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Yin and Yang

Although the body and mind are two separate entities, but they are closely linked to each other, they formed a perfect balance call --Tai-Chi, can be described as the Yin-and-Yang.

A healthy body always comes with a healthy mind. When we relax the body, the mind needs to be relaxed as well.

Why Relax
Ok, I apologize for taking so long to get to this topic, because I was involved in aviation and enjoy flying like a bird. Do you think birds relax in the sky? Many may say 50/50. They fly with their wings in the air just like we swim with our arms and legs in the water. In order to get to the maximum efficiency and reach the longest distance, the movements need to be fully coordinated and the muscles need to be fully relaxed. Is it hard to imagine using the strength and relaxing the muscle at the same time?
Ask the Olympic swimmers and NBA basket ball players, you will be surprised to hear what they say about their muscle and control efficiency which would lead them to the best performance.

Ok, how to relax the body? How to relax the muscles and joints? 

Scanning
By scanning the whole body from the top of your scalp down to the bottom of your feet, like you lie down on the medical examine bench for MRI scan. You may call it "sectional scanning" or "cross scanning", which means you scan one part of the body at a time and gradually move down the body until it reaches the foot and then toes, the finer you scan, the better the result will be.

The postures can be standing, sitting or lying, each has its unique purpose and effectiveness, but the relaxing techniques are all the same.

The reason I say there are three postures, because once you learn the techniques, you will be using it in every moment of your life, and every movement of your life. When you stand in front of a cashier at the supermarket, wait in line at the bank or talk to your boss at work, you apply the techniques to all your muscles and joints. When you lie on the floor, in bed, or face up floating in the swimming pool, you apply the techniques to all your muscles and joints. When you are in your office typing the keyboard, driving a car, attending a lecture or watching TV at home, even go to the bathroom sitting on top of the toilet, you apply the techniques to all the muscles and joints.

It's really a great technique to solve the physical problem in our life. 

Standing
Let's talk about the standing posture:
First, get a coat hanger out of your closet, hang a T-Shirt on it, use two fingers to hold the hanger hook. Imagine the hanger hook is your head, the triangular part of the hanger is your skeleton, the T-Shirt is your body, with all the muscles and joints smoothly connect together. Then imagine the finger holding the hook becomes a string, a fine string that holds the top of your scalp, makes the head to erect slightly upward, then let the body rest on its own, keep the spine naturally straight and completely relax yourself.

The neck, the shoulder, the spine, the torso, the waist, the hip, the legs, the knee joints, the feet and the toes all fully relaxed. Feel a warm stream of water flow through every part of the body and drain down to the ground. Every muscle, ligament, joint in the body is pulling by the gravity. Don't try to hold it, or against the stretching of gravity, you simply relax and let go of everything, let the gravity doing its fine work.

Can you get the picture of a hanging and fully relax body?

When you scan each part of your body, you say to yourself:
--- loosen up
--- let go of all tensions
--- relax completely
--- feel the stream of chi flowing through and drain down to the earth
--- feel the comfort and joy gradually rises
--- let go of it, relax...relax...and relax

You unlock your knee joints, scan from the top of your head down to your feet, again and again... You feel the chest is closed-in, because the relaxing of your shoulder, your upper back is naturally curved a bit also because the relaxing of your shoulder, the midway of your back is straight and flat all the way down to your hip, you feel the hip sits on an invisible chair, well supported, the waist is also supported by the chair beneath your hip, your lower back is flat, the torso leaning a little bit backward, let the center gravity rest on the heel of your foot. 

Feel the Weight
In the mean while, feel the weight gradually increases on the bottom your feet, simply because every muscle in your body is stretching by the gravity and pointing downward, there are no more horizontal tensions and holdings, there are no more twisting and straining between the muscles and joints, everything is aligned and aiming downward to the earth. The feeling of weight appears on the bottom of your feet, the pressure between your feet and the ground increases when you relaxed more and more, this is the first sign of relaxation you will be experienced addition to all the comforts and relaxes during the practice. 

Three feet below
After you have felt the pressure and weight on the bottom of your feet where it contacts the ground, I want you to feel the ground has suddenly sunk three feet below you, your body loses the support and continue to drop....

Now the ground you used to stand is no longer there, the real ground is three feet below your feet, you continue to practice the relaxation, scan from the top of your head down to your feet. The state of relaxation gets deeper and deeper as you relax more and more. 

Dead Weight
You have heard about the word "dead-weight" haven't you; tell me, how do you play dead when a grizzly bear attacks you? How do you cheat the bear that you are really dead? If you have ever held a dead body, you would know what the dead weight means. My father had taught me the lesson once, he was in a completely relaxed state when his soul was no longer holding his body, and I found there was no place for me to hold his weight with my arms, and I'm the guy have the strength to do 170 push-ups non-stop. It's the first time in my life that I learned what the dead-weight really means. I realized how much potential we have to practice the "鬆--Song" after that important lesson. 

The Mind
Ok. Let’s talk about the mind; the best way to put you in a joyful state is not to relate yourself to any people, Ha! I'm kidding......

Thinking about some one you love, it will help you to relax, thinking about a sleeping or a smiling face of an infant will help you to relax, thinking about the love and compassion of Mother Teresa, Jesus or Buddha will help you to relax. Personally I prefer to walk into the forest, enjoy the serenity of nature while having my knee joints unlocked, shoulder and back relaxed and scan the body from the top to the bottom. You may pick a beautiful beach you have been there before, or wide open tundra out in no where, with a creek flow through the middle of it..... Remember the body and mind work together; one enhances the other, guide the mind wisely will get you there more quickly. 

Horse Standing
Let’s talk about Horse-Standing, the word imitates the horse rider, it really looked alike.
You stand straight, open your feet about your shoulder width and parallel to each other.
Then unlock your knee joints, loosen your shoulder, put you butt down like you sit on a chair, relax your whole body with the techniques I mentioned earlier.
Gradually raise you arms, with two hands pointing to each other and wrap around an imaginary tree. You formed a loop with your arms, leaving a space between two hands, I say, 6 to 12 inches (not critical).
The top of your head holds by a string, erect upward; both elbows down, shoulder relax, back straight, hip drop, all muscles loosen, knee joints unlock and bent slightly, the body below your neck relax and extends downward.
The body weight drops down to the earth, the ground floor is three feet down from where you stand.
The center of gravity rest on you heel, your back is straight but leaning a little bit backward to counter balance the weight of your arms in front of you.

There is a big difference between raising your arms and not to raise your arms, it becomes three dimensional if you have your arms raised and wrap around a tree, the Chi-flow becomes much vivid. You may be using more muscles to hold up your arms and shoulder, but the effect of relaxation will be much greater and smoother.

You have more area to scan for the tightness of your muscles, each time when you feel sore, your muscle tensed up, you loosen them by relaxing the area again and again, until the soreness is no longer bring up the tension to the muscle. The relaxation gets deeper and deeper as you scanning through. When the relaxation reaches a certain point, you feel your body filled with Chi, like a balloon filled with air, it's a very comfortable and unique feeling during the practice. 

How long should you stand?
Start from 5 minutes each time, gradually increase. I've heard people stands 45 minutes each time, I've done it myself, it really puts me into the deep state of relaxation, it forces me to let go of all tensions and relax all muscles in the body, without doing so, the long standing couldn't be achieved. For people who has gone through the prolong standing knows how thorough the effect is. I've heard a Tai-Chi Master asks his student to stand at least 45 minutes in order to become his student, it's a requirement in his school, I could see why he is doing that, it's the advanced level of relaxation he is aiming for, it's truly needed to develop and experience the deep level of relaxation.

Remember Tai-Chi is nothing but Song (鬆), although it takes a long time to learn, but go at your own pace and never lose sight of enjoying yourself.

When is the best time to do Horse Standing?
Any time my friend, like I mentioned previously, but sometimes when you raise your arms in the public, it looks a little bit strange, so, do it while you are alone or when ever you feel like. Do it while watching TV, while waiting for the water or oat meal to boil, do it when you go hiking and surrounded by trees, river and rocks, do it when you reach the summit with the blue sky on top of you and the great mother earth beneath you, close your eyes, enjoy the moment of peacefulness and eternity.....