in any way, completely let go of the breath. Revisit the breathing practice (as described above) independently from movement for a few days or weeks. When the technique has become stabilised, once again try this exercise progression.

There is no reason to rush the developmental process. In fact, you will likely encounter internal resistance and derail any chance of achieving positive results by doing so. The learning progression can and should be tailored to your individual needs. So take more time to work on that which you find difficult.

When you’re on the right track, you will notice a deeper sense of relaxation and smoother, more integrated movement. Your breath will remain calm, full and continuous. Your mind will let go and your chi will skyrocket. It creates a reinforcing and sustainable cycle of health benefits, where each loop helps to boost the results achieved in the previous revolution.

In my teacher’s 2011 Wu Style Tai Chi Short Form instructor training, he changed the count from 18 steps to 27 steps. For those in the know, you won’t see any significant changes to choreography except the normal range of variations, depeneding on whether you’re training for martial power, health, healing or meditation. Since most of my students train tai chi for health benefits, you’ll see I favour choreography options specifically geared towards this aspect.

Want to Learn Tai Chi?

My next series of tai chi classes will take place in West Central London, where I’m based, this autumn from 6 October to 18 December 2012. I’ll offer both beginning and advanced tracks of study, so if you’re interested in learning tai chi or want to improve your core structure (connection between your legs, kwa and spine) you can read more details about my class structure by clicking here.

I’ll also teach Pulling Silk in Tai Chi this summer, 3-5 August 2012, in York.
Learn more by clicking here.

I have taught Wu style tai chi since 1996 with gratitude to and the encouragement of my teacher, Wu and Yang Style Tai Chi Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis.

Any physical and/or energetic exercise can carry risks. Do not attempt these exercises if you have any physical, emotional or mental conditions that may make you susceptible to injury.
© 2012 Paul Cavel—All rights reserved. Links are appreciated, but please check with me before distributing any portion of this article.

Exercises to Release Stress + Tension Taught by Paul Cavel

In my last two posts on creating and using space in your body (review Lesson 1 or Lesson 2), I took you through two individual and distinct processes for increasing your body’s capacity, and releasing stress and tension. Once you’ve practised each thread separately and regularly for some time and with good result, then you can integrate the two streams into one exercise to upgrade potential health benefits.

Releasing Stress + Tension Exercise

In the progression that follows, be sure to stabilise what you learn in each layer before moving on to the next, more complex layer that encompasses what you have learned in all previous layers. If you move on too soon, before you are ready, you will not achieve real benefit from your practice and could cause yourself bodily harm. Spending money on a product you don’t use is one thing, but investing your time, effort and energy with little or bad results is far worse!

By now you should have some idea about how many repetitions or how long you can practise any given movement or form. Be sure to choose a simple exercise, such as the first movement in your tai chi form or Circling Hands Qigong—an exercise you could repeat 30-50 times without strain.

Split the number of repetitions you will do into five equal parts, so between 6-10 moves in each section or set.

Qigong Exercise, Layer 1

For the first set (of 6-10 moves), apply the methodology you learned in the instructions on making space, opening the body as best you can without using force. Remember the more space you create, the more space you can use, and the better results you will achieve. That said, forcing the body creates tension and thereby closes down your body, mind, chi or any combination of the three. So don’t try to spring forward too soon, and take a step back if you find your practice starting to unravel.

Qigong Exercise, Layer 2

After completing the first set of repetitions and without stopping, smoothly transition into the second set of reps, this time focusing on softening your eyes and nerves as much as possible. Use your range of motion (within 70% of what is ideal for your nerves) to relax as much as possible while you continue to practice.

Qigong Exercise, Layer 3

Next, transition back into making more space only this time don’t stretch so much as you did in the first set yet more than you did in the second. During this third section, try to keep the nerves relaxed with the intent of making more space in the body.

Qigong Exercise, Layer 4

In the fourth set, once again return to using the space you have created by fully releasing the nerves. Use the feeling of your eyes (or any other indicators you noted from Lesson 2) as an indicator of how relaxed your nerves are during each point in the exercise.

Qigong Exercise, Layer 5

The last set of reps is about finding a smooth blend of energy between making and using space. Although you don’t want any hardening of the nerves, your intent is to allow the body to open up to whatever degree possible. Of course, this level of practice requires you to play a fine line, and it may take some months of training to strike a satisfying balance. This is especially true because the line can change from one day to the next! So you may find it easier some days than others. Tune into your body and as you do so more often, you will find it easier to catch the flow.

After a couple of weeks of regular practice, gradually reduce the number of reps in sections 1-4 while increasing the number of reps in the last section (maintaining the same number of reps overall). This process will give you a visceral understanding of the two extremes, slowly integrating them for the greatest health benefits.

I’ll have one more exercise in my next post that will help you round off the work we’ve been doing, and give you plenty more to practice in the months ahead!

Relaxation Exercises Taught by Paul Cavel

Lesson 2

My post of 24 February 2012 discussed ways of creating space in your body. In time and with practice, the aim is to open your musculo-skeletal frame in a coordinated fashion to gain maximum benefit. If you’re not there yet, just keep working in this direction and don’t worry about achieving the ideal in any given timeframe.

As you practice, however, you want to progressively focus more on your nerves and less on the muscles. For those who have begun working to open the entire musculo-skeletal frame simultaneously, you want to back off from stretching in the fashion as described in my previous post.

Instead, you want to play with your range of motion, looking to stay within a comfortable stretch in physical motion so as not to activate any resistance in your nerves. The range of motion that is comfortable for your physical tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia) may be far greater than that of your nervous system.

To find the sweet spot for your nerves, spend 10 minutes or so lying down on a comfortable surface doing focused breathing. Allow yourself to become as relaxed as possible.

Once you achieve a very easy, relaxed state, slowly and gently stand up and do the first move of your qigong or tai chi form. (I don’t recommend practising bagua as it can fire up your system.)

As you do the form movement, focus on one or two points—both, if possible:

• Releasing your eyes; and
• Directly releasing your nerves.

The eyes and nerves are inextricably linked, so the eyes serve as a doorway to the nerves—either exciting or helping to calm nerve signals.

Repeat the qigong or tai chi move several times, maintaining as much internal content as you can without allowing your nerves to become excited. You don’t want to fire up your nervous system at any part of the movement. If your eyes start to harden or your nerves or muscles start to contract in any way, you know you have gone past your 70% comfortable range.

Once you feel you’ve practised enough repetitions that you have the idea—without hitting any kind of internal resistance in body, mind or energy—take a break.

Then, practise the same qigong or tai chi move several more times. However, this time return to your normal, larger range of motion and degree of intent.

Notice what happens to your nervous system. Does it harden or tighten to some degree? Do your eyes become fixated or intense? Do you find your breathing is intermittent or erratic?

Whatever the differences are, just make note of them. In the future, you can use these indicators to determine the appropriate range of motion for your tissues versus your nerves.

Finally, return to either a sitting or lying down position to release any tension you may feel in body/flesh, mind or chi from exceeding your 70% comfort zone.

Once released, practise your qigong or tai chi movement while staying well within your nervous system’s comfortable range. Try to maintain as much internal content in your form as possible.

I’d recommend devoting at least a whole month to practising while staying within 70% of what your nerves can handle (in all the internal arts you train) to release lodged tension in the body, layer by layer. It’s a great way to increase the capacity of your nervous system and train your body to let go of—rather than hold onto—harmful stress and tension.

Continue on to Lesson 3 when you’re ready, which includes more specific methods for going even deeper inside to release bound tension and use the space you have created in your body.

Bagua Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis + Senior Bagua Instructor Paul Cavel

Pre-birth bagua classes from the Original Bagua School of Beijing, China are coming to Camden, London WC1 autumn 2012!

I’m very happy to announce that I will begin teaching regular bagua classes in Camden this September. My intent is to start teaching the Bagua Single Palm Change in January 2013. My autumn classes will prepare beginners for the more precise techniques involved in bagua palm changes, and help the bagua addicted and afflicted refine the fundamentals that must be spot-on to truly delve into the realm of internal techniques that drive and manifest palm changes.

The first four classes (22 training hours) will be dedicated to developing the following bagua techniques:

• Bagua Warm-up Exercises 
• Bagua Unification Exercises
• Bagua Circle Walking
• 8 Essential Walking Postures
• Bagua Dragon Arm Exercises

Bagua is the art form created to realise the teachings of the I Ching (Book of Changes) to better flow with life and achieve ultimate health and fitness in body, mind and chi.

I have learned the monastic bagua tradition from my teacher, Bagua Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis, over 17 years of intense training, including all eight Mother Palms in private tuition. I continue to train bagua and the neigong system, and offer courses with my teacher’s encouragement. I’m committed to sharing as much of this profound and multidimensional system with you as you can take onboard.

Learn more about this course series, as well as my July and August 2012 bagua courses for those already in the game, by visiting the bagua page on my website: www.relaxationmeditation.co.uk/classes/camden-bagua

My good friend and fellow Energy Arts tai chi instructor Dan Kleiman recently launched a new podcast series, Qigong Radio, to cover a wide variety of qigong and internal martial arts related topics.

Dan has spent the last seven years as the director of the largest school established in the United States, Brookline Tai Chi, to teach the Energy Arts System founded by our teacher, Taoist Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis. In his role as director and as a internal arts teacher, Dan has worked with many hundreds of students and instructors. Through these experiences, he’s become particularly interested in what makes people successful in the internal arts, and has committed himself to finding answers to help people of all backgrounds and levels of training achieve real results from their practice.

Dan invited me to join him to discuss the fundamental levels of early internal power (neigong) training, and how it specifically provides the foundation for and links with long-term development in body, mind and chi.

The three levels of training are:

• Releasing tension from and loosening the soft tissues, i.e. muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia;
• Activating and circulating bodily fluids, i.e. blood, lymph, interstitial, synovial and cerebrospinal;
• Learning to feel, move and store chi, your vital life-force energy, which powers the physical body.

You can learn more about these methods and their specific hierarchy by reading my article post from last week: 3 Levels of Fundamental Neigong Training.

Listen to or Download the Interview

You can listen to or download the interview by visiting Dan’s website–click here!

Dan Kleiman, Qigong Radio

We’re interested in hearing your experiences and I’d be glad to take questions, which you can do by submitting a comment below.

Hope it’s useful,
Paul

Dan Kleiman is the Programme Director at Brookline Tai Chi where he teaches tai chi and qigong, and oversees teacher development and curriculum planning. He writes about the business of movement education on DanKleiman.com/blog.

© 2012 Paul Cavel—All rights reserved. Links are appreciated, but copying or distributing any portion of this article without written consent is prohibited.

Any physical and/or energetic exercise can carry risks. Do not attempt these exercises if you have any physical, emotional or mental conditions that may make you susceptible to injury.

Tai Chi Instructor Paul Cavel Teaching Internal Neigong Content in Stuttgart, Germany

How to Activate + Develop Your Soft Tissues, Fluids + Chi

Although internal arts practice and the process of embodying ever-deeper layers of neigong is a lifetime pursuit for the most dedicated practitioners, at each increment of advancement, the associated health benefits increase significantly. Many students will sacrifice content for form, but it is the internals that supercharge qigong, tai chi and bagua forms—that which makes all the power-generating and health benefits possible.

Neigong training starts with physical movements that stretch the body’s soft tissues (muscles, fascia, tendons and ligaments) through various systematic and progressive techniques. Stage two training is all about learning how to manipulate the body’s fluids, which, with sustained practice, can eventually allow practitioners access to the energy that powers the body. In the third stage, if you have done your homework in the first two stages, your mind’s intent can be applied to move chi at will, where some would say the fun really begins.

Making the Body Conscious

Exercising the body on three distinct levels—nerves/flesh, fluids and chi—allows you to release both generalised stress and long-term, bound tension at each layer. The ability to manipulate all three at will and on demand is the equivalent to turning a key to unlock the body’s mechanisms that enable deep relaxation because:

• Energy moves fluids (i.e. blood, lymph, interstitial, synovial and cerebrospinal fluids);
• Energy moves strongest through the nerves and fluids;
• The nerves and fluids operate the body.

Together, the three levels create a positive feedback loop and synergy that can give a person access to ever-deeper levels of their being since fundamental neigong techniques relax and open the body, thereby enabling you to let go that which has become bound in your system—in body, mind, chi or any combination thereof.

Each stage of development can take years or even decades to sufficiently develop. You cannot skip or only understand one layer on a superficial basis yet advance to the next, more complete level with any degree of success. The skill you achieve with each and every component will set the stage for and be contained within the next. So you either multiply or completely unravel the results you can attain at the deeper, more advanced layer.

Practitioners on a well-balanced diet of content and form will accomplish four important goals:

• Learn choreography or formwork, from simple to complex.
• Develop specific threads of essential neigong.
• Blend neigong and formwork at ever-greater depths and in more intricate patterns.
• Increase the potential of experiencing power-generating and health benefits—right from the start.

In the early stages of neigong practice, there are two primary streams that are best developed separately and together to gain conscious control over bodily functions, which are:

• Contacting and manipulating the soft tissues;
• Contacting and developing the pulse (open and close).

Qigong Exercises for the Soft Tissues of the Body

There are five distinct layers to consider when working with the soft tissues, where each is a progression from and expands upon the depth achieved in the previous layer.

The five levels for working with the soft tissues are:

1. Bending and stretching from the outside in and the inside out;
2. Lengthening along the yin and yang surfaces of the body, and wrapping the soft tissues of the torso;
3. Turning or rotating the arms, legs and torso;
4. Twisting the soft tissues;
5. Spiraling the soft tissues.

Hierarchy for Developing Your Soft Tissues

As with the entirety of neigong, a training hierarchy dictates the process of learning to manipulate the soft tissues for health and power generation. Within it there are two groups of components or areas of development for moving the soft tissues.

The two groups, with their specific sequence of learning, are:

• Bending and Stretching (Basic); Lengthening/Wrapping (Intermediate)
• Turning/Rotating (Basic); Twisting (Intermediate); Spiraling (Advanced)

You must start with bending-stretching and rotating because these methods:

• Form the foundation for the more advanced work.
• Allow you to gain some control over your soft tissues, which in turn allows you to advance to the next stage.
• Begin the process of making your body conscious.

Gaining conscious control over the soft tissues with your mind’s intent is an introductory method that can evolve into the ability to manipulate and cultivate chi. Bending and stretching exercises are among the first steps you must take to literally put your mind inside your body to contact and bring alive your body’s soft tissues. Embodiment of these essential neigong is part of your foundation—regardless of which internal art(s) you practice.

Simple, Repetitive Qigong Exercises

First and foremost, you must practise simple repetitive qigong exercises rather than complex tai chi or bagua forms to have any chance of embodying neigong. That is, unless you are a genius in mind-body-chi, which is very, very rare. Circle Walking is also good because it adheres to the simple-and-repetitive-movement requirement.

Over the years, I’ve seen how many practitioners like to learn new forms to add to their collection. In actuality it is the neigong threads embedded within more complex qigong systems, tai chi styles and bagua palm changes that drives and ultimately manifests internal power development. When I began training with my teacher Bruce, I spent nine years—every possible free waking moment—developing my practice at the fundamental level. For example, I practised Energy Gates Qigong daily for three years before attempting the Third Swing, until I stabilised my standing qigong and outer dissolving practice, First and Second Swings. This is what allowed me to advanced my practice and, perhaps more importantly, heal my body from a motorcycle accident that left me with serious injuries.

The wise student takes a slow approach, building their foundation in and understanding of neigong content not forms per se, integrating each technique before adding the next, more complete piece. Once you’ve developed any given technique to the point where it is literally (not figuratively) in your flesh, then and only then do you apply it to more complex forms, such as some qigong movements, bagua and tai chi.

Bending + Stretching Exercises

The initiation of soft tissue work starts with bending and stretching through the five bows of the body: arms, legs and torso. A primary emphasis in bend and stretch is learning to adhere to the golden mean and neither bending nor stretching more than 70% of your capacity. Otherwise, blood and chi flow will be restricted or even temporarily shut down.

For example, the ideal would be to bend the arms to 70% and leave a 30% reserve, or stretch to 70% and leave a 30% bend in the arms. This comfortable range of motion also keeps the body connected and relaxed, whereas either bending or stretching too far will break the connection between the limbs and body (spine and torso), and spike your nervous system. The concept is simple, but honing your technique can be challenging in the beginning, especially since, for example, the legs may move more than the arms or vice versa.

Within the proper parameters (unique to each individual), bending and stretching allows you to delve inside your body, release stuck tissues and connect your limbs to your spine, making integrated, whole-body motion possible. In time and with practice, you can loosen and release residual tension inside your body along with the pain and suffering that often accompanies it. Bending and stretching provides an exit pathway to release and let go of that which binds and restricts the body—an absolute prerequisite for practising deeper and more powerful twisting methods (otherwise you could cause yourself serious harm).

Circling Hands and tai chi’s beginning form (first move) are excellent for embodying the principle of bend and stretch. They are also great exercises for beginners to learn since they will help wake up the soft tissues and prepare the body for more advanced lengthening techniques, which require far more control only gained by a much greater degree of communication between the mind and body.

Lengthening + Wrapping Exercises

Lengthening and wrapping are all about gaining control over the fascia. This level of the work requires fine-motor control over the soft tissue and a very relaxed operation. This is because the more effort you put into the act of lengthening the fascia, the more your nerves will bite and prevent the act from occurring.

In the beginning, you rely on bend-and-stretch techniques to wake up, engage and stretch the fascia. Then, with correct, consistent and ongoing training, the mind can tune into and start to grab the fascia directly. From there you’re away!

Basically, lengthening and wrapping are twigs of the same branch, but have distinct differences in localisation and the planes of motion on which they work.

• Lengthening takes place in the limbs along the length of the limb (in both directions) and torso where it moves the fascia on the vertical plane; whereas
• Wrapping takes place only in the torso and moves the fascia on the horizontal plane.

Both lengthening and wrapping link to create whole-body motion as a single connected sheet or network of soft tissues. Eventually, as the body wakes up and your technique is refined over years of practice, you cannot only activate the fascia under the skin where the wei chi exists, but also deeper through the muscles groups to the bone (although never into the bone).

Turning + Twisting Exercises

Turning and twisting are closely related, so much so that they are essentially two levels of the same game. In turning, the rotation of a limb is initiated through activation of the outer muscles. Whereas, in twisting, the rotation is initiated through activating deeper layers of muscle. In turning the muscles and bones move equally, whereas in twisting the muscles move further than the bones.

Turning Techniques

Turning must be practised for a reasonable period of time in preparation for twisting because it is gentler on the body and a great method for releasing the nerves. If you twist too early—before the nerves are sufficiently released—you can actually trap tension in your body.

It is quite normal for experienced internal artists to begin their practice with an emphasis on bend and stretch with turning. As the body warms up, becomes better connected and the nerves release, they move on to incorporating lengthening and twisting techniques.

Twisting Techniques

Twisting engages the vascular system more fully and deeper than bending and stretching and turning, but relies upon the bend-stretch and turning preliminaries. So the more you prepare your body with bend-stretch and turning, the more potential benefit you will gain when you upgrade to twisting.

Copious practice of twisting will give you excellent control over your soft tissues, loosening everything off the bones and creating a soft, supple, relaxed and strong body. Twisting alone can help you fine tune your form(s), and engage and amplify the circulation of fluids while deeply massaging your internal organs. Finally, as the soft tissues are twisted progressively more deeply (over months and years), it is possible to release and eliminate ever-deeper layers of blockages and toxins, perhaps lodged in the body for many years or even decades.

Developing real skill in twisting contributes to a strong and healthy body. So get your practice up to this intermediate level and be content to stay there for a long time—until you are well prepared for the advanced material. Complete and even twisting throughout the body that is deeply connected is a preliminary for spiraling the soft tissues, which, again, gets a lot trickier.

Spiraling Techniques

Spiraling puts an enormous pressure into the origination and insertion points of the muscles, so strain or tearing is likely. That is unless you have trained properly and adequately, while under the guidance of a very experienced instructor. Advanced spiraling material is rarely taught because too few people have sufficiently developed their bodies with twisting methods to necessitate the teachings…

Pulsing Exercises

Pulsing is a naturally occurring phenomenon replicated time and again throughout the universe as an essential aspect of every living organism, including human beings. Pulsing (also known as “opening and closing”) is little more than a synchronised, alternating rhythm of expanding and condensing energy.

In terms of qigong, tai chi and bagua, the concept of pulsing is simple: You want your entire body and its energy to pulse as one coherent whole throughout your form (set, style or palm change). The theory is relatively easy to understand, but in practice there are many layers to pulsing that require patience and dedication to achieve. Fundamentally, pulsing can become a means by which you work through all the body’s primary systems and subsystems to restore balance and connection in the totality of your being.

If you look at a healthy baby, there are two very obvious currents that run through its soft, supple and vibrant body: spirals and pulsations. Spirals can be directed by soft tissue work while pulsations are initially directed by the opening and closing of the body’s cavities and joints.

However, it does not stop there. Eventually, you can pulse everything in your body, including your internal organs, glands, soft tissues and subtle energy anatomy for a multitude of multiplying health benefits, which include melting tension tangled in the mind, body and nervous system.

Pulsing to Contact Your Chi

The joints are typically the easiest place to start for most students since it only entails one focal point—trying to increase and decrease the space between the bones of the joint in an alternating rhythm.

At this level, a tangible sense of the pulse in the joints has many generalised health benefits, including:

• Releases the nerves.
• Fosters a sense of relaxation by expelling surface-level and deeply bound tension.
• Stretches open the ligaments and thereby engages synovial fluid (lubricating fluid between the joints).
• Becomes a means by which you can contact the energy gates at the centre of the joints that govern the energy of your physical body.
• Serves as a gateway for initiating the pulse with your mind’s intent and taking the pulse yet deeper into your body.

As with all neigong, initially you seek to manipulate the physical body and with regular, dedicated practice, you can eventually gain access to the energy that powers it.

Pulsing is a highly effective, intermediate neigong technique for going through the physical body to contact your energy via your fluids. Activation of the fluids is the critical link that helps you make the jump to accessing and directing chi in your qigong, tai chi or bagua practice.

In Water method practices, the process of “ice to water, water to gas” is a means for dissolving blocked energy. However, ice to water, water to gas can also serve as a metaphor to access ever-more subtle layers of your being from:

• Solid—your physical bones and flesh; to
• Liquid—bodily fluids (which in the case of pulsing the joints, would be synovial fluid); to
• Gas—whereby you gain access to the chi that powers you as a living organism.

How to Learn to Pulse (Open-Close)

There is really only one way to learn how to pulse: Have a well-trained practitioner put their hands on your body and manipulate it to create a pulse at such a gross level that you can easily recognise it. Then, over time, you seek to replicate that experience in your own body. You could do all sorts of mental gymnastics and visualising, but it will get you no closer to actualising the pulse than thinking about food can provide nourishment and feed your hunger.

Over the last 17 years, I’ve taught the subject of pulsing and, often times, find that even students who have some knowledge and experience with the pulse are stumped for words when I activate a gentle yet clear pulse throughout their body (or in some localised region). The reason is that a mental construct or anything you could imagine at all is no substitute for the real experience. As with all chi practices, pulsing techniques are done at a subtle level with a powerful result.

However, the important point is not the experience itself, but rather that once you have it you have breadcrumbs to follow to tangibly tune into and feel your body’s natural openings and closings, and amplify them yourself. With diligent practice and live training, almost anyone has the ability to gain some faculty in pulsing, where health benefits can once again be magnified.

Pulsing the Joints: The Middle Ground

In the beginning, pulsing the joints is usually easiest in the wrists, hands and fingers. Developing your capacity to pulse these joints provides a contact point from which to grow your understanding and skill level.

Next, progress to the ankles, feet, elbows, knees, shoulders, hips, and eventually all the joints of the body, including: the pelvis, ribcage, spine and plates of the skull. At this level, practitioners can get the entire skeleton to pulse, which creates a fantastic synergy that is quite impossible to perceive or imagine without direct experience.

Whether only opening and closing the joints in the limbs (arms and legs) or the entire skeletal frame, you want to bring the pulse up to its maximum operating range, balance the system and then work on deepening it.

Increasing range of motion in the joints releases tension in the ligaments and begins the process of activating the synovial fluid. With practice, this is the layer at which a very springy, spongy body can be created—one that can more easily absorb and withstand shock.

Pulsing for Beginners: Circling Hands Qigong

Once the pulse is open and clear, the next step is to balance it throughout the physical body. This is normally done through Circling Hands, an easy, repetitive motion that allows the mind to focus on content rather than form movements.

Through practice of Circling Hands, the process is simple: compare the pulse in the joint on the left side to the corresponding joint on the right side of your body, and make them equal. This is done by reducing the joint with the larger range to that of the joint with the smaller range (i.e., adhering to the 70% rule and not overstraining the weakest link).

Go through all pairs, e.g. hands, feet, elbows and knees. Next, compare each pair to all other pairs, e.g. hands to feet, elbows to knees, shoulders to hips, and equalise any imbalances.

By reducing your range of motion to the joint with the smaller range, you can:

• Dramatically soften the pulse;
• Release the nervous system;
• Deepen the pulse in the joints;
• Link the pulsing of the joints into one unified lattice, thereby amplifying the positive effects of the pulse.

Once the outer frame is activated as one whole, balanced and integrated, you are on the road to creating a real synergy throughout your entire system. At the level of pulsing the joints, the results can be quite profound, but from the perspective of neigong your vehicle is only in first gear.

Pulsing is an evolving technique that morphs and changes in application as your body and the ability to directly influence your energy develop. The more dramatic, broad-ranging and long-lasting results reveal themselves after the tuning in period, when you can go deeper than only pulsing the joints and gain some faculty in opening and closing your body’s cavities.

Pulsing the Cavities: The Game Changer

If your approach is methodical and you take the time necessary to achieve a well-balanced pulse in all your body’s joints, you will naturally begin to activate the cavities. This is where the game shifts.

From the perspective of pulsing, the skeletal frame is considered the shell or container. If you want to go internal, however, you must penetrate the shell. That is you must go deeper inside your body to activate and engage the cavities to powerfully increase circulation of fluids and chi throughout the body.

Most of the cavities are located in the torso, which govern and feed the joints. A cavity is basically made up of soft tissue that is engorged with interstitial fluid. There are no bones in a cavity (unlike a joint), so the pulse can go spherical rather than only linear (as is the case with a joint).

In addition to the cavities that are deep within the torso, there are also cavities at the roots of each limb: the armpits for the arms, the kwa for the legs and the throat notch for the neck and head.

Activating the Spherical Pulse

So here we have two interesting coincidences:

• The cavities, being made of only flesh and fluid, act like a strong pump that drives interstitial fluid around the body. As the largest reservoir of fluid in the body, interstitial fluid not only lubricates all the soft tissues, but also facilitates the transfer of all nutrient and waste byproducts between the blood and cells.
• Since there is a major cavity at the root of each limb, when activated it both circulates interstitial fluid and chi down the limb and back, as well as supercharges the pulse in the joints of that limb.

So the cavities pulse, boosting circulation of bodily fluids and chi, and thereby further engage the joints—kicking the pulse up a gear. The quality of motion in the body takes on a life of its own, creating an incredibly relaxed, deep and viscous alternating rhythm. At this level of the game, your body begins to mimic the action of a jelly fish or a squid, a spherical pulsing, boneless motion that has no obvious beginning or end. Welcome to internal arts practice!

Incorporating Introductory Neigong Techniques into Your Internal Arts Practice

The depth and complexity of the neigong system is precisely what attracts students to and fascinates them about energy exercises. Each of the 16 neigong represents cosmic potential for developing the body, mind and chi—all capable of producing seemingly mysterious and enigmatic results.

However wacky and incomprehensible some of this material can seem to the casual observer, the neigong system is firmly rooted in concrete, tangible and progressive training techniques that start with developing the physical body. This is what makes the Water method and our system truly extraordinary and safe!

Even introductory neigong are not learned from a casual understanding though. You must be dedicated, persistent and patient. Over the years, I’ve also found that most students hyper focus on forms and are generally not clear about the best strategies for building their foundation in neigong. My courses in London, where I’m now based, are designed to address this issue by helping students delve into the exercises that will yield the most benefit for their practice time.

The distinct layers that come into play when working your way through the foundational neigong are so important because you could be downgrading potential power-generating and health benefits that could be yours for the same effort. The ideal learning progression and the benefits associated with each layer will not only save you loads of training hours, but more importantly, allow you access to your core energy—where the releasing and letting go can lead to amazing transformations in body, mind and chi. If you keep your practice alive and well, and it’ll do the same for you!

Interview on Qigong Radio

My good friend and fellow Energy Arts tai chi instructor, Dan Kleiman, recently launched a new podcast series, Qigong Radio, to cover a wide variety of qigong and internal martial arts related topics.

Dan has spent the last seven years as the director of the largest school established in the United States, Brookline Tai Chi, to teach the Energy Arts System founded by our teacher, Taoist Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis. In his role as director and as a internal arts teacher, Dan has worked with many hundreds of students and instructors. Through these experiences, he’s become particularly interested in what makes people successful in the internal arts, and has committed himself to finding answers to help people of all backgrounds and levels of training achieve real results from their practice.

Dan invited me to join him to discuss the fundamental levels of early internal power (neigong) training, and how it specifically provides the foundation for and links with long-term development in body, mind and chi.

You can listen to or download the interview by visiting Dan’s website–click here!

Many events in life close people down in some way or another, especially because, in this age of technology, time pressures and repetitive micro-tasks have become the norm. They can leave your body, mind and energy feeling condensed and hard at the end of a day. Learning how to make space in your physical body is an excellent tool for reversing the cycle of compounding tension, so you can relax, empty your mind and become present to the here and now.

How-to Exercises for Making Space in Your Body

Exercises to engage and open your body are initiated in a static posture. This will give you the best chance of successfully applying the skill you develop in your qigong, tai chi or bagua forms, once you have honed your skill set.

[Editor's note: Please read all instructions before practising any how-to exercises to ensure best results and your safety.]

Start with Good Posture

Paul Cavel in the Hug-a-Tree Standing Qigong Posture

So let’s begin with the classic standing hug-a-tree posture. Start by spending some time ensuring all your postural alignments are in place and that you can maintain them as you stand (for a review, see my how-to article on standing qigong alignments).

Once you feel comfortable in the basic standing posture, bring your hands up to the height of your shoulders and make a ring with your arms as if you are wrapping your arms around a tree.

Spend a few minutes relaxing and letting go. Start with your face and work downwards to your shoulders, chest, elbows, belly, tailbone, legs and feet, releasing any tension you encounter to whatever degree is possible for you in the moment. Take your time and move slowly to maintain a sense of easiness with the exercise.

Then, with a sense of the spine rising while the arms remain in posture, release all of your soft tissues, such as the muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia. Again, work from top down.

If you find that you are tired in mind, body or energy at this point, leave the next set of exercises for another day. Standing alone can be a great method of releasing accumulated tension and bringing your mind to the present moment.

Open Your Musculo-skeletal Frame

Initially, in the hug-a-tree standing posture, you will follow the steps below in sequence, one after another. Then, after developing skill in each individual step, you will eventually want to perform all movements together, simultaneously.

Adhere to the 70% rule and don’t force or strain your body, mind or energy in any way as you open up the musculo-skeletal frame by:

• Extending the elbows forwards, down and away from each other while keeping the hands on the left and right channels.
• Extending the hands and fingers towards each other while keeping the hands on the left and right channels.
• Lengthening from the lumbar vertebrae (lower back) and up through the neck to the crown of the head. Be careful not to overstretch or tense the occipital area (where the skull meets the spine) whatsoever!
• Sinking the chest down into the belly as you raise the spine.
• Sinking and dropping the sacrum and tailbone down through the legs and into the feet without your body lowering in height. Be careful that your knees don’t push forward of your toes!
• Lifting the body up by opening the back of the knees and thereby taking pressure off the knees. If you do this well, the shin-to-thigh-bone angle will not change and the ankles will open up slightly. You can also open the back of the knees by lifting from the tailbone and keeping the same angle with the leg bones. Whichever method you choose, you want to stretch open the legs and space in the joints.
• Opening up the feet and allowing the toes to grow out of the feet.

Once you complete this sequence of steps, you can slowly open up and stretch each place progressively more, bit by bit. The intent throughout the whole process is to deepen relaxation and thereby increase your ability to let go rather than use force of any kind to expand your musculo-skeletal frame.

The longer you stand, the more blood and chi will circulate throughout your body, making it easier to identify any areas that are condensed, contracted or collapsed. As your overall tension releases, you can then systematically stretch open these areas, little by little.

Applying Exercises for Creating Space
in Your Qigong, Tai Chi or Bagua Practice

Practice the sequence of exercises in the hug-a-tree posture for a week or more before applying them to your moving practice.

First, you must develop the ability to arrive at the end point of all stretches simultaneously (and not sequentially) while standing. That is from the opening of your kwa and spine, your limbs grow out of your body, so the stretches arrive at your extremities (crown of head, fingertips and toes) at the same moment in time.

Until you are familiar with the whole process and can execute and complete all stretches simultaneously, there’s no benefit to adding the work to your qigong, tai chi and bagua practice. In fact, it will downgrade your performance and break your flow.

Good luck and remember that rushing and forcing causes the body to contract and shut down–the opposite of what you aim to achieve in any neigong practice. Relaxing and taking your time will improve circulation of blood and chi flow, creating a positive feedback loop that yields more relaxation, sense of space and peace of mind.

When you’re ready, continue on to Lesson 2, which covers instructions for releasing your nerves and integrating what you learn from this set of exercises.