Qi Posture Exercise 6

Meditate

While we are seated with special attention to the posture, we would be negligent if we did not make some comments about meditation — not exactly its purpose, but the position one should have to do it best. There is a lot to think about.

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       In Eastern meditation your body posture should be the same as in the previous exercises. You should have a proud stature that is still relaxed, where your body has sort of fallen into place, so that you are in balance.

       Usually, seated meditation is done in positions where you have your legs in front of you, instead of under your body. Not that the former position is superior, but because it is more comfortable for the legs, at length — and those who meditate regularly, often do it for quite some time. But such positions cause problems for the back. It is difficult to stop the hips from tilting backward, which causes the back to bend. This is often countered by sitting on a pillow. That gives a better angle between your back and your legs. It is not regarded as cheating.

       Below, I still focus on the kind of sitting where you have your legs under your body — the Japanese way. You do not need to do the same. What sitting position you choose is of little importance, since the details I go through below have nothing to do with the position of your legs. Sit as you please, but try to follow the other advice I give.

How to do it

1. Your head should have an angle where the fontanel, the spot where the parts of your skull closed when you were an infant, is the highest point. Thereby, your chin is slightly closer to the chest than normal. But you should not consciously press your chin down, because that causes unnatural tension. It is better to think that the neck and the back of your head are extended upward, as if somebody grabbed the hair by your fontanel and pulled. You can actually do that, yourself. Pinch some of the hair at your fontanel, and pull upward. That way, your head gets the right angle. It is also the right angle for all the previous exercises.

2. Your eyes should almost be closed, with just a thin opening, and you should look with indifference at a point on the floor, about four to six feet in front of you. In my opinion, closed eyes are also fine, as long as you do not allow your eyes to roll up. When the eyes turn upward, your mind is tempted to go to sleep. Your lips should be closed, but your jaws not. Keep a small gap between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws. The tip of your tongue should lightly touch the roof of your mouth.

3. Your hands should meet in a closed figure that rests on your lap, touching or almost touching your belly. What figure the hands form is of minor importance, as long as it is sort of closed and you keep it fixed. It helps you to stay awake, but also to remain within yourself. A classic position of the hands is where the tips of the thumbs meet, and one hand rests on the palm of the other. Whether the right or left hand should be the inner one is a matter of much discussion, also traditionally. You just choose what feels best at length. The thumbs should be extended, as should the other fingers. But remember that you can choose any hand figure. Experiment with it, and trust your own judgment.
   

4. Breathe with your belly — more about that later — and relax as much as you can in this position. Let ambitions and all kinds of thoughts pour away from your brain. In meditation you should think about nothing (at least in Zen). That is not easy. Thoughts inevitably appear, and there is no point in trying to stop them. What you can do is to accept them, and at the same time conclude that they are not important right now. So you let them slide away, one after the other. By time, your brain will become rather empty. Well, it can take years of practice. Thoughts are gradually dissolved if you neither make them important, nor try desperately to hold them off.

5. Sit as long as you can without discomfort. When you get uncomfortable, your mind gets distracted, so prolonging the meditation is of little use. Still, by practice you can increase the time you are able to sit with ease. Not that it is important to sit for very long, really. The one who is determined to sit for a long time might not be enough focused on the meditation. In that case, it is better with short periods, done from beginning to end with a dedicated spirit. Settle for a few minutes at first, and increase only if you feel that you benefit from it.

6. When you are properly seated for meditation, breathe with your belly, and let your thoughts dissolve. Then you will increasingly be situated right in the middle of your center — something that we will also return to, below. It is not exactly an exercise where qi shall flow in abundance, but all the body channels shall be open, so that no tension appears. Although meditation is not at all a way to repose, it becomes quite restful and thereby liberating to the mind as well as the body. You can feel complications lose their grip, inner knots get untied, and trouble ease.

       Even though meditation is beneficial in so many ways, you should not meditate in order to achieve certain specific goals. Again, this is particularly true about Zen. Instead, the purpose is to let go of ambition and strife. You sit to sit. Neither to reach satori, that sudden moment of clarity, nor to feel good — although that would not hurt.

       The core of meditation is such that you cannot get hold of it, if you aim for something particular at the outset — even if that aim is to get in touch with the core. It is elusive. Actually, its very nature is such that it cannot exist where there is purpose. You do not feel any scent if you hold your breath, and the core of meditation is not revealed to you if you search for it. This purposeless attitude is particularly difficult for westerners to adapt.

       As I have said, meditation is slightly outside the theme of this book, but not more so than that you can meditate now and then, in connection to the other exercises. If so, do it only for equally short times. Do not sit any longer than you have the urge to do, or are able without discomfort. And do not meditate with higher frequency than you do the other exercises. More than once a day would be overdoing it, at least in this perspective.

       If you are attracted to meditation, I recommend that you use the exercises in this book to foster your mind and body into the best possible condition for meditation. Only when you are pleased with the result should you move on to spend significant time on meditating. At that moment, you are probably ready to quit doing the exercises of this book regularly.

Qi Posture Exercises

Here is a set of simple exercises by which to improve your posture. That's essential in order to increase your qi energy flow. I recommend that you do them in the given order, when you try them out. Once you've become familiar with them, you can do them in any order you please. Trust your instincts.

• Qi Posture Introduction

• Find the right posture

• Correct your shoulders

• Adjust your balance

• Stretch your posture

• Sit

• Meditate

  
  

Qi Energy Exercises

Qi Exercise Settings

Qi Energy Breathing

Qi Posture

Qi Relaxation

Qi Extension

Qi Centering

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