Moving, Walking, Ki, Body Orientation

When I first met my teacher, the way he moved was so shocking, so beautiful and powerful. I had no reference for what he was doing, for his relationship to the reality around him. Seeing him move, seeing him walk, changed day life. It should be like that with your teacher. When they move, it should be awe inspiring, or they have not done the true internal work.

Someone in my classes asked for a glossary of terms I throw around. Here are some simple sketches using some of those terms.

Here are Some Tips on Body Orientation:

The lower body should be magnetized to the center of the earth. It should feel heavy, but dynamic. Like we are standing in a lake up to our waist. Substantial. Rooted. But not stagnant.

We should be curious about the bubbling well on the foot. Gradually it will feel like tree roots are growing up from the ground into the foot or possibly growing from the lower legs down into the earth.

The upper body should float, like it is being pulled up from an area on top of

the head above the ears. There should be space in between the vertebrae.

So the lower body is being pulled into the center of the earth, and the upper body is being pulled to the heavens.

One should stack the body from the ground, like a stock of blocks. If a block is pulled out of place the structure will fall, so we find a way to naturally allow the structure to stack upon itself.

We can relax down to the bone. And we can relax into the bone marrow.

We should think of the floor as another wall to push off of to move. Just like we could push off of a wall to push away, we can do the same with the floor. Simply lean into the floor to move, rather than bracing the body and creating fulcrums of tension in the structure.

One should walk around with heavy elbows. When we reach up, say for a coffee cup out of the cupboard or to take something off of a hanger, keep the elbow heavy. If we raise our hand with arm out and the elbow not heavy, we will be reaching from the shoulder.

The pelvis should be relaxed and neutral. If it was a fish bowl, the fish bowl would not tip forward or back or to the side. It is neutral.

Keep the lower back, called the Koshi in Japanese, Ming Men in Mandarin, full during movement. Our tailbone will naturally point toward the floor. If we have an exaggerated pelvic tilt or anterior shift, gradually the extremes will soften in this neutral pelvis.

Be curious about the Tanden/Lower Dantien. I’ve written several blog posts about this. Two or three centimeters below the navel, in the center of the belly.

The Kua, sometimes the deep pelvis, must be softened and moved through. Most of us are bracing through the pelvis, but over time, something like a decade, the Kua will release.

The pelvic floor is dynamic and slightly raised, but not forcefully clenched. It will be like sealing the bottom of the tanden in fullness.

Tongue should lay on the roof of the mouth. This is natural and should be done all day long. The pelvic floor and the tongue on the roof of the mouth will go together sealing the internal momentum intimately as our practice deepens.

The whole body is released.

Move form the tanden

Release all joints, don’t be extreme in movement. I am not going to end range of joints when I Move. I am keeping them unlocked. Don’t lay on joints, don’t lay on tissue. If I am leaning into any part of the body when I move, I am laying on the body. Instead, lean into the ground to move.

More and more effortless in our movement.

We will stand in neutral. We are not leaning this way or that. We are not over extending. We will not be leaning on the body for support. We’ll be in this unknown neutral.

We focus more on the lower body than the upper body. This is extremely counterintuitive at first. Just keep going.

There is a perpendicular line from the center of the earth through the top of the head. We can begin to organize around that.

Waking Up the Ki

And in this neutral, in this unknown dynamic neutral we wake up the ki. Wake up this latent dragon of vitality in the system.

Over time, it will be like neutral exploding

And instead of making the posture happen, we allow the body to be organized by the ki.

This is not a formula one works on, but as the Ki/Qi develops, it is obvious that this has been true all along. When one has a big spiritual opening, this being pulled into the earth and the heaven will be so incredibly obvious. Our bodies will be completely changed in this. This is nothing other than our true nature being molded by this Great Life Energy.

All of this will be very non linear

We must suspend disbelief

We are constantly reinventing in space

A field always forming, always being reborn

This Liquid life we are swimming through

We are living in this Sea of Qi/Ki. This is not an idea.

Meet the room. Meet the texture of the room.

Allow yourself to completely surrender to the Ki in movement, walking

Like a lightbulb, electricity filling up your spine

Allow the Central Channel to open up. This will be quite non-linear at times, and we need to have the ability to suspend disbelief and allow this process to penetrate us. It will not always be straightforward, so one has to be creative in allowing the process to saturate.

Gradually the heart and Middle Dantian will shine, and as the lower Dantian/Tanden is developed, the heart will shine uninhibited, as will the Upper Dantian. The mind will become penetrated by this light, illuminated and transparent as the sky.

Like a balloon being filled by reality

Allow the ki to shine ever brighter naturally

This is not a doing

We’ll be filled with essence

Something wild and untethered, a great power

This will take a long time to learn to wield

Again, focus on the Tanden. How is it involved? How is it always involved?

Do not pin your awareness in the Tanden and try to put the energy there, but allow the Tanden to mature naturally. At first, look too hard and it will disappear.

Allow this wildness to animate you

Give in to this wild transformation

It’s okay if you are afraid. And if you are not afraid, at some point you will be. Keep going. Keep facing it

We must give up control to do this and be surrendered to this light

This energy field constantly changing, living in this wild unknown

Vitality being reborn in space constantly

Look at that person, and in an instant they have reformed in space

Being filled with love expanding

We’ll float on this Ki, using it, being filled up, full and taut like a balloon.

Make a movement and see all of life at your fingertips, a great wave of oneness expressing

Gradually and suddenly, we’ll develop one pointedness in our focus. Our entire being will unify our entire being. All cells will come into oneness.

There will be this incredible energy that begins to naturally shine, and in our surrender to it, when we act it will be from this fresh unobstructed mind

But instead, we control and make life small

Because we are attached to our egos, our small selves, we cannot let go of control. We cannot surrender to this unknown. And so we remain small

But as we see the ki grow in this finding it and surrendering, slowly we gain faith in letting go and the joy and unbound freedom it brings

Even though we don’t understand. Even though it does not compute

We being to enter a realm of all possibilities in this life if Ki

We begin to throw it all away, giving in to this process over and over

We’ll finally know for ourselves the truth

And we begin to see when things resonate with this truth and when they don’t. We can spot something that is coming from this place of aligning with this ki, or it’s someone relying on being mental.

We feel it because we recognize it as the truth holding them up

We become so aware of this, our whole body responds to it. When people are not coming from that place, it will feel off to us. Like smelling dogshit on someone’s breath. Even if they say all of the right words, it won’t touch us deeply.

We can’t smart ourselves around that one

When we see someone deeply transforming, it will feel like there is something like truth, something like Essence, permeating them, dripping off of them. They will exude light. This is just a matter of course.

The ki is how we share the realization, how we create a space and soup for people to cellularly transform.

Seeing someone move from this place is so beautiful and shocking. I don’t mean they can do flips or are necessarily a dancer or anything like that. It will be more like everything around them is like a wave coming through them. Everything will sing. Emptiness will follow them around. Our whole bodies will come alive seeing them wave their hand.

So again, who is it that is walking around? What is this body? What is trying to happen? Do you really think it is your muscles holding you up in space? Please discover this never-ending light, this place of no confusion or doubt.

Everyone can do this. No one is left out. Hugs to all of you!

Daito Kokushi as a Beggar, by Hakuin