While speaking with a new practitioner regarding her practice, which is limited by the fact she has a broken leg and must keep it elevated at all times,it occurred to me that even though you are not physically able to make the movements you can, by visualizing the movement, impress on your sub-conscious mind what the movement is.

Practitioners with limited capacity to move can do the  ritual at whatever degree of movement possible, and then see themselves doing the movement. They are practicing by visualization. This will have an effect on the Sub-Conscious and helps bring the body to the place where more movement is possible.

There is a story of a man who was held prisoner for many months during the Korean War. He was confined to a cell that was so small he could neither stand straight nor lie down and stretch out. During his confinement, to keep himself occupied, he would “Play Golf” on the course back home. After the war ended and he was released, he returned home and went to the Golf Course to play. To his amazement his golf game was improved by many strokes. The power of the Sub-Conscious mind– Use It!

For the past sixteen years, I have had a regular Qi Gong 18 Style practice. Often, I say to people that the Ritual Practice has been my best teacher. From practicing, I truly have learned many subtleties of Qi Gong.. The Ritual has guided me to make minor adjustments in  my structure and my awareness.

All of that being said, it has come to my attention in the past few weeks that with time, I have drifed away from one of the basic ground rules of the ritual, which is “keep your gaze on your hands as you perform each movement”. Over time,  by not paying attention to this “rule”, I had let my practice move from a place of being present in the practice to a place somewhere on the horizon–out of my “presence”. I had moved from being centered in the world to being out in the world. My focus had become  narrowed.  I was not being aware of all that was around me. As a result of this change in focus, I was too intent on what was “out there” and not aware of all of the “possibilities” that were and are at hand.

Fortunately, this narrowed focus  was brought to my attention. As I did my practice and concentrated on keeping my  focus on my hands throughout each movement, which was actually difficult at times, I often caught myself drifting  out and away. However, after a few days of focused effort on following my  hands within the gaze, I began to feel more centered and more aware of “My” world. I was again Present in the World not Away in the World.

The lesson here has been to not lose sight of the BASICS. As you practice, remind yourself of those simple steps that make your Qi Gong practice the powerful Ritual it is.

Julia, I just want to tell you that I completed today my sixth straight daily session!  Aren’t you proud of me?

and…yes… I would not say that I am doing better but I will say that I am not as tired at the end and I know that I am slowly improving particularly in my squatting!   [slowly ..is the key word!]

So, I am getting more and more convinced of the worth of the program and I wanted you to know.

I’ll keep you informed!

Josette